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Professional Learning Programme Research and evaluation reports Research articles |
Re-Imagining Science Education: Engaging Students in Science for Australia’s Future Many of the innovations described by the literature reviewed in this document imply expanded and innovative teaching practices. One of the key criticisms of the current, traditional practice in school science has been of the pervasive use of transmissive pedagogies, and the lack of variety in teaching strategies. This is in part a response to the nature and volume of curriculum content requirements, and possibly the continuance of a long-standing tradition. Pedagogy, in a re-imagined science curriculum, will need to be more varied, more supportive of students’ agency through more open tasks, increased discussion and negotiation of ideas, and involve more varied settings. Reform of science education will need to include a substantial re-think of pedagogy, linked to content reform and teacher development. Read more at: http://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=aer
PrimaryConnections: A new approach to primary science and to teacher professional learning This paper reports data on the impact of PrimaryConnections on teachers, students and schools based on a trial in 2005 which involved an intensive professional learning program supported with trial curriculum units. The program improved teachers' confidence, self-efficacy and practice, students' learning, and the status of science within schools. The data suggest that the combination of professional learning and being supported in their teaching with curriculum resources enhances teachers' confidence and self-efficacy through building science pedagogical content knowledge.
Contextualisation caged? A contextualised approach to the learning of science 'asks students to look at their world and the science within it' as a way to learn and apply major scientific concepts. Research findings have strongly supported contextualised learning in science, but a number of obstacles have prevented its widespread implementation [...] To deal with these obstacles education systems and education publishers should draw on the experiences of successful examples of contextualisation such as those provided through Salters Science and local PrimaryConnections initiatives. Efforts to overcome these obstacles will also need to recognise the particular local conditions including the backgrounds of staff and students.
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