ED 5221 Primary Science Kellie Brown-Kenyon 20164292

ED 5221 Primary Science

Item 1, Part 2

Write a summary (800 words) which is APA referenced and research based of a

critical reflection and evaluation about effective teaching strategies in Science, using

at least 3-6 journal articles.

Add summary as a link to your e-portfolio (weebly) under the AITSL Standard 3.2

http://kdbkenyon.weebly.com

Item 1 Summary 0
ED 5221 Primary Science Kellie Brown-Kenyon 20164292

The Australian Education Review (2007) explored whether science curriculum has

kept up to date with changes in science and society. Research shows that there is a

link between students negative attitude towards science and the way science is taught

in schools; there is a difficult aspect that is not considered necessary along with a

lack of connecting or engaging to the content. Students do not connect what they

learn in science to reality, especially in relation to technology and the future (Tytler,

2007. Primary Connections introduced the 5E model (Engage, Explore, Explain,

Elaborate and Evaluate) as an answer to this problem. Its focus alongside developing

an inquiry-based approach to teaching science is to develop scientific literacy

amongst students at the same time as encouraging the exploration of science ideas

(Hackling, Peers & Prain, 2007). The 5E model embraces other teaching strategies

such as cooperative learning and direct instruction (Tytler, 2007 and Zhang, 2016).

In this essay the author will critically reflect and evaluate the inquiry approach and

the cooperative learning strategy that are viewed as effective teaching strategies

(Campbell & Chealuck, 2015 and Cruz-Guzmn et al., 2017).

Inquiry based teaching is emphasised in the West Australian Curriculum for teaching

science (School Curriculum and Standards Authority, 2014). Inquiry-based teaching

is currently one of the most advocated approaches to teaching science. It involves

students formulating their own questions with teachers then guiding their

investigations. The role of the teacher changes from leading the learning, to

facilitating the learning through guiding the student and scaffolding the learning

appropriate to age and understanding (Campbell & Chealuck, 2015). The inquiry

approach when taught well is a very effective teaching strategy, however it has been

Item 1 Summary 1
ED 5221 Primary Science Kellie Brown-Kenyon 20164292

shown to be unfamiliar to pre-service teachers as it is most likely a teaching strategy

they did not themselves experience at school (Carrier, 2011). It also requires a

different set of skills to teach this strategy (Cruz-Guzmn Garca-Carmona & Criado

2017). When the prospect of teaching science is intimidating enough for many

teachers (Carrier, 2011), changing the teaching strategy to inquiry based learning can

be overwhelming. For teachers who do attempt to teach inquiry-based science

research shows in some cases that results can be not as effective as other strategies.

This may be due to teachers not being skilled enough to teach science using the

inquiry strategy effectively (Cruz-Guzmn et al., 2017). Teachers need to be able to

take students more limited understandings of science and stretch them to new levels

of scientific thinking, which is not a simple process (Tytler, 2007). Therefore in

order for this strategy to be the most effective it can be, teachers (especially pre-

service teachers) should be constantly trained and evaluating their techniques for

teaching inquiry based lessons, especially in relation to forming questions to

investigate to ensure that students are developing higher order thinking (Cruz-

Guzmn et al., 2017).

Cooperative learning is based upon the work of Vygotsky who concluded that

learning is at its optimum when it happens in groups rather than individually

(Jolliffe, 2007). Cooperative learning is more than just group work as it focuses on

every member of each group contributing equally, interacting, being given individual

accountability, developing of interpersonal and skills required to work with each

other (explicitly taught and practiced) (Jolliffe, 2007). As with the inquiry teaching

strategy, cooperative learning also requires the teacher to be a facilitator of the

students learning and guiding as required. The difficulty for teachers with this

Item 1 Summary 2
ED 5221 Primary Science Kellie Brown-Kenyon 20164292

strategy arises over behaviour management and the feeling of losing control of the

class as it requires students to focus on each other rather than the teacher. Teachers

may also worry over how to assess students individually when in groups (Jolliffe,

2007). For this strategy to be effective it requires a whole of school approach to

value the strategy and allow teachers to support each other. It also requires all of the

skills required in working together and maintaining a positive learning environment

to be explicitly taught and practiced in a gradual manner (Jolliffe, 2007).

Effective teaching strategies are best used together and not in isolation to

complement each other and achieve the best learning possible for each individual

student (Tytler, 2007). This essay has discussed the need for teachers to be trained

and constantly seeking to improve in teaching inquiry-based and cooperative

learning teaching strategies to ensure science is relevant, engaging and most of all

developing scientific literate individuals.

Item 1 Summary 3
ED 5221 Primary Science Kellie Brown-Kenyon 20164292

References
Campbell, C. & Chealuck, K. (2015). Approaches to enhance science learning.
Retrieved from: http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30074754

Carrier, S. J. (2011). Implementing and integrating effective teaching strategies

including features of lesson study in an elementary science methods course. The
Teacher Educator, 46(2), 145-160. doi:10.1080/08878730.2011.552666
Cruz-Guzmn, M., Garca-Carmona, A., & Criado, A. M. (2017). An analysis of the
questions proposed by elementary pre-service teachers when designing
experimental activities as inquiry. International Journal of Science
Education, 39(13), 1755-1774. doi:10.1080/09500693.2017.1351649
Hackling, M., Peers, S. & Prain, V. (2007). Primary Connections: Reforming science
teaching in Australian primary schools. Retrieved from:
http://ro.ecu.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2445&context=ecuworks
Jolliffe, W. (2007) Cooperative learning in the classroom : Putting it into practice.
London: SAGE Publications. Retrieved
from http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/unda/detail.action?docID=370494
School Curriculum and Standards Authority. (2014) Implications for teaching,
assessing and reporting. Retrieved from:
https://k10outline.scsa.wa.edu.au/home/p-10-curriculum/curriculum-
browser/science-v8/overview/implications-for-teaching,-assessment-and-
reporting
Tytler, R. (2007). Australian Education Review. Re-Imagining Science Education.
Hawthorn, Vic: Australian Council for Educational Research.
Zhang, L. (2016). Is Inquiry-Based Science Teaching Worth the Effort? Science and
Education. 25 (7-8), 897-915. doi:doi-org.ipacez.nd.edu.au/10.1007/s11191-
016-9856-0

Item 1 Summary 4