Research Focus: What Does Research Say about the Nature and Purpose of Practical Work?

Autor/in	Abrahams, Ian
Titel	Research Focus: What Does Research Say about the Nature and Purpose of Practical Work?
Quelle	In: Education in Science, (2011) 244, S.28-29 (2 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0013-1377
Schlagwörter	Secondary Schools; Science Teachers; Science Instruction; Science Education; Teaching Methods; Students; Foreign Countries; Research; Science Experiments; Science Activities; Scientific Concepts; Hands on Science; Elementary Schools; Elementary School Science; Comparative Analysis; United Kingdom + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Sekundarschule; Science; Teacher; Teachers; Science teacher; Wissenschaft; Lehrer; Lehrerin; Lehrende; Teaching of science; Science education; Natural sciences Lessons; Naturwissenschaftlicher Unterricht; Naturwissenschaftliche Bildung; Teaching method; Lehrmethode; Unterrichtsmethode; Student; Schüler; Schülerin; Studentin; Ausland; Forschung; Elementary school; Grundschule; Volksschule; Großbritannien
Abstract	In the UK, practical work is often seen by teachers as central to both the appeal and effectiveness of science education. Practical work is frequently used in the teaching of science in English secondary schools. One of the reasons for this is that many science teachers see practical work as an essential part of what it "means" to be "a science teacher". It is not just teachers who hold practical work in high esteem--students also see practical work as useful and enjoyable--at least, compared to other methods of teaching and learning science. In survey responses from over 1400 students of a range of ages, 71% chose "doing an experiment in class" as one of the three methods of teaching and learning science they found "most enjoyable". A smaller proportion (38%) selected it as one of the three methods of teaching and learning science that they found "most useful and effective". Despite the widespread belief amongst teachers that practical work can be an effective means of developing conceptual understanding, the research evidence to support this is, at best, ambiguous. In fact, at least when the outcomes are measured using pen and paper tests, research suggests that there is no significant advantage to using practical work as a method of teaching. When the use of practical work in primary and secondary schools was compared, it was found to be more effective in the former than the latter. One possible explanation as to why practical work was found to be more effective in primary than in secondary schools was that the primary teachers, most of whom were not science subject specialists, empathised, possibly as a consequence of their own difficulty with some aspects of science, to a greater extent with the problems their pupils faced when learning about new scientific ideas and the meaning of new scientific terms than did their secondary colleagues. As a consequence, they appeared better able to anticipate--and as such prepare for--the problems that their pupils faced than many secondary subject specialists. (ERIC).
Anmerkungen	Association for Science Education. College Lane Hatfield, Herts, AL10 9AA, UK. Tel: +44-1707-283000; Fax: +44-1707-266532; e-mail: info@ase.org.uk; Web site: http://www.ase.org.uk
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10