Introduction
Our experiences influence the formation of our attitudes, desires and purposes (Dewey1938).Similarly, the experiences of the students in the science classroom determine the subjects that they do as well as lead to a decline in the number of students choosing to do integrated science. In the quest to gain insight into their experiences in the science classroom, it is prudent for the researcher to review some of the issues that could have impacted on their experiences in the teaching and learning of integrated science. The current issues that will be reviewed are (1) importance of science education (2) the integrated science curriculum (3) attitude towards science teaching and learning (4) teaching strategies and motivation (5) teaching style (6) students’ experiences. The review of the literature in this research on students’ experiences in the science classroom in relation to science teaching and learning serves to guide and inform the discussion which will emerge from the findings of the research.
Importance of Science Education
Science education is relevant to all areas of life in our society, however many students seem to lose their interest for it in schools. Schreiner and Sjoberg (2004) have implied that students have developed ambivalent attitude toward science while Reiss (2000)( as cited in TLRP EPSE Research briefing 2006) is of the view that students need to believe that the science that is taught in schools is relevant to their personal lives. Science education is important or relevant to all of us in three main ways: our personal lives, our civic lives and our economic lives. In ...
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...esult of the teaching strategies used in the secondary school. Baird’s et al., (1990) interview revealed that students’ expected secondary school science to be active, interesting and fun and they look forward to doing experiments, dissection, investigations and projects however their expectations were short lived. As these once motivated students experience the reality of secondary school science, many become disappointed and disenchanted in the science classroom. Baird et al., (1990) explained that secondary school students were given notes, observed demonstrations and were not given any real science work to do. The students expressed disappointment with the teaching strategies as they claimed that the teaching strategies lack hands –on activities; they had to write a lot of notes and the teachers lecture to them and the topics were most times irrelevant.
In “The Canon” written by Natalie Angier, a variety of interesting stories are used to prove that science isn’t something that can be learned but, instead, is a mindset. Angier confirms this statement by using examples from everyday life to show how people behave scientifically, whether they know it or not (491). She also points out that by simplifying concepts, such as the solar system, to help children understand science, it skews their view of science more than aiding in their knowledge (497). This goes to show that by making simple hypothesis’ and conclusions on
YAVUZ GÖÇER, F., SUNGUR, S., & TEKKAYA, C. (2011). Investigating Elementary School Students' Motivational Traits in Science Classrooms. Education & Science / Egitim Ve Bilim, 36, 76-84. Retrieved April 27, 2014, from the EBSCO Host database.
This journal entry will be about the observation of a Six Grade Science class. There are twenty-four students in this classroom with one teacher, Mr. Kessler. The energy and knowledge that this teacher portrayed during his lesson was exciting and engaging. He showed that an excitement for the subject you are teaching encourages the students to learn. His students were captivated by this excitement the moment they walked into the classroom. He was energetic and joyful and the kids showed these same feelings as they sat down to begin the warm up exercise for the day.
Science being a complex and intricate topic can be sometimes hard to understand, Tyler DeWitt sees this trouble when he is teaching his middle school class in his first year of being an educator. DeWitt notices his students are not learning the course material and he proposes that the issue his students are facing is directly attributed to the dense nature of the course material, with long and hard to understand words. Dewitt proposes a new method of teaching dense course material by changing the way that it is presented to youth. Dewitt argues that science should be taught in a manner that is fun and easy to understand by using visual aids such as drawings and telling stories
STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics; it was designed to help bring these core subjects together in the school education program. The program was developed to lift student engagement, build confidence in these particular learning areas and to support teachers to improve student outcomes (Education council, p. 1, 2015). STEM education is expanding is over many nation and becoming a major part of Australia’s education program, it aims to bring the outside world to the students to develop competence in areas that will be relevant to their futures. Evidence shows that schools over Australia are finding that teachers are unmotivated to teach science to students due to their lack of science knowledge and students are showing
The paper takes a closer look misconceptions in science education. In this paper, first conception and misconception will be defined in the light of the article named “Children’s Misconceptions and A Look How Teachers Respond to Them” (Kambouri). Secondly, from what misconceptions can derive will be explained. Thirdly, how misconceptions can be prevented will be stated. And finally, the topic will be concluded.
However, one of the most interesting principle of teaching Science is ‘Children live for the present moment.’ Children live for the activities occurring in this present generation. Considering, technology being used by children in this generation in comparison to children of the past generations. Children enjoy using technology which make the teaching of Science
They also need this relationship to be able to plan their lesson effectively. For children, understanding the nature and process of science is dependent upon their developmental level and the experiences teachers provide for them. Children can begin to understand what science is, who does science, and how scientists work through classroom activities, stories about scientists, and class discussions. Teachers should provide children with many opportunities to make observations with all their senses, to look for patterns in what they observe, and to share with others what they did and what they learnt from their
When integrating Nature of Science into curriculum, assumptions are made about students and instructors. These assumptions include that students are all at the same level in terms of science understanding and concepts as the rest of their classmates, and also assumes that the students learn at the same rates (NGSS: Appendix A). These assumptions are detrimental to science education when focus needs to be on the content being taught rather than teaching background of science as a standalone. Teaching NOS explicitly becomes increasingly difficult when students aren’t given access to proper science learning environments. As mentioned in the High Hopes – Few Opportunities reading, it is stated that, “California students do no typically experience high-quality science learning opportunities[.]” (Dorph et al., 2011). When students don’t have a basis for scientific concepts, it becomes increasingly difficult to teach NOS. America’s Lab Report further expands on the idea that this style of learning is not likely achievable, as “[N]o single […] experience is likely to achieve all of these learning goals.” (Schweingruber et al., 2005) where learning goals is referencing the goals of laboratory experiences that include understanding Nature of Science. Again, when a lack of understanding for general science exists, its arguably much more difficult to teach
5. How did your lesson plan and instruction change over time to consider your student’s language and home culture? How have you ensured that you have made science learning accessible and relevant to
By incorporating NOS in science textbooks, not only we will be addressing the problem suggested by Sutton (1998), but, also, as teachers, we will be reinforcing scientific expertise needed in to develop active citizens while attaining two roles in scientific understandings that are “knowing how” science was established and “knowing that” which is constituted of facts and scientific knowledge (Bellous &Siegel, 1991). Finally, Sutton’s chapter provides a concise framework for teachers and research scholars to view science teaching and scientific knowledge from a different perspective. Such that the science content and teaching should be viewed from the scientists’ perspective to the extent that collaboration between scientific community is needed to reach such
In Science, teachers serve as the facilitator of learning, guiding them through the inquiry process. Teachers must ask open-ended questions, allow time for the students to answer, avoid telling students what to do, avoid discouraging students’ ideas or behaviors, encourage to find solutions on their own, encourage collaboration, maintain high standards and order, develop inquiry-based assessments to monitor students’ progress, and know that inquiry may be challenging for some students so be prepared to provide more guidance. There are three types of Science inquiry: structured, guided, and open. Structured is the most teacher-centered form of inquiry. This type of inquiry is mainly seen in laboratory exercises where the teacher needs to provide structure, however the students are the ones who conduct the experiment and find conclusions. Guided inquiry is where the students are given tools to develop a process and find the results. As an example, the teacher would instruct the students to build a rocket, but not tell them how to design it. This leaves creativity and uniqueness for the students to be able to apply their knowledge and skills. Open inquiry is when students determine the problem, i...
In the 21st century, many people believe science to be one of the most important subjects that students must be taught. Scientific education is important to this world due to the effects of it. Science teaches people important factors of certain subjects, and those can be further developed and expanded into new ideas. Science itself is many different regions of study compiled and meshed together. Among the numerous lot of study, health is considered to be one of the most important topics in the scientific world. Also, the human society is heavily reliant on technologists, which branch off from scientists. People with an education in this area of science are able to make changes in the world. Even though science is an important subject to learn about, few people disregard it and think it is useless due to several reasons. Scientific education is requisite for many things to be present, which is exactly why it is important.
Public understanding of science is considered to be one of the most important issues facing educators in today’s technological world. It is see...
Everyone says this generation is the future, the people and the citizens of tomorrow’s society. Except if this generation is not educated to grow and progress with the planet and learn how to help it, there will be no “next generation”; the earth simply will not be able to sustain our life forms. This is why science education is important to the future of our lives and our planet. Where if not for the innovation of science and its cures, we would still be living in the Dark Ages where the simple flu would have killed a family, and smallpox and other diseases caused epidemics and panics. Every day science classes are educating kids on the basics and the higher levels of science. Out of all these kids a few are bound to become doctors and research biologist that will help cure cancer, the planet of harmful pollutions, and more. One might say that science was the one that started the pollution in the first place, but as you can see, it has started to help fix the damage it has caused. Also, science education (although thought impractical by some) surrounds our everyday life and is need to understand some of nature’s simplest things. This is why science education is so important in the 21st century.