Ian Abrahams

Does Practical Work Really Work? A study of the effectiveness of practical work as a teaching and learning method in school science

Many within the science education community and beyond see practical work carried out by students as an essential feature of science education. Questions have, however, been raised by some science educators about its effectiveness as a teaching and learning strategy. This study explored the effectiveness of practical work by analysing a sample of 25 ‘typical’ science lessons involving practical work in English secondary schools. Data took the form of observational field notes and tape‐recorded interviews with teachers and students. The analysis used a model of effectiveness based on the work of Millar et al. and Tiberghien. The teachers’ focus in these lessons was predominantly on developing students’ substantive scientific knowledge, rather than on developing understanding of scientific enquiry procedures. Practical work was generally effective in getting students to do what is intended with physical objects, but much less effective in getting them to use the intended scientific ideas to guide their actions and reflect upon the data they collect. There was little evidence that the cognitive challenge of linking observables to ideas is recognized by those who design practical activities for science lessons. Tasks rarely incorporated explicit strategies to help students to make such links, or were presented in class in ways that reflected the size of the learning demand. The analytical framework used in this study offers a means of assessing the learning demand of practical tasks, and identifying those that require specific support for students’ thinking and learning in order to be effective.

Does Practical Work Really Motivate? A study of the affective value of practical work in secondary school science

The present paper reports on a study that examined whether practical work can be said to have affective outcomes, and if so in what sense. The term ‘affective’ is used here to refer to the emotions, or feelings, engendered amongst pupils towards school science in general, or one of the sciences in particular. The study is based on 25 multi‐site case studies that employed a condensed fieldwork strategy. Data were collected, using tape‐recorded interviews and observational field notes, in a sample of practical lessons undertaken in English comprehensive (non‐selective) schools during Key Stages 3 and 4 (ages 11–14 years and 15–16 years, respectively). The findings suggest that whilst practical work generates short‐term engagement, it is relatively ineffective in generating motivation to study science post compulsion or longer‐term personal interest in the subject, although it is often claimed to do so. This suggests that those involved with science education need to develop a more realistic understanding of the limitations of practical work in the affective domain.

A Study of Teachers’ Views on Practical Work in Secondary Schools in England and Wales

Many teachers view practical work as an essential feature of science education. This study examined whether there had been any changes in the relative importance of the aims science teachers assign to the use of practical work, across the full secondary age range (11–18), since the last such national survey undertaken by Kerr 46 years ago. A stratified sample of representative schools was used in which 912 teachers were sent a questionnaire on their views towards the use of practical work in science with a total of 393 responses (42.5%) being received. The coefficient of concordance of the various rankings and their significance were calculated, as too were the z‐scores. The findings suggest that whilst there have been substantial changes in teachers’ views about the use of practical work at Key Stages 4 and 5 (age 15–18) there have been no substantial changes at Key Stage 3 (age 11–14). Furthermore, the results are remarkably similar across subject specialism, teacher gender, and years of teaching experience although this paper will only focus on subject specialism. It appears that changes to the assessment criteria, notably the introduction of Science Investigation (Sc1) at Key Stage 4, and a growing desire amongst educational policy‐makers to improve the image of science, have had an effect on how those in the teaching profession perceive the value and aims of practical work particularly at Key Stages 4 and 5.

The assessment of practical work in school science

This article reviews how practical work, including practical skills, is currently summatively assessed in school science in a number of countries and makes comparisons with how other subjects, such as music and modern foreign languages, summatively assess skills. Whilst practical skills in school science are clearly valued as being of importance, there is a lack of clarity as to what these skills actually are and how they might, most effectively, be validly assessed. Countries vary greatly in the extent to which they employ what we term ‘Direct Assessment of Practical Skills’ (DAPS) or ‘Indirect Assessment of Practical Skills’ (IAPS). Each of these approaches has advantages and disadvantages but we conclude that too great reliance on IAPS reduces the likelihood that practical work will be taught and learnt as well as it might be.

Valuing initial teacher education at Master’s level

The future of Master’s-level work in initial teacher education (ITE) in England seems uncertain. Whilst the coalition government has expressed support for Master’s-level work, its recent White Paper focuses on teaching skills as the dominant form of professional development. This training discourse is in tension with the view of professional learning advocated by ITE courses that offer Master’s credits. Following a survey of the changing perceptions of Master’s-level study during a Post Graduate Certificate in Education course by student teachers in four subject groups, this paper highlights how the process of professional learning can have the most impact on how they value studying at a higher level during their early professional development.

The impact of the ‘Getting Practical: Improving Practical Work in Science’ continuing professional development programme on teachers’ ideas and practice in science practical work

Background: Despite the widespread use of practical work in school it has been recognised that more needs to be done to improve its effectiveness in developing conceptual understanding. The ‘Getting Practical’ CPD (Continuing Professional Development) programme was designed to contribute towards an improvement in the effectiveness of practical work through initiating changes in teachers’ predominantly ‘hands-on’ approach to practical work to one which manifests a more equitable balance between ‘hands-on’ and ‘minds-on’. Purpose: To evaluate the impact of the Getting Practical: Improving Practical Work in Science CPD programme on teachers’ ideas and practice in science practical work in primary and secondary schools in England. Programme description: The CPD programme was designed to improve the effectiveness of science practical work in developing conceptual understanding in primary and secondary schools in England. Sample: Ten teachers of primary science and 20 secondary science teachers. Design and methods: The study employed a condensed fieldwork strategy with data collected using interviews, observational field notes and pre- and post-CPD training observations in practical lessons within 30 schools. Results: Whilst the CPD programme was effective in getting teachers to reflect on the ideas associated with the Getting Practical programme, it was much less effective in bringing about changes in actual teaching practice. Conclusion: The findings suggest that if change, rather than only an enhanced awareness of the issues, is to be brought about in established teaching practice then there is a need for ongoing support over an extended period of time. Furthermore, the impact of such CPD is more likely to be effective if it is undertaken by a senior member of a department or school with the full support of the SMT.

Students’ Knowledge Acquisition and Ability to Apply Knowledge into Different Science Contexts in Two Different Independent Learning Settings.

Abstract Background: Recently, there is a growing interest in independent learning approaches globally. This is, at least in part, due to an increased demand for so-called ‘21st century skills’ and the potential of independent learning to improve student skills to better prepare them for the future. Purpose: This paper reports a study that explored the effectiveness of two different independent learning approaches: (i) guided independent learning and (ii) unguided independent learning with independent research, in enabling students in an undergraduate Macromolecules course to acquire knowledge in one chemistry context and apply it successfully in another. Sample: The study involved 144 chemistry students commencing their first term of undergraduate study at a northern university in England. Students completed pre- and post-intervention tests containing 10 diagnostic questions, of which 4 measured students’ knowledge acquisition in one context and 6 measured their ability to apply it in another. Design and methods: Diagnostic questions had been identified using a Delphi approach. Paired t-tests and chi-square tests were used to analyse the significance of any change in students’ responses to the diagnostic questions and the number of responses evidencing misconceptions, respectively. Results: Whilst guided independent learning settings were found to improve students’ knowledge and ability to apply that knowledge in novel situations, unguided independent learning had no statistically significant effect. Unguided independent learning was also linked to a statistically significant increase in the number of student misconceptions in one of the diagnostic questions. Conclusions: The results of this study show that guidance in independent learning activities is a key necessity for effective learning in higher education. This paper has strong relevance and high significance to tertiary STEM education, especially in the light of increased importance of teaching, such as the Teaching Excellence Framework in the UK, and shifts to more independent learning activities.

Minds-On Practical Work for Effective Science Learning

The time is surely past when science teachers must plead the case for school laboratories. It is now widely recognized that science is a process and an activity as much as it is an organized body of knowledge and that, therefore, it cannot be learned in any deep and meaningful way by reading and discussion alone. (NSTA, 1970, p. 3)

Students’ Reasoning in Making Predictions About Novel Situations: The Role of Self-Generated Analogies

This cross-age study was designed to investigate students’ predictions in novel situations and the role that analogies play in their reasoning. It was a small-scale study in which a total of 41 students from three different age groups and three different schools in Greece were recruited. A mixed method approach was used with data being collected through the use of written questionnaires and audio-recorded group interviews. Students’ responses were analysed to ascertain how they made their predictions, whether these drew on the use of analogies and, if so, the nature of the analogies that they used. The study found that students regularly used analogies in order to make their predictions. In many cases students’ reasoning was based on their experiential knowledge which led them to make predictions that were not compatible with the scientific view. The analogies used by different students, when presented with the same novel situations, were, in many cases, similar irrespective of their year group. The findings of the study suggest that teachers need to be more aware of the nature of the analogies used and how, and why, reasoning on the basis of such analogies can, in many cases, lead students to make scientifically incorrect predictions.

Unintended knowledge learnt in primary science practical lessons

ABSTRACT This study explored the different kinds of unintended learning in primary school practical science lessons. In this study, unintended learning has been defined as student learning that was found to occur that was not included in the teachers learning objectives for that specific lesson. A total of 22 lessons, taught by five teachers in Korean primary schools with 10- to 12-year-old students, were audio-and video recorded. Pre-lesson interviews with the teachers were conducted to ascertain their intended learning objectives. Students were asked to write short memos after the lesson about what they learnt. Post-lesson interviews with students and teachers were undertaken. What emerged was that there were three types of knowledge that students learnt unintentionally: factual knowledge gained by phenomenon-based reasoning, conceptual knowledge gained by relation- or model-based reasoning, and procedural knowledge acquired by practice. Most unintended learning found in this study fell into the factual knowledge and only a few cases of conceptual knowledge were found. Cases of both explicit procedural knowledge and implicit procedural knowledge were found. This study is significant in that it suggests how unintended learning in practical work can be facilitated as an educative opportunity for meaningful learning by exploring what and how students learnt.