Effective Methods of Teaching 1
Reflection: In EDU 510, I was required to do a literature review on 5 different research articles.
I decided to concentrate on looking at effective methods of teaching science in the elementary
school classroom. I chose this for ACEI Standard 1 because this assignment demonstrates my
ability to research a topic and analyze the information I have found. I also apply the research to
what I have learned in my education classes. The information I found will help me use the most
effective teaching methods in the classroom. Knowing this information will help me be able to
teach students successfully and develop their critical thinking skills.
Running head: EFFECTIVE METHODS OF TEACHING
Effective Methods of Teaching Elementary School Science
In APA Style
Morgan Jean Chylinski
SUNY Cortland
Effective Methods of Teaching 2
Abstract
The purpose of this literature review is to answer the question: How do elementary
students learn science most effectively in the classroom? The review looks at five educational
journal articles. The articles are separated into three categories depending on what teaching
method they talk about. The three teaching methods discussed are hands-on science, teaching
science using the web, and writing-to-learn. Two out of the three methods were found to be
helpful, they were hands-on teaching and writing to learn. Teaching science using websites was
found to be less effective. This question will help teachers change the science curriculum to be
more stimulating to students.
Effective Methods of Teaching 3
Effective Methods of Teaching Elementary School Science
Learning science in Elementary schools is important for students to develop the abilities
to problem solve and think critically. The science curriculum needs to be strengthened in order to
encourage students to actively explore their environment. The world is changing and science is
an important part of curing diseases and solving world problems like global warming. Students
need to learn the skills to maybe become scientist or just think critically in everyday situations.
The science curriculum in elementary schools is failing because teachers and students become
discouraged with science and the subject gets pushed aside for other content areas. As a future
educator, I was interested in looking at efficient ways of teaching science that help the students
learn and become interested in science. This paper examines five different studies that help
answer the question: How do elementary students learn science most effectively in the
elementary school classrooms?
The research related to this topic discusses different ways of teaching science to
elementary students and how effective these methods are. This paper will look at five
educational journal articles on this topic. The articles are sorted by the methods of teaching that
are being discussed. The three methods that are talked about are hands-on science, teaching
science using the web, and using writing to learn science. The research shows that some of these
methods are helpful to learning science and others are not as beneficial. In each section, the
advantages and disadvantages of the method will be discussed and how the method promotes or
opposes learning. This paper will also discuss how these methods are similar and different from
Effective Methods of Teaching 4
each other. The three types of methods will be analyzed in order to try and understand what ways
of teaching science are most beneficial to the student.
Hands-On
Wu et al. (2005) explores the constructivist teaching method in relation to teaching
elementary science. The constructivist method believes in using students’ prior knowledge to
learn new materials. The theory also believes that students should be actively building their
knowledge through hands-on activities that are student-centered. The study used two groups of
elementary students that were studying biology, one group received instruction based on the
traditional teaching method and the second group received instruction based on the constructivist
teaching method. The study showed that the constructivist-oriented method promoted higher
order thinking and students learned the material better. The study also showed that there were
fewer differences between the higher achievers and lower achievers when they learned with the
constructivist method. In the Constructivist method, the higher and lower achievers also scored
better overall on assessments. In another study, Paris et al. (1998) found that the hands-on
approach to learning science was effective in boosting students’ attitudes about science. After
completing six weeks of hands-on biology, the students were more interested in science not only
in school, but in real life. Students were more willing to go to museums and work on science
projects outside the classroom. The program was also beneficial to girls who are often seen as
being uninterested in science. After doing hands-on science, girls became more interested in
science and many of the girls’ scored better than the boys on the posttests. The study also
showed that students improved their problem solving skills, received better grades, enjoyed
working together, and become independent learners. The Paris et al. (1998) article shows that
Effective Methods of Teaching 5
hands-on science is beneficial to the students and not only helps students learn, but also increases
their interest in science. The Wu et al. (2005) article found similar results. Neither study was able
to find any disadvantages to using the hands-on teaching method. Students in both studies
improved their science skills and grades by using hands-on learning. The hands-on learning
strategy is just one method that can be used to teach science in elementary classrooms.
Teaching using the Web
Another method for learning science is using the web to teach lessons and explore ideas.
Wallace et al. (2000) researched the effectiveness of learning science by students going online to
discover information. Students were able to research scientific topics online. In this study, using
the internet to learn science was found to be unproductive. There were many reasons that this
method of teaching was unproductive. Students had trouble using web tools because they are not
yet designed to support learning. Reading online was also difficult for students so they often
skipped material and read as little as possible. The research found that students rarely read
information that they found interesting because it was too difficult. The science content available
online was often “unpredictable, changing, and sometimes hard to find” (Wallace et al., 2000,
p.25). The researchers found that upper level elementary students struggled with using the
internet to learn science. When tasks were made for students that would allow them to explore
and pursue questions of interest the students often just saw the assignment as doing school work
and they did not enjoy the task. The study showed that using the internet as a method of teaching
is extremely complex and does not benefit the students’ learning. Students struggled with
learning when presented in this way. Using the internet to learn concepts of science can be seen
as one way of learning through exploration. This method is similar to hands-on learning which
Effective Methods of Teaching 6
was discussed in the previous section. Students are able to be active in their own learning like the
hands-on method, but they are not learning by using objects to investigate concepts. Web based
research allows the students to investigate their own topics and not just be lectured or taught at.
Unlike hands-on learning though, this method of teaching does not seem to be effective in
teaching students science.
Writing
Writing across curriculums is another method that many teachers utilize in elementary
school classrooms. Klein (2000) researched this teaching method to see if writing in science does
help students think critically and understand the subject matter. The article looks critically at
writing to learn by examining how students learn science through this technique. Klein (2000)
found that students who brainstormed and reviewed from text and from experiments in order to
generate ideas learned during writing. The research found that the writing to learn method helps
students learn as long as they know how to use certain strategies. When students do not know
how to properly use this technique it is no longer an effective method of teaching science. The
students who brainstormed, searched text, and searched experiments were able to think critically
and learn through writing. In a similar study, Baxter et al. (2001) examined how effective
notebook writing was in science classes. The research found that notebook writing can help
facilitate science learning as long as the writing is purposeful and relevant. Both studies show
that writing in science can be useful to elementary students as long as students are taught proper
writing strategies. Baxter et al. (2001) believes that “notebooks or other forms of writing can
facilitate teaching and learning in the science classroom if teachers harness the power of
purposeful recording and thoughtful reflection about one's work” (p.18). This method of writing
to learn science can be beneficial and can go alongside hands-on learning. The studies by Wu et
Effective Methods of Teaching 7
al. (2005) and Paris et al. (1998) showed that hands-on learning is effective for learning science
so the two could go together. Hands-on learning can take place in conjunction with writing.
Students can keep notebooks that they can use to facilitate their learning. These two teaching
methods can be used together or separately in order to help students learn science.
Summary
This paper examines three teaching methods in order to answer the question: How do
elementary students learn science most effectively in the elementary school classrooms? The
three teaching methods examined were hands-on science, using the web to teach, and writing to
learn. According to the research, teaching science through the hands-on method is effective and
students learn material better and gain interest in science. The second method analyzed was
using the web to help teach science. Wallace et al. (2000) believes that this method is not
beneficial to students because at this point in time the internet is too advanced for students to
truly benefit from the materials on the web. Unlike hands-on learning, the literature shows that
this method should not be used to teach students science concepts. The articles on writing to
learn science showed that this method is useful to students as long as students are taught proper
writing skills. Writing in journals and keeping notes can help facilitate learning especially in
conjunction with other teaching methods like hands-on learning. This paper helps show that it is
beneficial to students to teach science using hands-on activities and writing to learn. Teachers
should use these teaching methods in order to help students develop critical thinking and
problem solving skills. Teachers should stay away from using the web to teach science lessons.
This review shows that hands-on teaching and writing to learn are promising teaching methods,
Effective Methods of Teaching 8
but web based learning is not. Teachers should use the two methods to better their science
curriculum and make learning science effective for students.
Reference List
Baxter, G., Bass, K., & Glaser, R. (2001, November). Notebook Writing in Three Fifth-Grade
Science Classrooms. The Elementary School Journal, 102(2), 123-140. Retrieved
November 13, 2008, from JSTOR database: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1002204.
Klein, P. D. (2000). Elementary Students' Strategies for Writing-To-Learn Science. Cognition
and Instruction, 18(3), 317-348. Retrieved November 21, 2008, from JSTOR database:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/3233922.
Paris, S. G., Yambor, K. M., & Packard, B. W.-L. (1998, January). Hands-On Biology: A
Museum-School-University Partnership for Enhancing Students' Interest. The
Elementary School Journal, 98(3), 267-288. Retrieved November 21, 2008, from JSTOR
database: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1002260
Wallace, R. M., Kuppereman, J., Krajcik, J., & Soloway, E. (2000). Science on the Web:
Students Online in a Sixth-Grade Classroom. The Journal of Learning Science, 9(1), 75104. Retrieved November 21, 2008, from JSTOR database:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/1466629.
Wu, Y.-T., & Tsai, C.-C. (2005, Summer). Effects of constructivist-oriented instruction on
elementary school students' cognitive structures. Journal of Biological Education, 39(3),
113-119. Retrieved November 21, 2008, from Education Research Complete database:
http://libproxy.cortland.edu:2435/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=17807988&site=
ehost-live.