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i | Misconceptions in Key Stage 3 science | notes for course tutors © Crown copyright 2002

Contents

Overview of the unit 1

Unit objectives 1

Outline programme 1

Synopsis 2

Preparing for the unit 3

Resources needed for each session 4

Session 1 Introduction to misconceptions in Key Stage 3 science 13

Session 2 Using models and analogies 18

Session 3 Particles 23

Session 4 Cells 35

Session 5 Energy 41

Session 6 Interdependence and Earth science 51

Session 7 Planning follow-up work and plenary 69

Summary 69

Appendix 1 73

Appendix 2 75

Appendix 3 82

Pre-unit task materials 86

1 | Misconceptions in Key Stage 3 science | notes for course tutors © Crown copyright 2002

Overview of the unit

This pack contains the materials, background notes and guidance for the uniton misconceptions in Key Stage 3 science. As the Key Stage 3 scienceconsultant or tutor, you will use these materials as part of the science strand ofthe Key Stage 3 National Strategy.

In this unit, intended to be used as part of the optional training programme, theterm ‘misconception’ is used when referring to the commonly held beliefs thatpupils hold that are at variance with the accepted scientific view. It will be usedsynonymously with the terms ‘alternative framework’ and ‘alternativeconception’. The use of different terms for the same idea will be explained inSession 1.

The unit draws heavily on the use of models and analogies to identify andcorrect such ideas that pupils may have, particularly with reference to the keyscientific ideas in Key Stage 3 science.

Unit objectives

• To identify some commonly held misconceptions (alternative conceptions,alternative frameworks) in the teaching of science at Key Stage 3

• To consider the implications of pupils’ misconceptions in key scientific ideasfor teaching science at Key Stage 3

• To establish the importance of models and analogies in teaching keyscientific ideas

• To identify teaching strategies for identifying and correcting pupils’misconceptions in the key scientific ideas

• To plan to apply the outcomes of training in the classroom

Outline programme

Session 1 Introduction to misconceptions in Key Stage 3 science (60 minutes)

Session 2 Using models and analogies (35 minutes)

Session 3 Particles (80 minutes)

Session 4 Cells (35 minutes)

Session 5 Energy (60 minutes)

Session 6 Interdependence and Earth science (65 minutes)

Session 7 Planning follow-up work and plenary (20 minutes)


Synopsis

Session 1 Introduction to misconceptions in Key Stage 3science

This session introduces participants to the notion of misconceptions in science.It gives participants the opportunity to reflect on the relatively unchangingnature of the misconceptions in science held in society. Using material from thepre-course task, participants will have the opportunity to comparemisconceptions held by their pupils. The session will also enable participants toidentify some of the commonly held misconceptions from the key scientificideas.

Session 2 Using models and analogies

This session considers why the use of models and analogies is important inassisting pupils in their understanding of the key scientific ideas and how theycan be used effectively in teaching.

Session 3 Particles

Misconceptions linked to the key scientific idea of particles will be consideredand pupils’ ideas on the nature of solids, liquids and gases considered.Participants will be provided with the opportunity to use appropriate models toillustrate different phenomena linked to particles. They will also look at the wayspupils form their own models.

Session 4 Cells

Misconceptions linked to the key scientific idea of cells will be considered. Theuse of physical models to teach cells is given as a teaching strategy.

Session 5 Energy

In this session participants will have the opportunity to considermisconceptions linked to the key scientific idea of energy. They will be given astrategy to use to elicit the misconceptions pupils hold and be provided withalternative models that can be used to teach energy at Key Stage 3.

Session 6 Interdependence and Earth science

Misconceptions associated with the key scientific idea of interdependence willbe considered. Two areas from Key Stage 3 will be used – the notion that plantsget their food from the soil and the rock cycle. Strategies for identifying andproviding accepted scientific ideas will be provided.

Session 7 Planning follow-up work and plenary

This session is the plenary and introduction to follow-up work. Participants willbe asked to plan for the application of some of the ideas in the training in theirown teaching, particularly with regard to the teaching of forces – a key scientificidea that will not be discussed in detail in the training. A summary of the mainmessages is available to support dissemination.


Preparing for the unit

Writing to schools

You will need to prepare and send to schools in advance a programme basedon the outline of the unit, tailoring times of sessions to suit your localcircumstances. Send a map of how to get to the venue and include a contacttelephone number for the venue that delegates can use.

You may also want to prepare and send a list of participants’ names and theirschools to those who are attending.

There is a pre-unit task, the data from which is used in Session 1. Include thenotes for participants, pupils’ questionnaires and the analysis form with yourletter. Make it clear to participants that they will be expected to complete thistask and bring the data with them to the training. Make sure that you include allthe necessary forms for the participants to complete and that you give themplenty of time to carry out the research.

You may find that a phone call one to two weeks prior to the training remindingparticipants of the need to complete the pre-unit task will enable any issuesrelating to misplaced or misdirected materials to be sorted out.

You should ask each participant to bring:

• the data they have collected in the pre-unit task.

Task for participants before attending this unit

Participants will be expected to carry out research to find some commonmisconceptions their pupils hold. They are given a simple questionnaire forpupils to complete, a recording chart and some questions that will form thebasis of their analysis.

Send the following materials from each participant’s pack to participants.

Pre-unit task-notes for participants

Pre-unit Pupil’s Task Sheet 1

Pre-unit Teacher Task Sheet 2


Tasks for you to do

You may need to refresh your memory of the notes and guidance provided inthe tutor’s notes for the launch unit of the science strand under thesubheadings:

• Some tips on using your tutor’s notes

• Preparing for the unit

The resources needed for each session are listed below for convenience.

Other preparation consists of making sure you are familiar with:

• Framework for teaching science: Years 7, 8 and 9;

• Science: a scheme of work for Key Stage 3 (the DfES/QCA exemplarscheme of work for science henceforth called ‘QCA scheme of work’);

• These notes (including tasks for participants), slides and handouts;

• Appendices 2 and 3 in these notes for tutors.

Unit evaluation

At the beginning of each unit you should give participants copies of theevaluation form on page 7. Collect the completed forms at the end of the unit.You will need to read them and to summarise the data. This will be collected aspart of the monitoring and evaluation of the Key Stage 3 National Strategy.

As well as an evaluation form for participants, there is one for you, as the tutoron pages 8 and 9. Fill this in after completion of the unit and your summary ofthe participant evaluation forms. Please return to:

Science Team Senior Regional CoordinatorCentre for School Standards60 Queens RoadReading RG1 4BS

Resources needed for each session

Session 1 Introduction to misconceptions in Key Stage 3 Science

For tutorSlides 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5

Flip chart and pens

For participantsEvaluation formCopies of slidesAppendices 2 and 3 (optional)

Participants should bringOutcomes from pre-unit task



For tutorSlides 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6, 2.8Audio clip of Sir Harry Kroto

For each participantCopies of slides, Handout 2.7

Session 3 Particles

For tutorSlides 3.1, 3.2, 3.6, 3.7, 3.8, 3.11Video

For participantsCopies of slides, Handouts 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 3.9, 3.10

Session 4 Cells

For tutorSlides 4.1, 4.2, 4.4, 4.5, 4.6, 4.8

For participantsCopies of slides, Handouts 4.3, 4.7

Session 5 Energy

For tutorSlides 5.1, 5.2, 5.5, 5.6, 5.8, 5.9, 5.10Small sweets, paper cups

For participantsCopies of slides, Handouts 5.3, 5.4, 5.7


For tutorsSlides 6.1, 6.15Cards and job descriptions for Task K Flip chart, pens,White boards – one for each participant

For participantsCopies of slides, Handouts 6.2, 6.3, 6.4, 6.5, 6.6, 6.7, 6.8, 6.9, 6.10, 6.11,6.12, 6.13, 6.14


For tutorSlides 1.1, 7.2

For participantsHandout 7.1


Evaluation : Misconceptions in Key Stage 3 science

For completion by teachers

What were the most successful aspects of today’s sessions?

What changes would you suggest if today’s sessions were repeated?

Please grade each session on the basis of how useful it was for you.

School _________________________________________________________

Post held _________________________________________________________

Please return this form to your tutor before leaving.

Session Grade: please ring Comment1 = Very good 4 = Poor

Pre-unit task 1 2 3 4

1 Introduction 1 2 3 4

2 Using models and analogies 1 2 3 4

3 Particles 1 2 3 4

4 Cells 1 2 3 4

5 Energy 1 2 3 4

6 Interdependence and Earth science 1 2 3 4

7 Planning follow-up work and plenary 1 2 3 4

Overall grade for the unit 1 2 3 4

Key Stage 3

National Strategy

science


Summary Evaluation: Misconceptions in Key Stage 3 Science

For completion by consultants and tutors after the unit has takenplace

LEA: ……………………………………………..

Date of training …………………………………

What were the most successful aspects of today’s sessions?

What changes do you suggest might be made to improve this unit?

a. From the tutor’s point of view.

b. From the participants’ points of view.

Key Stage 3

National Strategy

science


Please grade the tutor’s material 1 to 4 for clarity of material, pitch of material,ease of use, appropriateness for teachers and so on. Use additional sheetsof paper if you wish to provide more detailed comments.

Session Grade: please ring Comment1 = Very good 4 = Poor

Pre-unit task 1 2 3 4

1 Introduction 1 2 3 4

2 Using models and 1 2 3 4analogies

3 Particles 1 2 3 4

4 Cells 1 2 3 4

5 Energy 1 2 3 4

6 Interdependence and 1 2 3 4Earth science

7 Planning follow up 1 2 3 4work and the plenary

Please collate the grades given to each session by the teachers attending. Pleaseprovide numbers, not percentages.

Total number of teachers …………….

Session Numbers for each grade

1 2 3 4 No grade

Pre-unit task

1 Introduction

2 Using models and analogies

3 Particles

4 Cells

5 Energy

6 Interdependence and Earth science

7 Planning follow-up work and the plenary

Overall grade for the unit

Please return this form to the Science Team Senior Regional Coordinator at TheCentre for Schools Standards, 60 Queens Road, Reading RG1 4BS


Introduction to misconceptions inKey Stage 3 science

Objectives

• To identify some commonly held misconceptions in the teaching of scienceat Key Stage 3

• To consider the implications of pupils’ misconceptions in key scientific ideasfor teaching science at Key Stage 3

• To establish the importance of models and analogies in teaching keyscientific ideas

• To identify teaching strategies for identifying and correcting pupils’misconceptions in the key scientific ideas


Resources

For tutor

Slides 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5Flip chart and pens

For participants

Evaluation formsCopies of slidesAppendices 2 and 3 (optional)

Participants should bring

Outcomes from pre-unit task

Session outline 60 minutesBackground Talk 10 minutesConsidering the unit as a whole and describing the nature of misconceptions

Identifying misconceptions Talk, Tasks A and B, 45 minutesTo identify a range of commonly held group work, whole misconceptions, including those held groupby pupils in participants’ own schools

Plenary Talk, whole group 5 minutesReflecting on the main points of the session

Session

1


Background 10 minutes

Welcome participants and describe the objectives of the course, usingSlide1.1.

Explain that these are the objectives for the whole day and that the first twoobjectives will be addressed in Session 1.

Explain the structure of the day by showing Slide 1.2.

Make the following points:

• Misconceptions, alternative conceptions or alternative frameworks areviews held by pupils (and adults) that do not fully coincide with scientificviews.

• They may be social (held by a large proportion of the population) orpersonal, and are developed through everyday talk.

Show Slide 1. 3 and invite brief comments from participants, but say that mostof these features of misconceptions will be dealt with in more detail later. Giveexamples to illustrate the different points.

Slide 1.1

Objectives Slide 1.1

• To identify some commonly held misconceptions (alternative conceptions, alternativeframeworks) in the teaching of science at Key Stage 3

• To consider the implications of pupils’ misconceptions in key scientific ideas forteaching science at Key Stage 3

• To establish the importance of models and analogies in teaching key scientific ideas

• To identify teaching strategies for identifying and correcting pupils’ misconceptions inthe key scientific ideas


Slide 1.2

Structure of the day Slide 1.2

Session 1 Introduction to misconceptions in Key Stage 3 science


Session 3 Particles

Session 4 Cells

Session 5 Energy



Slide 1.3

Characteristics of misconceptions Slide 1.3

• Have been constructed from everyday experiences

• May be linked to specialist language

• Can be personal or shared with others

• Explain how the world works in simple terms

• May be inconsistent with science taught in schools

• Can be resistant to change

• May inhibit further conceptual development


Say that:

• Learning science is developing new ways of knowing about andunderstanding familiar phenomena.

• Pupils will need to appreciate the differences between alternative ways ofknowing science and the contexts in which to use them.

Additional guidance

Use an example such as the one below as an illustration.

Most people will describe drinking through a straw as ‘sucking’. Even aprofessional scientist or a physics teacher will use this word in a normal socialcontext. They will only refer to the differences in air pressure resulting in themovement of liquid into the mouth in an appropriate scientific context. In fact,some may even, in an unguarded moment, mentally think of sucking in terms ofa ‘pull’. They can hold two different views of the same process at the sametime.

It is important that teachers are aware of the misconceptions pupils hold. If thedifference between the accepted scientific view and the misconception isgreat, then pupils will have more difficulty in understanding the scientific view.Teachers will need to take this into account when planning their teachingprogramme. John Leach and Philip Scott call this the ‘Learning demand’.

Ref SSR, Jun 1995, 76 (277) pp. 47-51

See Appendix 2 for a summary of ‘The Concept of Learning Demand andApproaches to Designing and Evaluating Science Teaching Sequences’ byJohn Leach and Phil Scott, CSSME, University of Leeds, UK.

In this unit the terms ‘misconceptions’, ‘alternative frameworks’ and ‘alternativeconceptions’ are used interchangeably. As long as you and the participantsunderstand what the terms mean it does not really matter which you use.

Read Appendices 2 and 3 as part of your preparation. If you feel it would beappropriate, copy these as handouts for participants, either as pre-coursereading or for post-unit follow-up reading.

Identifying misconceptions 45 minutes

Task A 15 minutes

In groups of three or four, ask participants to share the findings of the pre-unittask. After 10 minutes take feedback from each group and summarise findings.

Say that:

• Recent research (See Appendix 3) shows that a large proportion of pupilsstill hold misconceptions, despite primary science being well established,and that this is probably due to socially accepted beliefs and the way peopletalk to each other about scientific issues rather than poor teaching.


Additional guidance

Use examples to illustrate this, such as the weather person on television talkingabout ‘cold temperatures’, or the common, sloppy use of language in thephrase ‘birds and animals’ implying that birds aren’t animals.

Task B 30 minutes

Show Slide 1.4 and refer participants to the Framework for teaching science:Years, 7, 8 and 9 (pages 14–22), draw their attention to the key scientific ideasand refer briefly why these ideas are important.

Ask participants to brainstorm in groups the misconceptions that might be heldby pupils and adults for these key scientific ideas. To help them, tell them tothink about how pupils might talk about these key scientific ideas in theireveryday lives.

They will be required to display their findings and their displays will be used inremaining sessions. Allow 20 minutes to produce the display.

Ask them to try to sort the misconceptions according to whether they are linkedto terminology or poor understanding of science, or both.

They should also attempt to grade them on a scale of 1-3 in terms of thedifference in difficulty between the accepted scientific view and themisconception; (1 = hard, 3 = easy).

Ask each group to explain their display. Allow 10 minutes.

Review and summarise the findings from the different groups.

The lists of misconceptions that are displayed after Session 1 will be used insubsequent sessions.

Additional guidance

The QCA scheme of work identifies some misconceptions and you might like todirect participants to relevant sections, e.g. 7I – exercise gives you energy.

You could use an alternative method for Task B by providing units from the QCAscheme of work and asking participants to do a search for the misconceptionsidentified in it. You will need to have previously identified and selected units forthis purpose.

Depending on the numbers of participants the groups could each be given oneor two key scientific ideas to work on. If you know the specialisms of theparticipants, it might be useful to mix the groups.

Slide 1.4

Key scientific ideas in Key Stage 3 science Slide 1.4

• Cells

• Interdependence

• Particles

• Energy

• Forces


Point out that it is good practice to identify potential misconceptions in theirown schemes of work.

The misconceptions in Appendix 1 will give you some starting points if theparticipants are slow to begin.

Plenary 5 minutes

Use Slide 1.1 to remind participants of the objectives for this session. Thenshow Slide 1.5 which describes the anticipated outcomes which relate tothese objectives. Ask participants to consider how far the objectives have beenmet.

Invite any further questions and points participants might like to make, andencourage them to complete the evaluation form for Session 1. Tell them thatnow is a good time to note any points which they want to follow up in school.

Slide 1.5

Plenary for Session 1 Slide 1.5

By the end of this session participants should:

• be clear about the structure of this unit;

• be clearer about the characteristics of misconceptions;

• have identified some misconceptions pupils might hold;

• be aware of some implications of the misconceptions pupils may hold with regard to teaching.


Using models and analogies

Objectives

• To establish the importance of models and analogies in understanding keyscientific ideas

• To appreciate how models and analogies can be used effectively in teachingkey scientific ideas

Resources

For tutor

Slides 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6, 2.8

Audio clip of Sir Harry Kroto

For each participant

Copies of slides, Handout 2.7

Session outline 35 minutesIntroduction Talk 10 minutesOutline of session

Using models and analogies in the Talk, audio clip 20 minutes classroomExplanation of the advantages of using models and analogies in learning

Plenary Talk 5 minutesReflecting on the main points of the session

Session

2


Introduction 10 minutes

Show Slide 2.1 and outline the objectives for the session.

Make the following points.

• Scientific research and teaching science are often about developing modelsthat can help us visualise and explain the world.

• We often use different models to explain ideas and there is often no singleuniversal model. Sometimes one picture may help us explain some ideas,whilst another picture can help us to explain others.

• Pupils need to understand this, and it should be made explicit in teaching.

• Much of what we describe and explain in science is through model andanalogy.

• The use of models and analogies at Key Stage 3 is outlined on page 15 of theFramework for teaching science: Years 7, 8 and 9.

• Many of the scientific ideas developed at Key Stage 3 are themselvesmodels; e.g. particle theory.

• All models have strengths and weaknesses and we need to take account ofthis in our teaching.

• Models and analogies are helpful for pupils to visualise, not only abstractideas by making them concrete, but also objects and processes that cannoteasily be seen.

Show Slide 2.2 to illustrate this last point.

Show Slide 2.3.

Make the following points to explain the terms.

We use the term ‘model’ in a variety of different ways to mean different things.

Slide 2.1


• To establish the importance of models and analogies in understanding key scientificideas

• To appreciate how models and analogies can be used effectively in teaching keyscientific ideas

Slide 2.2

Where models and analogies are useful in teaching Slide 2.2

• Objects that are too big, e.g. solar system

• Objects that are too small or not easily seen, e.g. cell, heart

• Processes that cannot be easily seen directly, e.g. digestion, erosion

• Abstract ideas, e.g. particulate nature of matter, energy transfer

Slide 2.3

• Scientific models – often pictorial but sometimes mathematical Slide 2.3

• Teaching models – pictorial, three-dimensional, analogies, etc.


Scientific model

This is the accepted or consensus view of the concept or idea, for instance thata force is needed to make something start to move or slow down, and that thisforce is either a push or a pull. This is an explanatory theory. Others are theparticulate nature of matter, energy, the cell as a basic building block of livingthings and the germ theory of disease.

Teaching model

This is something that can help pupils visualise and grasp the idea. For instanceyou could use the ball-bearing three-dimensional model to illustrate the kinetictheory of matter or a plastic bag filled with water to illustrate a cell. It could,however, be an analogy, such as the water flow model to represent the flow ofelectricity in a circuit.

Additional guidance

Modelling teaching is what consultants do when they are team teaching, givingdemonstration lessons or delivering CPD.

Using models and analogies in 20 minutesthe classroom

Invite participants to listen to the recording of Sir Harry Kroto.

Say that:

Sir Harry Kroto makes some important points:

• We should not make assumptions that pupils see things as we do.

• We need to help pupils visualise ideas.

• We need to build pupils’ picture of the world step by step.

• One model cannot explain everything: a model may sometimes breakdown.

Say that there are different strategies for helping pupils use models.

Show Slide 2.4.


• When planning teaching sequences, consider what models or analogies are‘good enough’ at a particular stage to explain phenomena, for instance the‘billiard ball’ model for particles is good enough for explaining many physicalchanges but not chemical changes.

Slide 2.4

Developing sequences of ‘good enough’ models Slide 2.4

• Introduce the scientific idea (e.g. particle theory) early in the key stage

• Use a clear TEACHING MODEL to help pupils VISUALISE the idea

• Encourage pupils to APPLY their model to explain new phenomena

• Increase the SOPHISTICATION or CHANGE the model when necessary


• There will be an opportunity to look more closely at the ‘good enough’model later in the unit.

Show Slide 2.5 and use examples to illustrate the different points.


• Discussing with pupils the merits of a model or an analogy helps themrealise that these are the ways in which we often visualise science: they aremodels and they have their limitations.

• Encouraging critical thought develops pupils’ ability to reason and helpsthem appreciate that modelling is a useful way of thinking.

• Discussing the strengths and weaknesses of models helps pupils makegood progress in developing their understanding of science.

• Constructive criticism of other people’s models can be fun and thereforemotivating.

Show Slide 2.6.

Say that participants will get the opportunity to see this strategy in action inSession 3.

Give out Handout 2.7 and summarise the points from this session.

Plenary 5 minutes

Remind participants of the objectives for the session. Show Slide 2.8 whichdescribes the anticipated outcomes relating to these objectives.

Slide 2.5

Encouraging pupils to identify the strengths and weaknesses Slide 2.5in a model

Discuss the model and encourage pupils to:

• identify what each part represents;

• think about the strengths and weaknesses: – what can it explain?– what can it not explain?

• suggest improvements for the model.

Provide models created by others that are problematic and encourage pupils to:

• identify what is wrong with the model;

• consider what misconceptions it might generate.

Slide 2.6

Slide 2.8

Handout 2.7

Encouraging pupils to develop their own models or pictures Slide 2.6

Encouraging pupils to develop their own models or analogies:

• helps reveal misconceptions;

• is motivating and requires creative thought;

• enables pupils to explore their own understanding of an idea.





• be clear about the role of models and analogies in teaching;

• have a greater understanding of where the use of models and analogies can helppupils’ understanding;

• begin to understand the idea of ‘good enough’ models.


Handout 2.7Teaching science at Key Stage 3 using models andanalogies; a summary

To raise achievement of pupils in Key Stage 3 science youcan plan to:

• give pupils ‘pictures’ so they can talk about and explain theirideas in science;

• agree what ‘pictures’ will be used consistently within thedepartment;

• teach the scientific ideas with explicit teaching models.

During lessons you can encourage pupils to:

• apply the scientific idea (model) to explain new phenomena;

• think about the strengths and weaknesses of models;

• develop and test out their own models and analogies;

• improve their model (or that of others) by making it moresophisticated or by changing to a different model.


Particles

Objectives

• To provide teaching strategies for identifying and correcting pupils’misconceptions on particles

• To consider the importance of models and analogies in the teaching ofparticles

Resources

For tutor

Slides 3.1, 3.2, 3.6, 3.7, 3.8, 3.11VideoExamples of different particle models, e.g. marbles, ‘balls and sticks’, etc.

For participants

Copies of slides, Handouts 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 3.9, 3.10


Identifying pupils’ understanding on Talk, whole group, 25 minutes the nature of solids, liquids and gases group discussion, Participants consider strategies for Task C identifying misconceptions and use concept mapping to look in detail at misconceptions relating to solids, liquids and gases

Identifying pupils’ misconceptions Talk, Task D, video, 25 minutes of particles group work Participants watch a video of pupils discussing their ideas of particles and relate this to how pupils develop their own models

Using models to teach the particle Task E, talk, individual 20 minutes theory and group work Participants consider different ways thatmodels can be used to teach the particletheory

Plenary Talk, individual 5 minutes Reflecting on main points of session

Session

3




Remind participants of the misconceptions that they identified in Session 1relating to particles. Refer them to their displays from this session.

Say that in the rest of the session they will be considering some of thesemisconceptions and considering some strategies for overcoming them.

Identifying pupils’ understanding on 25 minutesthe nature of solids, liquids and gases

Make the following point:

• There are several different methods teachers can use to identify pupils’misconceptions. Sometimes these can be used at the beginning of a topicto plan an effective teaching programme and sometimes they can be usedpart way through a unit of work to check whether pupils are beginning toacquire an accepted scientific view of a concept.

Show Slide 3.2 and ask how many of these techniques participants use nowand whether they are effective at identifying misconceptions.

This is not a definitive list. Ask participants if they use any other strategies intheir own teaching.

In this unit we will be using several different strategies to illustrate how they canbe used for this purpose.

Task C 15 minutes

Explain what a concept map is and describe how the process of pupilsproducing a concept map can be managed in the classroom. Use a simpleexample if participants are not familiar with the process.

Slide 3.1


• To provide teaching strategies for identifying and correcting pupils’ misconceptions on particles

• To consider the importance of the use of models and analogies in the teaching ofparticles

Slide 3.2

Techniques for probing thinking and identifying Slide 3.2

misconceptions

• Focused questioning

• Flow charts

• Associated word lists

• Annotated drawings and posters

• Concept maps

• Concept cartoons

• Class discussion


Give out Handout 3.3 showing a pupil’s concept map.

Ask participants, working in groups, to identify what misconceptions this pupilmay hold about solids, liquids and gases.

After 10 minutes share findings from groups.

Additional guidance

Concept mapping is widely used in primary and secondary schools as a learningtool. The maps help learners make explicit to themselves and to others how theyview the relationships between associated words, concepts and ideas.

Several techniques for recording maps are available. The one used here is oftencalled ‘Propositional concept mapping’. Learners record connections betweenconcepts by joining them and explaining the nature of the association. Suchmaps can be used to provide an insight into how the learner thinks about ascientific idea, and can reveal misconceptions.

The use of concept maps to probe and extend pupils’ thinking in science isdescribed in more detail in the following publication:

Hamer,P., Allmark,B., Chapman,J. and Jackson, J., Mapping Concepts inScience, Chapter 3 in Ratcliffe, M. (ed) (1998) Association for ScienceEducation Guide to Secondary Science Education, Hatfield.

Identifying pupils’ misconceptions 25 minutesof particles

Remind participants that in Session 2 they discussed the strategy of pupilsdeveloping their own models.

Say that they are now going to see an example of this in practice.

Task D 20 minutes

Give out Handouts 3.4 and 3.5 and use them to explain the background to thelesson they are about to see.

Show the third section of the video – the plenary session. This should take 15minutes.

While they are watching, ask participants to note down the misconceptionspupils have regarding particles.

At the end of the video ask them, working in groups, to identify changes in themodels pupils held and what their final views were.

Make the following point.

• Now that the teacher has identified the pupils’ misconceptions the next stepis to organise appropriate teaching strategies to help the pupils overcomethese misconceptions.

Handout 3.3

Handouts 3.4/3.5


Additional guidance

In the final session of the video, the teacher describes his rationale for the waythe lesson was set up and what he learned from the contributions of the pupils.If time allows, this could be shown at this point but at the very least, you shouldwatch this section during your planning.

Using models to teach the particle 20 minutestheory


• Research has shown that there are differences in the ways teachers usemodels to explain particles, even within a single department.

• The purpose of this session is to explore some of the differences about themodels that are used in teaching science at Key Stage 3 and point out thatthere is often no right or wrong answer, but that we use different models fordifferent purposes.

• This session also attempts to make clear that whilst this is so, some modelsare better than others and that it would be helpful if teachers within adepartment adopted a consistent approach.

Task E 10 minutes

Show participants Slide 3.6 to introduce them to Task E. Ask them to drawquickly (allow no more than 1 minute) a particle picture to represent a solid,liquid and gas.

Then ask them to compare notes and discuss any differences. Allow 2-3minutes for this.

Next show participants Slide 3.7, and then Slide 3.8.

Slide 3.6

Slides 3.7/3.8

Task E (part 1): Pictures of particles Slide 3.6

Draw a particle picture to represent:

• A solid

• A liquid

• A gas


Say that:

• Particle theory will probably be new to pupils at Key Stage 3. It is not in theprogramme of study at Key Stage 2, although primary teachers may havereferred to it.

• Many textbooks tend to show solids, liquids and gases as in the firstexample. However, others suggest that many of the particles representing aliquid should be ‘touching’ as in the second example.

Solid, liquid and gas picture 1 Slide 3.7

Solid

Liquid

Gas

Solid, liquid and gas picture 2 Slide 3.8

Solid

Liquid

Gas


• Reasons suggested for this ‘picture’ are that when solids melt to formliquids their volumes are about the same, and that you cannot easilycompress solids or liquids.

• In air (a mixture of gases) the particles are about nine diameters apart;hence gases are relatively easy to compress.

Additional guidance

The marking scheme for the end of the Key Stage 3 science tests allocatesmarks for identifying that 50% of particles should be touching in a liquid, butthere is no standard set or expressed for this.

Whilst this may be a useful picture to explain the solids, liquids and gases, itdoesn’t work with other phenomena such as expansion of solids. The particle-touching model is not a ‘correct’ model; rather, it is a good enough model thatcan be used to explain phenomena such as the comparative non-compressibility of liquids and solids.

Use Handouts 3.9 and 3.10 to illustrate how a ‘good enough’ model can beused in teaching particles.

Plenary 5 minutes

Remind participants of the objectives for the session. Show Slide 3.11 whichdescribes the anticipated outcomes relating to these objectives.


Slide 3.11



• be clear about what a concept map is and how it can be used to ascertain pupils’understanding;

• be more aware of how pupils can be encouraged to develop and discuss their ownmodels;

• be aware of a sequence of ‘good enough’ models for teaching particles and how thiscould be used in their teaching.

Handout 3.9

Handout 3.10


Pupil’s concept map

are not

are

are not

can be

sometimesturn into

can sometimes be

are

Hard

Compressed

Liquids

SolidsGases

Air

Handout 3.3


Background

School

The school is an 11–16 comprehensive in a small, rural town in thenorth of England. The school population is approximately 650.Very few pupils are entitled to free school meals. About 30% ofpupils are on the special educational needs register.

Organisation

The pupils are set for science. The class on the video is in Year 8,the 2nd set out of 5.

The school has been a CASE school for a year and these pupilshave been taught CASE lessons regularly since they were in Year 7. They are used to working in this way. The groups are self-selected friendship groups.

On the day of filming, 22 out of 28 pupils were present – 14 boysand 8 girls. The high level of absence was largely due to the fact itwas the last day of the half term and some pupils had gone onholiday early.

The lesson filmed was a 90 minute timetabled lesson. It has beenedited to make it possible to show the lesson’s features in atraining session.

Handout 3.4


Lesson information

The lesson is based on Unit 8I ‘Heating and cooling’, from the QCA scheme ofwork. The teacher has modified the possible teaching activities to provide afocus on teaching thinking.

Objectives

• To use the particle model to explain changes of state and know thatchanges of state occur at a fixed temperature

• To use thinking skills

Teaching strategy

Introduction

The teacher explains the objectives of the lesson and links to prior learning;details of how to complete the task and what the expectations are.

Main part of lesson

Pupils work in groups, completing the tasks and producing a group answer.

Activities

All recording by the pupils was carried out on a prepared worksheet.

1. Pupils predict what will happen as a substance cools. They complete andsketch a graph and explain why they have chosen that shape.

2. They are provided with liquid stearic acid and water or Vaseline at 80oC. As itcools (in a container of ice), they record the temperature every 30 secondstogether with any observations.

3. The results are graphed.

4. Pupils compare the outcomes with the prediction and record theirconclusions giving reasons and/or using precise language (reasoning skills).

5. In discussion groups, pupils produce a model to explain their results.

Plenary

The teacher manages the class discussion, enabling pupils to argue, articulateand justify their findings. The final summary enables pupils to reflect on whatthey have learned, the way they think and look forward to future developmentsof this topic.

Handout 3.5


A ‘good enough’ version of the billiard ball model to explain a range of physical phenomena

Basic premises

• All matter consists of tiny particles.

• Types of particle vary in their volume.

• Types of particle vary in their mass.

A crystalline solid has a set shape and a fixed volume that is independent of thatof its container. To represent this the particles in the particle model:

• are arranged in rows and sheets;

• are close together;

• are held together tightly;

• have energy and vibrate around a point;

• cannot easily change places.

A liquid has a fixed volume and takes up the shape of its container up to thelevel of the surface of the liquid. To represent this the particles in the particlemodel:

• have no set pattern;

• are also close together;

• are not so tightly held together as in a solid;

• have more energy and move randomly;

• can change places.

A gas takes up the whole volume of its container. If that container is open, it willdiffuse into the air. To represent this the particles in the particle model:

• are not arranged in any way;

• are far apart;

• are very weakly held together;

• have much more energy and move very rapidly in all directions;

• constantly change places in no pattern.

Note: the distance between particles in air is about nine diameters.

Handout 3.9


Developing a sequence of ‘good enough’ particle models

Handout 3.10

Scientific idea

Matter made ofparticles that aremoving, very small andbroadly of similar size

Particles are ofdifferent size/mass

When particlesinteract there areforces acting betweenthem

Particles are ofdifferent types. Thereare a set number ofatoms and all otherparticles are madefrom these

The types of particleinteractions:

A + B ➔ AB

AB ➔ A + B

AB + C ➔ AC + B

AB + CD ➔ AC + BD

Teaching model

Billiard ball (Handout3.9) Computeranimations

Use marbles, ballbearings, beads, etc.to illustrate

Use magneticmarbles, or sticky andnon-sticky balls toillustrate forces

Use commerciallyproduced modelssuch as Molymod orLego to illustratedifferent types

Use Molymod type orLego to model eachreaction type andmodel reactions whilstthey take place

Can be used to explain

Changes of state,solidifying, melting,evaporating

Density, viscosity,movement ofsubstances through cellmembranes, Brownianmotion

Dissolving

Elements, compoundsand chemical change

Patterns in chemicalchange:

• combination

• disassociation

• displacement (special case of recombination)

• recombination


Cells

Objectives

• To provide a teaching strategy for identifying and correcting pupils’misconceptions on cells

• To establish the importance of models in the teaching of cells

Resources

For tutor

Slides 4.1, 4.2, 4.4, 4.5, 4.6, 4.8Models of cells made by pupils/tutor (optional)

For participants

Copies of slides, Handouts 4.3, 4.7

Session outline 35 minutesIntroduction Talk 5 minutesAn outline of the session

Identifying pupils’ ideas on cells Task F, talk, group 15 minutes Participants use a strategy that can be used work to identify pupils’ misconceptions

Using models to teach about cells Talk 10 minutes The ways models can be used to teach cells are discussed

Plenary Talk, individual 5 minutes Reflecting on main points of session

Session

4


Introduction 5 minutesShow Slide 4.1 and outline the objectives for the session.

Remind participants of the misconceptions they identified in Session 1 relatingto cells.

Identifying pupils’ ideas on cells 15 minutesSay that the following task illustrates a technique that can be used to determinepupils’ ideas on cells.

Task F 15 minutes

Show Slide 4.2.

Ask participants, working in groups, to write a question they could ask pupilsfor each of the four Ws.

After 5 minutes ask the groups in turn to share their questions. Ask whichmisconception on cells the questions could be used to find.

Make the point that it is important that teachers think about the key questionsthey might ask pupils in advance and note them down in their lesson plans.Skilful questioning needs planning.

Additional guidance

This activity can be used as a starter activity with pupils. Get the pupils to fold apiece of paper into four. Put the key word in the centre and write the questionthey want answering in each quarter.

Using models to teach about cells 10 minutes

Give out Handout 4.3.

Use it to explain how participants can use models to teach cells.

Slide 4.1

ObjectivesSlide 4.1

• To provide a teaching strategy for identifying and correcting pupils’misconceptions on cells

• To establish the importance of models in the teaching of cells

Slide 4.2

Handout 4.3

‘The four Ws’ Slide 4.2

When? Where?

Why? What?

Cells



• The QCA scheme of work invites teachers to use models to teach cells, suchas in Units 7A and 8A.

• Research has shown that the choice of materials in making model cells isimportant and can lead to misconceptions. For instance, the use of wallpaperpaste in animal cell models can contain air bubbles. These bubbles havesubsequently been drawn by pupils who think that all cells contain them(vacuoles in plant cells are not randomly generated like air bubbles). It is importantfor teachers to discuss with pupils what each part of the model represents.

• It is equally important to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the model;this is something that is not always done – you might like to stress theimportance of this.

• Cells will be a new area of the curriculum for pupils at Key Stage 3; they oftenhave difficulty recognising that animals and plants are multicellular organismsand that cells are three-dimensional.

• Many teachers introduce cells using three-dimensional models. The QCAscheme of work does this in Unit 7A.

• Research has shown that if this modelling of cells is continued, so that pupilsmodel specialised cells and build tissue and organs from model cells, theymake even better progress.

Use Slides 4.4, 4.5 and 4.6 to show some models that pupils have made.Slide 4.4

Slide 4.5

Slide 4.6Models of typical animal and plant cell Slide 4.4


Refer participants to Handout 4.7.

Say that:

• When teaching cells we can adopt a similar approach to that of teachingparticles, by increasing the sophistication of the teaching model step bystep.

Additional guidance

It would be useful if you had some model cells prepared to demonstrate whatcan be produced. Unfortunately there is no time available in this unit to allowparticipants to make their own, but by having some already made you couldprovide useful examples of how they could do this in their own schools. Amodel of many cells forming a model tissue could also be demonstrated.

Cells arranged as tissue in a tank Slide 4.6

Specialised cells – pupils’ models Slide 4.5

Spermatozoa Nerve Cell

Handout 4.7


ReferenceModels and modelling project 2001(Hampshire LEA, Southampton LEA and the University of Reading)

Plenary 5 minutes

Remind participants of the objectives for the session. Show Slide 4.8 whichdescribes the anticipated outcomes relating to the objectives.


Slide 4.8



• have had the opportunity to carry out a strategy to determine pupils’ understanding ofcells;

• be aware of an approach they could use to teach cells using models;

• be developing an understanding of a ‘good enough’ approach to using models toteach cells.


An approach to teaching Handout 4.3

cells using models

• Build three-dimensional models of typical plant and animal cells

• Discuss what each part represents, developing specificlanguage

• Discuss strengths and weaknesses of any model and howeach may be improved

• Ask pupils to build their own models of specialised cells,identifying any strengths and weakness

• Build a model tissue from model cells as a class

• Relate the model to what is seen through a microscope

• Consider how you might construct some model organs frommodel tissue, e.g. leaf, heart, eye


Developing a sequence of ‘good enough’ cell models

Handout 4.7

Teaching model

Plastic bag filled withwater or jelly and atable tennis ball

Plastic bag filled withwallpaper paste(shows vacuole)placed in jar (showscell wall)

Different materials canbe used to show howcells are specialisedand adapted to theirfunction such asballoons for guardcells, football for eggand marble with tail forsperm (to showrelative size)

Plastic bag cellsplaced in fish tank toshow tissue; comparethis with looking downthe microscope to seelayers

Visking tubing andparticle-sieve models

Nucleus made ofjumble of pipecleaners, animations

Can be used toexplain

All living things havesimilar structures

Differences betweenplant and animal cells

Differences in cell formreflect their functions

Tissue under themicroscope containsmany cells that are thesame

Gas exchange in thelungs, respiration,digestion, wateruptake in root hair,photosynthesis

Reproduction andgrowth

Scientific idea

The cell is the basicbuilding block of livingmaterial, consisting ofnucleus, cytoplasmand membrane

Plant cells also have acell wall and vacuole

Cells are adapted totheir function and havespecialised forms

Tissue is composed ofgroups of the sametype of cells anddifferent tissues canform organs

The cell membrane isdifferentiallypermeable

Nucleus containsgenetic material andcan divide causing celldivision


Energy

Objectives

• To provide teaching strategies for identifying and correcting pupils’misconceptions on energy

• To establish the importance of models and analogies in the teaching ofenergy

Resources

For tutor

Slides 5.1, 5.2, 5.5, 5.6, 5.8, 5.9, 5.10

Small sweets, paper cups

For participants

Copies of slides, Handouts 5.3, 5.4, 5.7


Identifying pupils’ ideas on energy Task G, talk, group 20 minutesParticipants are given the opportunity to workconsider how concept cartoons can be used to identify pupils’ ideas

Developing different teaching Talk, individual approaches to energy as a key reading, groupscientific idea discussion, Task H, 30 minutesParticipants are given the opportunity to group activitydiscuss different ways that models can be used to develop an understanding of energy

Plenary Talk 5 minutes Reflecting on the main points of the session

Session

5




Remind participants of the misconceptions they identified in Session 1 relatingto energy.

Identifying pupils’ ideas on energy 20 minutes

Say that:

• One of the ways of identifying pupils’ ideas about science is to use aconcept cartoon. (Ref: Concept Cartoons in Science Education StuartNaylor and Brenda Keogh 2000, Millgate House Publishers).

Additional guidanceIt would be an advantage to have read the above publication during yourpreparation for the training.

Show Slide 5.2 and explain the benefits of using concept cartoons.


Say that:

A typical approach to using a concept cartoon in a class might be:

• introduce the topic;

• provide a concept cartoon to focus on a particular situation;

• brief period of reflection;

• group discussion;

• whole-class discussion as to which alternative now seems most acceptableand why the others are less acceptable. What other evidence/ informationmay be necessary to be sure?

• provide a summary of what has been learned.

Slide 5.1


• To provide teaching strategies for identifying and correcting pupils’ misconceptions on energy

• To establish the importance of models and analogies in the teaching of energy

Slide 5.2

Handout 5.3

Why concept cartoons work Slide 5.2

• They help make learners’ ideas explicit

• They challenge and develop learners’ ideas

• They apply scientific ideas in everyday situations

• They promote discussion

• For more able pupils they can provide cognitive conflict which helps to clarify ideas

• They help legitimise alternative viewpoints – reduce the threat of giving the ‘wrong’answer


Task G 15 minutes

Ask participants to look at the concept cartoon in Handout 5.3.

In groups, ask them to discuss what ideas pupils might come up with and whatmisconceptions these might indicate.

After 10 minutes, take feedback from groups.

Developing different teaching approaches 30 minutesto energy as a key scientific idea

Say that:

• Energy is a new idea for pupils at Key Stage 3 and is not dealt with in KeyStage 2, although they will have used it in their everyday language.

• There have been many debates about how energy, energy transfer andconservation should be taught.


Give participants time to read through the handout, then make the followingpoints:

• Sometimes models do not develop in sequences, and there may bealternative ways of looking at things. Energy presents us with just such acase.

• There are two alternative ways of looking at and describing energy, one is totalk of energy transformation or change, the other is to talk of energytransfer. Neither is wrong; rather, they are alternatives and in many waysboth sets of language are needed to help pupils develop theirunderstanding.

• The energy transformation model helps pupils ‘see’ or spot the energy.Some authors talk of ‘putting on your energy spectacles’.

• The energy transfer model enables us to use it to explain energyconservation and a range of phenomena such as why current is not used upin a circuit. The energy transformation model cannot do this.

Show Slide 5.5 and allow participants time to read it.

Handout 5.4

Slide 5.5

… but what is energy?! Slide 5.5

‘ … there is a certain quantity, which we call energy, that does not change in all themanifold changes which nature undergoes.

That is a most abstract idea, because it is a mathematical principle: it says that there is anumerical quantity, which does not change when something happens. It is not adescription of a mechanism, or anything concrete: it is just a strange fact that we cancalculate some number and when we finish watching nature go through her tricks andcalculate that number again it is the same.’

Richard Feynman


Show Slide 5.6 to introduce Richard Feynman’s analogy for energy and askparticipants to read Handout 5.7.

Allow participants time to read the handout (about three minutes) and ask themto discuss the analogy with their neighbours. Why is this analogy thought to bea good one? You can allow about three to four minutes for the discussion andthen take brief feedback.


• Richard Feynman, a Nobel Laureate, was renowned for his ability tocommunicate scientific ideas.

• His idea of using bricks to represent little packets of energy, looking carefullyto locate all the energy, has been used by many teachers as a basis for anenergy transfer model. The bricks set a limit on what can be transferred.

Use Slide 5.8 to show how this can be developed further by using money as ananalogy.

Slide 5.6

Slide 5.6

Handout 5.7

Money as an analogy Slide 5.8

Source: Primary School Teachers’ and Science Project 1991 – Pack 2 UnderstandingEnergy, published by Oxford University Department of Educational Studies andWestminster College Oxford ISBN 0 903535 11 4

Slide 5.8


Make the following points

Money is a good analogy for energy because:

• money sets a limit on what is available, just as energy sets a limit on what ispossible;

• only when money is transferred does something happen (change intodifferent currency/something is brought), just as energy transfers from onelocation to another;

• when money is more spread out (divided between different people) itbecomes less useful, just like energy;

• the use of money shows how energy can be thought of as an accountingsystem.

Task H 15 minutes

Show Slide 5.9 to introduce the task.

Say that:

• We can use the energy transfer model to explain why the current is not usedup in an electrical circuit

• Many teachers and published texts use the idea of energy transformation –energy is transformed from one type to another. However, the model ofenergy transfer is more helpful in explaining a range of phenomena such asphotosynthesis, absorption and radiation of light, and conduction andconvection.

• Energy itself is difficult to define and it is important for us not to say that‘energy causes changes’, or makes things happen; rather it defines thelimits to what is possible. It is really an accounting system.

Additional guidanceThis is an opportunity for participants to take part actively and learn a usefulanalogy. As tutor you can take the role of the teacher. You will need severalpackets of small sweets. You will also need some paper cups. Ask a participantto represent the bulb and tell them to eat one sweet on each passing. Askquestions such as ‘What does the cup represent?’ etc. Hopefully one person atleast, acting as wire, will break the rules and eat their sweet. This can be a good

Slide 5.9

Using energy transfer to explain why current is not used up in an Slide 5.9electric circuit

Model the electric circuit

• The teacher represents the battery with a supply of small sweets

• Pupils form a ring; each has a paper cup; one pupil is asked to represent the bulb

• The cups are passed round the circuit and the teacher places small sweets (2) in eachas they pass the battery

• The ‘bulb’ eats a small sweet as it passes

• The moving cup represents the current or flow of electrons

• A small sweet represents a unit of energy

• The teacher holding sweet packets represents the cell


opportunity to say ‘Did you see that?’ Do you think the wire would do that?’This would lead to a discussion about energy transfer by the wire to the air byheating. If no-one eats a sweet you could do so, and then invite discussion.Point out that this can be developed further into modelling series and parallelcircuits.

You could then invite participants to consider how they might extend the model,e.g. use two participants to represent an increase in voltage.

Plenary 5 minutes

Remind participants of the objectives for the session. Show Slide 5.10 whichdescribes anticipated outcomes relating to the objectives.


Slide 5.10



• be aware of how concept cartoons can be used to determine pupils’ understanding;

• have clarified their understanding of energy transfer and energy transformation;

• be aware of the implications of the different models of energy for their teaching;

• have experienced different models and analogies they could use for teaching energy.


Handout 5.3

The faster we gothe more energy

the car uses.

The caruses fuel, not

energy.

The wheelsmake energy from the fuel.

What do YOU think?


Alternative approaches to teaching energy at Key Stage 3

Energy transfer

In this approach the energy is located in one place, and when somethinghappens energy is transferred from that place to another.

Typical language to use:‘The energy in the battery is transferred to the bulb by electricity and then fromthe bulb to the surroundings by heating and light.

‘Energy from the Sun is transferred to the leaf cells by light.’

‘Energy is transferred from the reaction between magnesium and hydrochloricacid to the surroundings by heating.’

‘A weightlifter transfers energy from his muscles to the bar by lifting (moving)his arms.’

Energy transformation

Here energy takes on different forms, for example chemical, heat, light, etc.Energy is transformed or changed from one form or type to another when achange occurs. In this approach teachers use words such as ‘changed’ or‘converted’.

Typical language to use:‘The chemical energy in the battery is transformed into electrical energy inthe wires and then to light energy and heat in the bulb.’

‘The light energy from the Sun is changed into chemical energy in the leaf.’

‘Chemical energy in the magnesium and hydrochloric acid is changed intoheat when they react together.’

‘The chemical energy in the weightlifter’s muscles is changed into kineticenergy when lifting the bar and is changed into potential energy at the topof the lift.’

Neither of these approaches is right or wrong. The two points of substance arethat:

• pupils need to be aware that either energy transfer or energy transformationmight be used in different Key Stage 3 text books, tests or examinations;

• teachers in a science department need to adopt a consistent approach toteaching energy across the science curriculum.

Handout 5.4


Dennis the Menace(Adapted from Richard Feynman)

‘Imagine Dennis who has blocks that areabsolutely indestructible and cannot bedivided into pieces. Each is the same asthe other. Let us suppose he has 28.

His mother puts him with his 28 blocks intoa room at the beginning of the day.

At the end of each day, being curious, shecounts them and discovers a phenomenallaw. No matter what he does with theblocks, there are always 28 remaining.

This continues for some time until one dayshe only counts 27, but with a little searching she finds one under a rug. Sherealises she must be careful to look everywhere.

One day later she can only find 26. She looks everywhere in the room, butcannot find them. Then she realises the window is open and the two blocks arefound outside in the garden.

Another day, careful counts show there are 33 blocks. This causesconsiderable dismay until it is realised that Bruce came to visit bringing hisblocks with him and left a few.

She removes the five extra blocks and gives them back to Bruce and all returnsto normal.

We can think of energy like this except there are no blocks.’

We can use this idea to track energy transfers during changes. We need to becareful to look everywhere to ensure that we can account for all the energy.

Handout 5.7


Interdependence and Earth science

Objectives

• To provide teaching strategies for identifying and correcting pupils’misconceptions about interdependence and Earth science

• To consider strategies to use in teaching interdependence and Earthscience including the use of models.

Resources

For tutors

Slides 6.1, 6.15Cards and job descriptions for Task K Flip chart, pensWhite boards – one for each participantLength of rope (10m) or masking tape3 or 4 torches

For participants

Copies of slides and Handouts 6.2, 6.3, 6.4, 6.5, 6.6, 6.7, 6.8, 6.9, 6.10,6.11, 6.12, 6.13, 6.14


Identifying pupils’ understanding Tasks I and J, talk, 30 minutes of aspects of interdependence whole group, group Participants use a poster as a strategy work to identify pupils’ misconceptions. They also consider how questions can be used to probe understanding

Using a model to teach photosynthesis Task K, group 15 minutes Participants carry out an activity that work, talk demonstrates photosynthesis

An activity to demonstrate processes Talk, individual work 10 minutes involved in the rock cycleParticipants carry out an activity that can be used to review understanding

Plenary Talk, individual work 5 minutesReflecting on the main parts of the lesson

Session

6




Remind participants of the misconceptions that they identified in Session 1relating to interdependence. Refer them to their displays for this key idea.

Say that for the rest of the session they will be considering some strategies thatcan be used to identify these misconceptions and how they can be overcome.

Identifying pupils’ understanding 30 minutesof aspects of interdependence

Say that one of the areas of misconceptions that will be dealt with in this sectionis the idea of photosynthesis. Pupils’ understanding of the accepted scientificideas associated with photosynthesis are crucial in their understanding of theway living organisms are interdependent in an ecosystem.

Task I 15 minutes

Say that annotated drawings are a good way of identifying pupils’misconceptions.


Ask participants, working in groups, to identify the misconceptions the pupilholds.

For each misconception, ask participants to think of a question they could askthe pupils to probe their understanding further.

Take feedback from individual groups and flip chart responses.


• Drawing diagrams can be motivating for some pupils.

• This strategy can be used for assessment by repeating the activity at theend of the topic.

• A pre-drawn diagram can be produced for pupils for whom drawing may bea challenging activity.

Task J 15 minutes

Say that one of the aspects of Earth science that pupils in Key Stage 3 mayhold misconceptions about is the rock cycle, particularly in terms oferosion/weathering and the time and scale of the rock cycle.

Using focused and graded questions is one method for overcoming this.

Give out Handout 6.3, Bloom’s Taxonomy, and explain the hierarchy.

Slide 6.1

Handout 6.2

Handout 6.3


• To provide teaching strategies for identifying and correcting pupils’misconceptions about interdependence and Earth science

• To consider strategies to use in teaching interdependence and Earth science


Say that this can be used to structure questions of increasing difficulty, butthese need to be planned.

Use Handout 6.4 to illustrate this, using a simple example.

Give out Handout 6.6 and ask participants to complete the grid with questionsthat they could use to probe pupils’ understanding of the rock cycle.

If necessary, give them Handout 6.5 as a worked example.

Additional guidanceThe examples given below can be used as a starting point if necessary.

Knowledge What is a rock?

Comprehension Where might rock be frequently frozen and thawed?

Application Which parts of the rock cycle can happen in a puddle?

Analysis Which parts of the rock cycle can happen very quickly?

Synthesis How could rock salt be weathered and later formed into a new rock salt deposit?

Evaluation Are all rock cycle processes continuous or do some only happen from time to time? Why?

Knowledge What is weathering?

Comprehension Why are rocks underground not weathered?

Application How could you protect limestone from weathering?

Analysis Which rocks only form after cooling?

Synthesis How could magma metamorphose limestone?

Evaluation Which is better, a rock cycle shown in a picture or a rock cycle shown using boxes and arrows? Why?

After 10 minutes, take feedback from the groups. Organise the feedback toallow each group to contribute. If you have a large group take one questionfrom each working group.

Using a model to teach photosynthesis 15 minutes

Task K

The participants are going to model a strategy that can be used to teach pupilsthe principles of photosynthesis.

Give out Handout 6.7 that explains the process. Handouts 6.8, 6.9, 6.10,6.11 and 6.12 can be used if teachers want to use this strategy in their ownclass.

Handout 6.4

Handout 6.6

Handout 6.5

Handout 6.7


Go through the handout with the participants and then get them to carry out theactivity. You will need to work out the groups according to the number ofparticipants you have and will need to clear a space and have them use theirimaginations or use a piece of rope or masking tape to indicate the leaf’soutline, rather than draw a chalk leaf in the grounds of the venue!

Make the point that once pupils have grasped the principles of photosynthesis,it is relatively easy to demonstrate practically that plants can grow in water; or,by finding the dry mass of soil before and after a plant has been growing in it,that virtually nothing has been removed from the soil (a simplified version of vanHelmont’s experiment).

An activity to demonstrate processes 10 minutesinvolved in the rock cycle


• This activity can be used as a review exercise to check pupils’understanding.

• Pupils are asked to write on white boards whether the process the teacherreads out is chemical (C), physical (P), biological (B) or a combination of anyof these.

• Model the activity by reading out the process and asking the participants towrite P, C, B, or the appropriate combination on the white board and hold itup for you to see.

Give participants Handout 6.13 to take away after the activity is complete. Thishas the answers on in case they need to look up any processes for themselvesor they want to use the activity with their class.

Give participants Handout 6.14. This is a useful prompt for teachers who are lessconfident in their understanding of the rock cycle.

Additional guidanceMetamorphism does not involve bulk chemical change since the overallchemistry of the rock does not alter – however, chemical change happens toindividual minerals as some recrystallise and others are transformed into newminerals – all without melting.

Handout 6.13

Handout 6.14


Plenary 5 minutes

Remind participants of the objectives for the session. Show Slide 6.15 whichdescribes anticipated outcomes relating to the objectives.


Slide 6.15



• understand how annotated drawings can be used to identify pupils’ misconceptions;

• have practised devising questions linked to Bloom’s taxonomy and begun toappreciate the need to identify appropriate questions in their planning;

• have participated in a strategy that models photosynthesis;

• have consolidated their knowledge of the rock cycle process.


Handout 6.2A pupil’s initial poster onplant nutrition


Bloom’s Taxonomy – a summary

Knowledge

Knowing facts and describing what is observed

Comprehension

Using ideas in familiar contexts, explaining how and whysomething happens

Application

Using knowledge and understanding in a new context

Analysis

Breaking information down, contrasting information and seekingpatterns

Synthesis

Generalising from given information, linking ideas and makingpredictions

Evaluation

Comparing and discriminating between ideas, making choicesbased on reasoned argument, verifying the value of evidence

Handout 6.3


Questions about Goldilocks using Bloom’s Taxonomy

Knowledge

Whose porridge was too sweet?

Comprehension

Why did Goldilocks like Little Bear’s bed best?

Application

What would have happened if Goldilocks had come to yourhouse?

Analysis

Which parts of the story could not be true?

Synthesis

Can you think of a different ending?

Evaluation

What do you think of the story?

Was Goldilocks good or bad? Why?

Handout 6.4


Key Stage 3 plant growth

Knowledge What is a fertiliser?

Comprehension Why do plants need minerals?

Application Why don’t plants in a woodland habitat needfertilisers?

Analysis Look at the data. Which mineral has the greatesteffect on tomato yield?

Synthesis What combination of minerals would you recommendfor a tomato fertiliser?

Evaluation ‘Tomato feed’ is the name of a new commercialtomato fertiliser. What do you think of this name?

Handout 6.5


The Rock Cycle

Knowledge

Comprehension

Application

Analysis

Synthesis

Evaluation

Handout 6.6


A model to explain photosynthesis

1. Draw a huge leaf in chalk in the playground/hall with gaps for pupils to get inand out.

2. Assign pupils different tasks:

• At least one pupil outside the leaf holds three trays containing cards forwater, carbon dioxide and oxygen.

• At least one pupil inside the leaf holds a tray containing cards for sugar.

• At least one pupil will carry out photosynthesis only in the light.

• At least three pupils carry cards into and out of the leaf.

• Two pupils stand round the leaf and shine torches to represent daytime.

• The remaining pupils are observers and write down what is happeningduring the day and night.

3. Give pupils a job description and explain what they have to do. Start withnight-time, use freeze-frame to check pupils understand what they aredoing. (Freeze-frame: Call ‘freeze’ and pupils stop; ask some of the pupils toexplain what job they are doing and the observers to describe what ishappening overall.)

4. Turn the torches on and start the game.

5. Run through day and night a few times to check everyone understands.

6. Extension:

• If pupils have learned that plants respire all the time as well asphotosynthesising during the day, this process can be included. Thepupils that represent respiration will be active even when the torches areswitched off.

• Ask pupils to find fault with the model, e.g. the leaf does not take inwater from the atmosphere (unless it’s an airplant).

These are the cards to use. They Velcro together and are written on both sides:

front: back: front: back:

front: back:

The respirers split the velcro of sugar and turn over all the half cards to putwater together: su gar + oxygen ➝ wa ter + carbon dioxide

The photosynthesisers split the Velcro of water and turn over all the half cardsto put sugar together: wa ter + carbon dioxide ➝ su gar + oxygen

Handout 6.7

wa gar

oxygen ter

su carbondioxide


Front and back of photosynthesis/respiration activity cards

Handout 6.8

wa gar

oxygen ter

su carbondioxide


Job description: RESPIRER

You will need to be inside the leaf.

Hold a tray with 15 paired cards labelled ‘sugar’.

You will be able to do your job all the time.

Look out for oxygen coming into the leaf.

Take the oxygen card.

Split your sugar into two and make water and carbon dioxide.

Give both of these back to the carrier to take out of the leaf.

If you run out of pairs of sugar cards shout ‘STOP!’ and the gamemust stop.

Handout 6.9


Job description:PHOTOSYNTHESISER

You will be based inside the leaf.

You should not end up holding any cards – always give them toother people!

You will only be able to do your job when it is light. If it is dark, tellthe courier to go away (politely!)

Look out for water and carbon dioxide coming into the leaf!

Take the water and carbon dioxide cards.

Split the water into two and make sugar and oxygen.

Give the oxygen back to the carrier to take out of the leaf.

Give the sugar card to a nearby respirer.

Handout 6.10


Job description: CARRIER

You have a very important job in this model (but would not beneeded in real life!).

You carry things in and out of the leaf.

OUTSIDE THE LEAF

Go to the outsider and collect:

• 1 oxygen card;

• 1 carbon dioxide card;

• 1 sugar paired card.

REMEMBER TO KEEP THE CARDS THIS WAY UP!

Now go through a gap into the leaf

INSIDE THE LEAF

Offer your cards to one of the people inside the leaf – it doesn’tmatter if they are a respirer or a photosynthesiser.

They will tell you what to do.

If they give you cards back leave the leaf immediately and return tothe outsider.

Handout 6.11


Job description: OUTSIDER – (at least one needed)

You will hold the stocks of raw materials needed to keep the leafalive.

You have three trays:

• 1 tray of oxygen cards;

• 1 tray of carbon dioxide cards;

• 1 tray of sugar paired cards.

Give each carrier:

• 1 oxygen card;

• 1 carbon dioxide card;

• 1 sugar paired card.

When the carriers come back, take their cards and put them in thetrays. Give them new ones and send them on their way.

Handout 6.12


Handout 6.13

Process C, P, B Explanation

Weathering C, P, B Chemical attack; physical breakdown; organisms having physical and chemical effects

Erosion and P, C Physical movement of material; chemical transport transport in solution

Deposition P, C, B Physical deposition, e.g. by slowing currents; chemical deposition, e.g. when saline waters evaporate; biological deposition, e.g. by trees falling into coal swamps

Compaction and P, C Physical compaction; chemical crystallisation of cementation natural cements

Metamorphism P, [C] Change without melting due to increased heat and/or pressure [while new minerals, chemically different from the originals may form, the bulk chemistry of the rock remains unchanged]

Melting P Change of state due to changes in temperature and/or pressure [but chemical changes can result from partial melting, since different minerals melt at different temperatures]

Rising P Rising of magma from hot to cooler regions, since magma has lower density than the surrounding rock

Crystallisation P, C Physical change of state from liquid to solid as under the Earth’s chemicals slowly crystallise into mineral surface compounds

Extrusion (as P, C Physical change of state from liquid to solid as lava, ash, chemicals quickly crystallise into mineral bombs, etc.) compounds

Uplift P Rock sequences rising due to Earth movements

Deformation P Folding = plastic deformation, faulting = brittle (folding, faulting, deformation, metamorphism as abovemetamorphism)


The Rock Cycle

Reproduced by kind permission of the Earth Science Education Unit, Keele University

Handout 6.14

Earth’s internalheat energycauses:• metamorphism

of rocks• melting of rocks• plate tectonic

movements• folding, faulting

and uplift

Metamorphism

Rocks at the Earth’s surface

Metamorphic rocks

Magma

Sedimentary sequences

Mobile sediments

Rotten rocks/soil

Extrusive igneousrocks

▲▲

▲

▲

▲

▲

▲

▲

Intrusive igneousrocks

▲ ▲ ▲

Magma from below

Melting

Uplift Uplift

Sedimentary rocks

Compaction/cementation

Deposition

Erosion/transportation

WeatheringUplift

Rising

Extrusion Crystallisation

Metamorphism

▲

KeyProducts in therock cycle

Italics Processes in therock cycle


Planning follow-up work and plenary

Objective

• Plan to apply the outcomes of training in the classroom

Resources

For tutor

Slides, 1.1, 7.2

For participants

Copies of slidesHandout 7.1

Session outline 20 minutesPlanning follow-up work Individual, 15 minutes Participants are given the opportunity to group workplan follow-up work in school using the strategies from the unit

Plenary Talk, individual work 5 minutes Reflecting on the unit

Session

7


Planning follow-up work 15 minutes

Explain the objective for this session.


• In this unit there has not been time to consider the key scientific idea offorces in any detail, although some misconceptions relating to forces willhave been identified in the first session.

• Many misconceptions held by pupils relating to forces are instinctive andmay be difficult to change.

• There is also a range of different everyday meanings associated with theword.

Explain that participants are to plan (and ultimately teach) a lesson (or series oflessons) to be used when teaching ‘forces’. It will include strategies to identifypupils’ misconceptions and activities that can be used to correct them. Theseactivities should include a model and/or an analogy.

Remind participants (or get them to tell you) which strategies have beencovered in this unit.

Give Handout 7.1 as a planning proforma they can use.

Make the point that Handout 7.1 is intended to enable participants to producenotes which can then be used in their planning. It is not a lesson plan.

Explain that your role as consultant is not only to help them in this planningprocess, but also to help them deliver the lesson in school if they would find thishelpful.

Allow participants, in groups or individually, time to begin the planning process.

Additional guidanceIt would be helpful if you had an exemplar lesson plan already completed.

You may need to remind participants what learning demand is.

If participants will not be teaching ‘forces’ in the near future there are twoalternatives.

1. To begin to plan this and then complete in school with a colleague who willthen teach it with them

2. To plan a lesson on a topic they will be teaching but to use some of thestrategies from the unit

Handout 7.1


Plenary 5 minutes

Review the objectives for the session and show Slide 7.2 which lists someanticipated outcomes.

Draw participant’s attention to the summary document and explain how thiscan be used at departmental meetings to disseminate the main messages fromthis training unit.

Invite further questions and comments and encourage participants to completethe evaluation for Session 7.

Additional guidanceEnsure you collect all the completed evaluation forms and that you have acomplete register of participants who attended. You will use the register tofollow up development work in school.

Stress again that you are available to support participants in school. Try to bookfollow-up visits to schools before participants leave. If this is not possible, makesure that this is done in the week following the training. This reduces the risk ofpost-training work not being completed and establishes expectations of follow-up work.

Slide 7.2



• have begun to plan a unit of work which identifies and takes account of pupils’misconceptions


Topic/lesson notes

Topic/lesson:

Objectives

Possiblemisconceptions

Strategies to identifymisconceptions

Learning demand(high, medium,low)

Key questions

Handout 7.1


Misconceptions in Key Stage 3science

Summary – main messages from the course

• Pupils (and many adults) frequently hold misconceptions/alternativeconceptions/alternative frameworks relating to science. These can be closeto or widely different from the accepted scientific view.

• Misconceptions can be resistant to change.

• Teaching needs to take account of pupils’ misconceptions by:

– identifying them;

– devising teaching programmes that correct the misconceptions.

• Some misconceptions may be social and/or personal and are developedthrough everyday talk.

• Models and analogies can be used effectively to enable pupils tounderstand key scientific ideas.

• Scientific models are the accepted or consensus view of science e.g. theparticulate nature of matter.

• Teaching models are something that can help pupils visualise and thereforebetter understand an idea. They can be physical models or analogies suchas the water flow model to represent the flow of electricity in a circuit.

• When planning teaching sequences, take account of what models are‘good enough’ to explain phenomena at a particular stage.

• Pupils should be encouraged to develop their own models and to identifystrengths and weaknesses in models.

• There are different strategies that can be used to identify pupils’misconceptions. These include:

– concept mapping;

– concept cartoons;

– annotated drawings;

– focused questions;

– the four Ws.


Implications for the department

The priority the department has given to identifying pupils’ misconceptions andthe implications for teaching will be reflected in the action points identified forthe department action plan. It is likely that some review may be needed. Anumber of actions which could be taken are listed below as an aide memoire.

For the department

Review the scheme of work and if necessary modify to incorporate likelymisconceptions that pupils might hold in each unit.

Agree what models will be used to teach the key scientific ideas, particularlythose of energy and particles. Check against the yearly teaching objectives andany text books that are regularly used to ensure consistency.

Agree teaching sequences by considering what models or analogies are ‘goodenough’ at a particular stage to explain phenomena.

For individual teachers who have attended the course

Share the main messages from the course with others in the department.

Complete the follow-up task.

Try out and evaluate some of the strategies to identify pupils’ misconceptions.

Share the findings of the pre-unit task with the department and discuss theimplications.

Identify key questions and include them on your lesson plans.

When introducing models and analogies ask pupils to identify strengths andweaknesses of the model, e.g. what it can/cannot explain.

For other teachers in the department

Identify further training needs and/or support needed to implement ideas fromthis unit.


Appendix 1

Some examples of misconceptions/alternativeconceptions/alternative frameworks

Sc2Fertilisers are plant food.

Respiration is the same as breathing.

Plants don’t respire.

Plants only respire at night.

Plants get their food from the soil.

The nucleus of a cell is like the nucleus of an atom.

Plants breathe in carbon dioxide, animals breathe in oxygen.

Respiration takes place in the lungs.

Only mammals are animals.

Sc3Alkalis (the opposite of acids) aren’t dangerous.

Dissolving is the same as melting.

Weathering is the same as erosion.

Rocks can be broken by freezing.

Particles expand on heating.

There is air between particles.

All metals are magnetic.

Salts are the same as salt (sodium chloride).

Materials are just textiles/building materials.

Particles are the same as visible grains as in rocks for example.

Air is good, gas is bad.


Sc4Shining objects are sources of light.

Clashing current theory

Current is used up in a circuit.

Energy is a material and has mass (like a Mars bar).

Heat is the same as temperature.

Thermal radiation is the same as radioactivity (radiation).

Light travels from the eye.

Pitch is the same as loudness.

Gravity = ‘downness’.

Parallel beams of light get dimmer the further they travel.

When an object is stationary, no forces are acting on it.

Heavy objects fall faster than light objects.

Something stops moving because the force has run out.

GeneralConfusion between microbes/cells /particles


Appendix 2Summary of ‘Designing and evaluating scienceteaching sequences: an approach drawing uponthe concept of learning and demand a socialconstructivist view of learning’

Based on paper written by John Leach and Phil Scott from CSSME,School of Education, The University of Leeds, UK, and to be publishedin the journal ‘Studies in Science Education’.

Abstract

Claims have been made in the science education research literature that oneteaching sequence typically results in better student learning than another. Insuch studies, ‘teaching sequence’ typically describes the sequence of activitiespresented by teachers to students. The sequences tend to be designed on thebasis of a detailed analysis of the scientific content to be taught, and researchon students’ pre-instructional knowledge. Improvements in students’ learningtend to be explained in terms of changes in the nature or sequence of activities.Other possible explanations for improvements in learning feature lessprominently.

The paper argues for a broader view of teaching sequences. It draws upon asocial constructivist view of learning to theorise what is involved in theappropriation, by individuals, of knowledge that exists in social settings.Teaching activities and the talk that surrounds them are viewed as inseparable.Teaching sequences are portrayed in terms of a flow of discourse betweenteacher and students, rather than as a sequence of activities which can betalked about independently from the classroom environment in which they areconducted. Teacher talk is given a central place in accounts of teachingsequences.

The concept of learning demand (Leach and Scott, 1995;1999) is developed asa tool to inform the planning of teaching, drawing upon an analysis of thescientific subject matter to be taught, research findings about students’ pre-instructional knowledge, and a social constructivist perspective on learning.

Summary of Paper

1. IntroductionThis paper considers some of the approaches to designing and evaluatingresearch-based teaching sequences and offers an alternative perspectivebased on the concept of learning demand. The paper contains the followingsections:

• Consideration of the evidence base upon which claims abouteffectiveness of teaching sequences are made

• Presentation of a social constructivist view of learning leading to adiscussion of the essential features of a teaching sequence


• Introduction of the concept of learning demand as a tool to inform thedesign of teaching sequences

• Brief discussion of the similarities and differences between thisperspective and other research

2. Research on the design evaluation of science teaching sequences

In many reported studies, the effectiveness of a teaching sequence is evaluatedby comparing students’ responses to specially designed test items, before andafter teaching. This allows a judgement to be made about the effectiveness ofthe teaching in meeting specific learning goals. Researchers can thencomment upon the extent to which a sequence is successful in meeting itsinitial aims. However, a ground-swell of opinion says that research shouldprovide information about the most effective ways of achieving those statedlearning goals. Pre- and post-instructional testing does not allow judgements tobe made about the relative effect of two teaching sequences. This comparisoncan only be achieved by considering the extent to which two populations ofstudents who will experience the different teaching sequences are comparable;differences must be considered alongside the amount of teaching timeprovided and other cost issues.

Typically, research of this nature shows that the experimental groups makesmall, but consistent, year-on-year gains in some areas compared to the controlgroups.

It is therefore possible to design teaching sequences that can be more effectivein promoting student learning than the usual teaching approach. However therole of the teacher in mediating the teaching sequence cannot be controlledduring these experiments and has a central influence on the effectiveness of theteaching.

We believe that the teacher is critically influential in supporting learning duringany teaching sequence: in asking key questions of students; in responding totheir comments; in developing the ’scientific story’ as the lessons proceed; infostering a motivating atmosphere with the class.

It is therefore difficult to argue that one teaching sequence is better thananother without taking into account the part played by the teacher. Onesolution might be to have one teacher teach both the designed teachingsequence and the usual teaching approach. However, this raises issues aboutthe transfer of teaching style/skills from one sequence to the other as teachersare likely to teach in the way they believe to be best for their students. If differentteachers are involved, it could be that improvements in the effectiveness ofteaching come about as a result of the time the teacher has spent engagingwith students’ thinking about the subject matter rather than to changes in theteaching sequence itself. It is argued that changes in the ways in which theteachers engage with students in the classroom as a result of their knowledgeabout the ‘conceptual territory’ go hand in hand with changes in the sequenceof activities itself in explaining the reported gains in learning.


3. The implications of a social constructivist perspective on learning fordesigning and evaluating teaching sequencesCentral to Vygotsky’s perspective on development and learning is that highermental functioning in the individual derives from social life. Ideas need to betalked through and communicated on the social plane and followinginternalisation, language provides a tool for individual thinking. Talk and thoughtare closely related. The content of language and thought can be divided intospontaneous (everyday) concepts and scientific concepts. Spontaneousconcepts are those which are learned unconsciously through everyday life,whilst scientific concepts are those formal concepts which can only be learnedthrough instruction. It is argued that the concepts of social language andspeech genre make up a tool kit of ways of talking and knowing which can bedrawn upon by an individual as appropriate to a particular context.

Science teaching can be conceptualised in terms of introducing the learner toone form of the social language of science – school science – with the teacherplaying a key role in mediating the students’ existing public / everydayknowledge. To do this the teaching sequence should entail three key features:

a) Staging the scientific storyThe scientific story should be made available in the social context of theclassroom. This social interaction (between teacher and students) shoulddevelop the scientific story during the sequence of lessons. This process willinvolve teacher exposition of new ideas, and whole-class and small-groupdiscussion of those ideas. It will involve a wide range of activities to support thedevelopment of the scientific story so that pupils have an opportunity to exploreparticular phenomena. The aim of this process is to make the scientific storyappear intelligible and plausible so as to persuade the students of the‘reasonableness’ of the scientific story. This requires students’ existingunderstanding to be engaged with, through a range of strategies, including theuse of analogies, to support students’ thinking, effective questioning skills, andthe staging of conceptual conflict situations which require students to confronttheir own and others’ points of view. It is reasonable to suggest that learning inthe classroom will be enhanced by a balance between the presentation ofinformation and providing opportunities for the exploration of ideas.

b) Monitoring and supporting student learningThe second feature concerns the ways in which the teacher can act to supportstudents in making sense of and internalising the scientific story. Vygotskyrefers to the role of the teacher as being one of supporting student progress inthe Zone of Proximal Development, from assisted to unassisted competence.This teacher assistance should be made throughout the teaching sequenceand involves the continuous monitoring of students’ understandings andproviding a response to those understandings. Opportunities for monitoringstudents’ understanding should be built into the teaching sequence (e.g. use ofwhole-class questioning and discussion). Responses should be made tochallenge students’ understanding at the level of both the whole class andindividual students. Teachers operating in this way are working on the gapbetween individual students’ existing understanding and their potential level ofunassisted performance – in the zone of proximal development.


c) Handing over responsibility to the students Students need opportunities to ‘try out’ and practice new ideas for themselves,so that they make them their own. The application of ideas can initially becarried out by students with the support and guidance of the teacher, but asstudents gain in competence and confidence, responsibility should be handedover to the student.

This view of a teaching sequence is different to the traditional one of a series oflearning activities. Here, the central part of the teaching sequence is the way inwhich the teacher works with their students to ‘talk into existence’ the scientificstory. The activities used in science lessons are important but only in so far asthey act as points of reference in the development of the scientific story. It is theway in which the teacher mediates (makes use of) these activities which isfundamental in influencing student learning.

4. The concept of learning demand as a tool to inform design andevaluation of teaching sequencesThere are few research papers which are explicit about how the learners’ pre-instructional ideas and the science to be taught are drawn together in planningthe teaching sequence. The concept of learning demand provides such a tool.

Everyday social language shapes our view of our surroundings, drawing ourattention to particular features and presenting them in particular ways. Many‘spontaneous concepts’ used in everyday language are viewed as ‘alternativeconceptions’ in the science education literature. Other ‘alternativeconceptions’ arise from school science learning – a mix of everyday andscientific language, but different from both.

The concept of ‘learning demand’ offers a way of appraising the differencesbetween the social language of school science and the social language broughtinto the classroom by the student. This enables the intellectual challengesfacing learners (and groups of learners with a shared social language) to befocused upon, so that teaching can better support and address these areas.The concept of learning demand is more closely linked to differences betweensocial languages and the meanings they convey, than to differences in the‘mental apparatus of individuals – it is epistemological rather than psychologicalin nature.

Three ways in which differences between everyday and school scienceperspectives might arise have been identified.

• Differences in the conceptual tools used, e.g. when talking aboutphotosynthesis, students draw upon everyday notions of food whichcontrast with the scientific story based on the concept of food synthesis.

• Differences in the epistemological underpinning of the conceptual tools –ways of generating explanations using scientific models and theories, thatare taken for granted in school science, are not part of the everyday sociallanguage of many learners. Their social language does not appear torecognise that scientific models and theories ideally explain as broad arange of phenomena as possible.


• Differences in the ontology on which those conceptual tools are based –entities that are taken for granted as having a real existence in the realm ofschool science may not be similarly referred to in the everyday language ofstudents (e.g. atmospheric gases are rarely seen to be a potential sourceof matter for chemical processes in ecosystems).

5. Drawing on the concept of learning demand and social constructivistperspectives to inform the design of teaching sequencesThese ideas lead to a generalised approach to guide the planning of teachingsequences:

1. identify the school science knowledge to be taught;2. consider how this area of science is conceptualised in the everyday social

language of students;3. appraise the nature of any differences between 1 and 2 (identify the learning

demand);4. develop a teaching sequence to address each aspect of the learning

demand.

Step 1

This first step should specify in detail the science knowledge to be taught. Thisoften leads to the identification of conceptual and epistemological themeswhich underpin the main learning goals, but which would otherwise beoverlooked.

Steps 2 and 3

The relationship between the everyday knowledge of learners and the schoolscience knowledge will vary according to the scientific content area of theteaching, and the age and experience of the learners. In many contexts ofschool science learning there is considerable overlap between everyday andschool science views (e.g. basic notions about the skeleton). It is in these areasof overlap between social languages where teachers regard topics for study asbeing ‘straightforward’ and learners think the topic is just ‘common sense’.Other contexts provide striking differences between ‘everyday’ social languageand the ‘school science’ language introduced through teaching, (e.g. ideasabout gravity, understanding of the phenomena of hotness/coldness,understanding about the genetic code).

Step 4

This step involves the selection of teaching approaches. Although theidentification of learning demand is seen as fundamental to the development ofa teaching sequence, it is recognised that the analysis of learning demand doesnot lead to a unique specification of the ‘best’ teaching approach. The analysisof learning demands can inform decisions about:

• the scientific content to be addressed during the sequence;

• the relative levels of demand made by the different parts of the scientificcontent, and hence the amount of time and attention needed for each;


• the way in which the scientific story is to be staged through the sequence,developing particular lines of argument to engage with students’ thinking,supported by a range of different activities;

• the nature of the classroom talk that is appropriate at different points in theteaching sequence.

6. Planning a sequence: An introduction to explaining the working ofsimple electrical circuitsIn the UK, simple explanatory models of electrical circuits are first addressedwith students in the 11–14 age range. The science content is specified by theNational Curriculum.

7. How does the concept of learning demand compare with other toolsidentified in the literature for planning teaching?The paper considers the work of Tiberghein and associates on the design ofteaching sequences as an example of best practice as it includes explicitdetails about the rationale for the design of teaching sequences. The teachingsequence considered addresses energy and sound for French uppersecondary physics students.

The stages in planning the sequence are as follows:

• The knowledge to be taught is identified with reference to the use ofknowledge in various scientific communities.

• Once identified, the knowledge has to be manipulated in order to break itdown and integrate it into teaching activities. The knowledge is classifiedinto one of two ‘worlds’, the world of objects and events and the world oftheories and models. These are described as follows:

‘The world of objects and events refers to all observable aspects of thematerial world, whereas on the other hand, the world of theories andmodels refers to theoretical aspects and elements of the constructedmodel of the material situations, in various principles, parameters orquantities.’ (Tiberghein, 2000)

• The concepts of ‘devolution’ and ‘didactical contract’ are used todescribe the process of transferring responsibility for learning from teacherto students during the teaching sequence.

The sequences described in the work of Tiberghein and associates couldequally have been designed using the notion of learning demand. Althoughthere are clear similarities in approach, there are key differences in emphasisbetween how the teaching activities are staged. Tiberghein’s sequencerequired students to work in pairs to ‘construct a symbolic representation, interms of the model [of energy] of the experimental setting [a battery operating amotor to lift an object].’ However, the learning demand to be addressed in thiscase involves enabling students to use a new social language – the teacher’srole would therefore involve promoting dialogue, to support internalisation onthe part of the students and to allow the teacher to listen and assess theirlearning.


Accounts of teaching sequences which describe activities, but make nomention of the talk that surrounds those activities, do not adequately describethe teaching actually experienced by students.

8. The evaluation of science teaching sequences review and wayforward Evaluation of teaching sequences is usually carried out by some kind ofassessment of student learning, against the learning objectives addressed bythe teaching. Although this is important, it says nothing about the cause of anylearning gains that are observed, because no data was collected about how theteaching was conducted. The extent to which learning gains are due to thesequence of activities that constitute the teaching sequence, or the teacher’sability to motivate the students and use authoritative and dialogic talk to assisttheir performance, remains open to question.

In terms of a social constructivist perspective on learning, the evaluation ofteaching sequences involves measurement of student learning outcomestogether with insights about how sequences of activities were staged in theclassroom. Teaching would be evaluated to determine the extent to whichclassroom discourse had indeed followed the pattern designed in the teachingsequence.

In order for research on the development and evaluation of teaching sequencesto inform the practice of a broad range of science teachers, it is necessary to beclear which aspects of teaching sequences were instrumental in promotingstudents’ learning and therefore worth communicating to teachers. Thechallenge is to identify these aspects and consider how they can be passed onto other teachers who are not involved in the original research process.

In order to provide policymakers and practitioners with the evidence they desireabout the most effective ways of achieving stated goals, it is necessary to buildmore sophisticated, shared understandings about the nature of educationalphenomena. If the aim of research on teaching and learning is viewed broadlyas clarifying the learning goals which teachers and curriculum developers havefor students, developing teaching sequences to address those goals, andobtaining feedback to determine whether the pedagogical strategies adoptedhave been successful, then the authors think it is possible to identify alegitimate research agenda on the design and evaluation of teachingsequences.


Appendix 3

The Class of 2001: Recent research findingsregarding pupils’ understanding of naturalphenomena

Findings from an empirical research exercise conducted by Master ofEducation students from the Centre for Studies in Science andMathematics Education, School of Education, University of Leeds.

The following graphs display pupils’ understanding across a range of ages,from primary to secondary. For clarity, these have been collated as Key Stage 2,Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4.

The questions asked address areas which are recognised as having frequent‘alternative conceptions’.

For each question, or set of questions, the question sheet used with pupils isshown together with the research findings. Each question was administered toa sample of approximately 100 pupils from the Masters students’ classes.


The following questions are about the word ‘animal’.

Please tick ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ for each question.

1 Is a cow an animal?

Yes

No

2 Is a person an animal?

Yes

No

3 Is a whale an animal?

Yes

No

4 Is a spider an animal?

Yes

No

5 Is a worm an animal?

Yes

No


• Identical plastic containers are hung at each end of a balance beam. Theplastic containers weigh the same and the beam balances. (Each containerhas air in it.) Container S is removed, more air is pumped into it and it is putback on the balance beam.

• What will happen to the balance beam? (Tick one box.)

Side S will go up ............................. A

Side S will go down ........................ B

The beam will stay level .................. C

I chose this answer because:

..........................................................................................................................

..........................................................................................................................

..........................................................................................................................

..........................................................................................................................

beam

nail

R S

Air


Sugar and water

200g of sugar are put in to 1000gof water in a bowl.The water is stirred until the sugarcannot be seen.

(a) The contents of the bowl will now have a mass of:(Tick one box.)

A less than 1000g

B 1000g

C more than 1000g but less than 1200g

(b) I chose this answer because:

..........................................................................................................................

..........................................................................................................................

..........................................................................................................................

..........................................................................................................................

D 1200g

E more than 1200g


Ice in glass

A small glass is filled with ice, and the outside of the glass is dried with a tea-towel. Five minutes later the outside of the glass is all wet.

Where do you think the water on the outside of the glass has come from?

..........................................................................................................................

..........................................................................................................................

..........................................................................................................................

..........................................................................................................................

..........................................................................................................................

A – Explanation in terms of condensation / water from the atmosphere /coldness of glass

B – Explanation in terms of ‘water comes through glass from ice’

C – Other or no response

5 minutes later

Outside dry Outside wet


Explanation of occurrence of DAY and NIGHT

A – Explanation in terms of the blocking of light

B – Explanation in terms of the Sun moving round the Earth

C – Explanation in terms of the Earth moving round the Sun

D – Explanation in terms of the Earth spinning on its axis

E – Other or no response


Pre-unit task – notes for participants

The aim of this task is to enable you to explore the ideas your pupils hold aboutimportant concepts in science. Many pupils bring to science lessons a range ofalternative meanings for terms and differing understandings of importantscientific concepts. These differing meanings and understandings are oftenreferred to as misconceptions, alternative frameworks or alternativeconceptions.

In preparation for this unit you are asked to spend some time exploring whatideas your pupils hold about important scientific ideas. Use the pre-unit tasksheets for pupils and teachers as a means of doing this. Your analysis of theirresponses will be the focus of a discussion during Session 1. You will receivecopies of these task sheets from your Key Stage 3 science consultant.

Collecting evidence

Carry out the task first with a class of pupils in Year 7. A minimum of 20 pupilsshould complete Pre-unit Pupil’s Task Sheet 1.

Explain to them that this is not a test. They should not feel threatened by theexperience. You are not checking up on what they know. Marks will not berecorded for future use in school. Explain that the task is to be used to help findout what they THINK about scientific ideas, and that their responses will helpplan future lessons.

Ask them to read through each statement, and indicate whether they ‘agree’,‘disagree’, or are ‘not sure’ about whether it is correct. Collect the sheets in.There is no need to ‘go over’ the right answers with the pupils. However, thistype of activity is useful for discussion and many pupils want to know if they areright, and to argue their reasons with peers who selected differently. You mustdecide, at the outset, whether you are going to allow time for such a discussion.

Carry out the same activity with a class of pupils in Year 9, of similar ability.

Analysis

Each of the statements on the sheet represents a common misconception heldby pupils.

Count up and record the number of ‘agree’, ‘disagree’ and ‘not sure’ selectionsthe pupils have made. Complete Pre-unit Teacher Task Sheet 2.

This will give an indication of the degree to which your own pupils hold the ideasoutlined on the pupil task sheet.

What are the three most commonly held alternative conceptions(misconceptions) in each year group?

Compare the responses from Years 7 and 9.

Are there any similarities or differences in the misconceptions of the two year groups?

Is there any evidence of a reduction in the extent of the misconceptions?

Bring the results of your pre-unit task to the training.


Pre-unit Pupil’s Task Sheet 1

Year group .............

What do you think about science?

For each of the statements below, show in each box whether you

agree ✓

disagree ✗

are not sure ?

Plants’ roots take in food from the soil.

Water, carbon dioxide, and light are plant foods.

Plants breathe in oxygen at night, andcarbon dioxide during the day.

Plants photosynthesise but do not respire.

An insect (such as a bee) is not an animal.

Living things are made of cells which are as small as atoms.

Atoms and animal cells are about the same size.

Air doesn’t weigh anything.

Vacuums ‘suck’ air in.

Sugar disappears when it dissolves.

When ice is heated its particles melt.

The space between particles is full of air.

Particles in a liquid are smaller than in a solid.

When a car engine burns petrol it uses up energy.


There are different forms of energy.

Electricity gets used up as it goes around a circuit.

Light travels further at night than in daytime.

To keep an object moving a force must be kept on it.

Objects stop moving when their force runs out.


Pre-unit Teacher Task Sheet 2

Analysis of pupil responses to commonmisconceptions

For each of the statements below count up the number of pupils’ responsesunder each of the headings Agree, Disagree and Unsure.

Year 7

StatementAgree Disagree Unsure

Number of pupils


Water, carbon dioxide, and light are plantfoods.




Living things are made of cells which areas small as atoms.

Atoms and animal cells are about thesame size.

Air doesn’t weigh anything





Particles in a liquid are smaller than in asolid.

When a car engine burns petrol it uses upenergy.


Electricity gets used up as it goes arounda circuit.


To keep an object moving a force must bekept on it.

Objects stop moving when their force runsout.


Year 9

StatementAgree Disagree Unsure

Number of pupils


Water, carbon dioxide, and light are plantfoods.




Living things are made of cells which areas small as atoms.

Atoms and animal cells are about thesame size.

Air doesn’t weigh anything.





Particles in a liquid are smaller than in asolid.

When a car engine burns petrol it uses upenergy.


Electricity gets used up as it goes arounda circuit.


To keep an object moving a force must bekept on it.

Objects stop moving when their force runsout.

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