Science teaching – Teaching & Learning Research Initiative

Beyond play: Learning through science investigation

Acknowledgements We would like to thank the Teaching and Learning Research Initiative for providing the funding for this project and Dr Rose Hipkins for her support as our monitor. We are grateful for the guidance from Professor Robin Millar who gave us his thoughts, time, and the confidence to take on this project. Our sincere thanks to the schools, teachers, and students without whom this research would not have had much to say. Kia ora tatou. Aims and background The science learning area of the New Zealand Curriculum (NZC) (Ministry of Education, 2007) requires students to learn about “features of scientific knowledge and the processes by which it is developed” and

Culturally responsive pedagogy and assessment in primary science classrooms: Whakamana tamariki

Introduction In this project four teachers addressed their diverse students’ need for a range of different opportunities to develop more sophisticated expertise in science. They achieved this by drawing on the principles and practices of culturally responsive pedagogy and assessment for learning. Interviews and classroom observations indicated that students, and their families, took greater ownership and responsibility for science learning when teachers incorporated and built on the funds of knowledge and lived experience that all students bring from their homes and communities. Key findings Teachers can create culturally responsive pathways for science learning by incorporating children’s and communities’ funds of knowledge into the curriculum. Culturally responsive science teachers at times position

Augmenting primary teaching and learning science through ICT

Introduction This study explored how information communication technologies (ICTs) in primary classrooms can enhance the teaching and learning of science. By building on teachers’ and students’ prior knowledge and experience with ICTs, we investigated how ICT use can structure activities to offer enhanced opportunities for active participation in science. The project generated examples of how ICTs can support subject-relevant ways of exploring and communicating science, and evaluating what has been learnt. Key findings ICTs augment teaching and learning in science when their use intersects with and supports specific scientific ideas and skills. Visual recording technologies promote independent learning by allowing students to collect, review and revise data. Science investigations that include

Addressing obstacles to success: Improving student completion, retention, and achievement in science modules in applied health programmes

1. The project and its context Addressing Obstacles to Success[1] was a two-year project that sought to address science achievement rates in applied-health undergraduate degree programmes at Waikato Institute of Technology (Wintec), with particular attention to Māori. Throughout their teaching careers, staff members at Wintec have heard many anecdotal stories about science being a “problem” for midwifery and nursing students. Research to inform retention strategies for Māori students studying midwifery at Wintec indicated that science was a potential barrier to their overall success (Gibson-van Marrewijk, 2005). Notwithstanding this anecdotal concern, the nature and extent of science as a “problem” for any student had not been systematically researched up to that point.