|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| ||||||
| ||||||||
|
||||||||
|
|
Case Study 2Skilling up our students to work scientifically
Transition from primary to secondary school for many students is often marked by changes in educational approaches, expectations and practices. A cluster of five Victorian schools is focusing on science across years 5-7 to address these considerable changes. The Essential Science Skills project involves four primary schools and the local secondary college with two representatives from each school forming a Professional Learning Team. The team has met regularly in the development of a resource focused on Essential Science Skills. Jan Cramp, the Project Coordinator says, 'The goal is for teachers to emphasise these skills in their practice. It's all about improving their students' capacity to think scientifically and communicate effectively.' 
Schools involved in the Essential Science Skills project are Antonio Park Primary School, Mitcham Primary School, Mt Pleasant Rd Primary School, Mullauna College, Nunawading Primary School and Springview Primary School. The teachers meet regularly to develop the Essential Science Skills material. Meetings are held during school hours and provide an opportunity for teachers to discuss and evaluate classroom strategies.
The Full StoryMain elements of the projectThe Essential Science Skills project has four main elements which include:
Identifying the Essential Science SkillsUsing a collaborative process, the team was able to decide on nine essential science skills they believed their students should employ when working scientifically. Starting with their initial long list of science skills brainstormed by the team, common ideas were grouped, some were combined and others were discarded. An integral part of identifying the final nine essential skills was developing agreed terminology to be used across the five schools as it was evident that many terms had slightly different meanings for each teacher. An outcome of the collaborative team approach was the benefit of having professional discussion between teachers teaching different year levels who use a range of approaches and strategies. Team members also had the opportunity to discuss teaching and learning with teachers of the same year level. Part of the ASISTM funding allowed for teacher release for the team to meet during the day rather than after a full day's teaching. Team members all agreed that this enabled them to fully engage in the creative process. Essential science skills
Essential Science Skills resourceThe project's Critical Friend suggested an approach to implementing the Essential Science Skills. The approach involves:
The principle behind this approach is that the skill is taught first, and then students are shown how and why to use it. Students apply the skill firstly in an activity and later in an assessment task. The resource is organised under 'classroom strategies' and 'student skill builders' and forms the basis of the teacher manual and website. The development of the resource involved trialling of the teaching and learning strategies and curriculum materials before the publishing of the manual and launching a website. Teacher AssociatesThrough the ASISTM funding, Teacher Associates from CSIRO Education were organised to work with the years 5-7 students on Science Procedures and Processes, Cool Chemical Science and Forensic Frenzy and Sports Science. The Teacher Associates were able to offer valuable expertise and support to students to develop their science skills and understandings. Through these workshops classroom teachers were also exposed to a wide range of science activities and strategies which they now feel confident to adopt for their classes in the future. In response to these sessions, the resource audit and teacher PD, the professional learning team has identified a need for a Working Scientifically kit, which is currently under development. Teacher Science Professional DevelopmentTeacher Professional Development provided by CSIRO Education enabled teachers to become more familiar with approaches that focus on students working scientifically and that support the work on the Essential Science Skills. Science Leaders programA Science Leaders program for years 9-10 students was established at the secondary college to provide mentoring for younger students. Teacher Associates from CSIRO Atmospheric Research Centre at Aspendale worked with selected years 9-10 students. Sixteen years 9-10 Mullauna College students were selected to work with CSIRO Atmospheric Research scientists Dr Simon Torok, Dr Marcus Thatcher and Paul Durack. The first stage of the program was a visit to CSIRO's Aspendale Research Centre with a follow-up visit by the young scientists. The years 9-10 students developed their own atmospheric research investigation under the guidance of the scientists. The program culminated in a presentation evening for parents, staff and the scientists. Through the program, students were able to learn first hand what real scientists were able to achieve in their field of science. In particular, students were interested to hear that the scientists travelled to many varied places in carrying out their work. The years 9-10 students are now ready to undertake a mentoring role with younger students and impart their knowledge and provide support through a structured program. Science Showcase EveningA celebration of the work undertaken by students throughout the year was organised as an opportunity for all the community to celebrate the achievements. The evening offered family science workshops, which proved to be an enjoyable way for families to work together on science problems. Sustaining the work throughout the clusterWith the completion of the Essential Science Skills resource the aim is to embed the initiative in all cluster schools' science curriculum. A 'train the trainer' approach will be used to ensure that experienced staff assist new staff in implementing the program beyond 2006. Jan Cramp is keen for other schools to utilise elements of the project and says, 'Whilst the Essential Science Skills initiative has been developed to address the needs of our cluster community, we believe that these issues are common and relevant to many school communities 'Our implementation strategy, auditing tools, classroom materials and evaluation documents will be available on the Mullauna College website for other schools to use or modify.' Further information
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||
|
 |
© Commonwealth of Australia, 2004 |
||||||||||||||||||||||
