units
The summary table (Table 10.2) suggests that:
Some (SiS) components were met in a majority of classes across all units, namely:
à Students are encouraged to actively engage with ideas and evidence. à Students are challenged to develop meaningful understandings.
Some components were met in a majority of classes across most units, namely: à Assessment is embedded within the science learning strategy.
Some components were met in a majority of classes in a majority of units, namely:
à Science is linked with students’ lives and interests.
Some components were met in a majority of classes, usually in a significant minority of units, namely:
à Students’ individual learning needs and preferences are catered for. à NoS (how science works) is represented in its different aspects. à The classroom is linked with the broader community.
à Learning technologies are exploited for their learning potentialities.
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Also, where appropriate, analyses in earlier chapters were drawn upon, and additional searches of teachers’ comments for SiS conditions. The ‘degree of likelihood’ that the SIS criteria were present in a majority of classes that trialled the 16 units was an informed decision based on these analyses.
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SiS components for effectivescience learning SiS criterion Present for a majority of classes (1) Comment
Students are encouraged to actively engage with ideas and evidence
Yes (ideas) & Probably Yes (evidence)
Interaction with ‘ideas’ in all phases
‘Evidence’ not as apparent but present for some teachers
Students are challenged to develop meaningful understandings
Yes Meaningful understandings implied by several teachers Occurred in most phases Push-pull concepts explicit at
times Science is linked with students’
lives and interests
Probably No
Rare to discern in comments Students’ individual learning
needs and preferences are catered for
Possibly No Rarely mentioned but ‘class level’ and ‘high achievers’ mentioned
Assessment is embedded within the science learning strategy
Probably Yes
Present in several phases Diagnostic only in a few cases Formative more obvious
(Explore; Explain) The NoS (how science works)
is represented in its different aspects
No Direct reference to the NoS rare (e.g., test-retest) The classroom is linked with the
broader community
Possibly Yes Parents the focus in one lesson
Learning technologies are exploited for their learning potentialities
No Only mentioned by 3 teachers on 3 separate occasions (and only digital photos and video) (Similar tables were prepared for each of the 16 analysed units)
INTERPRETATION OF THESE TABLES
1 The titles are those used in the trial Primary Connections units.
2 The ‘degree of likelihood’ that the SiS criteria were present in a majority of classes that trialled the analysed Primary Connections units was an informed impression based on the 5E analyses (e.g., see appendices 5.1 and 5.2) and additional searching of teacher comments for SiS conditions. The inferences are made on the basis of feedback comments made across a range of lessons in various phases.
3 The terms ‘probably’ and ‘possibly’ are used as exact numerical data is not available; ‘probably’ implies that the criteria are more than likely present in a majority of classes and ‘possibly’ implies that the criteria may still be present in a majority of classes, but it is less likely. Where ‘yes’ and ‘no’ are the descriptors, it does not mean that all or no teachers referred to these criteria, but that they were regularly or rarely mentioned.
Table 10.1: Degree of likelihood that SiS criteria indicating conditions for effective primary science learning were present in a
majority of classes that trialled the analysed Primary Connections Push-Pull S1 unit
SiS criterion Weather in my world
Water
works Spinning in space
Earth’s place in space
Staying
alive School- yard zoo
Year 06 06 06 11 09 08
Students are encouraged to actively engage with ideas and evidence
Probably Yes Yes Probably Yes Probably Yes Yes Yes Students are challenged to develop meaningful understandings Possibly Yes Yes Probably Yes Probably Yes Probably Yes Yes
Science is linked with students’ lives and interests
Possibly
Yes Yes Probably No Probably No Possibly Yes Yes
Students’ individual learning needs and preferences are catered for* Possibly No Possibly Yes Possibly No Possibly No Possibly No Possibly No Assessment is embedded within the science learning strategy
Possibly
No Possibly No Probably Yes Probably Yes Possibly Yes Probably Yes
The NoS (how science works) is represented in its different aspects
No Possibly
No Probably No Probably No No No
The classroom is linked with the broader community
No Yes Probably
No No No Probably Yes
Learning technologies are exploited for their learning potentialities
No Possibly
Yes Probably No Probably Yes Possibly No Probably Yes
Table 10.2: Degree of likelihood that SiS criteria indicating conditions for effective primary science learning were present in a majority of
classes that trialled the analysed Primary Connections units
*
It would not be expected that teachers would include comments on this SiS component (see section 10.7).
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SiS components for effectivescience learning Plants in action Marvellous micro- organisms On the
move Push-pull Smooth moves Electric circuits What’s it made of? Material matters All sorts of stuff Change detectives
06 06 06 06 09 07 08 09 08 08
Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Probably
Yes Probably Yes Yes Yes
Probably
Yes Probably Yes Yes Yes Probably Yes Yes Probably Yes Possibly Yes Yes Yes
Probably
Yes Yes Possibly Yes Probably No Possibly No NoPossibly Probably No Probably No Probably Yes Probably Yes
Possibly No Possibly Yes Possibly No Possibly No Possibly No Possibly No Probably No No Possibly Yes Possibly No Probably
Yes Yes Possibly Yes Probably Yes Probably Yes Yes Possibly Yes Possibly No Yes Yes
Probably
No Possibly No No No No Possibly Yes Probably No No Probably Yes Probably Yes
Probably
Yes Possibly Yes No Possibly Yes No Possibly No Probably No No No No
No Probably
In drawing these inferences it must be reiterated that teachers were not asked to indicate what happened in their classes that related to these components. The inferences are based on the content of the statements made by teachers (as described in section 3.3). Of all the components, the one that is most likely underestimated is ‘Students’ individual learning needs and preferences are catered for’, as it is unlikely that teachers would comment on this condition within the context of the feedback pro forma. However, even meeting this component was mentioned by a number of teachers, as detailed in section 10.7.
Even though four components were not identified in a majority of units, it is still a positive finding that evidence of all components was found in statements by some teachers in a variety of units. This is because of the nature of the data collected. Having an appreciation of this background, the above findings (and the detail in this section) provide a set of different lens for those providing professional development for teachers implementing Primary Connections. Further, the examples within the various sections in this chapter could become the basis for professional development tasks as well as suggestions for teachers using Primary Connections units.
Analyses related to each of the components presented next. Assessment is not included as it was the focus of Chapter 9.