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Copyright © UCLES 2008
Doing Practical Work in Science lessonsElaine Wilson, Faculty of Education University of Cambridge
Physics Workshops• Why do practical work? • Conceptual and procedural learning• Planning for progression • Helping students write about practical work • Data handling and problem solving• Open ended practical work
1st
2nd 3rd
4th 5th 6th
7th 8th
9th
What UK based teachers think (%)
Barriers to using practical work in rank order
Copyright © UCLES 2008
Seminar Two: Progression and working in groups
Cognitive
Affective Social
In the mind
How we feel about ourselves as learners
Learning through Social interaction
Lecture
Reading
Audio - Visual
Demonstration
Discussion
Practice
Teaching others e.g. Peer Education
Remembering
90%
70%
50%
30%
20%
10%
5%
Role play
OHP/Video
E.g.
Facts Basic Skills
Procedural Understanding: collection and validation of evidence
Substantive Understanding: concepts laws, theories
Mental Processing:Higher order investigative skills
Problem Solving
Information is transmitted
Knowledge and Understanding are constructed by the learner.
Teachers enable students to construct knowledge and understanding
Tasks 1. Measure the thickness of a coin
2. How much does one sheet of A4 paper weigh?
Copyright © UCLES 2008
Workshop Three: Language Planning for practical activity
Seeing the wood for the trees!
Language is our way of
1. Forming and developing concepts ……..
for example ‘Black Holes’
Sometimes through using metaphors
2. Expressing our understanding
3. Communicating with people
Language is
A system of symbols and rules
Language is a tool for thinking
Copyright © UCLES 2008
Workshop Four Planning practical activitiesHelping students to write
What we have discussed so far • Why include practical work? • What skills are developed? • Working in groups and talk• ‘Seeing the wood for the trees’• Simple and inexpensive practical activity
Three main purpose for practical work
Building practical work into your own scheme
Reflecting on the purpose and effectiveness of practical work
Teacher’s objective
Task
What the student actually does
What the student actually learns
Effectiveness
Writing is difficult!
Helping students to write
How do we write?
ComposeInvent
Revise
What is the purpose of the written work?
Does the student always need to write in a formal style in a passive voice?
Copyright © UCLES 2008
Workshop FiveThe current situation: Examiners reports Data Handling and analysis
‘As has been stated before, candidates are still losing marks because they do not present their calculations clearly; marks are often awarded when a clear (correct) method is seen.The (practical) paper is designed to test candidates’ practical experience; this is best achieved through the teaching of a practical course where the skills required for this paper are developed and practised over a period of time with a ‘hands-on’ approach’ Examiners Report 2009
Focus on practical papers • 9702 A level Physics • 0625 IGCE
Using simulations
Simulations and animations can offer: - the option of stepping through complex motions so that a process is seen more clearly, e.g. wave superposition in an air column - a ‘clean’ pattern with extraneous and distracting effects removed. This leads to ideas about modelling - an ability to switch easily between complementary views, e.g. electric field lines, vector forces and equipotential lines - quick and ‘live’ graph plotting to accompany motion.