Secondary Science

Contemporary Issues and Practical Approaches

Jerry Wellington

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2002
• ISBN:
  9781134859214
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Science education has changed radically in recent years, both as a result of debates within the subject and because of curriculum legislation. Jerry Wellington discusses the major issues in science education today - such questions as the balance of content and process in the curriculum, the role of practical work and the nature of science as a subject - and uses this discussion to support a very practical resource for teachers in training and their mentors. The book covers every aspect of science teaching, including: Planning Differentiation and special needs Assessment Practical work Problem solving and investigations IT in science Handling sensitive issues, e.g. sex education Building on children's prior learning Throughout, Wellington's guidance is accompanied by suggestions for discussion, activities for individual and group use and annotated lists of further reaing aimed at helping the reader to build up a personal approach to the teaching of the subject. Students will also be helped by the glossaries of specialist terminology at the end of each chapter and by the references to National Curriculum attainment targets at every point in the book.

Theme C Enriching science teaching

12 Using IT in teaching and learning science

Information technology (IT) can be a valuable tool in learning and teaching both the processes and content of science. This chapter looks at different uses of IT in science education by examining their place in the curriculum, their benefits…and their drawbacks.

INTRODUCTION

Where does IT fit into the National Curriculum?

Information technology (IT) in the school curriculum is not only a ‘cross-curricular skill’, it is also a component of the technology curriculum (a foundation subject) and an element of the other subject pillars of the NC. In the science documents it appears in the programmes of study (PoS), largely as a tool but also as an object of study:

• At key stage (KS) 3 pupils should begin to ‘use information and data accessed from a computer’ (IT as a tool) and ‘be able to identify the main features of an information transmission system and the ways in which data are coded, handled and transmitted’ (IT as a subject of study).
• In the general introduction to KS 4 we read that pupils should use ‘databases and spreadsheets in their work’ (in reality, of course, many will have used them well before this stage).
• In the PoS for AT 1 pupils need to search for patterns in data and make predictions (here IT is an obvious tool); to use sensors such as temperature, moisture, light and pressure; to use computers to ‘store, process and retrieve information’; and to ‘control and collect data during experiments’.
• At KS 4, pupils will need to use IT for ‘pattern searching in complex data’ and to gather, record and present data in a ‘full range of forms’. IT also has a role in accessing and organising data ‘relevant to their study of science’ and in using programmable systems to control external devices.
• IT appears explicitly in only one of the other attainment targets—AT 4. Here, the PoS require that pupils should use ‘logic gates with input sensors and output devices’ in decision making and control and, later (KS 4), they should ‘consider the implications of information and control technology for everyday life’.

So much for the ‘teaching contract’ aspects of IT in the science curriculum. What about the ‘assessment contract’, i.e. the statements of attainment (SoAs)? Surprisingly, IT appears explicitly in only one of the SoAs: pupils should ‘know how switches, relays, variable resistors, sensors and logic gates can be used to solve simple problems’ (AT 4, level 5a).

These statements in the statutory guidance indicate clearly that the use of IT in science might well involve word-processing and desktop publishing; database and spreadsheet use; communications; data-logging; simulations and modelling; graphics; interactive media of any kind; and control hardware and software. The possibilities are summarised in table 12.1; the list will surely grow as IT itself progresses and becomes more cheaply available to schools. This chapter considers, albeit briefly, these various uses. But first, we need a framework for understanding why, how and when IT can be of value in science education.

Table 12.1 Uses and applications of IT indicated in the PoS for science, key stages 3

Why use IT in science education?

We can start to answer this by first listing some of the things that modern IT systems (hardware and software) are good at:

• collecting and storing large amounts of data
• performing complex calculations on stored data rapidly
• processing large amounts of data and displaying it in a variety of formats
• helping to present and communicate information

These capabilities all have direct relevance to the process of education, and at the same time raise important issues for education. One issue concerns the use of computers as labour-saving devices. As listed above, computers can collect data at a rapid rate and perform calculations on it extremely quickly. But the question arises: should the computer (in an educational context) be used to collect, process and display rather than the learner? In other words, does the use of a computer in saving labour take away an important educational experience for the learner? A similar issue appears in the use of computers and electronic calculators to perform complex calculations rapidly. This may be desirable in some learning situations, for example if the performance of a tedious calculation by human means actually impedes or ‘clutters up’ a learning process. But it can also be argued that the ability to perform complex calculations rapidly should be one of the aims of education, not something to be replaced by it.

The distinction between what counts as authentic (i.e. desirable and purposeful) and inauthentic (i.e. unnecessary and irrelevant) labour in the learning process is a central one in considering the use of IT in education. The notions of ‘inauthentic’ and ‘authentic’ labour will be revisited later.

It is also worth noting that computers do exactly what they are instructed to do, very quickly, as many times as they are told to do it. On the one hand, this means that they are not (or at least not yet) capable of making autonomous or independent judgements, or personal interpretations. However, it is also the case that they do not become tired, bored, hungry, irritable, angry or impatient, or liable to error. This may place them at an advantage in some situations as compared to teachers! It has been said that one of the reasons why children appear to enjoy learning with computers is precisely because of their impersonal, inhuman ‘qualities’.

One final point on the ‘abilities’ of computers is worth stressing. Computers can, in a sense, speed up, or slow down, reality. As Kahn (1985) puts it: ‘[T]hey operate outside the viscous flow of time in which humans perform tasks.’ This is an important point which will be elaborated upon and discussed when the use of computer simulations in education is considered. Computer simulations do, in some way, distort time—and perhaps reality.

Types of IT use in education

Now we look at IT from the learner’s perspective. There are a number of ways of classifying IT use in education. The most useful classification dates back to 1977 and was produced by Kemmis, Atkin and Wright (Kemmis et al., 1977). This seminal paper identified four ‘paradigms’ by which students learn through the use of IT (a paradigm is defined as a ‘pattern, example or model’ by the Oxford English dictionary). They are:

• the instructional paradigm
• the revelatory paradigm
• the conjectural paradigm
• the emancipatory paradigm

We will consider each one briefly in turn, but further reading is necessary to consider them fully and reflectively. (See, for example, Rushby, 1979; Blease, 1986; Wellington, 1985; Sewell, 1990.)

The Instructional Paradigm

The overall aim in this paradigm is to teach a learner a given piece of subject matter, or to impart a specific skill. It involves breaking a learning task into a series of sub-tasks, each with its own stated prerequisites and objectives. These separate tasks are then structured and sequenced to form a coherent whole.

Computer-assisted learning of this type is given names like ‘skill and drill’, ‘drill and practice’ and ‘instructional dialogue’.

The Revelatory Paradigm

The second type of IT use involves guiding a student through a process of learning by discovery. The subject matter and its underlying model or theory are gradually ‘revealed’ to the student as he or she uses the program.

The revelatory paradigm is exemplified in educational programs by numerous simulations, of various types including: real (such as an industrial process), historical (for example, empathising with a historic event), theoretical (such as the particle theory of matter), or even imaginary (such as a city of the future).

The Conjectural Paradigm

This third category involves increasing control by the student over the computer by allowing students to manipulate and...