Reconsidering Science Learning

Reconsidering Science Learning [Patricia Murphy, Eileen Scanlon, Jeff Thomas, Elizabeth Whitelegg] on leondumoulin.nl *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers.
Table of contents

The teacher's goal is to help students grasp the development of knowledge as a process rather than a product. The focus of classroom activities and assignments is on the student-centered process of inquiry itself, not on the products of inquiry. Students create their own conceptual or cognitive models. Content, teaching style, and methods are adapted to aid the cognitive and intellectual growth of students. Student-centered teaching combines an understanding of the way that humans process information with other factors that affect learning such as attitudes, values, beliefs, and motivation.

Although there are many ways to teach effectively, all require that the teacher have knowledge of three things: New faculty members typically know far more about the content of their discipline than they do about instructional strategies, and therefore tend to use teaching styles similar to those used by their own teachers Shulman, In most cases, they use elements of all three general teaching styles. As the teacher gains experience, his or her teaching style is likely to change.

What is the most effective way to teach students? The answer depends on what students are expected to learn. Students taught by lectures, instructor-centered presentations, and student-centered methods achieve similar results on tests that measure factual knowledge. However, student-centered discussions lead to better retention, better transfer of knowledge to other situations, better motivation for further learning, and better problem solving ability McKeachie, Active participation by students helps them construct a better framework from which to generalize their knowledge.

The first step in preparing to teach a particular course is to decide on a particular style of teaching that is compatible with and appropriate for your students and the goals of your course. It is likely that you will use a combination of the three teaching styles, depending on the circumstances of your course.

While developing their own teaching style, science teachers must answer a fundamental question: Is the primary goal of my course for each student to gain specific information, or for each student to master how to organize and apply new information independently to new situations? The primary goal may not be the same for each student in a course, especially when the students come from diverse backgrounds see Chapter 8.

In courses that are the foundation for more advanced learning in a subject area, how should the. Because science curricula tend to be vertically structured, students' content knowledge is critical for advancement in a field and for understanding the next level of information. In science courses for nonscience majors, how should the content be organized and presented? In any given course, we should ask what should be the balance between specific information, application of that information, and conceptual understanding of basic principles?

If the course is truly to be a course for lawyers, citizens, teachers, and other nonscientists, it should provide some of the essence of what science is and the nature of the scientific enterprise. Most science courses, particularly introductory courses, emphasize discipline-centered teaching. Generations of students have been exposed to science as a subject in which the correct formulas and answers must be memorized, and the material is divided into many different and seemingly unrelated pieces. Problems with this approach have been exacerbated by the explosion of scientific information.

Faculty members, wishing to cover the latest results and ideas but reluctant to discard classical material, rush to cover more and more information in the same amount of time. Often, multiple sections of an introductory course are taught by different faculty members. Some faculty members find it useful to meet with their colleagues to design a syllabus that optimizes the order and structure in which to present the course material. For example, if you are teaching atomic theory, is it best to start with basic terms and then to build up to a model, or to start with a model and disassemble it piece by piece?

The first step in collaborative syllabus design is to meet with fellow faculty members who teach the same course to identify basic concepts.

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Then, separately, each teacher does an analysis of the critical variables related to each concept. Finally, the colleagues reassemble to compare their lists, identify similarities and differences, and discuss the implications of their lists for instruction. Those who have studied the learning of science have concluded that students learn best if they are engaged in active learning, if they are forced to deal with observations and concepts before terms and facts, and if they have the sense that they are part of a community of learners in a classroom environment that is very supportive of their learning Fraser, ; Chickering and Gamson, ; McDermott et al.

Instructor-centered and student-centered teaching are more effective than is discipline-centered teaching for students to learn in this way. When the focus is on meaning rather than solely on facts, students develop their conceptual abilities. They assimilate information by incorporating new concepts or by using information to differentiate among already existing concepts. This is not necessarily at the expense of their development of algorithmic abilities, because conceptual understanding gives a context for the application of problem solving methods.

A student-centered style is more likely to motivate students by engaging their interest. Several factors can influence your choice of teaching style:.

Reconsidering Science Learning

In some circumstances, teachers must use methods that emphasize the imparting and acquiring of basic information and skills. Time constraints, class size, or course goals may lead to an emphasis on factual knowledge at the expense of developing a conceptual framework. Students are usually encouraged to accept facts from some authority e. If all their learning is rote learning, however, students seldom associate the new facts with concepts or models already part of their pictures of the world A Private Universe, Chapter Two presents some methods teachers can use to promote active learning in a lecture setting.


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What can be done about the many options, goals, and competing pressures? Current practice is not to prescribe one teaching style as best for a given course or type of student. Various methods for engaging students are applied successfully in a wide range of institutional settings. Some of these methods are discussed in more detail in the next chapter, and references to others are given to help you make an informed choice of style. How teachers teach is influenced to a great degree by what they teach and by how their courses are organized.

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The usual focus in organizing a course is the content. A syllabus typically includes the organization of topics into an outline of the course of study, readings, exercises, examinations, and grading scheme. These features are important, but it is equally important to identify the goals of the course content, student responsibilities, and desired outcomes and to work both forward from the starting point of the.

Perlmutter of the University of Pennsylvania has developed a course called "Perspectives on Energy and the Environment. The course fulfills the University's Physical Science requirement and is open to students who are not science, math, or engineering majors. It emphasizes applications to current energy and environmental issues and focuses on techniques and approaches to problem solving. Men and women who do not have professional interests in science and engineering still need to become informed in these areas in order to function effectively in a complex world.

This course approaches the matter of technical literacy from the point of view of a curious and motivated newspaper reader, for whom reports are available on a daily basis that provide a mix of engineering and public policy issues.


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The material draws heavily upon information from recent news reports on subjects having to do with energy or environmental matters. Auteurs Over dit boek Artikelen en interviews Recensies. Lezersrecensies Beoordeel zelf slecht matig voldoende goed zeer goed. Lezersrecensie van 'Reconsidering Science Learning' Wat vindt u van dit boek? Algemene beoordeling slecht matig voldoende goed zeer goed. Bedankt voor uw beoordeling Uw reactie is inmiddels op de website geplaatst en zal door onze redactie beoordeeld worden.

Lezersrecensies 1 Vond u deze recensie nuttig? Contactformulier Vult u alstublieft onderstaande gegevens zo volledig mogelijk in, dan kunnen wij u optimaal van dienst zijn. Wij nemen binnen een werkdag contact met u op. U kunt ons ook bellen op Cultural Perspectives on the Teaching and Learning of Science 3. Defining 'Science' in a Multicultural World: Implications for Science Education 3.

Research, Practice and Policy 4. Science Education and Environment Education. Includes bibliographical references and index.

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