Premier’s Macquarie Bank Science Scholarship
Innovative teaching practices
and assessment for learning
Deborah Snaith
Alstonville High School
Sponsored by
This study tour arose from a concern about the findings of local and national research
and a desire to make learning science more exciting and stimulating for all students. A
recent snapshot study conducted by Southern Cross University at Alstonville High
School and Alstonville Public School (a feeder school) indicated a significant decrease in
student interest, an increasingly negative attitude and lack of perceived relevance to real
life of science learnt at school in students aged 10 to 14. Surveyed students felt that in
Stage 4 there was too much writing and a lack of practical activities allowing discovery.
This study supports other national and international research showing that students’
interest in and attitudes to science become less positive as they go through school,
resulting in fewer students selecting science in senior school. Studies also show that
children form their attitudes towards science from the age of about 8 to 13 or 14 years of
age.
The focus of the study tour was to look at ways of teaching science more innovatively
with student-centred learning that is relevant, useful and lifelong. As educators we need
to ensure that educational opportunities in the classroom ‘engage and challenge all
students to maximise their individual talents and capabilities for lifelong learning’
(Science Years 7–10 syllabus, BOS 2003, p. 5).
Implementing teaching practices based on the scientific inquiry process and
constructivism represents a change from teacher-centred to student-centred learning
through a process of self discovery and establishing what the students already know. This
pedagogical change forms the basis of how we need to change our teaching style to
better challenge our students and empower their sense of value in learning and to ‘engage
students in a range of learning experiences that build on prior learning and are set in a
meaningful and relevant context.’ (Science Years 7–10 syllabus, BOS 2003, p. 8).
By undertaking this study tour I was able to discuss and observe what other educators
are doing in the exemplary classroom on both a national and international level. This
occurred from classroom observations, conversations and interviews with middle school,
high school and university educators in the United Kingdom during October and
November 2005.
At my current school our faculty has been implementing assessment for learning this year
in both Stages 4 and 5 (Year 7–10) and it is assessment that gives students opportunities
to produce work that leads to developing their knowledge, understanding and skills
(Science years 7–10 syllabus, BOS 2003, p70). These tasks need to be student-centred
and varied, allowing students to demonstrate their abilities in different ways. However, I
wanted to further discuss with experts and observe in other classes what other educators
have researched and found from experience on both an international and national level.
Ideally, focus questions that I tried to answer while on the study tour included:
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How can teaching methods promote the active involvement of all students so they
are motivated and challenged?
How can we assess for learning so students’ motivation and self-esteem is not
damaged AND it is a manageable workload for teachers?
What strategies are being used in the United Kingdom involving assessment (much
work has been done by Black and William) which can be transferred into usable work
units for NSW teachers?
What did I learn?
As the trip unfolded, the following major areas of learning for me occurred quite
accidentally; how one plans to gain information and understanding and how it ends up
occurring are often unique. The ideas I had about what I was going to learn and what I
actually learnt, particularly about assessment for learning, were quite different and
bewildering for a great deal of the tour. It was not until the end that it really all came
together for me. The main areas I will describe are:
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Innovative teaching and learning;
Transition;
Assessment for Learning (AfL);
Constructivist teaching.
Innovative teaching and learning
Initially, my study tour began with one weeks’ visit to Cambridge University and some
exemplary schools in the surrounding area. These included Netherhall Secondary School
and Parkside Community College, which was at the cutting edge in IT use (interactive
whiteboards etc).
To become a good teacher it takes years of practice, but the pre-service training
developing teachers get certainly goes along way. Elaine Wilson, an education researcher
at Cambridge University and science methods lecturer (specifically chemistry), is very
interested in properly preparing pre-service teachers. Elaine stresses that we as practicing
educators all know that a good, keen motivated teacher can have a huge effect on
instilling enthusiasm and motivation in students. She believes in the importance of
placing a trainee teacher with a well prepared and properly coached mentor to encourage
and assist them begin and survive teaching. Elaine also instils in her student teachers that
we need to engage school students in active learning and make it fun. From observing
Elaine’s lectures and workshop at the Association for Science Education (ASE) Annual
Conference held at Cambridge University and an interview with her, this quote sums up
her premise for teacher training: ‘It takes time to do the idea, be active in the learning
and let the students construct their own learning. Just to copy out of books is a waste of
time.’
Elaine practices what she preaches. In her lectures she uses a variety of learning aids
effectively and efficiently, such as taking digital photos of practicums her student
teachers were engaged in; placing them on the computer and displaying via a data
projector onto an interactive whiteboard. In one lesson she demonstrates ways of
teaching which cover the range of learning styles of individuals, thus engaging all the
student teachers. She encourages all teachers to access a range of resources and use those
already created on the Internet to save time.
While at Cambridge I attended an ASE conference where Elaine presented a session
titled Using Innovative Resources in Science Teaching. In this she stressed the need for
teachers to infuse thinking skills into lessons, challenge higher order thinking and move
from activities where we ‘list’ and ‘name’ to those where we ‘analyse’ and ‘evaluate’. We
need to aim to switch students thinking back on and motivate the disaffected learners.
Elaine also highlights the need for teachers to use a context to allow the teaching and
learning to ‘have a point’ for students, that is, relevance. This is supported by many
studies worldwide.
Schools I visited around Cambridge all incorporate innovative practices into their
teaching and learning in different ways. Probably the most effective, and it certainly had
the most impact on me, was that of the interactive whiteboard. At the time of my study
tour I had only heard of them, but upon my arrival in the United Kingdom I was
constantly amazed at how all the schools I saw had then in virtually all classrooms. The
students enjoyed interacting with them and are active and motivated participants in
lessons with very little encouragement needed from the teacher. The other helpful thing
was that most teachers had a school laptop provided by their employer for school use.
At the ASE Conference I learnt that another impressive practice the British engage in is
what is called the Researchers in Residence scheme. This is where scientists from nearby
universities—engineers, medical researchers and similar—link with a school and bring
real research to life in the classroom. The advantages of this are the real world exposure
the students gain and an increased sense of the value to life of learning science and thus,
the relevance of learning science.
The establishment of Regional Science Learning Centres provides up-to-date IT and
modern laboratories where students can access world-class technology and be exposed to
great learning opportunities as well as allowing for innovative teaching and inspiration.
In an interview with a researcher at Durham University, I learnt that some researchers
are focusing on creativity using dance, drama, creative writing/poetry to get away from
traditional ways of teaching science and to use the right hand side of the brain. Ultimately
this helps children with engagement and enjoyment of science.
Transition
This really is a practical example of innovative teaching and learning, but because it was
such a big area I have grouped it on its own. Although I did not deliberately embark on
this as a focus area, it became one following frequent discussion where it was mentioned
and from my undertaking a workshop at York University with Martin Braund, one of the
leading experts and researchers on this process and its integral role in science promotion.
While around the Newcastle district I attended Valley Gardens Middle School, which
goes from Years 5 to 8. Teachers claim there are few transition problems with students
here due to the nature of the school and this is because motivation is maintained due to
the continuity of learning allowed. Everything I saw certainly supported enthusiastic
learning. What teachers also do at this school to help assess for learning is hand out a
unit outline at the start of a topic and have students colour code (using the traffic lights
system explained later in the assessment section) where they think they are now (which
also helps the teacher gauge prior knowledge). This gets revisited at the end of the unit
and is a form of positive affirmation for students in their learning process.
Considerable focus is being placed on transition from primary to secondary (KS2 to
KS3) schools now in areas of the United Kingdom. In the workshop I did, titled
STAYing the Course: Improving KS2/3 Transfer in Science, which was produced at the
University of York by Martin Braund and Mike Driver, much importance is placed on
reducing the ‘dip’ in student enjoyment and motivation in science which has been found
to occur after going to secondary school. Due to this dip the United Kingdom,
government initiated a national strategy in education for a science focus (hence the
funding).As a result of this, certain teaching expectations must be met, such as
assessment for learning, making the lesson outcome explicit and conducting a plenary at
the end of the lesson.
Much of Braund and Driver’s work found excessive assessment affected students’ selfesteem and confidence, and that a need for more work exploring curriculum continuity
needed to be done. It was also found that students needed to feel that their science learnt
at primary school is valued by secondary teachers and this has meant more networking
and communication between the feeder schools and local high school.
Workshops run by the University of York aim at educating teachers in how to be
involved in bridging projects to promote success and aid a smoother transition for their
students. As well as student benefits, Martin reported that teachers felt more confident in
their teaching of science. With the transition program they designed, the students begin a
unit—either Fizzy Drinks or Mouldy Bread—in KS2 and complete it in KS3, with work
portfolios being transferred for each student as a record of their unit of work. Comments
from students indicated that they felt it helped them move into high school more
smoothly. The students also stated that they felt more confident in using technology,
technical terms and scientific equipment.
From attending this exceptional training day an awareness has arisen of similar issues in
our in our local area primary feeder schools and at Alstonville High School. As a result I
applied for and obtained an Australian School Innovation in Science, Technology and
Mathematics Project grant targeting smoother transition and innovative teaching of
science in secondary school using constructivism and technology more rigorously. This
project will start mid-2006 and finish in 2007. It has already been embraced with so
much enthusiasm from the primary school Stage 3 teachers who feel the lack of support
and access to resources for teaching science that benefits are already occurring.
Assessment for Learning
Assessment for Learning (AfL) has been defined as ‘… the process of seeking and
interpreting evidence for use by learners and their teachers to decide where the learners
are in their learning, where they need to go and how best to get there’ (KS3 National
Strategy folder on AfL, 2004).
AfL aims to get to the heart of good teaching by:
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Helping teachers help pupils to take the next steps in their learning;
Helping pupils help each other to take the next steps in their learning;
Helping pupils help themselves to take the next steps in their learning.
Terminology to be aware of and differentiate between is:
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Assessment of learning is summative, that is, using marks (sums etc).
Assessment for learning is formative, that is, using feedback to improve.
The key message in the United Kingdom is about using the information gained to
improve learning. Key reading pertaining to AfL are the publications Inside the Black Box
(1998), Assessment for Learning: beyond the Black Box (1999) and Working inside the Black Box
(2002), which contain a lot of research findings by Black and Williams and the
Assessment Reform Group.
During my study tour I learned about formative and summative assessment and the role
of AfL for improved teaching and learning from interviews with researchers such as
Mary James at the University of London; Paul Black at Kings College; Marion Jones at
Durham University; David Bridgewater, a Science Inspector in Durham area, and from
talking to many teachers in the United Kingdom, but especially in the Durham–
Newcastle area as arranged by the ASE regional directors.
As teachers, the big challenge we have is to improve students; therefore, assessment is
only useful when it is used formatively to achieve improvement. The most frequently
used ways of assessing students’ learning I saw with the aim of improving their learning
included techniques such as setting homework tasks and following up on the students’
understanding, creative writing, interpreting graphs and problem solving using
calculations. Teachers provide oral or written feedback on student progress and reports
are designed to have a formative role with a clear focus on strengths and ‘the next step
targets’ for students to be able to move to the next level (like Australian bands or grades).
Another very popular AfL tool many schools have adopted (and adapted) includes the
traffic light system. This is where students indicate where their learning is for that days’
lesson with:
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Red being do not understand;
Orange being starting to understand;
Green being understand.
To truly benefit, where the student sits needs to be recorded and coloured or ticked on
the roll and progress charted.
One school, St Thomas Moore R.C. High School, a maths specialist college (which
means additional funding when the school meets ‘specialist status’), had developed a
detailed traffic light system which was computerised and showed achievement, not just
attainment. A high degree of importance is placed on observing where each student is in
their learning and the teacher making suggestions on how they can progress to the next
level, that is, providing feedback on assessment allowing for learning to continue.
At Framwellgate Science College, located next to the new Science Learning Centre
complex in Durham, I found that AfL has been taken on board by the whole school in
an organised manner by means of a task group. It became clear to me that good teachers
already use many elements of AfL and are not afraid of it. When I asked everyone the
question concerning time and increased workload, basically the reply I got was that ‘It’s
what we have all always done anyway; it’s just formalising it.’ and ‘You get used to it.’
Framwellgate uses self and peer assessment a lot, which they explained helps the students
learn even more by reflecting on what is needed in order to decide if another student has
achieved understanding or not. They feel the aim of this is to increase student ownership
and responsibility for learning. All tasks they set have a context, task outline, marking
criteria and an improvement target once a task is marked, that is, feedback on how to get
to the next level (for the General Certificate of Secondary Education). This last one is
where I felt NSW was different. We may tell the student how to improve but not actually
fill in a task feedback sheet showing which level the students’ work is at and explaining
what they need to do to move to the next level. This is a key element of AfL.
An informative interview with David Bridgewater, a science inspector (from Ofsted, the
official body for inspecting schools) from North East England, explained that AfL was
formally introduced into schools in 2003 and as with anything varied with how much
schools embraced it. Due to the national concern with lack of interest in science at
school and falling numbers of students pursuing science-based careers, the change was
made to the National Curriculum to make science more student-centred with integrated
use of AfL. All schools received a copy of a large A4 ring folder titled Key Stage 3 National
Strategy: Assessment for Learning, produced by the Department for Education and Skills.
This folder contains a series of units which work through what AfL is, how to use it and
so on.
One outcome of this was that every lesson should have:
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A clear objective—this can be part of a statement or be used as a question on a
board. This is what the teacher refers to throughout the lesson and students indicate
whether they have achieved it or not by the end of the lesson.
A plenary or summary of the lesson is required to summarise main points and give
homework.
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Some form of AfL—most commonly this is the traffic light system, in which
students put a hand up or hold up a card for the appropriate colour so the teacher
knows what level of learning has been achieved.
Basically these are all elements of a good, well planned lesson anyway.
Constructivist teaching
The meaning of this term for me after this tour is simply teaching in a way which allows
students to construct knowledge for themselves and this constructing of meaning is
learning. While in the Durham–Newcastle area I interviewed Marion Jones from
Durham University, who works with pre-service teachers teaching pedagogical content
and knowledge. Marion also conducts research in areas of cognitive development in
secondary students. Research at Durham University has found that it is essential for
students to have procedural understanding and that the focus needs to be on the
students learning and not on the teachers teaching.
This, the final part of my quest for deeper understanding and better teaching, led me
back to Sydney Secondary College, Leichhardt Campus, to meet with science teacher and
2003 Premier’s Scholarship recipient Caroline Paget. Caroline’s project explored the
process of scientific inquiry and problem based learning in science classrooms. She
visited the United States and adapted what she learnt on these processes to fit the NSW
syllabus and teach science in a more student-centred manner.
Basically, scientific inquiry involves getting the students to make observations and
understand why they occur before the teacher tells them what to expect and why
(spoiling the mystery!). This should trigger intrigue and curiosity in the students rather
than causing them to feel disinterested because ‘the teacher will do it and tell us anyway’.
To get the students to learn how to do the process requires the teacher to model it and
then encourage the small groups to initiate their own work.
Problem based learning engages students by placing them in important roles as they work
with real world problems. It involves students using their inquiry skills in productive
ways. During the process, students ‘meet’ the problem, which is like a ‘hook’ to get them
interested, for example, with a quick video, newspaper clipping, letter and so on.
Students are then given a role in the problem so they have a form of ownership. The
teacher may need to provide ‘progressive disclosure’ when students get on the wrong
track with looking for answers, but otherwise they encourage students to find the
answers themselves using resources like textbooks, the Internet or the teacher. After the
information gathering process, students write a plan of action or a report on the problem
and what they need to do about it.
Conclusion
From visits to schools, universities and science regional learning centres, and attending
an ASE conference, training workshops and many interviews, I found some answers to
the questions posed initially and also developed many more. The information gathered
from the tour will supplement faculty programs and assessment developments I am
currently involved in. It also provided much impetus to chase the Australian School
Innovation in Science, Technology and Mathematics Project grant to access funding.
This will allow our school cluster to implement our own transition program, forge
stronger links with the primary feeder schools, purchase an interactive whiteboard
introducing more use of IT in our lessons and train the secondary science teachers in
some alternative ways of teaching science that are more student centred.