Creative Teaching & Learning

Thought Boards For 21st Century Science

Head of science Helen Zawadzki argues for the value of starting GCSE science topics with student’s questions and discussing them in ‘communities of enquiry’.

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      string(320) "With the increasing prominence of ‘How Science Works’ in science courses in England, the need to engage young people in the controversies thrown up by the advance of science has never been greater. Neil Phillipson and Gordon Poad describe an exciting teaching strategy for doing just that."
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      string(419) "... teachingandlearning/library/theatreineducation/Zawadzki, H. (2007) Thought boards for 21st centuryscience, Teaching Thinking&Creativity, 8:1(22), 32-35End NotesNeil Phillipson was the Head of Science at ThistleyHough High School for the duration of the project andis currently a Science Consultant with Stoke-on-TrentCity Council(nphillipson@sgfl.org.uk ..."
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      string(5599) "development and communication of newskills, ideas, knowledge and understanding4 4 3Working as co-constructors of learning withteachers and creative practitioners 4 4 3Engagement, enjoyment and motivation 3 4 3The project’s impact on the learning of theteachers and school staff involved4The development and communication of newskills, ideas, knowledge and understanding4 4 3Co-construction of learning with young people 4 4 3The development of creative teaching andlearning beyond projects4 4 N/AThe project’s impact on the learning of thepractitioners involved4The development and communication of newskills, ideas, knowledge and understanding4 4 3Co-construction of learning with young people 4 3 2The development of creative teaching andlearning beyond projects4 4 N/AInput, process and quality 4 4The project idea 4 4Relationship building and communicationbetween young people, teachers andpractitioners4 4Collaboration – was it a joint project, equallyauthored, owned and driven?4 4Young people’s involvement as co-constructorsof learning4 3Learning Through Drama39Volume 1.2 n Creative Teaching & Learning“For one pupil involved in the project the effect waslife changing; this was a girl who was disaffected withschool but who achieved a great deal for herself inunderstanding and empathising with those who sufferedfrom Huntington’s Disease. This appeared to have the effectof getting her to see beyond her own problems.”“The project got the pupils looking at the reliability ofevidence, of looking at ethics and rights and wrongs.”The pupils enjoyed and gained from being fully involvedin developing the production:“We helped to write scripts and to choreograph the dances.”“We did have our own say and since we had written ourown lines we understood exactly what they meant.”All of the professionals involved learned from theexperience:“He (Neil) has really got a handle on the power of dramanow. There was a dance teacher involved in the makingand a science teacher observing and understanding whatthe dance teacher could provide. Overall this appeared tobe a rich concatenation of ideas.”“The project had opened up an awareness as to what waspossible not just in subject areas but in how a whole rangeof teaching and learning possibilities could be founded ona project such as this.”The success of using the Promethean handsets to increasethe engagement of the audience was also noteworthy.Concluding CommentsThe answer to our key question: “Can we use drama toimprove students’ confidence in exploring science basedcontroversies, and to enable them to develop and expressinformed opinions?” was a resounding “yes!”Involving the whole staff as much as possible had manybenefits, leading to a feeling that the school as a wholehad been enriched by the project. For example, the artdepartment worked with Year 11 to provide an excellentexhibition for the ‘front of house’ in the theatre.Perhaps the major achievement of the project was topoint the way to what can be achieved through a willingnessamongst students and teachers to work outside comfort zones●●and departmental boundaries, to take risks and to be creativein developing truly multi-dimensional learning experiencesfor all. Science is very well placed to sit at the heart of creativecross-curricular learning. Moving forward we hope to engagemore students from schools across Stoke in contemporaryscience, helping them to explore issues and form opinions andproviding them with a platform to make themselves heard.After all, the future of the planet is in their hands.ReferencesBarratt, L. (2007) Scientific literacy through dialogue,Teaching Thinking&Creativity, 8:1(22), 28-30McGaugh, J. L. (2003) Memory and Emotion: The Makingof Lasting Memories, New York, Columbia UniversityPressSapere / P4C, 2010, Visited Feb 2010, URL: http://www.sapere.org.ukTeachernet 2009, Theatre in Education, VisitedFeb 2010, URL: http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/teachingandlearning/library/theatreineducation/Zawadzki, H. (2007) Thought boards for 21st centuryscience, Teaching Thinking&Creativity, 8:1(22), 32-35End NotesNeil Phillipson was the Head of Science at ThistleyHough High School for the duration of the project andis currently a Science Consultant with Stoke-on-TrentCity Council(nphillipson@sgfl.org.uk)Gordon Poad is a creative learning practitioner,trainer and consultant. He is the director of Cap-a-PieAssociates who aim to design creative programmes thatbring about positive changes in teaching, learning andcurriculum design.(Gordon.poad@cap-a-pie.co.uk)The project was supported at every stage by RebeccaBell of Creative Partnershipsrbell@integrate-education.co.uk; www.creative-partnerships.comMany members of staff at Thistley Hough High Schoolcontributed to this project. We are particularly gratefulto Rob Haines (Head Teacher) Amy Fryer, ElizabethDawson and Christine Turveythhs@sgfl.org.uk; www.thistleyhough.stoke.sch.ukGrace Robinson is a freelance philosophy teacher, p4cpractitioner, and SAPERE accredited trainer. She is thedirector of Thinking Space. Thinking Space work withgroups of individuals who want to explore philosophicalquestions collaboratively.(Grace@thinkingspace.org.uk)We are grateful to Daniel Forth of Theatre Cap-a-Piefor his excellent technical supportWe are grateful to the New Vic Theatre in Newcastle-Under-Lyme for providing us with a stage and inparticular to Andrew Billington for his assistance withthe production and his excellent photographs."
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Creative Teaching & Learning

Using dramatic enquiry to explore controversies in science

14 Jun 2010

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      string(4021) "of computing.‘It was very simple to get started and is proving an excellent resource and source of information – particularlythe videos, which I also use to gain ideas for ways to teach the subject,’ says Claire Chilton, teacher of computerscience and ICT.‘We began teaching computer science at GSCE this academic year, and I felt that the MOOC would be useful inhelping me to find good resources and stay on top of current affairs within the subject. I am also an associatelecturer for the Open University under the Maths, Computing and Technology Faculty and it helps keep me upto date in relation to this role too.‘All the resources are current, very applicable and of a very high standard.’It’s too early for exam results, but Claire believes that the MOOC, and especially the videos it includes, willinfluence more students, and more girls to choose the subject as an option. This is vital as research shows thatvery few girls study computing. In fact in 2012, only 17 per cent of UK computer science graduates were female.Although young girls are massive consumers of online social networks and enjoy playing computer games, itseems this interest rarely translates into thoughts of a career. Girls do as well as boys at GCSE with STEM subjects(science, technology, engineering and mathematics) but the cut off point seems to come at A level whennumbers fall dramatically.Helen Cunningham, the education publishing director at Cambridge University Press, one of the creators of theCambridge MOOC, says this has to change and they are keen to help.‘Our MOOC writers are all ICT teachers, 50 per cent of whom are female,’ she says. ‘Inspirational female role modelsare key, so we feature as many women as possible in our videos and material. In an informal way, we relay themessage of how computing can link to careers in creative industries that young people may not have considered.’‘With GCSEs in computer science to be placed on a par with physics, chemistry and biology in schoolperformance measures, it’s important to get parents on board too. Things have changed since their school daysand we need to help them understand the new importance of the subject and its potential to increase theirchildren’s employment prospects in the 21st century.’‘One of the big issues seems to be that ICT and computer science are viewed as ‘geeky’ subjects – leading to aworking life spent in a dark room as one of the ‘IT crowd’. To counteract that perception, one of the aims of ourMOOC is to demonstrate that computing is all around us, offers vast and varied career opportunities, and thatcomputational thinking links with other subjects – most obviously the STEM subjects, but also in the arts, interms of decoding and looking for patterns.’Knowledge trails1) Online learning vs. traditional learning – Could online learning replace traditional learning? Wediscuss the factors driving the growth in web-based courses, in particular, video technology. (Availablewith subscription to e-Learning UPDATE).library.teachingtimes.com/articles/online-learning-vs-traditional-learning2) So what can possibly be wrong with blended learning? – Blended learning, traditional classroomteaching plus digital support, is the best of both worlds, right? Merv Lebor shares some concerns.(Available with e-Learning UPDATE).library.teachingtimes.com/articles/elu-39-feature-13) Lessons on demand – Thanks to the digital media revolution, TV and other media are increasinglyaccessed ‘on demand’. Dave McCollom says there are distinct benefits if schools offer lessons in a similarway.library.teachingtimes.com/articles/mobile-distance-learninghttp://www.teachingtimes.com/publications/e-learningupdatehttp://library.teachingtimes.com/articles/online-learning-vs-traditional-learninghttp://library.teachingtimes.com/articles/elu-39-feature-1http://library.teachingtimes.com/articles/mobile-distance-learning"
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Leadership

Is there a role for MOOCs in schools?

27 Jun 2014

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      string(346) "... process – they were used to being taken ontrips.‘Some of the A band didn’t like the feedback initially, but they alwaystook the advice on board and improved their work.’M. Williams, Science teacherInterestingly, these students are the most likely to continue studying at Alevel and already demonstrate a penchant ..."
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      string(5638) "staff professional development.On the schoolThe projects were very high profile, taking place over five weeks in a centrally located room with large windows. As a result, it provoked the interest of all other year groups, some of whom benefitted from project activities (for example, meeting and listening to outside speakers). Every member of staff visited at some time.It also attracted visits from neighbouring schools and PGCE students, and has stimulated a significant amount of publicity and conference invitations as a result. The school now has contacts with many local businesses and people. The list of is impressive, and includes:Manchester United and Manchester City Football ClubsNobby Stiles (footballing legend)The National Cycling CentreGary James (author)Manchester Music ToursCraig Gill & Lea Mullen (musicians)Airtight ProductionsManchester District Music ArchivesEd Glinert at Manchester Walking ToursManchester University Graphene DepartmentThe Bridgewater Canal CompanyThe People’s History MuseumEnglish HeritageRyan Thomas from Coronation StreetThe BBC news at Media CityApplique ApparelThe Unicorn Cooperative GroceryNorth Star DelicatessenManchester AcademyTrafford Catering College.Although involved in this specific project, the relationships formed will be ableto enrich the learning of other students.On the studentsStudent engagement was high. The projects were a break from the norm – achance for them to set their own agendas, manage their own time and to takesome real responsibility for their own learning.Although all groups expressed their enjoyment, the students who gained the most from the original objectives of the experience seemed to be the B band groups. They turned out to be more resourceful, resilient and collaborative than their A band counterparts.The A band students created some wonderful products, with a high degree of finish, but insisted on more resources and were less receptive to critique.Moreover, they took the educational visits in their stride and did not see theseas such an important part of the process – they were used to being taken ontrips.‘Some of the A band didn’t like the feedback initially, but they alwaystook the advice on board and improved their work.’M. Williams, Science teacherInterestingly, these students are the most likely to continue studying at Alevel and already demonstrate a penchant for being spoon-fed, which was theproject’s aim to eradicate, in the long term. On a brighter note, students saidthat one of the most exhilarating aspects of the project was the opportunityto be creative.‘The most enjoyable part of the project was being able to be totally,uncompromisingly creative and have the freedom to do your own thing for a full week.’Ruby, 9A2The B band students also created some wonderful products. They were muchmore resourceful when it came to being creative with fewer resources anddeveloped much more resilience when work was critiqued, finding solutions toproblems and bouncing back with a plan B when things did not go as expected.They were more responsive to going on the visits and particularly enjoyedmeeting experts other than their teachers, especially Ryan Thomas, who playsJason Grimshaw on Coronation Street.‘The most enjoyable part was seeing everyone’s finished product and how happy they were…and meeting Ryan Thomas.’Jacqueline, 9B1 On teaching and learning Students adapted well to a ‘less teaching, more learning’ approach and this hasinspired some teachers to reflect upon and adapt their own practice as they had to alter their practice across the project, with varying degrees of success.Many found it difficult to stand back and allow the students to solve problemsby themselves or critique creative work with confidence – some were remarkably uncritical and where this happened, the products lacked a degree of depth, most markedly with some of the more able. Nevertheless, all staff commented on the engagement of all students, especially those who struggle to engage in a traditional curriculum.‘If you cannot do something, compromise and keep going.’ Lucia, 9A2‘I learned that I can work with anyone.’Waqas, 9B2As part of their evaluation, students were asked which 21st century skills theyfelt that they had developed across the process and felt that the greatest gainswere in time management, resilience and independence.On professional developmentThe most obvious and immediate impact on professional development withinthe school was through the provision of regular training sessions for the projectteams. This was based upon the philosophy behind project-based learning and the best practice of established PBL centres. Much of this research I carriedout myself, alongside visiting a school who deliver much of their Key Stage 3curriculum through PBL.Once our project began, we were visited by several local schools, which were developing PBL and wanted to compare approaches. This joint practice development was incredibly useful and getting feedback from third parties helped us to refine what we were doing as the weeks progressed.The influence of this training also had an impact on the regular classroompractice of colleagues, who were taking PBL ideas, certainly those aboutbuilding resilience, resourcefulness and interdependence, and using them inmainstream lessons.In the post-project evaluations, one colleague echoed the thoughts of manywhen he explained: ‘It was a terrific learning experience for the pupils and me(I have taken more risks in lessons as a consequence).’In the same vein, the projects"
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Creative Teaching & Learning

PBL for beginners

21 May 2014

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      string(417) "... I have offered a particular application of P4Cin the secondary science classroom – to develop thescientific literacy of KS4 students as outlined in the NationalCurriculum for Science and particularly in one of the KS4specifications (21st Century Science GCSE). P4C is equallyuseful for developing students’ scientific understandingand reasoning at Key Stages 1 ..."
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      string(5697) "‘enquiry’ or an in-depth dialogue. The group, therefore, forms a ‘communityof enquiry’ which is guided in rational discussion by thefacilitator (the teacher). The facilitator provides a role-model of interested, independent questioning and clear,logical thinking, as well as encouraging students to thinkfor themselves.P4C enables the teacher to create a caring, collaborative,and concept-rich environment, in which students areguided in the practice of reasoning. In this supportivecontext, they reflect on issues arising from their ownexperience and learning. Through the development ofquestioning, and independent, rational thinking, P4C givesstudents structured ownership over their learning.The ‘community of enquiry’ can be used in the scienceclassroom in a number of ways. Full enquiries, which takestudents through the process of raising questions basedon a stimulus, to a critical, collaborative enquiry into one ofthe questions raised are valuable in three contexts. Firstly, the community of enquiry provides a dialogicspace for enquiry into topics on the syllabus. An exampleof this can be found in a module ‘You and your genes’, inwhich students should be able, in the context of genetictesting or gene therapy, to say clearly what the issue is,summarise possibilities and develop arguments based onthe ideas that:1. The right decision is the one which leads to the bestoutcome for the majority of people involved; and2. Certain actions are never justified because they areunnatural or wrong. Students are expected to be able todistinguish what can	be	done from what should	be	doneand to be able to explain why different courses of actionmay be taken in different social and environmentalcontexts.Secondly, it can be used as a ‘starter’ and a means ofeliciting students’ prior understanding when they begina module. The emphasis on having to provide reasonsfor their contributions focuses students on whether the 30focus on science   www.teachthinking.comTeaching Thinking& Creativity  Vol 8:1  Issue 22Teaching Thinking& Creativity  Vol 8:1  Issue 22conceptual framework that they currently hold on a giventopic is ‘good enough’, or whether they may have tomodify their ideas in order to provide a rational, coherentargument. Using the community of enquiry as a ‘starter’opens students’ minds to the work ahead and enables themto see the relevance of this work in answering some of thequestions they have raised. For example, at the start of amodule on ‘Radioactive materials’ it would be appropriateto provide a picture or newspaper headline about nuclearpower. It is likely that students will have much to contributeto an enquiry on this topic. Many may, however, find thattheir scientific knowledge limits their discussion, andthat they need answers to questions first. Many of thesequestions may be addressed by other students during theenquiry. The others will be answered during a progressionthrough the module.Thirdly, the community of enquiry can be used tostructure a plenary about a module. In this context, itprovides a means to bring together students’ ideas andunderstandings. It also gives students opportunities,through dialogue, to use newly acquired ‘scientificliteracy’ in a relevant context and so further develop theirconceptual understanding.In addition, the process of enquiry can be broken up intoits constituent parts: question forming and collaborativedialogue. Helen Zawadzki, a head of science in Oxfordshire,has been using P4C in her lessons for the past year and haswritten about her experiences in the article that follows.One way that she has adapted P4C is in the production of‘question boards’, which she has found to provide studentswith a sense of ownership and to be highly motivating asa result. She provides students with stimulus and givesthem three minutes of silence to reflect on the stimulusand note down anything that enters their minds. At the endof this private reflection, students share their ideas with apartner, and each pair then raises a philosophical questionbased on their reflections. The questions are shared and aquestion-linking exercise may be used. She also asks thestudents to reflect on which of their questions are issuesfor	citizens and which are questions	that	science	may	help	toanswer. Students are required to identify these categoriesby the ‘21st Century’ specifications. At the end of thequestion-forming exercise, all the questions are displayedon a question board, and are then used to structure theteaching and learning for this module. Students’ questionshelp to give them ownership of their learning.A P4C approach to learning is appropriate in sciencefor students of any age and ability. It provides a trulyinclusive method for cognitive development throughthe use of dialogue. In this regard, parallels can be drawnbetween P4C and CASE (Cognitive Acceleration throughScience Education), a project that has been shown tolead to significant improvement in cognitive ability andwhich is based on focused class and peer discussion. Inthis article I have offered a particular application of P4Cin the secondary science classroom – to develop thescientific literacy of KS4 students as outlined in the NationalCurriculum for Science and particularly in one of the KS4specifications (21st Century Science GCSE). P4C is equallyuseful for developing students’ scientific understandingand reasoning at Key Stages 1, 2, 3 and 5. It can be arguedthat, as educators, it is our responsibility to help studentsto make sense of the world around them, and to be"
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Creative Teaching & Learning

Scientific Literacy Through Dialogue

27 Mar 2007