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Exploring
alternative approaches to practical work in
science. |
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School:
Wilberforce Sixth Form College, Hull |
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Fellow: Caroline Keam |
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Email: ck@wilberforce.ac.uk |
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Rationale |
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My objectives in completing practical work
are to reinforce the knowledge and application
of content learned in lessons, to teach practical
skills and to motivate my students. Activities
are presented in most books in what I believe,
is the traditional approach to practical work.
Students are provided with a sheet detailing
the method and they then follow the instructions,
observing and measuring as directed. Usually
the students then plot a graph and take a
value from the gradient. This standard practice
is followed up by students sharing the results
of their work. Typically my students found
these activities motivating in many cases,
especially if the activity was enjoyable.
I became aware though, from the follow up
discussions, that in many cases, students
were not really thinking about the science
involved. Success was judged by getting the
correct answer for the gradient with little
value placed on the process. The students
were learning practical skills but in a very
prescriptive way. I visited the local university
library and researched the ideas of others.
Quite a lot of what I read criticised the
traditional procedure that I had followed
previously. The most common criticisms are
that: |
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The activities
do not satisfy students as they are
often staged carefully and sometimes
do not work convincingly (especially
in physics). |
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In order to see the
demonstration prove the theory, it is
necessary to interpret the observations
in a certain way, which demands that
the view offered is accepted. |
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Practical work in schools conveys
the idea that scientists collect lots
of data and the theory produced is the
only logical conclusion. This does not
allow any room for creativity or inspiration
in science. |
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Edgar Jenkins (1998) suggests
that practical work was introduced to provide
a type of apprenticeship to those who would
go on to become research students and work
for scientists. These students needed to follow
instructions carefully and accurately in order
to set up experiments, and be capable of taking
a series of measurements with precision. It
was unnecessary to consider the science at
this stage. The purpose of these activities
was not to convince the students of the theory,
but simply teach them the necessary practical
skills.
Most of the literature I found supports the
idea that laboratory work teaches practical
skills effectively. Also in favour of the
traditional approach is that practical activities
provide students with a concept to hang unfamiliar
words on. |
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Aims |
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The aim of my project has been
to find approaches to practical activities
that encourage students to take a more active
role and help students to construct knowledge
through this process. |
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Process |
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My original idea had been to
do practical activities in a more exploratory
style. All the physicists I know will ‘play’
with a toy and test the physics principles
demonstrated in it. I hoped that having been
taught a physics principle, students would
also explore in this style. I found very quickly
that students need more direction. I discussed
ideas with different groups of students. This
worked well but it was very time consuming
and difficult to share my time out between
the groups. I found that if I set the task
as a problem it worked very well and gave
the students a good idea of where to start
and what was expected. I still wanted to introduce
an element of free exploration. I tried handing
out a list of possible investigations. As
an activity this worked a lot better but it
was still my ideas and not those of the students.
After discussing the problem with a number
of people I tried encouraging the students
to come up with the list of things themselves,
but they didn’t seem to have many ideas.
I remembered reading, in my early research,
a suggestion to allow students to ‘play’
with equipment before doing a formal practical.
I tried this idea. After 5 minutes ‘playing’
the students had many more ideas to share
of what could be investigated, they also had
ideas of what measurements they could take
and how they would do it. We discussed these
ideas as a class and I made a note of them.
The students then carried out the exploration,
with the aim of presenting their results to
the class in about twenty minutes time. Although
this approach was not quite what I had envisaged
initially, it did result in each group thinking
through a method themselves. Every group approached
the equipment in a slightly different way.
I saw a big difference in how my A2 and AS
groups approached the same activity. The A2
students used more accurate measuring techniques
and brought in many more physics ideas. Interestingly
they sometimes used a physics idea incorrectly
and then had to work out why it didn’t
apply in that case. |
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Outcomes |
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I have found two alternative
approaches which I am happy work well. |
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Problem
Solving – setting the activity
as a problem to be solved. |
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Free Exploration
– allowing students some freedom
with the process and the outcome. |
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They both encourage students
to cooperate and use higher level thinking
skills. My students have gained in confidence
with practical work over this year. Some students
have started to play with equipment in the
way I initially envisioned, without any prompting.
The exam boards are introducing new practical
skills assessments (for first use in summer
2009) and they are to be open ended investigations
but carried out under exam conditions. Alternative
approaches to classroom practical activities
will prepare students well for these assessments.
I am sure the two approaches I have explored
are only two of many. I shall carry on trying
out other approaches in the years to come.
I have become aware over the year of my project
that I have not taught as many practical skills
as I had in previous years. My alternative
approaches reinforce scientific concepts and
encourage students to use prior knowledge.
Next year I shall also look at approaches
teaching practical skills. In many cases I
may well use the traditional approach. One
positive effect of the problem solving approach
was that in activities on electricity, the
students rarely wired the circuits incorrectly
and used the multimeter without the usual
problems. Without instructions it seems the
students were able to access more of their
prior knowledge. |
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I have produced a CD to disseminate the
results of my project. The aim of the CD is
to share what I have done and hopefully encourage
other teachers to explore more alternative
approaches. Within my department some of my
colleagues have tried my approaches. However
my project has had more effect in getting
people thinking about how they approach practical
work. I hope this will be the effect of the
CD too, even if other teachers do not adopt
my approaches. |
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Biobliography |
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Gough, N. (1998) ‘‘If
this were played upon a stage…’:
school laboratory work as a theatre of representation’,
in Wellington J. Practical work in school
science: Which way now? London, Routledge. |
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Jenkinson, E. (1998) ‘The
schooling of laboratory science’, in
Wellington J. Practical work in school
science: Which way now? London, Routledge. |
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Soloman, J. (1998) ‘’Imaging’
or ‘Envisionment’ in practical
work: developing the link between action,
thought and image’, in Wellington J.
Practical work in school science: Which
way now? London, Routledge. |
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Tamir, P. (1998) ‘Practical
work in school science: an analysis of current
practice’, in Woolnough, B. Practical
science: the role and reality of practical
work in school science. Milton Keynes.
Open University Press |
