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“What do I need to learn this for?”
Teachers across all disciplines will have heard this many times. There is the temptation to respond, “Because you have to” – but what does this say to our children, who are the future scientists, engineers and technologists of our world?
It says that we have to learn information for no real reason, most likely to pass assessments. Most students do not look so far ahead into their future, where careers and income are essential to modern life.
How can educators address this problem, particularly as we all feel we have less time than ever in education? Enquiry-based learning (EBTL) – active or project-based learning – is a technique that can address this. It is a strategy that supports the development of skills, not just for use in your classroom, but for life, and can be used in all subject areas and adopted at any age or stage.
Science as a subject lends itself well to this practical and hands-on style of learning, where skills are incorporated into most, if not all, lessons. In science, students are encouraged to question the world around them and to find their own answers through testing and investigating.
“Science as a subject lends itself well to this practical and hands-on style of learning.”
Many students are not inspired to study science as they frequently state that it is too difficult or boring. The reason for this is often because they hear it from older siblings, parents or other individuals. Teaching any subject requires the educator to have a deeper understanding than the level they are teaching.
Unfortunately, this is often not the case, especially at lower grades or forms in school and, as a result, misconceptions and misunderstandings are bred. When the teacher is not confident in a subject area and resources are not readily available, learning is affected negatively. Teaching and learning in this style results in students being guided by the teacher rather than instructed.
User-friendly and informative resources can address confidence levels and provide teachers with sufficient background knowledge to allow students to explore and find out for themselves. The Oxford International Curriculum for Science supports teachers in delivering outstanding lessons using this strategy.
Students develop key skills from engaging in first-hand experiences and learn to question things. Students learn with a partner or in a small group, obtaining a much deeper level of understanding. They communicate and collaborate with each other, which ultimately develops the use of often complex and unusual vocabulary as they speak to one another.
“Students develop key skills from engaging in first-hand experiences and learn to question things.”
This also results in a more comfortable and relaxed learning space. When students are relaxed, the neurological pathways are open for learning. It is essential to encourage the acquisition of skills though problem solving in groups initially and then to ask individuals to offer their answers when they have worked it out and are confident. This fosters moments of pride and an improved positivity towards Science. Students often state that an investigation or test has gone wrong or it didn’t work.
We need to encourage them to understand that an experiment or investigation can never go wrong. Through hands-on learning students develop the confidence to change these statements to “It didn’t quite go as I expected” or “that is not the result I had predicted”. Humans can and do make mistakes, particularly when measuring or using new apparatus. To reduce these errors, we repeat tests until we are confident that the results are as reliable as they can be. This develops resilience and growth mindset, which can be applied to many real-life situations. Students experience things not going the way they planned but with practice, they know how they can address these. This is always extremely useful, but perhaps even more so in the current climate.
“We need to encourage them to understand that an experiment can never go wrong.”
The Oxford International Curriculum was developed to teach a sound curriculum that fully prepares students for assessments. In addition to this, the lesson plans include many opportunities to develop skills. Activities are also designed to develop student wellbeing.
The recent pandemic has resulted in many of our students around the globe feeling less confident and anxious that they will never ‘catch up’. The Oxford International Curriculum resources are an outstanding tool for any teacher to use in order to expand the minds of their students. They support the delivery of a curricula in an engaging and challenging way but also develop an improved growth mindset, supporting students as they prepare for a future world.