ASSIGNMENT

Submitted to Submitted by

SMITHA I G DAYANA L Lecturer in Physical Science Physical Science

TOPIC

SCIENCE EDUCATION FOR STUDENCE

WITH SPECIAL NEEDS – SCIENTIFICALLY

GIFTED AND CREATIVE LEARNERS

INTRODUCTION

Science has a need for a PR makeover: it is often regarded by adults as a hard, rather dry and

boring subject, and certainly not the creative, exciting and relevant subject that it is. Young children do not share this negative view, but many have been ‘turned off sciences’ by the time the reach adulthood. (Gardner, 1985; Bricheno, et al., 2000; Johnston and Ahtee, 2006). Part of the problem is that we do not understand how the concept of creativity can be applied to science; another is that science is not always taught in a creative way. In this article I will try and address these two issues and provide some ideas for creative science teaching and learning in the primary school.

Students with special needs tend to show significantly lower achievement in science than

their peers. Reasons for this include severe difficulties with academic skills (i.e. reading, math and writing), behaviour problems and limited prior understanding of core concepts background knowledge. Despite this bleak picture, much is known on how to significantly improve science achievement for students with special needs. A recent comprehensive meta-analysis indicates that inquiry instruction which infuses appropriate scaffolds and supports, can significantly improve science achievement for students with special needs. This article will delineate the types of supports and scaffolds that students with special needs require to be successful in inquiry instruction. It will also provide concrete examples of how these supports have been successfully applied in an inclusive third through fifth grade science approach (i.e. the science writing heuristic).

SCIENCE EDUCATION FOR SCIENTIFICALLY GIFTED STUDENT 1. Technique for catering needs of gifted children.

Gifted and talented children are those identified by professionally qualified persons who by

virtue of outstanding abilities are capable of high performance. These are children who require differentiated educational programmes and services beyond those normally provided by regular programme in order to realize their contribution to self and society. 2. Characteristics of gifted students

1. Performance is better in specific problem solving tasks. 2. Greater reasoning ability displayed in problem solving. 3. Action oriented. 4. More productive in individual and small group situation. 5. High aspiration for prestigious occupation. 6. Ability to apply knowledge. 7. High motivation for physical activities 8. Showing curiosity to learn science. 9. Learning by visual model is better than auditory mode. 10. Display goal oriented behavior. 11. Perseverance is high. 12. Analytic perpetual ability to undertake science projects.

3. Educational provisions for gifted children 1. None graded Classroom: None graded classroom is more appropriate for the gifted. The

entire course of study in a level of education is divided into a series of units. These are sequentially arranged. Each child in this system is given freedom to complete the requirements of each stage and go on to the next stage at his own pace. This way, the durations of the school year can be sufficiently reduced for the gifted in view of the fact that he completes the course quite early.

2. Special school for the gifted: Another alternative approach has been to think of providing special treatments to the gifted in the form of opening a special school for the gifted, having a special class in the normal school, for teaching the gifted and partial segregation. The government should have system of identifying good students who may be kept under the gifted category and send them to residential public schools.

3. Special class in a regular school: There are special classes in the regular schools for the gifted. For the purpose of instruction, they sit in separate room but for social recreational activities they are kept with remaining students in the class. This permits both academic and social habits to grow. The results of these ability grouping are controversial and unclear. These are a danger of self fulfilling prophecy both academically and psychologically. The teachers of gifted must be specially trained, specially talented and competent in their fields.

4. Grade skipping : Grade skipping or double promotion is the technique to help the gifted to go to next higher class without proceeding through the normal school requirements on the belief that the gifted child will have no difficulty in delivering the goods in the higher class by skipping the immediately preceding one.

5. Early admission: Early admission of gifted children has been in practice in western society to the extent of 6 months to one year on the assumption that the children identified as having higher 1Q can keep up with the curriculum demands of the class even though their age is below the requirement of that level. In India, such concessions are not yet given.

6. Advance placement and credit system: Credit system at the secondary and college level takes care of the gifted. Under this system, a degree requires certain house of course work prior to examination would be necessary for each student. The gifted pupil can take and often manage more credit in the sometime compared to average and slow learning children. As a result, the student completes a level earlier than other but by satisfying all requirements except for the age required.

7. Mainstreaming or integrated education: these programmes might create a feeling of discrimination among other children, but this is what can be done for the gifted. In fact, these are enrichment programmes for slow learners and disabled. Hence, there should not be any such feeling that the gifted child get a fell of superiority because of the enrichment programmes are more realistic. An educational procedure, providing more meaningful and interesting experiences in the classroom seems to be least controversial of the various procedures for educating the gifted.

8. Accelerating and enrichment programmes: Acceleration strategies enable the gifted to select an educational programme that is challenging and interesting. In this case no special curriculum has to be developed. It does not have any negative effect on social, emotional or academic development.

4. LEARNING CHARACTERISTICS OF GIFTED STUDENTS

recognizing the problem to be solved, readily and spontaneously generating a series of steps to solution, setting priorities for the direction to take in solving a problem (working with a plan), selecting representation of information more like an expert would, deciding which resources to allocate to a problem-solving task, monitoring solutions systematically, rather than guessing, executing the processes of analogical thinking, executing problems dealing with memory and attention, organizing and using prior knowledge, and using regulatory (metacognitive) processes.

Verbal proficiency:

Has advanced vocabulary for age or grade; uses words easily and accurately; language characterized by fluency and elaboration; reads independently a great deal; enjoys difficult reading material.

The educational needs of verbally proficient students include sharing ideas verbally in depth, using and exploring increasingly difficult vocabulary and concepts, working with advanced reading materials and working with intellectual peers.

Possible problems include difficulty restraining desire to talk and developing listening skills and habits, dominating classroom discussion, using verbalism to avoid difficult thinking tasks, and being perceived as a "show off” by classroom peers.

Reasoning skills:

Ability to abstract, conceptualize and synthesize; can see similarities, patterns and differences; can generalize from one situation to another; finds pleasure in intellectual activity.

In the classroom the gifted student needs exposure to a variety of materials and concepts, opportunities to pursue multi-disciplinary topics and themes ("big ideas") in depth, and access to a challenging and varied curriculum at many levels.

Possible problems include boredom with classroom instruction, unresponsiveness to traditional teaching methods, being judged as "lazy" and "unmotivated" by the teacher, and considered too serious by peers.

Knowledge base:

Knows a great deal about a variety of topics; has quicker mastery and recall of factual information than other children of the same age; interested in "adult" topics such as religion, race relations, peace and disarmament, politics, the environment.

Instructional classroom needs include early instruction of basic skills with minimum of repetition and drill, and exposure to new and challenging information about cultural, economic, environmental, political and educational issues.

Possible problems include rebellion at having to work below one's level of competence, development of poor work habits because of lack of challenge, peer resentment of skills and achievement.

Learning efficiency:

Can process a great deal of information quickly; has rapid insight into cause-effect relationships; is very observant.

Quick learners need an accelerated pace of instruction. Possible problems include dislike for routine and drill, frustration with inactivity, lack of

challenge and absence of progress, and impatience with "waiting for the group". Intense curiosity:

Questioning and inquisitive attitude; asks many unusual or provocative questions (not just informational or factual questions); interested in the "why" and "how" of things; concerned with what makes things right or wrong; has areas of "passionate" interest inside or outside of school.

Educational needs include opportunities for active inquiry, and instruction in how to access information and conduct research.

Possible problems include stifling of interests, lack of opportunity to pursue areas of interest, pressure towards conformity, perception by teacher as being "smart alecky".

Originality:

Ability to generate original ideas and solutions; can reason out problems logically; finds new and unusual ways to approach and solve problems; can analyse complicated material into component parts; enjoys difficult problems and puzzles.

Instructional needs include opportunities to solve problems in diverse ways, to build skills in problem solving and productive thinking, to explore alternative ways of conceptualizing problems (for example, metaphorically or visually), to attempt solutions to real-life problems; and to develop tolerance for ambiguity.

Possible problems include tendency to have a critical attitude towards oneself and others, poor interpersonal relationships with children of the same age, rejection by peers as being "different" and nonconforming.

Power of concentration:

Persistence in achievement of self-determined goals; has long attention span; when motivated works on tasks until completion; needs little encouragement from others when working on areas of interest (intrinsically motivated); sets high personal standards.

Educational needs include opportunities for expression of personal preferences and choices, freedom to pursue "passion" areas beyond normally allotted time spans, and instruction in setting realistic expectations, setting and evaluating priorities.

Possible problems include resistance to interruption and following a schedule, stubbornness, difficulty in accepting limitations of space, time or resources for activities, and pursuit of activities that are not "on task" from the perspective of the teacher.

CREATIVITY

Creativity involves more than making something new or creating something,

and can be applied to both the sciences and arts (Prentice, 2000). It also involves thinking and

problem solving (de Bono 1992; Beetlestone, 1998), as well as discovery (Johnston, 2004) and

innovation. The primary strategy endorses creativity by:

1. Making learning vivid and real, by developing understanding through enquiry, creativity, e-learning and group problem- solving;

2. Making learning an enjoyable and challenging experience, by stimulating learning through matching teaching to learning styles and preferences;

3. Enriching the learning experience, by developing learning skills across the curriculum’.

PROBLEM SOLVING

Setting small challenges and al lowing children to solve problems for themselves is

also a creative way to achieve learning objectives. These can range from simple challenges, whilst

children are playing or exploring, to more sophisticated problem-solving activities. Children

playing in a water trough can be asked how they can make something that floats, sink, or

something that sinks, float. Children can also be challenged to problem-solve by asking, ‘What do

you think will happen if….? questions. Bigger problem-solving activities include building a strong

bridge using a piece of A4 paper or ten art straws and some adhesive, or making a tall tower or a

strong paper bag. Children can also make musical instruments that are ‘played’ in different ways to

produce sound, such as by plucking, hitting, blowing and shaking. A further challenge is to make

instruments that produce a range of different notes or even a scale.

Another problem-solving activity is to make a rubber- band powered vehicle (see Picture

2). This can be made with anything cylindrical, such as cans, tubes and reels. The construction

involves putting a rubber band through the cylinder and fastening it to the cylinder at one end and

a stick at the other. When the stick is wound up and the vehicle placed on the floor it will move

along – sometimes in a straight line and sometimes in a circle. The children need to make a

successful vehicle that will either go the furthest, quickest or in a complete circle. Then they explore

the reasons behind the most effective performance.

Another problem is to find out which pen wrote a secret message. A message is written using a

black felt-tip pen on some blotting paper. The children can find out which pen, from a selection,

wrote the message by using a forensic science technique called chromatography. To do this, they

need a collection of different black felt-tip pens and markers, some blotting paper cut into strips

(15 cm by 4 cm approx), a plastic tray filled with water, some string and some washing pegs. The string

should be hung over the tray of water like a washing line and the message can be pegged so that

its end is just in the water. The paper will soak up the water and the ink will run, revealing colours

and patterns of colours unique to that type of pen. This is because of the unique combination of

pigments making up the colour black (unique to that type of pen). The pen that was used to

write the message can be found by putting a mark or some writing on the strips of blotting paper

using the different pens, and hanging them in the water. Once the colours and patterns are

revealed, they can be compared with the pattern on the message.

MOTIVATING EXPERIENCE

Children can be motivated through the provision of creative science experiences which

enable them to discover new ideas and experience new phenomena. Discovery learning was

advocated by Plowden (DES,

1967), and popular in the 1960s and 1970s. It is an approach that I have attempted to

reinvent and use in primary education (Johnston, 2004). Discovery learning is motivating, as

children and their needs are central and children choose what to explore and how to do it,

constructing their own understandings in the process and being supported by the teachers and

their peers.

Children of all ages can explore their environment using all their senses, looking for patterns in their

observations as well as similarities and differences in the environment. This will also help them to

make sense of the world around them, developing both their knowledge about plants and

animals and their observational, classification and interpretation skills. I encourage children to

close their eyes and smell, and to feel and listen to things in the environment. They can hug a

tree and feel the pattern of the bark and then make a rubbing of the pattern with a wax crayon.

They can use a paint colour chart with different shades of colours to see the range of colours in

the environment. Don’t just use greens and browns

– yellows, reds and blues can also be found in stones in gravel paths, bricks and flowers.

Children can use magnifiers to enlarge small things and take small things back to the class to

enlarge further using a microscope (the digital one attached to computers and multi-media

projectors are particularly good

THINKING SKILLS

Creative science experiences also involve the children in developing their thinking skills. This

can happen through challenge such as problem-solving activities as described above. Another

challenge can be by exposing the children to different ideas through discussion and debate. Deep

discussions that enable children to share, explore and analyse ideas can be stimulated by a

range of activities such as:

l Concept cartoons (Naylor and Keogh, 2000; Naylor and Keogh, 2000a), which identify different

ideas about a specific concept.

l Concept probes (annotated diagrams which encourage children to analyse a concept and

identify their own ideas)

l Unexplained phenomena, which sometimes children consider to be the results of magic

lead to similar

These approaches allow for the truths that not everybody has the same ideas and that there is

often not one correct answer. Teachers can play devil’s advocate by providing alternative

explanations for what children observe and experience. Thus, they challenge children's ideas

and provide a model that children can emulate when they challenge each other.

CONCLUTION

In the science field the gifted children and creative learners has been endowed with great natural ability, intelligence or talent. Their performance is consistently remarkable and superior in some valuable area of activity. The children have high cognitive ability, creativity and superior talent in scientific field. They are a worthwhile asset of the society. If we can provide efficient science education to these type children; we can mold a group of scientist for our world.

REFERENCE

Strategy on the Teaching of Science. Hatfield: ASE. ASE (2007) www.ase.org.uk

www.teachthinking.com