Drama in Science
Education (in Israel)
Ran Peleg
Department of Education in Technology and Science
Technion – Israel Institute of Technology
Who am I? Where am I from?
ATOM
SURPRISE
TEACHER
PD
Who am I? Where am I from?
Haifa
Rationale
Interest of
young people
drop
Less students
choose
science
Innovative
methods to
address low
motivation
(Osborne, Simon & Collins, 2003; Osborne & Dillon, 2008)
Rationale
Interest of
young people
drop
Less students
choose
science
(Osborne, Simon & Collins, 2003; Osborne & Dillon, 2008)
Humanistic science education
Human
Appealing
Socially
relevant
(Stinner, 1995)
Humanistic science education
Narrative
Drama
Stories
Affect
(Alsop, 2001; Hadzigeorgiou, 2006; Millar & Osborne, 1998; Ødegaard, 2003)
Advantages of drama
Emotional involvement
(Begoray & Stinner, 1995; McSharry & Jones, 2000; Ødegaard , 2003)
Bridge the gap between
science and the humanities
(Begoray and Stinner, 1995)
Holistic learning experience
"contemporary obsession [of youth] with
celebrity".
(Osborne and Dillon, 2008 )
Characterisation of drama in
science education

Characterisation of drama in science education according
to Ødegaard (2003):
The Science content (following Sjøberg)
A.
1.
2.
3.
Characteristics of the theatrical component
B.
1.
2.
3.


Science as a product
The process and nature of science
Science as an institution in society
Structured vs. improvised plays
Teacher directed vs. student directed
Presentational vs. experiential plays
Demonstrations
Explanations
Characterisation
Structured
Teacher/Actor directed
( Ødegaard , 2003)
Presentational
↔
↔
↔
Improvised
Student directed
Experiential
)Ødegaard , 2003(
Science
Nature of Science
Science in society
)Ødegaard , 2003(
Demonstrations
Explanations
Characterisation
Structured
Teacher/Actor directed
Presentational
↔
↔
↔
Improvised
Student directed
Experiential
)Ødegaard , 2003(
Science
Nature of Science
Science in society
)Ødegaard , 2003(
Demonstrations
Explanations
)McSharry and Jones, 2000(
Characterisation
Structured
Teacher/Actor directed
Presentational
↔
↔
↔
Improvised
Student directed
Experiential
)Ødegaard , 2003(
Science
Nature of Science
Science in society
)Ødegaard , 2003(
End of
year
project
Demonstrations
Explanations
Some recent projects
Atom surprise
• Play on the topic of matter
Some recent projects
Teacher professional development
• Teacher as an actor
• Science-drama activities for the classroom
Some recent projects
Teacher professional development
•
•
•
•
•
•
Elements of theatre and drama
Presence on stage
Physical theatre
Science as a product activities
Science in society activities
Final project
Some recent projects
End of year science-drama project
• Activity to summarise a topic learnt during the year
• Process included:
• Choosing and researching the science content
• Choosing the characters and the general format
• Writing the script
• Rehearsals
• Students were expected to do most of the work
independently between meetings
THE END
Drama in Science
Education (in Israel)
Ran Peleg
Department of Education in Technology and Science
Technion – Israel Institute of Technology
Drama in Science
Education (in Israel)
Ran Peleg
Department of Education in Technology and Science
Technion – Israel Institute of Technology
Additional slides..
Characterisation
Structured
Teacher/Actor directed
( Ødegaard , 2003)
Presentational
↔
↔
↔
Improvised
Student directed
Experiential
)Ødegaard , 2003(
Science
Nature of Science
Science in society
)Ødegaard , 2003(
Demonstrations
Explanations
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