Good practices
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 Working Group:Low Achievers in ScienceCountry:Czech RepublicLanguages:Czech, EnglishAge of students (target group/s):6-12, 13-14, 15-18Links, resources:http://badatele.cz/czContact person information:Bara Semerakova This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. The Explorers Project started in 2011. It was developed in cooperation with experienced teachers and education experts. They all helped prepare the first teacher’s guide of IBSE for Czech schools. Within the project a methodology called The Teacher’s Guide was created. It is the first methodology focused on IBSE in the Czech Republic. The Teacher’s Guide was created in close cooperation with teachers. It contains introduction to the methodology, information about the students’ and teacher’s roles in IBSE and about skills developed by IBSE. Furthermore, The Teacher’s Guide explains in detail all inquiry steps. Description of each of them contains tips for their successful implementation and short training activities. It also contains recommendations for creating an inquiry lesson and for evaluation of students. The guide is accompanied by two compilations of science lessons for students aged 9 - 11 and 12 - 15. All the science lessons have been piloted in the classrooms. The last stage of the project aims at dissemination of the method. The TEREZA Association organises workshops for teachers all over the country, distributes teaching materials and connects teachers’ experience with IBSE beginners. As a part of the project, an evaluation has been carried out. The results show that introducing IBSE methods in the classrooms increases student skills to pose questions, plan a research and interpret the results. How does IBSE work? At first, a teacher motivates students to pose questions, e.g. by showing a picture or by telling a story. All questions are relevant; important is that students get interested in the topic. Afterwards, the class selects one question (a research question) that serves as a basis for hypothesis formulation. Having the hypothesis formulated, students examine it, e.g. by an experiment. After that, students declare if the hypothesis was proved or rejected. Students work in teams, each of them is responsible for a certain task and all of them learn responsibility for the outcomes of their research. After they make a conclusion, students present the outcomes. Teams share what they have learned and exchange ideas about further investigation of researched area. New questions are generated, which stimulates students to continue in learning. Teacher comments “I expected that inquiry-based learning would be an opportunity to succeed in the manually skilled and practically oriented students. What surprised me was how strong positive impact this method has for the classroom community in general, particularly on communication and collaboration among students.” (teacher of primary school) “Students should be given the opportunity to share the outcomes of their research and to learn from their mistakes.” (teacher of primary school) Student comments Before this lesson I had no idea that biology could actually be so much fun! (student of a primary school)Strong points and opportunities:• Students enjoy science lesson with inquiry-based methods (84 % teachers say so); students are more active in IBSE lessons compared to other lessons. • The Teacher’s Guide, the compilation of lessons (15% of teachers lack such materials) and materials for students (30% of teachers call for it) have been developed in the project. The project website provides room for teachers to share their success or learn from others. There is also a database of lessons to which any teacher can contribute. (15% of teachers would like to have a chance to share their experience with IBSE.) • Lessons do not require any special equipment and tools. Students mostly work with simple tools that are widely available (e.g. plastic bottles, plants, ink). There are also lessons that focus on finding information and resources to verify the hypothesis theoretically. • Students remember the knowledge better because the content often refers to their daily life and because they are actively involved in finding answers. • The method allows training of scientific skills (to pose a question, analyze data...) step by step. There is a set of training activities that could be incorporated into any regular science lesson. • Inquiry-based instruction has a positive impact on the classroom community. The spirit of collaboration is present thanks to teamwork; everyone can find the role that suits him/her. Teachers say that teamwork generally increases the attractiveness of the learned content.Limitations:• The preparation for lessons can be time-consuming, also the classroom activities take more time then the frontal instruction (50% teachers see this as a barrier). However, the teachers who already gained certain experience in inquiry-based instruction describe that the longer they use this approach, the less time-consuming it is, as both teacher and students get used to it. • Some teachers rely on pre-prepared lessons as they do not feel confident to create their own lessons and topics. • There is still a strong belief among many of the teachers that IBSE requires costly instruments and equipment that the school cannot afford.Added value with regards to the 3 topics of the MASS project:• The inquiry-based instruction was mentioned by teachers as an effective strategy to support low achievers in science. Teachers witnessed that students who are usually less active in science subjects tend to be far more active during inquiry instruction. They often enjoy and learn at least one of the scientific skills that would not be applicable in the frontal instruction based on memorizing facts. • The project itself has primary focus on skills, not on the knowledge. This proves to be convenient for the students who are not good at memorizing facts. They rather benefit from their practical skills that they would not have been able to use otherwise in the conventional instruction. • Some students get excited about the lesson topic when they see that they can come up with their own ideas and these are appreciated and taken seriously by the teacher. Also the fact that students can suggest a topic or questions that they want to investigate stimulates their further involvement in the learning process. • Among effective methods to support low achievers teachers listed: practically oriented tasks; hands-on activities, such as experiments, real life situations, collaborative projects. These all belong to the IBSE portfolio. • Students can experience success in learning, even though the outcome of their research might not be the correct one. They are evaluated for the steps they have taken. Making mistakes is an important part of the learning process. • Teamwork provides various types of students with a suitable role, which again naturally involves them in the learning process. Some of the students may be confident in the roles such as photograph, timekeeper, or tool master. • Teacher gradually transfers the responsibility to students, first within small tasks and later within the whole process of research. Thus, they become responsible for the learning process and grow more active and confident in learning.Any prerequisites needed:• Teacher should be confident in scientific skills and process. They should also trust that children are capable to learn the skills themselves by experience. Teacher plays the role of an assistant who guides students in science lessons when the students experiment independently. • Training of the skills is the first necessary step for students to master the whole research by themselves in a later stage. | ||
