Strategies that Support Learning in Science for Children - Case Study Example

Investigating the theory and Practice of Strategies that support learning in Science for Children with English as an Additional Language Instructor: Course: Date: Investigating the theory and Practice of Strategies that support learning in Science for Children with English as an Additional Language Teaching as a purposeful means to an end Teachers hold special beliefs and dispositions concerning ways of supporting learning for children teaching. Regarding science, a number of them believe that their duty is to teach the material, and the children’s’ requirement is to learn the science being taught. If children struggle or do not succeed in learning this subject, the blame mainly rests with the teacher. Effective ways of supporting learning in Science for children are a decisive means to an important end, which is children learning science. The following are the principles that aid strategies that support learning in science for children. The first principle is to accept measures of responsibility for the children, if they struggle and/or fail to learn science. The level of responsibility accepted depends on the children’s degree of effort to learn. If children and teachers equally participate and contribute in the learning, it is the teacher who is responsible when children come across difficulties. Also, the teacher should be capable in modifying instructions so as to assist struggling and failing children improve. The practical strategy listed below explains precise articulations of the beliefs and dispositions of effective application of strategies that support learning in science for children. For some principles, their feasible applications enumerate actions for effective theory and practice of strategies that support learning in science for children. Teachers who view this as the main goal and support the practice of various strategies as a purposeful means help all children learn (Ammon, 2006). Practical strategies In order to support learning of science for children when teaching, one should consider and act in the following ways: Have respect and acknowledge the unique points of view of individual children. Reflect on and consider a child’s prior knowledge and interests when choosing and using certain strategies and methods. Believe that all children can and will learn. Create a challenging, but non- intimidating science learning atmosphere. Commit to the learning and academic growth of all children. Picture yourself as able, dependable and positive. Believe that one can practice strategies that support learning in science for children efficiently, and that efficient teaching will guide positive learning outcomes. Core scientific ideas Teachers have long taught children science as a sequence of lessons, and reading assignments on its body of knowledge. If practical experiment activities are included, they focus only on the development of practical skills and techniques, not on understanding scientific ideas through questions. Such practice of a strategy in learning science falls short of preparing children for higher learning. Nowadays, children live in a world full of things of scientific inquiry. When children complete their formal learning, they will go into an environment crammed with products that will be as a result of scientific inquiry. Today’s children must learn how to do scientific inquiry and use this information to take actions that will impact in their growth and their future. To prepare children to live and be prepared for advanced learning in science, teachers are required to make room for scientific inquiry by reducing emphasis on teaching science as a sequence of teaching and reading assignments on scientific knowledge. In addition, teachers must to a great extent reduce their coverage of non-essential scientific knowledge. At the same time, they must retain the main knowledge in the scientific disciplines and add to their emphasis on scientific inquiry as a main part of science content, and as a technique of instruction (Baugh & Thomas, 2002). For effective science practice of strategies for children, teachers should cooperate and align their efforts with suitable science standards. Thus, they should use these approaches: Identify the most important ideas regarding science across all grade levels. Make up their mind on which main scientific thoughts will be taught in different grades. Plan how main scientific ideas that are introduced in the early grades will be further developed in the proceeding grades. Decide on the science curricula for the different grades which concentrate on main scientific knowledge. Concentrate on the main scientific ideas that have the greatest significance on the children’s lives. Sustain a high level of consistency among the goals and objectives, instruction, and assessment in learning science. Deep scientific understanding Deep scientific understanding goes far beyond memorization of facts and concepts. It pertains a logical arrangement of facts and concepts. Putting emphasis on scientific experiments and practical exposure promotes deep understanding of science in children. Broadly, a problem exists when a child stands on one side of a gap and basically has little or no idea how to get to the other side. Thus, problem solving in supporting learning in science turns out to be what children do when they have vague idea what to do. An exercise is an assignment that children have an instantaneous good idea on how to complete, perhaps because they learned advance directions on how to complete it. Currently, in some schools, science contains too many exercises and too few problems. Effective science learning requires one to pose and solve problems through scientific inquiry. Research on science learning in children identifies the first step as the most important. Children should be able to explain or represent the gap to be crossed in a viable physical way. This involves interpreting the presented scientific topic into a form that is meaningful to the child. For proper scientific learning, children should spend more time on experiments and practical applications (Field work). Children can learn science more effectively by application of strategies that emphasizes on scientific practices and field work. Promotion of in-depth scientific learning through strategies that reflects the nature and characteristics of experiment in science, its values and the body of scientific knowledge should be done (Bearne, 1999). For effective learning in science for children, the following strategies can be used to enhance in-depth scientific understanding: To know if tasks are problems or exercises for children, ask all children if they have an idea what certain tasks mean. Organize children in groups and have members of the group perform or take part in scientific experiments. Incorporate guided-inquiry teaching strategies that lead children to continue developing scientific their knowledge. Aim certain learning experiences slightly beyond what the children can do alone, but within the scope of what they can do with your assistance as a teacher. Incorporate science concepts and experiences as contexts for children to be involved in experiments and scientific exposure. Give children the opportunities to claim ownership of their learning. Intricacy of learning Learning relies on an intricate blend of biological maturation, previous knowledge and experience, reasoning ability and instruction. Children’s learning abilities at any age mainly depend on their previous knowledge and experiences, which can serve the purpose of either helping or hindering them from learning something new or could have no effect. This wide range of information and experience comes from the following factors pertaining to the children involved in the learning process. They include socioeconomic status, gender, ethnicity, culture and native language among others. Different children need different methods of specific ways of support and guidance to comprehend and tackle scientific inquiry and to comprehend scientific knowledge. Children’s daily exposures to scientific argument vary; children resolve these arguments depending on authority and physical size. While teaching science, one should recognize the foundation of children’s’ struggles to learn and at the same time undertake teaching that is demanding but not overwhelming. Asking questions while teaching is an effective strategy for assessing children’s’ learning difficulties (Dermie & Strand, 2006). To incorporate effective methods of learning science for children, a teacher should also use the following strategies in response to the complexity of learning: Give a small pretest before beginning a unit of learning; use the results to study what the children know and do not know, and to plan appropriate learning procedures for the lessons. Use concrete, mind involving materials and familiar events to help children to directly experience scientific phenomena, thus encouraging their active participation. When investigating the theory and practice of strategies that support learning in science for children, one should consider the complex interaction between learners’ biological maturation, previous knowledge, experience and reasoning abilities, so that the learning practice challenge does not overwhelm children’s cognitive capabilities. One can ask a mixture of high-level, low-level, open-ended and closed ended questions to stimulate children’s’ thinking. One should pause for at least five seconds after asking a question before rephrasing it. One should pause for at least five seconds after a child’s response to a question before commencing. Delay incorporating theoretical science concepts with young children if the concepts cannot be initiated with solid materials and familiar experiences. One should aim the level of teaching to some extent past the abilities of an individual child but within the abilities of the children learners. Active structure of supporting scientific knowledge Modern learning theory explains learning as an active internal process of coming up with new knowledge. In some situations, a newly assembled thought fits easily into the structure of the existing understanding. In other situations, the construction of new knowledge catalyzes extensive review of existing information into a new, more logical framework. Still, in other situations, recent and older thoughts conflict, but are maintained and used independently. The process of learning is also social and cultural. Individual child’s relationship with their peers is important to each child’s active learning process and the group process. Coming up with in-depth scientific knowledge is as a result of actively practicing science in structured learning environments. Learning environments should support children’s’ active construction of knowledge. One should make use of teaching strategies that help children know the inconsistencies in their thinking, since these experiences catalyze the process of coming up with new, more articulate knowledge (DFES, 2005). For effective practice of strategies that support learning in science, one should use these approaches in order to ensure that the children are actively constructing their learning: Present science as a course in constructing and empirically testing models for their capability to explaining and predicting. Dedicate time to making a diagnosis of a child’s alternative conceptions. Take up a catalogue of teaching approaches that vary from open and guided inquiry to direct instruction. Incorporate teaching strategies and assessment plans that are in harmony with the goals of the learning process. Incorporate teaching strategies that help children become aware of variations in their way of thinking. Incorporate teaching strategies that raise children’s’ awareness of how they come up with knowledge together and individually. Undertake the learning process in science for children with strategies and techniques that help them become active thinkers. Incorporate discrepant experiences to involve the children with solid phenomena, stimulate their curiosity, and assist them in becoming knowledgeable of the conflicts involving their mode of thinking and accepted scientific hypothesis. When determining the process in which to bring in scientific concepts in a given domain, have in mind the ways those concepts mutually support each other. Incorporate teaching strategies that use familiar analogies, metaphors and physical models to guide the children towards accepted scientific concepts. Use available curriculum materials and teaching strategies to accommodate the different needs of all children. Organize the cooperative children in teach groups that reflect intellectual, gender and cultural diversity. Carry out recurrent evaluations as a seamless part of the learning process and use the results to revise instructional experiences for groups and individual children. Science content and children’s’ interests Learning is a purposeful, internal mental process. In teaching, one can scrutinize learning by observing and gathering data on changes in a child’s actual behavior or potential performance. Motivation steers the process of beginning and commencement in learning. Relevance refers to activities that give children fulfillment and meet their needs, which includes the opportunity to realize personal learning goals. In order to capture children’s’ concentration and activate their motivation to learn in undertaking the learning process, one has to have in mind the importance of each topic (DFE, 2011). Then, they can link science with the children’s’ interests, personal lifestyle, societal factors, cultural backgrounds and other learning subjects. Cognitive learning theory puts a lot of emphasis on the significance of learning something new by connecting them to things which are meaningful and not strange to the children. In undertaking the learning process in science, a teacher has to keep in mind that their intrinsic motivation in the process of learning science is most likely not to be the same with most of the children, whose motivation is most likely to be activated instrumentally by associating the learning process in science to things that are already familiar and important to them (Dunton-Downer, 2010). Effective practice of strategies that support learning in science is critical. A teacher can use these techniques to connect content with the children’s interests: Relate science concepts and instructions clearly to the children’s personal experiences. Incorporate precise examples, analogies and metaphors which are easy to comprehend. Plan the learning process in a way that they emphasize scientific themes and application, technology and society. Have the children arrange data into figures. Connect science content with children’s interests and personal lives with societal issues, and with other school subjects. Have the children read passages in science texts, trade books, make out major and minor ideas, sum up what they have read and talk about them. Have the children come up with role play scenes in which they apply scientific thinking or use role play of various scientists. Expectations for learning A teacher’s expectations of how much and how well the children you are teaching will learn, directly influence that learning. One should set high learning expectations for all children and give them confidence to set high expectations for their own learning. As a teacher, you should express your expectations for and beliefs about the children you are teaching through both their nonverbal and verbal behaviors. The children who are believed to be high-ability learners receive more positive nonverbal feedback like the act of smiling and eye contact. Children believed to be below average learners are involved in smaller number and less challenging questions; they will also be subjected to less feedback, less time to respond, and less praise (Eugene et al., 2010). As soon as teaching is tracked, perceived below average children should often be given less challenging content, and given more assignments that have need of rote memorization and drill-and-practice activities. While teaching, very high expectations for above average children can lead to inaction when those children do need remedial action in order to achieve. Children are sensitive to teachers’ beliefs about them. In societies where below average achievement is attributed to below average ability and ability is perceived to be unalterable, below average children often come to accept as true that their performance cannot change in spite of their amount of effort. In societies where children’s amount of work and effort is considered to be directly related to their learning, high expectations for all children lead to higher achievement through more work and effort by children of all abilities (Howatt, 2004). For effective practice of strategies and support of learning in science for children, one should incorporate these strategies to set and maintain high expectations: Monitor and analyze the children’s’ work and take the necessary corrective individual and group action as required. Help children have faith in their ability to learn effectively and to raise their understanding of positive outcomes as a result. Help children examine themselves as being able to learn. Build the children’s confidence as learners, by breaking down difficult tasks into smaller units or steps that they perceive to be more manageable and achievable. During the learning process for all children, set high learning expectations. Give assistance but do not do the work for them. Give the learners a logical amount of control over their learning. Help the children to be more aware that their individual efforts, strategies and determination are essential to their successful learning. Help the children have an experience of the satisfaction of successful learning. Children’s anxieties and conflicts while learning science Scientists understand that the main scientific ideas have been subjected to thorough tests and are not controversial. Children however, in almost all situations during the learning process, go through conflicts between their prior knowledge and some main scientific ideas. Evolution is a good example. While teaching children one should take the point of view that the main aim of teaching science effectively is to have them comprehend, and rather not to have them believe. For example, when teaching evolution, one should put emphasis on their use of words like the use of “true” and “believe”. Children’s previous understanding of truth and belief is mostly based on their religious perspectives, in which truth is unconditional, final, fixed, and to stop thinking of something as being completely true (Nancy & Ofelia, 2006). While teaching, one should put emphasis on the fact that scientists recognize evolution on the grounds of many autonomous lines of scientific proof that have been developed for nearly over 150 years. While teaching, one should take an instrumental or pragmatic point of view, putting emphasis on the works of evolution; as a matter of fact, it is an outstanding tool for problem-solving. Evolution offers a comprehensive explanation regarding natural phenomena, gives a future account of new natural phenomena, and stands in for the scientific basis for the numerous ways that nature endows with benefits to humans in health, agriculture and industry. During the scientific learning, a teacher should put emphasis on the fact that scientific knowledge has a foundation on experimental proof, and is usually subject to assessment on the grounds of new scientific discoveries (Nation, 2001). For effective learning process in science for children, one should incorporate these strategies related to children’s anxieties and conflicts: Be sensitive to children’s’ verbal and nonverbal behavior when addressing a unit that the children are likely to perceive as comprising of controversial ideas. Shed light on the variation between comprehension and believing. Make use of age group discussions to help children be more aware of their colleague’s thoughts regarding the concept. Avoid the use of such words like ‘true’ and ‘believe’ while referring to science concepts. Employ strategies that support learning in science for children with potential anxieties and perceived conflicts pertaining scientific ideas that may be controversial for these learners, even though they are not controversial among scientists. Put emphasis on the explanatory strength and predictive capability of a hypothesis. Encourage children to think about a hypothesis as a tool to work out scientific problems. Point out the way in which a hypothesis or theory can benefit people, society and the environment at large (Plotkin, 2006). Conclusion The theory and practice of strategies that support learning in science for children is a difficult but rewarding work. The difficulty comes from two main sources. First, most children involved in the scientific learning process can bring a wide range of prior information, experiences, way of thinking and interests. Second, while teaching, one has to combine both the main aspect pertaining to scientific facts and scientific inquiry in such a way that is fair to both the scientific bearing and their integration. Teaching rewards are rooted in knowing that the children have learned due to their efficiency as teachers. The most important thing is principle #1: That teaching is a determined means to help children learn. When children work hard but do not succeed to learn, the teacher will have to admit most of the responsibility. As a teacher, one should accept the prospect that efficient teaching signifies always being alert of and attending to children’s’ effort to learn science and constantly changing their teaching techniques and strategies, in order to assist children to work through problems (Robert & Brian, 2010; Schneider, 2007). In so doing, one should establish high learning hopes, focus on key scientific ideas, and aim for entrenched, integrated understanding of scientific query and the main body of scientific knowledge. In order to assist children reach a teacher’s target and expectations, as a teacher, one will have to understand how the children as learners, actively come up with new knowledge, as well as the difficulties pertaining to the learning process, the importance of children’s’ concerns, their potential anxieties and conflicts regarding scientific concepts. Another reward for as a teacher is in being aware that the children are experiencing a proper education in science, one that equips them for advanced studies in pursuit of their occupations and careers, and that also assists children to appreciate the importance, usefulness and value of science throughout their personal lives (Wardhaugh, 2006). References Ammon, U., 2006. 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