SCIENCE
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| Teaching about Ideas and Evidence in Science at Key Stage 3 A project funded by Key Stage 3 National Strategy and
This resource for teachers is designed to provide suggestions and activities for teaching about Ideas and Evidence in Science (e.g. from Sc1 in the National Curriculum for England and Wales), especially at Key Stage 3 (KS3: lower secondary level, 11-14 years). The publication derives from a Key Stage 3 National Strategy project initiated by Jan Peckett, Science Regional Director. The project was also supported by the Science Enhancement Programme (SEP) and managed by Sally Johnson, SEP National Co-ordinator for Initial Teacher Training (ITT) and Continuing Professional Development (CPD). The materials have been collated by a team of science educators
working in five Universities involved in initial teacher education.
This introduction presents some of the key issues in teaching Ideas and Evidence in Science. The material on the CD-ROM includes examples of classroom activities and materials developed as part of the individual projects. Also included are notes for teachers and pupil materials. We hope that teachers will find the materials interesting, and that the activities and classroom resources will prove useful – either as presented or when tailored for use in the specific context of particular schools, schemes of work, and classrooms. By providing the materials in electronic form teachers can down load and reproduce the worksheets and will be able to customise them to meet their own needs. Teachers are advised to carry out their own risk assessment before implementing the activities. Many thanks go to Sandra Amos who edited the materials, Sue Johnson and Keith Ross the reviewers and Karim Rkaina, KDR Creative, who produced the CD-ROM. The Challenge of Teaching about Ideas and Evidence in Science Keith S. Taber
What is ‘ideas and evidence’ about? The National Curriculum (DfEE/QCA, 1999) for England and Wales has four Attainment Targets, the first of which (Sc1) is ‘Scientific enquiry’. At Key Stage 3 the curriculum document describes what is expected of pupils:
Scientific enquiry (Sc1) therefore should involve pupils learning about science as an activity or process (rather than learning about particular scientific topics), about the place of science in culture and society, as well as about ‘doing’ science. The ‘doing science’ part is largely reflected in
the strand of Sc1 called Investigative Skills,
which sets out a simple model of experimental work in science
(Kind & Taber, 2005). But learning about science is more than
learning to plan, execute and evaluate simple practical investigations,
in the context of one-hour-or-so lessons in school laboratories.
The broader aspects of appreciating what science is about, how
it works, how it came to be as it is, and how it reflects and
impinges upon the wider society, are reflected in the other strand
of Sc1, known as Ideas and Evidence in Science.
At KS3 pupils should be taught about the following aspects of
Ideas and Evidence in Science:
Why is teaching about ‘ideas and evidence’ so important? The Ideas and Evidence in Science strand of Sc1 is at the core of what is sometimes known as the ‘nature of science’. It could be argued that very little of the actual scientific knowledge in Sc2-4 is in itself that important for most pupils in terms of their future lives. Although, being argumentative, it could be claimed that in a technological society people need to understand how to use the products of science rather than why and how they work. Of course there are aspects of science that it is important to understand, for example in terms of personal health and safety (although they may well appear in other places in a school’s curriculum, such as PSHE – personal, social and health education). Even in these cases it is possible to learn about, for example, the importance of a balanced diet, and which foods are good sources of protein, vitamins etc, without really understanding much of the science involved. When it comes to operating the television remote, or the new laptop computer, it is possible to become effective users of the product without having much understanding of the scientific principles or the technical subtleties. It is probably even the case for those who go on to work in science-based and technology-related careers, that they usually only draw on a small proportion of the science they met in school. As most people do not aspire to such careers it is more important to ask what kind of science is needed to be an effective citizen in a technological society (Millar & Osborne, 1998). So, we can largely operate effectively in the modern world with only a small minority of the population understanding the technical details of how things work. Even research scientists are likely to have little practical expertise outside their own areas: it is unlikely that a geneticist could mend the TV remote if the electronics became damaged, or that a nuclear physicist would recognise an endangered species of fish or insect. We therefore need to ask ‘which aspects of science really justify their place as a core component of the curriculum?’ There are probably two areas where we would seek scientific literacy for all our pupils; both involve informed decision-making. The first area concerns the personal decisions that we all make – such as whether to purchase the expensive shampoo with added amino acids, or to recycle our waste paper, or to use a particular method of contraception. The second area concerns the individual’s role in a democracy, campaigning or voting on issues such as nuclear power, hunting whales, embryonic stem-cell research, or – to take an extreme, but tragically real case – supporting a party espousing ‘racial purity’. In all of these areas, whether selecting brands of toothpaste, balancing the costs and benefits of forms of electrical power generation, or recognising the notion of human races as a cultural and not a scientific construct, decisions need to be made. In order to make decisions effectively, people need three things that education can help develop: a set of personal values, the ability to think rationally, and the capacity to obtain, and evaluate, evidence. It is arguable whether science is a subject that should look to help determine pupils’ value systems. Science cannot tell us whether it is right to eat animals, to fight wars, to lie to and betray our friends for personal gain, or to channel disproportionate levels of resources to those identified as an elite. However, science can help us learn how to clarify and explore our values, and how to apply them in informed and logical ways. Science can help us learn how to
find out about the consequences of potential actions, and can
help us evaluate the claims that are put before us: that nuclear
power is dangerous; that butter/pasta/tomatoes/wine/cashews is/are
good/bad for us; that global warming is just a theory and has
not been ‘proven’; that bio-diversity is a luxury;
that mother earth will protect us; or that those born under the
sign of Aries will come into money this week. However, there are a number of reasons why learning about ideas and evidence in science has been a relatively weak aspect of many pupils’ schooling: 1) Most teachers learnt relatively little about the ‘nature
of science’ in their own schooling, or in their own degree
studies. Until recently formal assessment in Sc1 has seemed to mean the assessed investigations pupils undertake, and naturally teachers – under time pressures, and perhaps feeling that they are poorly prepared to explore the philosophy and history of science – have tended to prioritise their teaching of Sc1 in this area. We are pleased to see that Ideas and Evidence in Science is now receiving more attention as an area for the assessment of pupils (QCA, 2002), but recognise that teachers need more support in preparing to teach this area. We hope this SEP resource will be of value here. Some teachers, undoubtedly, do feel they already do a good job teaching about the nature of science. We are sure there are many teachers who incorporate, for example, stories about key historical developments, in their teaching in Sc2-4 so that their pupils get a feel for the way science works. Yet the research that has been undertaken in the past (e.g. Driver et al., 1996) suggests that most secondary age pupils have a very limited appreciation of the nature of science. For example, students may feel that experiments can simply turn a hypothesis into a ‘proved theory’, and that a model is always a scaled-up or scaled-down replica of something like a cell or a solar system. It may be revealing for teachers to ask their own classes about
their understanding of key terms used in science (such as ‘theory’
and ‘experiment’). As part of one of the projects
discussed here, some KS3 pupils in top science sets were asked
about their understanding of key terms. The probe used is included
on the CD-ROM for any teachers who wish to try this with their
own class (see the material on ‘Exploring
the Curriculum Model for teaching about the Nature of Science’
included on the CD-ROM). In any case, it is not possible to teach about Ideas and Evidence in Science, without looking at some ideas and evidence! What is photosynthesis, and how do we know it requires sunlight? Why do we think the periodic table is a good way of organising our ideas about the elements? How convincing is the evidence that the extension of a spring is proportional to the load attached? At present, many pupils are learning science as isolated fragments of knowledge, and this does not allow them to appreciate how ideas come about, or how they may not always apply, or why they may not always lead to precise predictions. Pupils often see theories as facts, which have been proven, because science is often presented that way. If pupils could spend more time seeing how ideas develop, and how they change, they would better appreciate the nature of scientific knowledge, and the great cultural achievements of science. Failing to appreciate the nature of science also limits how well pupils can understand the science that they are taught. Not appreciating the extent to which many scientific ideas are models means that pupils do not appreciate their limitations, nor how they are open to be being developed or even discarded. This can be very frustrating for pupils when they feel they are being asked to ‘unlearn’ a model they had been taught earlier in their education. The KS3 Strategy/SEP Project If teaching about Ideas and Evidence in Science is recognised to be a relatively weak aspect of secondary science teaching, then it is likely that many of those training to be teachers see very limited good practice on which to model their own teaching. Clearly this is potentially a vicious circle, as these new entrants will become the role models and mentors for future trainees. The KS3 Strategy invited universities involved in initial teacher
education (‘teacher training’) to consider being part
of a project to:
It was hoped that the project would help to focus the minds of the teacher educators, trainee teachers, and their school-based mentors on the issue of teaching about Ideas and Evidence in Science, leading to projects that would not only augment the teaching repertoires of those directly involved, but could also be disseminated more widely. To this end, the project of each university is being reported on the KS3 National Strategy website with an outline of the work undertaken. The Science Enhancement Programme (one of the Gatsby Technical Education Projects) has provided additional support in three ways:
The five university-based projects all looked at the teaching Ideas and Evidence in Science from the perspective of ‘teacher education’ However, each was unique having different priorities, foci, and modes of operation. One of the outcomes is a set of materials that provides teachers with a range of ideas, activities and approaches to explore and develop pupils’ understanding of ideas and evidence. An invitation to teach about science… The CD-ROM includes a range of material developed by the five universities with their partners in schools and LEAs. We hope that readers, whether new teachers or more experienced, whether confident or apprehensive about teaching Ideas and Evidence in Science, will find something here to give them pause for thought, as well as some ideas for enriching their own teaching.
DfEE/QCA (1999) Science: The National Curriculum for England,
key stages 1-4, Department for Education and Employment/Qualifications
and Curriculum Authority. |
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