INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

Traditional instruction has a well-established order. "Information comes first, followed by questioning to determine student understanding, and ending with some sort of problem-solving activity. While this approach is very systematic and easy for teachers to manage, it does not reflect the kind of learning which takes place in the real world." (Problem-Based Learning, Shelagh Gallagher, Center for Gifted Education, College of William and Mary, 1995.) Inquiry-based instruction is much more than merely presenting a hands-on lesson. Some questions that teachers may want to consider include: Does your activity promote or confine thinking? Did you review the last science activity you incorporated into your lesson? Does this activity define every step and procedure? Does it include a data table or chart and questions that direct the student to the correct conclusion? Does this lesson give the students an opportunity to think for themselves? Can you try a different approach? Present the problem without the specific steps and have your students explain the steps they would follow to find the solution. Do not include a data table but have the students design and explain the resolution to the question or problem based upon their own experiment and data.

        Opportunities to work in groups encourage students to share responsibility for learning.  Students develop approaches and explanations, exchange information, talk and listen, argue and persuade. They learn to order their thoughts and compare their own thinking processes with those of their peers. Students also become involved in tutoring and encouraging each other.  When students work in groups, they all have a chance to be successful and everyone’s effort contributes to the group’s results.

Assessment

Student assessment should allow students opportunities to demonstrate higher-order thinking skills. To do this, teachers may:

• •implement activities that require students to generate hypotheses and design experiments to support their hypotheses;
• •develop performance-based activities to assess what students are learning; and
• incorporate opportunities for students to write out their responses to questions.

Addressing student progress is an important part of science education. Assessment encompasses more than testing. It includes techniques such as systematic teacher observation and assessment, in which the tasks assessed more closely parallel the learning activities and outcomes that are desired in the science classroom. In systematic teacher observation, the teacher carefully observes students to ensure that they are using scientific processes and procedures appropriately. In an effective science classroom, a teacher might use assessment to fulfill any or all of the following purposes:

• •find out what students know before instruction begins;
• •determine how students are progressing toward learning goals;
• •identify which strategies and thinking processes students use in their answers or conclusions;
• •establish what students have learned after a specific period of instruction;
• •signal to students the areas in which they need to improve; and
• •communicate teacher expectations about what is important.

        Skills beyond recognition and recall can be assessed through a number of means: individual performance-based activities, multiple performance-based activities gathered into a portfolio, and appropriately constructed multiple-choice tests. Students should be offered many different options for communicating what they know and understand, and for raising new questions about a subject. Opportunities to demonstrate ideas, quantify results and make written, oral or visual presentations of findings and hypotheses are essential.

        Working individually or in groups with equipment and materials, students might be asked to do a laboratory experiment or solve a real-life problem. Through a series of systematic observations and questions, teachers can evaluate both processes the students use and their understanding of the major concept involved.

        As a starting point, students can be given the procedures for the activity while being required to decide what kind of data table or chart they will use to record the information.  Ultimately, students can be given the problem without the specific procedures and determine the procedures and tables prior to doing the activity.

Helping Students

Teachers are the best judges of the type and level of assistance students need. The Connecticut Mastery Test (CMT) and Connecticut Academic Performance Test (CAPT) provide useful information to support those judgments. Optimum learning occurs if data is used wisely when teachers create learning environments in which:

• •there is respect for all students;
• •there are expectations that all students can be highly successful;
• •challenging content is taught;
• •opportunities to reason and solve problems together are integral parts of the daily learning experience for all students;
• •learning is made active, exciting and applicable to real-life experiences; and
• •both teachers and students are actively engaged in exploring thought-provoking ideas.

To help your students learn science better, teachers can:

• •ensure that students have opportunities to learn and explore life, earth and physical sciences each year of their K-12 school experience; and
• •regularly incorporate laboratory experiences which require them both to use scientific equipment and think critically about scientific concepts.

Generally, to help students learn better, teachers are encouraged to enlist: •

• parents to regularly monitor and discuss their youngsters’ school work; and
• •colleagues to develop significant interdisciplinary experiences in which students both engage themselves and write about.

There is no "quick fix" for helping students meet the CAPT goal standard in science.  Students will do best the first time they take the test as sophomores, as well as any retest, when their science experiences from kindergarten through high school incorporate the science processes and content areas in the CAPT science framework.

25, 26, & 27