Or action research
into a contextual science unit...
At my school we
ran a science unit at year eight, looking to provide a real-world context for
students who were learning physics. They were to design and build a model
house, and attempt to solve the problem of inefficient housing, in terms of
heat loss. The AusVELS curriculum for level eight physical
sciences states:
Energy
appears in different forms including movement (kinetic energy), heat and
potential energy, and causes change within systems
The
focus with the project was to have students using this context to deepen their
understanding of energy transfers, of efficiency, of energy types by using a
project which was hopefully student-led. This project was an offshoot of a pilot we
ran in year ten chemistry/physics called Future
Energies and Sustainability which had a similar focus. Both projects
were designed to have a real world context and focus, and then use this to help
students learn about the particular physical science concepts that were
mandated by the relevant curricula.
For
this year eight project I was interested in knowing: is there a benefit to a
contextual science unit in the St Joseph’s Science Curriculum in terms of
teaching and learning, and student attitudes?
Student attitudes
towards science were surveyed before and after the unit. 11 different
categories were ranked on a four-point Likert scale from Strongly Agree to
Strongly Disagree. They were also asked to describe what happens in their
science class, and what it felt like to be in their science class.
These are the
results:
After contextual unit - What happens in your science class?
Prior to contextual unit - What does your science class feel like?
After contextual unit - What does your science class feel like?
The survey results on attitudes
I am going to leave it at that for now and will follow up with what I read from these results....
