teacher education programme - king's college … where the assessment system provided targets...

Strategies for Assessment of Inquiry Learning in Science

Teacher Education Programme

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 289085

Strategies for Assessment of Inquiry Learning in Science

Teacher Education Programme

www.kcl.ac.uk/SAILS

Introduction: Teacher Education Programme ................

Contents

Welcome ......................................................................

Foreword .....................................................................

Pg 4–9

Pg 3

Pg 2

Developing and Assessing Inquiry2

What is inquiry?1

Strengthening the inquiry Approach 4

Crafting Inquiry Pedagogy3

Acknowledgements ................................................... Pg 72–73

Your USBThe slides for each of the four sessions are provided within the USB card, along with electronic versions of these tutor notes and the ‘Inquiry Diary’ which has been created for the teacher’s to make their reflective notes in as part of each session. This means that multiple copies can be made.

Resource Sheets .................................................................... Pg 19

Session .................................................................................... Pg 10–18

Resource Sheets .................................................................... Pg 30–35

Session .................................................................................... Pg 20–29


Session .................................................................................... Pg 36–45


Session .................................................................................... Pg 54–64

www.kcl.ac.uk/SAILS | King’s College London1

In its 2012 report setting out a framework for school science education, the USA’s National Research Council emphasised the essential goal that science education should “cultivate students’ scientific habits of mind, develop their capability to engage in scientific inquiry, and teach them how to reason in a scientific context”. This emphasis was further strengthened by the statement that standards and

performance expectations “must take into account that students cannot fully understand scientific and engineering ideas without engaging in the practices of inquiry and the discourses by which such ideas are developed and refined”. Similar emphasis on the central importance of inquiry in science education can be found in many national and international statements, notably in the countries of the EU.

The aim of the Strategies for Assessment of Inquiry Learning in Science (SAILS) project has been to achieve the “essential goal” that is described above. Its work was necessary because the skills and strategies needed to inspire and then to guide the involvement of students in scientific inquiry had received too little attention in the past. Science taught in ways that aim only to develop knowledge about, and understanding of, past achievements in science, supported by formal testing with its inevitable limitations, could not secure this “essential goal”. The SAILS project set out a new agenda for science teaching, where student learning centered on raising questions and finding

answers and so provided a new way of engaging with science, and where the assessment system provided targets and feedback to help students become better inquirers of science.

It was clear that many teachers needed examples of the type of work required, and skilled guidance, to develop both their understanding of the principles, and to engage in the classroom practices involved in achieving authentic science inquiry. The project has been remarkably successful in achieving its goal, in part because of the very positive responses of the teachers involved. It can now be claimed that the findings of the SAILS project provide a rich variety of examples and a set of guidelines to help science teachers to achieve these important aims. In particular, the quality and clarity of the teacher education programme materials will help to support many teachers develop their inquiry practice, with assessment as part of the teaching process, long after the conclusion of the SAILS project.

It has been very rewarding to see the project make progress with a task that is so central to the development of scientific literacy, one which will help all future citizens achieve a critical appreciation of science. It should also help to lead more of the most able students to contribute to society by means of a personal commitment to scientific or science-related careers.

Professor P.J.Black Emeritus Professor of Science Education King’s College London

Forewordwww.kcl.ac.uk/SAILS | King’s College London2

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Being given the opportunity to work on a four year research and development pan-European project that brings together my passion for science education and my keen interest in classroom assessment has been a joyful experience. It has allowed me to build on the strong foundations that my research on classroom assessment has brought to the fore, to work closely and collaboratively with teachers to

improve the interaction between research and practice and to explore and develop inquiry teaching and learning that I believe are crucial for developing scientifically literate young people.

The Strategies for Assessment of Inquiry Learning in Science (SAILS) project set out to strengthen inquiry learning in science classroom in 12 European countries through designing pre- and in-service teacher education programmes, developing classroom resources and evolving suitable assessment strategies and protocols that provide guidance and feedback during the inquiry process.

It is well recognised that inquiry is an approach to teaching and learning science that is conducted through the process of raising questions and seeking answers. An inquiry requires the learner to take note of new ideas and contexts and question how these fit with their existing understanding. It is not about the teacher delivering a curriculum of knowledge to the learner but rather

about the learner building an understanding through guidance and challenge from their teacher and from their peers. In our work, the use of formative assessments, i.e. the elicitation of students’ discussions about and explanations of their work, and the adjustment of teacher guidance in the light of these student ideas, is a key feature of the project.

Through an inquiry approach, students can weave together a lively interest in, and an understanding of the natural world. As students explore phenomena in a systematic way, they are not only developing essential skills but are becoming scientists and are coming to understand, in an authentic way, how science works. I strongly believe that inquiry learning can revolutionise the way that science is taught in schools and that this approach will motivate both learners and science teachers. While we are delighted with the changes that our project teachers have made to their practice, we realise that there is a need to spread these ideas more widely amongst UK science teachers and so this is the reason for producing this teacher education programme as a means to help others build on what we have started.

Dr Chris Harrison Principal Investigator SAILS EU Project King’s College London

Welcome


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Introduction:Teacher Education Programme

There are four sessions to the teacher education programme and each one has been planned to give three hours of professional development. Each session has been organised to foreground a specific aspect of developing understanding of inquiry and assessment of inquiry skills and provide an iterative approach to developing a teacher’s confidence and competence in inquiry based science education and the assessment of inquiry skills. The intention of four discrete workshops is to provide opportunity for teachers to trial activities with their students and explore the ideas between sessions. Teachers can then share their experiences and reflections in subsequent sessions. Sessions might be organised to run half termly or over the whole school year to provide adequate time for both teachers and students to develop their inquiry skills and understanding.

For trainee teachers, we would suggest that sessions 1 and 2 are appropriate during their training year. Sessions 3 and 4 could then build on this foundation during their first year of teaching.

The slides for each of the four sessions are provided within the USB card, along with electronic versions of these tutor notes and the ‘Inquiry Diary’, which has been created for the teacher’s to make their reflective notes in as part of each session. This means that multiple copies can be made.

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What is Inquiry-based Learning in Science Education (IBSE)? 1

Inquiry-based science education is an approach to teaching and learning science that is conducted through the process of raising questions and seeking answers. An inquiry approach fits within a constructivist paradigm in that it requires the learner to take note of new ideas and contexts and question how these fit with their existing understanding. It is not about the teacher delivering a curriculum of knowledge to the learner but rather about the learner building an understanding through guidance and challenge from their teacher and from their peers.

In our view, these inquiry skills are developed and experienced through working collaboratively with others and so communication, teamwork, and peer support are vital components of inquiry classrooms.

Some of the key characteristics of inquiry-based learning are:

Ã Students are engaged with a difficult problem or situation that is open-ended to such a degree that a variety of solutions or responses are conceivable.

Ã Students have control over the direction of the inquiry and the methods or approaches that are taken.

Ã Students draw upon their existing knowledge and they identify what their learning needs are.

Ã The different tasks stimulate curiosity in the students, which encourages them to continue to search for new data or evidence.

Ã The students are responsible for the analysis of the evidence and also for presenting evidence in an appropriate manner which defends their solution to the initial problem (Kahn & O’Rourke, 2005).


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Why Adopt an Inquiry Approach in Science Classrooms?

Inquiry learning has been used as a teaching and learning approach for thousands of years, however, the use of inquiry within schools has a much briefer history. At the beginning of the 20th century, John Dewey, a well-known philosopher of education, was the first to criticize the fact that science education was not taught in a way to develop young scientific thinkers. Dewey proposed that science should be taught as a process and way of thinking – not as a subject with facts to be memorised. In Inquiry classrooms the approach focuses on student inquiry as the driving force for learning. Teaching is organised around questions and problems in a highly student-centred inquiry process.

Inquiry-based science education (IBSE) has proved its efficacy in both primary and secondary schools in increasing students’ interest and attainments levels while at the same time stimulating teacher motivation. In 2007, the Rocard Report recommended that school science teaching across Europe should move from a deductive to an inquiry approach and billions of Euros were invested in making this happen. Over the last decade, there have been around a dozen European Union Framework 7 projects (EUFP7), such as S-TEAM, ESTABLISH,

Fibonacci, PRIMAS and Pathway, whose remit has been to support groups of teachers across Europe in bringing about the radical change in pedagogy. The approaches that each of these projects have taken has varied greatly with some focusing on a specific approach to inquiry such as problem solving, while others have focused their inquiries in a particular context, such as botanical gardens, and others on shifting pedagogy to be more student-centred.

More recently, the EU report Science Education for Responsible Citizenship (2015) recommends:

Closing the gap between what we have learned from science education research and classroom practice are vital. Inquiry-oriented science education can produce positive results, but this requires reforms in classroom practice, including a shift towards assessment for learning (AfL). p22

Learners who have experienced inquiry-based science learning in collaborative settings become more motivated learners and advocates for an inquiry approach (Clarke et al, 2006).

Dewey proposed that

science should be taught as a process

and way of thinking – not as a subject with facts to be

memorised.

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How has SAILS worked for UK teachers?

In SAILS, our aim has been to prepare science teachers, not only to be able to teach science through inquiry, but also to be confident and competent in the assessment of their students’ learning through inquiry. We have achieved this through:

Ã developing and providing teacher education programmes in IBSE that includes both an assessment aspect and support in strengthening collaborative learning

Ã supporting the sharing of experiences and practices in teaching, learning and assessment within and between each cohort of teachers

Ã providing and selecting activities that help develop inquiry pedagogy and learning

Ã designing inquiry assessment strategies and tools for use during inquiry activities and helping teachers adapt these

Ã supporting teachers in reaching judgements about competence in specific inquiry skills

Ã helping teachers provide feedback and guidance during inquiry activities

Ã trialling inquiry activities that partner countries have developed

Teachers’ views of what inquiry is, its role in learning and its place in the science curriculum differ. Some teachers believe that an inquiry approach is important in that it mimics the way that scientists work and so their ideas centre around immersing learners in inquiry scenarios. Other teachers see an inquiry approach as a useful way of helping learners develop various skills such as predicting, observing, collecting and analysing data or critiquing experimental design. A third group conceptualise inquiry as a way of helping students make sense of scientific phenomena and so utilise inquiry as a way of developing conceptual knowledge.

We categorised these approaches as learning:

Ã by doing inquiry

Ã about inquiry skills

Ã through inquiry

On the SAILS project, we found that many of our teachers held multiple views of the relevance of inquiry in learning. While they might favour one approach to inquiry over another initially, they later tended to utilise aspects of all three approaches depending on the potential an inquiry activity offered and/or the developmental needs of their students at that time. In fact, for many of our UK project teachers, their definitions of inquiry and the role of IBSE in classrooms changed during the TEP programme as they began to reconsider their beliefs about the aims of science learning, the role of practical work and the intentions of assessment.

Teachers’ views of what

inquiry is, its role in learning and its place in the science

curriculum differs

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SAILS focus on Inquiry

Inquiry is a multifaceted series of activities that can be driven in different directions depending on the questions being asked, the routes that people take to answer those questions and interpretations of events that may happen as an inquiry progresses. On the SAILS project, we focused on six main inquiry skills:

Ã developing hypotheses

Ã working collaboratively

Ã forming coherent arguments

Ã planning investigations

Ã scientific reasoning

Ã scientific literacy

For each of these skills, we helped teachers find ways of :

Ã diagnosing whether students demonstrated an appropriate level of that skill within the inquiry activity

Ã providing feedback and guidance to their students in order to improve students’ inquiry skills

Across the project, 20 Inquiry Units were developed:

BIOLOGY CHEMISTRY PHYSICS Ã Food labels

Ã Plant nutrition

Ã Sports nutrition

Ã Woodlice

Ã Natural selection

Ã Polymers

Ã Acids, bases and salts

Ã Black tide: oil on water

Ã Reaction rates

Ã The proof of the pudding

Ã Which is the best fuel?

Ã Household versus natural environment

Ã Collision of an egg

Ã Ultraviolet radiation

Ã Electricity

Ã Light

Ã Speed

Ã Floating orange

Ã Global warming

Ã Up there … how is it?

Teachers across the partner countries trialled Inquiry Units that interested their teachers and case studies were written by the teachers explaining how each of the inquiry units worked in their classroom. Many of these case studies explained various ways in which the teachers adapted the activity, the pedagogy or the assessment to fit their particular cultural context.

Clarke, H., Egan, B., Fletcher, L. and Ryan, C. (2006) “Creating case studies of practice through appreciative inquiry”, Educational Action Research 14, 3: 407-22

Kahn, P. and O’Rourke, K. (2005) Understanding enquiry-based learning. [online]. Available from:http://www.nuigalway.ie/celt/pblbook/chapter1.pdf

Copies of these

Inquiry Units are available on the

SAILS website

www.sails-project.eu

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Your Reflection Space


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Session 1:What is Inquiry?

This is the first workshop session in the series of four. The focus of the first session is to discuss and explore individual understanding of ‘ science inquiry’ and help teachers to start thinking about developing students’ ideas about inquiry.

From this they then experience some inquiry activities for themselves and then reflect on their understanding of science inquiry and how this compares to their practice, particularly in relation to their practical science sessions.

Ã to understand the aim of SAILS project and its findings.

Ã to develop understanding of the range of skills within inquiry based science education.

Ã to experience some open inquiry activities and identify their potential for enabling students to develop different aspects of inquiry skills.

Ã to consider how pedagogy can change to encourage more IBSE in the classroom

Aims

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Session Overview

5 mins Introduction Ã to share outline of session and objectives

15 mins Background Ã to note the background to and aims of the SAILS project

and the resources available on the static portal

Ã to recognise how learning by inquiry is different from other types of practical lesson

Slides 2–3

15 mins What is Inquiry? Ã to compare definitions of inquiry

Ã to recognise the skills associated with inquiry

Ã to discuss the types of student and teacher activity within a simple inquiry cycle

Slides 4–5

10 mins Why Inquiry is not widespread? Ã to consider some of the issues as to why inquiry is not

common in school science

Slides 5–8

35 mins Types of inquiry Ã to recognise that there are a range of ways of doing an

inquiry

Slides 9–10

70 mins Exploring Inquiry Activities Ã To explore and discuss of 4 SAILS inquiry activities that

focus on skills (Floating Orange, Leaf Temperature, Cooked Spaghetti, Cookie Mining)

Slides 12–19

Sheets 1.1 (Pg 19)

30 mins Planning Inquiries for the classroom Ã to plan how to trial one or more activities in the classroom

Slide 20

Pre-session Teachers write a short piece that explains their understanding of what inquiry involves and how it helps science learning. NB. This is returned to in session 4 and so teachers should keep a copy of their ideas.


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Royal Society Vision for Science & Mathematics: https://royalsociety.org/~/media/education/policy/vision/reports/vision-summary.pdf

Wellcome Perspectives on Education series. Inquiry based learning: http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/stellent/groups/corporatesite@msh_peda/documents/web_document/wtvm053969.pdf

Activities

Background

Introductions The SAILS Project was a 4 year pan-European teacher development and research project designed to support secondary science teachers in changing their practice to a more inquiry-based approach. Unlike previous EU Inquiry projects, SAILS set out to help teachers both develop an IBSE teaching approach and also work out how to assess inquiry in the classroom. The SAILS UK group was based at King’s College London, where the principal investigator, Dr Chris Harrison, drew on her previous work on assessment for learning to guide this new approach to inquiry learning and assessment.

Introduction

Ã Name

Ã School

Ã Years of teaching

Ã What are you hoping to take away from today’s session?

What is Inquiry?Teachers, in pairs first and then in groups of 4, read each others pre-session writing. What is similar and what is different in the ideas about inquiry and how it helps science learning?

It is likely that some teachers will list various inquiry skills and possibly refer to or write out what they consider the scientific method is. Others may suggest Nature of Science and inquiry being the way scientists work. They may be constrained by the ways science practical are currently or have recently been undertaken and assessed. What is important here is to air ideas and begin to link inquiry with some of the aims of science education such as the development of scientific skills and thinking, informed decision-making for citizenship and development of 21st century skills such as problem solving and teamwork.

Why is inquiry-based learning not widespread?

1)  Variations in the definition of inquiry-based learning

2)  A lack of robust research evidence demonstrating the positive impacts of learning through inquiry

3)  Teacher preparation must cover understanding about inquiry as well as the necessary PCK to teach through

inquiry

4)  Science departments need to be appropriately resourced

5)  Assessment issues not considered

Yeomans, E. (2011) Perspectives on Education: Inquiry-based learning London: Wellcome

Slide 5 . King's College London | www.kcl.ac.uk/SAILS

Inquiry in Science Experience and

explore the world around them.

Ask questions based on the exploration.

Consider how you could find out the answer to

your question.

Collect evidence to answer the question

and consider how good it is.

Answer the question (if possible).

Explain the findings.


Inquiry in Science Classrooms

In classrooms, science inquiry might involve: •  problem solving

•  planning and carrying out investigations •  looking for patterns in data sets

•  making observations, predictions and inferences

•  asking questions, researching and testing out ideas •  sharing and challenging ideas and reaching a consensus

•  developing conceptual understanding •  strengthening process skills

•  learning about the nature of science


Exploring Inquiry in Science •  What is Inquiry? •  What does it look like in science classrooms?

•  How does it help students learn in science?


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Why is inquiry-based learning not widespread?

1)  Variations in the definition of inquiry-based learning

2)  A lack of robust research evidence demonstrating the positive impacts of learning through inquiry

3)  Teacher preparation must cover understanding about inquiry as well as the necessary PCK to teach through

inquiry

4)  Science departments need to be appropriately resourced

5)  Assessment issues not considered

Yeomans, E. (2011) Perspectives on Education: Inquiry-based learning London: Wellcome


School Science Practical Work

•  Generally practicals are presented as recipes to follow so that students experience scientific phenomena

•  The raising of questions about phenomena lies with the teacher rather than the student

•  Most practicals involve the student in collecting and presenting data that is made sense of by the teacher

•  Practicals may not aid conceptual development nor development of inquiry skills

Harrison, C (2014) Assessment of Inquiry Skills in the SAILS Project Science Education International Vol. 25, 1, p112-122


Why Inquiry is not widespread?

Harrison, C. (2014) Assessment of Inquiry Skills in the SAILS Project. Science Education International Vol. 25, Issue 1, p112-122

Yeomans, E. (2011) Perspectives on Education: Inquiry-based learning. London;Wellcome Trust

Slides 5–8 Refer the teachers to the Wellcome(2013) seminar on the reasons why IBSE has not become more widespread. Ask them whether the view of current practice in science practicals by Harrison (2014) fits with their conceptions about practicals.

Reasons for poor uptake of IBSE might include:

Ã behaviour management concerns

Ã lack of confidence in their students’ capabilities

Ã not having the time as they have so much curriculum to cover,

Ã feeling uncomfortable about relinquishing ‘control’ to pupils,

Ã not having sufficient resources

Ã perceived expectations of senior leadership team or OfSTED that students should focus on directed rather than more open approaches to learning

Slide 8Show the Findings from the SAILS Project slide. Explain that teachers on the SAILS project were also reticent at first to make room in their schemes of work for inquiry. However, even after a few months, many of the teachers found that they could make room for inquiry activities also that they began to bring a more inquiry approach into their other lessons. The SAILS project teachers realised that there were opportunities within inquiry lessons where they could assess how successful or not students were in their learning. Through IBSE, the SAILS project teachers reported that they learned more about their students capabilities and generally were surprised by what they could do.

Findings from the SAILS project

•  Teachers made room for inquiry within the curriculum •  Teachers learned more about their students capabilities and

generally were surprised by what they could do •  Teachers realised that they can assess throughout the inquiry

and not just assess the product

Slide 8 . King's College London | www.kcl.ac.uk/SAILS Reflecting on Practice

•  What does practical work look like in your classroom?

•  How much inquiry is done in your classroom?

•  What can be done to strengthen inquiry in schools?


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Question: How does an inquiry approach help children learn?Inquiry based science involves students raising questions and seeking answers. It is therefore student-centred and so likely to be more motivational. An inquiry approach also requires the learner to take note of new ideas and contexts and question how these fit with their existing understanding. It is about the learner building an understanding through guidance and challenge from their teacher and from their peers. Teachers may have concerns over time for content coverage of the curriculum and also whether all students are capable of learning in such an approach.

Question: How do you envisage an inquiry classroom being different from what Harrison describes? To answer this question, teachers need to explain the student and teacher roles in a recipe-style practical and compare that with their perceptions of what an inquiry lesson seems like. Hopefully the focus will be on active engagement of students in all aspects of inquiry from raising questions to explanation of data and critiquing of the inquiry process. Teachers may raise ideas about collaborative learning, the need to organise resources and timing within the lesson differently or possibly a raised noise level associated with more discussion. Teachers might also consider how their role might change to being more a facilitator and guide rather than leading the activities in the classroom.


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Types of Inquiry

Adherence to scientific method being a linear process and/or experience of using rigid frameworks to assess investigations in recent years may have led teachers to conceptualising inquiry as ‘fair testing.’ This activity based on materials from the book It’s not fair - or is it? by Turner et al (2011) helps teacher consider a broader view of inquiry.

Provide copies of the Early and Late KS2 materials (but with their categorisation at the top of the page removed) from Turner, J., Keogh, B., Naylor, S. & Lawrence, L. (2011) It’s not fair - or is it? a guide to developing children’s ideas through primary science enquiry. Millgate House Education and The Association for Science Education. England.

There are 10 different activities and the teachers need to see 5-6 of these to get an idea of the different types.

Explain where the materials came from and that the intention of Turner et al (2011) was to persuade primary teachers that there are a range of types of inquiry.

Ask teachers to classify what type of inquiries each of these are.

Discuss the different descriptions for the categories selected by the teachers and whether these fit with Turner et al’s categories:

Ã Observing over time – Puddles evaporating

Ã Identifying and classifying – Alive, not alive, never alive

Ã Pattern Seeking – Surveying a field

Ã Research – Water cycle

Ã Controlling variables (fair testing) – Pulse rate

Most teachers would agree that all five types of activity are appropriate for KS3-KS5 but that some are used more often than others. Teachers may also suggest problem solving or plan and test-type technological applications of science or other approaches. The important aspect here is to discuss and question why and how these fit with an inquiry approach.

...the intention of Turner et al (2011)

was to persuade primary teachers that there are

a range of types of inquiry.

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Question: Are these types of inquiry appropriate for KS3-KS5?

Question: Are there other categories appropriate for KS3-KS5?

Types of Inquiry

•  Observing over time – Puddles evaporating

•  Identifying and classifying – Alive, not alive, never alive

•  Pattern seeking – Surveying a field

•  Research – Water cycle

•  Controlling variables (fair testing) – Pulse rate


Types of Inquiry

•  Identify what type of inquiry each activity is focusing on

•  How has this activity changed your view of inquiry?

•  How could similar types of inquiry be used at lower secondary school?

Activities taken from: Turner, J., Keogh, B., Naylor, S. & Lawrence, L. (2011). It’s not fair - or is it? a guide to developing children’s ideas through primary science enquiry. Millgate House Education and The Association for Science Education. England.



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Exploring Inquiry Activities

The purpose of this section is to give the teachers experience of doing an inquiry. This is the key part of the session. Teachers are more likely to learn the ‘messiness’ of doing inquiries through experiencing them. They will find that using equipment has to be thought through, especially when trying it (for example measuring the length of hot spaghetti). The range of activities included here bring out different aspects of inquiry to encourage students to take charge of parts of the inquiry that often is done by the teacher in other types of practical.

These activities provide opportunities to learn about inquiry as the teachers or pupils develop and strengthen specific inquiry skills.

Arrange for the teachers to work in groups of 3 or 4.

Ensure that there is sufficient equipment so that each group can do each of the following four inquiries:

Ã Floating Orange

Ã Leaf Temperature

Ã Cooked Spaghetti

Ã Cookie Mining

Briefly talk through the four activities using slides 13-17 (see notes and resource sheet 1.1) emphasising the purpose of each inquiry in encouraging students to take a more active role in inquiry.

Allow the teachers to select which order they do the activities in and how long they spend on each activity.

Equipment Ã 20g of spaghetti

Ã 1 thermometer (0 -100°C)

Ã 500ml beaker

Ã bunsen

Ã heatproof mat

Ã tripod & gauze

Ã tongs

Ã glass rod

Ã balance

Ã ruler

Ã string

Ã scissors

Ã safety specs

Ensure that there is sufficient

equipment so that each group can do each of the

following four inquiries and access to general equipment (measuring cylinders, other

sized beakers, matches etc)

Raising Questions Floating Orange


Pupil Questions

•  What makes the fruit sink or float? •  Can you make the floating fruit sink or the sinking fruit float? •  Does floating change if you take off the skin? bake it? break

it into pieces/ squash it? put holes in it? •  Why does a peeled orange always float the same way up? •  Will it float differently in salt water? hot water? Iced water? •  Does changing the water depth alter how the fruit floats?


Using Novel Equipment in a New Context

Leaf Temperatures


Observation, Measurement & Inference Cooked Spaghetti


Critiquing MethodsCookie Mining


6 Cooked SpaghettiThe Cooked Spaghetti inquiry requires careful manipulation of materials and apparatus and accuracy of observation and measurement. The teachers may also bring in some ‘fair testing‘ aspects such as length of time to cook the spaghetti. They may focus just on the changing length of the spaghetti after cooking or the width or both measurements.


On the SAILS project, we adapted four inquiry activities to encourage students to take a more active role in the inquiry process.

These are: •  Floating Orange •  Leaf Temperatures

•  Cooked Spaghetti •  Cookie Mining



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Equipment Ã 1 basil plant

Ã infra-red thermometer

Ã water spray

Ã Vaseline TM

Ã string

Ã ruler

Ã tape measure

Equipment Ã 2 chocolate chip cookies

Ã 250ml beaker

Ã funnel and filter paper

Ã tea strainer

Ã forceps

Ã mounted needle/awl

Ã plastic spoon

Ã string

Ã scissors

Ã magnifying glass

Ã safety specs

Equipment Ã small solid oranges/satsumas

Ã small soft oranges of about the same size

Ã 500ml beakers

Ã measuring cylinders

Ã glass rods

Ã thermometers

Ã rulers

Ã string

Ã balance

Ã waterproof pen

Leaf TemperatureIn the Leaf Temperature inquiry, the teachers use an infra red thermometer, which will be a novel piece of apparatus for the majority of them. These are normally used by plumbers to locate hot water pipes in walls and so take surface temperatures. Encourage an inquiry approach by asking teachers to test as many surfaces as they can and suggest why they might get different readings. This questions both their conceptual understanding and their thinking about the accuracy of the thermometer and the need for repeats. An alternative idea is to pose the question – “Would you expect the skin temperature to vary over the body?”

Floating OrangeIn Floating Orange there is a choice of inquiry question and so several possibilities as to the direction of the activity. It is therefore important to provide a wide range of apparatus and possibly to have a technician available so that alternative apparatus can be obtained if necessary.

Cookie MiningCookie Mining is similar to Floating Orange as there are many possibilities. It requires the teachers to select what they consider an effective method to separate the chocolate from the biscuit. A wide range of methods might be selected, therefore, access to a wide range of apparatus is necessary.


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Exploring Inquiry Activities (continued)

Slide 18 & 19 Teachers discuss and reflect on each of the inquiries. Encourage them to explain why and how each of the activities would encourage students to become more active inquirers.

It is also important that teachers begin to think about how their pedagogy and role in the classroom will change as they adopt a more IBSE approach.

The key points to encourage while the teachers are trialling and reflecting on the inquiry activities:

Ã Do not separate the planning from the doing of the inquiry. Exploration is essential and includes ‘playing’ with the equipment to understand how it works

Ã Asking questions is an important part of being curious and ensures a more student-centred approach, which helps motivation

Ã Ideas and lines of inquiry should not be shut down, unless there is a health and safety implication of a particular route

Ã Disproof and learning from mistakes can be useful

Ã Students should be encouraged to keep thinking about how is what they are doing answering their question or not

Ã There are a range of ways of completing each inquiry and its important that the teachers look at the different approaches

Planning Inquiries for the Classroom

Slide 20 Teachers reflect on the session activities and decide and plan which inquiry activities will be done in school

Action Plan

•  Try out one or more of the inquiry activities from today with one class

•  Think about how you can prevent the inquiry being closed down

•  Keep a record of your experiences and reflections to share


Reflecting on your Inquiry

•  How did you do your inquiry? •  Was this similar to other groups?

•  How successful were you in each inquiry? •  What factors led to this?

•  How often did you make changes from your first ideas?


Teachers should begin to

think about how their pedagogy and

role in the classroom will change as they adopt

a more IBSE approach.

6 7

Reflection on the 4 Inquiries

•  These FOUR inquiries were designed to help you focus on inquiry skills that usually get missed in practical classrooms

•  How might these inquiries work in your classroom?

•  What do you do need to put in place for them to work well?



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References

Harrison, C (2014) Assessment of Inquiry Skills in the SAILS Project. Science Education International Vol. 25, Issue 1, p112-122

Royal Society Vision for Science & Mathematics education: https://royalsociety.org/~/media/education/policy/vision/reports/vision-summary.pdf

Turner, J., Keogh, B., Naylor, S. & Lawrence, L. (2011) It’s not fair - or is it? a guide to developing children’s ideas through primary science enquiry. Millgate House Education and The Association for Science Education. England.

Wellcome Perspectives on Education series. Inquiry based learning: http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/stellent/groups/corporatesite@msh_peda/documents/web_document/wtvm053969.pdf

Yeomans, E. (2011) Perspectives on Education: Inquiry-based learning. London; Wellcome Trust


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Resource Sheet 1.1

Floating Orange Ã What makes an orange float or sink?

Ã What ideas do you have?

Ã Decide on an inquiry question that you could explore and possibly find an answer to.

Leaf Temperature Ã Work out how to use the infra-red thermometer.

Ã Use the infra red thermometer to take the temperature of different surfaces.

Ã Explore the temperature of the leaf surfaces

Ã Do you get any differences?

Ã What might be causing this?

Ã Does wetting the leaves or making them greasy affect the temperature?

Ã Can you workout what might be happening?

1

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Cooked Spaghetti Ã How does spaghetti change when you

cook it?

Ã What ideas do you have and how can you test these out?

Ã How does your method compare with other groups?

3

Cookie Mining Ã Work out how you might separate the chocolate chips

from the biscuit.

Ã How can you check how efficient you have been and whether yours is the best method?

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Session 2:Developing and Assessing Inquiry

This is the second workshop session in the series of four. In this second session, the teachers first share ideas of how successful the inquiry activities from session 1 were in their classrooms.

The teachers will then be introduced to the classroom assessment model used by the UK SAILS teachers during their inquiry activities to recognise how to use questions and tools to check on understanding during an inquiry. The teachers will also explore, trial and discuss three SAILS inquiry units designed to promote conceptual development through inquiryÃ to reflect on and share ideas about

IBSE from trials in their own classrooms

Ã to develop understanding of the classroom assessment model used in inquiry

Ã to experience some inquiry activities and identify their potential for supporting conceptual understanding

Ã to consider how pedagogy needs to change to enable assessment to provide feedback

during the inquiry activity.

Aims


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Session Overview


Slides 1–3

35 mins Reflection on Classroom Inquiries Ã to share ideas of how successful the inquiry activities were

in their classrooms


Slide 4

25 mins Classroom Assessment Model Ã to workout how teachers might use assessment during the

inquiry to evidence learning and areas for improvement

Slides 5–9

60 mins Exploring Inquiry Activities Ã to trial three inquiry units designed to promote conceptual

development through inquiry

Slides 10-17

Sheet 2.1, 2.2 (Pg 32–33)

25 mins Collecting Evidence of Learning Ã to recognise how to use questions and Placemats to check

on understanding during an inquiry

Slides 18-23

Sheets 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6 (Pg 32–35)

30 mins Planning Next Steps Ã to reflect on today’s session

Ã to plan how to trial one or more activities in the classroom

Slide 24


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Activities

Reflection on Classroom Inquiries

Introduction

Welcome Slides 1-3 Explain that the aim of session 1 was to begin to understand what inquiry based learning is, what benefits there are from learning in this way and how teachers might introduce these ideas in their classroom.

Today’s session begins by reflecting on and sharing how successful or not the inquiry activities were in the teachers’ classrooms. The session then moves on to consider the classroom assessment model that SAILS adopted for inquiry, before looking at three more inquiries. Ideas to support assessment in the classroom are then returned to before asking the teachers to plan for the next phase of activities in their classrooms.

Slide 4Teachers spend 10 minutes discussing with a partner which inquiry activities they have tried and how their classes responded to these activities. The teachers then have 2-3 minutes each to explain the main points from their discussion with the rest of the group. If you have a large group of teachers, you may want to split them into two groups for this part, with you moving between the groups to pick up the main ideas and issues raised.

Objectives of Session

•  to share ideas of how successful the inquiry activities were in your classrooms

•  to recognise how learning by inquiry is different from other types of practical lesson

•  to workout how you might use assessment during the inquiry to evidence learning and areas for improvement

•  to trial three inquiry units designed to promote conceptual development through inquiry

King's College London | www.kcl.ac.uk/SAILS Slide 2 .

Outline of Session

•  Reflection on Classroom Inquiries •  Classroom Assessment Model

•  Exploring Inquiry Activities •  Collecting Evidence of Learning

•  Planning Next Steps


Teacher Feedback on Classroom Inquiries

•  Which inquiries did you try? Why these?

•  Which inquiry skills did the students focus on?

•  How did the students respond to the inquiry activity?

•  What evidence of learning did you notice?


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It is important to help teachers explain clearly how the inquiry was setup in their classroom and to move beyond outcome comments about student enjoyment and motivation and so the questions below may be useful:

Ã How did you introduce/start the inquiry for the students?

Ã How did you organise the equipment and explain to the students that they were making the decisions about what to do?

Ã What did the students find difficult/easy?

Ã What did you find difficult/easy?

Ã How would you do this inquiry differently next time? Why?

Summarise the main points from the teacher feedback


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Classroom Assessment Model

Slide 5Show the Findings from the SAILS Project slide and explain that the focus for today is to help the teachers work out how they might do assessment effectively during an inquiry activity

Slide 6Most of the teachers will have heard of Assessment for Learning, but many will think of this work in terms of strategies that they might use in the classroom to collect ideas from students rather than considering the purpose being formative. For more background on Assessment for Learning see: www.nuffieldfoundation.org/assessment-reform-group

Slide 7 It is important here to highlight that evidence of students’ ideas are collected during the learning so that learners can receive feedback from the teacher or from peers. In this way, students can check whether their ideas seem to be helping them find an answer to their question or decide to change their plans or rethink how they might move forward. Making such changes during the inquiry is generally more useful than finding out at the end of the activity what you might have done to improve.

Slide 8The teachers may have already raised pointers on areas students either found difficult or easy. Ask teachers what sort of problems did students encounter and how did the teacher notice this in the classroom. It is useful to make a note of any questions or strategies that helped teachers recognise where difficulties arose.

These might be:

Ã unclear about what question they are trying to answer

Ã lack of familiarity with apparatus

Ã unsystematic in approach

Ã not collaborating in their group

Ã insufficient data to answer their question

Slide 9Sometimes data needs to be collected for summative purposes. The emphasis here is on summative assessment happening occasionally throughout the year and each of these being based on summarising progress over several weeks of inquiry work.

Definition of Assessment for Learning (formative)

•  This is classroom assessment which focuses on the learning as it is taking place and its function is to bring about improvement

•  Both teachers and learners need to be involved but ultimately it is the learner who has to take action

(Harrison & Howard 2009)


Classroom Assessment Model

•  Formative assessment during the inquiries •  Collect evidence of learning of inquiry skills and learning

achieved through inquiry •  Provides opportunity for feedback to individual students

and groups on their growing inquiry competences •  Challenges students to consider the idea and path they

have decided to take •  Informs students where to direct their efforts


Assessment of Classroom Inquiries

•  What did you notice about inquiry skills students found easy and those they found difficult in the inquiries you tried in your classroom?

•  Did you ask any specific questions or use any way of collecting evidence of learning in the inquiries you tried in your classroom?


Summative Assessment

•  Happens occasionally at key points in development •  Classroom evidence, collected over several inquiries, is

summarised to construct a picture of progress for individual students or groups

•  Sometimes additional tasks are used to check on individual student or group progress



•  Assessment in inquiry activities is best done during the inquiry to provide feedback so that improvements can be made as the activity progresses

•  Probing questions help teachers and students in assessing understanding of inquiry skills and processes

•  Students can improve their conceptual understanding through an inquiry approach


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The purpose of this section is to give the teachers experience of doing an inquiry. This is the key part of the session. Teachers are more likely to conceptualise the changing role that students take when doing inquiries through experiencing the inquiry activities themselves.

Equipment Ã food labels

Ã 3 x ‘food’ washing lines (about 3 metre each) one line labelled protein, one labelled fat and one labelled carbohydrate

Ã 50 clothes pegs

Ã food labels (at least 40 different ones but some multiple copies so they can see how the one food type has very different positions on the three lines)

Ã 3 copies of food cards made for 5 common foods

Ã paper plates


On the SAILS project, we designed three inquiry Units to encourage students to take a more active role in the inquiry process. These are: •  Food Labels Inquiry •  Reaction Rates Inquiry

•  Speed Inquiry


Food labels Inquiry

•  This inquiry contains a number of exercises to help students focus on proportion and composition of different foods

•  Try a couple of the activities and consider how these help students think and reason in an inquiry way


Unpacking Food labels Inquiry

•  Consider the conceptual ideas being developed •  How are the activities in this inquiry helping

students think and reason about a balanced diet? •  How might students share their ideas in these

activities? •  Which questions or ways of collecting evidence of

learning might you use in these activities?


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Using Food Labels to Understand Foods and Meals - Slides 10-12This is a topic that is returned to many times throughout a child’s time in school. The problem is that too often the ideas on what constitutes a balanced diet are not considered in sufficient detail to allow youngsters to understand what a balanced diet means when it comes to choosing foods for meals. This set of materials attempts to help with developing better ideas about food and incorporates an investigative approach to aid the skills development required and also to motivate students to want to understand these ideas better.

Through an inquiry approach, students will develop the skill of proportional reasoning because the students will need to explain different ways to compare amounts and types of food in their diet.

The following table lists the Daily Values (DVs) & Recommended Daily Intakes (RDIs) based on a calorific intake of 2,000 Cal, for adults and children of 4 or more years of age.

Nutrient DV

Saturated Fatty Acids 20 g

Cholesterol 300 mg

Sodium 2400 mg

Potassium 3500 mg

Total Carbohydrate 300 g

Dietary Fibre 25 g

Protein 50 g

The teachers try out the two activities in this inquiry, each time thinking about the range of ways students could think about and articulate their methods.

Teachers will need to consider:

Ã Which inquiry skills are being developed in each activity?

Ã How does this guided inquiry need to be adjusted, developed or extended into an open inquiry? .

Ã What are the benefits of doing this ‘food’ topic in an inquiry way?

Ã Which inquiry skills might be the focus in terms of assessment?

Ã What would ‘quality’ look like in each activity?

The extension activity provides an opportunity to look at making changes in their own diet and understand that different diets are required for different people in terms of being very active or sedentary

Resource Sheet 2.1 provides a guide to the activities, while Resource Sheet 2.2 provides an information sheet about different types of data on food labels, which sometimes needs to be explained if students struggle to get into the activities


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Ã Vitamin C effervescent tablets

Ã boiling tubes

Ã test tubes

Ã 250 ml beakers

Ã 100ml measuring cylinders

Ã stop watches

Ã Bunsen burners

Ã tripods

Ã matches

Ã pestle and mortar

Ã syringes to collect gas

Ã rubber bungs with delivery tubes

Ã balloons

Ã transparent plastic bags

Ã rubber bands

Ã 0-100°C thermometers

Ã balance

Ã string

Ã metre rules

Ã graph paper

Ã kettle

Equipment

Reaction rates Inquiry

In this activity, the inquiry question is set in a problem solving context.

Usually I wait until my Vitamin C tablet stops fizzing before I drink it. Some mornings I am running late for school. How can I speed up this reaction?


Unpacking Reaction rates Inquiry

•  Consider the conceptual ideas being developed •  What choices can students make in this inquiry?

•  How might you encourage students to compare how effective their methods were compared to others?

•  Which questions or ways of collecting evidence of learning might you use in these activities?


Rates of Reaction Slides - 13-14This inquiry is introduced in a more problem solving way.

Starting question: Usually when I am taking my effervescent Vitamin C drink I wait until it had stopped fizzing before I drink it. Some mornings I am running late for school. Can I speed up this reaction?

In this activity, there are two aspects to work out.

1. Deciding on which variable to change:

• Changing amount of water used per tablet (concentration)

• Using different amounts of tablets (concentration)

• Using hotter water (temperature)

• Grinding or breaking up the tablet (surface area)

2. How to measure the effect:

• Time taken for tablet to dissolve and stop effervescing

• Collection of gas that is effervescing

• Comparison of the rate at which the gas is collected

The teachers will need to think about how their students would respond to the original scenario and how they would respond to students who change two or more variables at once to try and achieve an optimum rate.


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Equipment Ã metre rule

Ã stopwatches

Ã scissors

Ã sticky tape

Ã ball of String

Ã range of tape measures

Ã graph paper

Slide 17These questions are intended to help teachers articulate how they envisage these three inquiry activities within their own classroom contexts. It will help them address the changing role of their students, where the students find a variety of ways to approach the inquiry and seek solutions. It will also highlight the changing role of the teacher whose main task is to regularly check with students what ideas they are using and how they are devising ways to test these ideas out. Teachers also need to encourage groups of students to work well together and, at intervals, to share the progress they are making or problems they are encountering with other groups. Both students and teachers need to find new ways of shifting the classroom dialogue and protocols to allow an inquiry approach to develop.

One of the problems that teachers are likely to encounter is leading the students into a particular way of solving a problem simply by the teacher’s reactions to student comments and the types of questions that teachers use. The teachers may have worked out some of the questions they might ask to probe understanding during the three inquiry activities, and should be encouraged to share and evaluate these with their peers.

Unpacking the Speed Inquiry

•  Consider the conceptual ideas being developed •  What choices can the students make in this

inquiry? •  How might you encourage students to compare

how effective their methods were compared to others?

•  Which questions or ways of collecting evidence of learning might you use in these activities?


Unpacking the Inquiry Activities

1. How is an inquiry-based approach different to the traditional way these topics are taught? 2. Which inquiry skills could be focused on in each activity?

3. What probing questions might you ask during each of these inquiries?

4. What evidence of learning would you gather for each of these inquiry skills?

5. Would you gather evidence on individual pupils or as a group? Why?

6. What feedback might you give to students in each of these activities?


One of the problems

that teachers are likely to encounter is leading the students

into a particular way

Speed Inquiry

•  Devise an investigation to find out how long it takes to walk 5 metres

•  How confident are you that you selected an effective method?

•  How confident are you in your results? Can you justify them?


Speed Inquiry Activity - Slides 15-16The teachers are asked to devise an inquiry to find out how long it takes to walk 5 metres. Several issues that could arise in this scenario:

Ã deciding on standing start versus walking start

Ã the suitability of equipment

Ã how they know the start and stop lines and if the timing was accurate

Ã whether the speed was uniform or varied over the 5 metres

Ã how do they know if they walked in a straight line

There is scope for getting the teachers thinking about how their students might respond to ideas of average and instantaneous speed and acceleration.


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Collecting Evidence of Learning

Slides 18-21Probing questions helps teachers find out what individuals and groups are thinking. It is difficult to find probing questions without suggesting to students the way the teacher might solve the problem. Resource Sheet 2.3 provides a series of questions that some of the experienced SAILS teachers developed. In small groups of 3 or 4, the teachers select those questions they consider effective at probing understanding without leading the learner to a specific solution.

Because specific questions might link with different parts of an inquiry or be more effective in one part than another, the teachers are asked to place the effective questions they have chosen on a diagram of an inquiry cycle (Resource Sheet 2.4).

Slide 22Placemats are a means of collecting initial ideas for individual students. Depending on the group size, the Placemat on Resource Sheet 2.5 is photocopied onto A4 or A3 paper and each student writes their initial idea in the box nearest to them, on the edge of the Placemat. Sharing these ideas in a group of 3-6 students helps prompt discussion about the inquiry. When the group reaches a consensus, this can be written in the central box; this might be an amalgamation of 2 or more initial ideas or a development of one idea that they all agree has potential. Both within this activity, and by sharing these ideas with other groups, allows students to use one another as a resource and provides opportunity for feedback from peers and from the teacher, during the inquiry activity.

Slide 23In the inquiry classroom, the teacher interprets the information on the Placemats during the inquiry. This means that they can select an individual or group, point to the individual or groups response on the Placemat and request them to “Tell me more about this.” If the teacher missed most of the group discussion, s/he can ask an individual/group to explain how the dialogue moved from considering the individual ideas to the group consensus by asking “How did you decide on this main central idea after discussing all these individual ideas ?”

On Resource Sheet 2.6, students have entered their initial ideas and what the group decided to do. It is clear that some of the individuals have an inkling that air being inside the orange skin may be causing the orange to float. Other students are keen to use the apparatus they can see in the classroom and start to link ability to float with mass. Some students are keen to list factors that may be involved but do not seem to have grasped the idea of controlling and manipulating variables. Instead they focus on ensuring accuracy of measurement but do not suggest how this might be achieved.

The consensus suggests that either the students have not tinkered with apparatus before making decisions to proceed or they have not grasped that they need to consider both the independent and dependent variables. It is not clear how they intend to recognise the effect of changing a variable. Instead they present a relatively systematic method that is unlikely to help them explain why the orange floats. It may be useful here to ask teachers what they would do in terms of either probing understanding more or giving feedback at this point.

Planning Next Steps

Teachers reflect on the session activities and decide and plan which inquiry activities will be done in school. The teachers should be encouraged to think about using probing questions or Placemats to collect evidence of learning.

Using Probing Questions

•  There is a fine line between asking questions that probe student understanding and asking those that direct the students along a particular pathway

•  In the inquiry activities you have tried today, which questions might have been useful in probing understanding without leading the students?


Inquiry Cycle

King's College London | www.kcl.ac.uk/SAILS

Experience and explore the world

around them.


Consider how you could find out the answer to

your question.

Collect evidence to answer the question

and consider how good it is.



Slide 19 .

Using questions to assess inquiry skills

• Discuss the questions on Resource sheet 2.1 Inquiry Questions •  Decide which are the appropriate questions to use to

probe student understanding • On Resource sheet 2.2, Inquiry Cycle, place the

questions at appropriate points in the the inquiry process • Can you add any further questions that you might use

in an inquiry?


Questions During the Inquiry


Using Placemats to Collect Evidence

•  Look at Resource sheet 2.3 •  Placemats are a means of collecting individual

ideas within a group to promote discussion •  Placemats provide evidence of individual and

group thinking •  Observing groups, while using placemats, provides

the teacher with data on the dynamics of the group


Interpreting Evidence of Learning

Look at the completed placemat on Resource Sheet 2.6 •  What evidence of learning could a teacher

recognise from the completed placemat? •  What feedback/question might the teacher use in

response to this information?


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Planning your next steps

•  How has your thinking about inquiry changed during the session today?

•  Which activities from today will you try? •  Which inquiry skills will you be focusing on?

•  How will you gather evidence of student learning to inform your assessment judgments and feedback?

•  How might you adapt your existing activities and lessons to include more inquiry based aspects?



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Resource Sheet 2.1

Using Food Labels to compare foods and meals

Food Cards Activity Ã In pairs, select labels for 2 of the foods. Compare and

discuss how you made your choice.

Ã In small groups take 3 more food cards and find the food with the highest amount of carbohydrate. Explain to each other how you decided this.

Ã Now find the food with highest protein content out of the 5 foods. Again, explain your thinking process.

Ã Next find the food with highest fat content out of their remaining cards. Again, explain your thinking process.

Ã Each group needs to compare the food cards, they still have, with the high carbohydrate, high protein and high fat cards. How much more of each food group do the ‘high’ foods have?

The Washing Line ActivityUsing the 3 pieces of string as ‘washing lines’ label one washing line CARBOHYDRATE, the next PROTEIN and the final one FAT.

Working together: eg Work as a small group to work out the range from low to high values for each of the washing lines from the food labels.

Place some food labels in order from high to low values on the 3 washing lines with pegs.

In pairs select food labels to create a meal (on paper plates).

Ã How do their meals compare with other groups?

Ã What swaps can be done to make the meals healthier?

Extension: Individually, write out what what was eaten on one specific day. List each food or ingredient in a meal separately. Use the details on the washing line to consider the amounts of carbohydrate, protein,and fat in each.

Ã How could you increase the protein / reduce the fat/ spread the carbohydrate over more meals etc in your diet for that day?

Ã What might you replace food X with if you wanted to keep up the same amount of protein but reduce the fat?


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Resource Sheet 2.2

Understanding Food LabelsFood labels are often displayed as a panel or grid on the back or side of packaging. For example, the image below shows the back of pack nutrition label on a loaf of white bread.

This type of label includes information on energy (kJ/kcal), fat, saturates (saturated fat), carbohydrate, sugars, protein and salt. It may also provide additional information on certain nutrients such as fibre. All nutrition information is provided per 100 grams and sometimes per portion of the food.

Other types of food labels contain only some of the data compared to the previous example. Check with the milk food label below to work out how these two foods can be compared.


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Resource Sheet 2.3

Inquiry Questions

Ã What changes did you make? Why was that?

Ã How confident do you feel about your data/method/interpretation?

Ã What did you notice? I wonder why that happens?

Ã What evidence would you need to prove you are wrong? Disprove?

Ã What could you do if somebody has a different idea to you?

Ã Why might this method be better than other methods?

Ã What idea is this question based on?

Ã Is there any pattern/trend? What makes you say that?

Ã Is there anything you feel you need to or would like to check?

Ã What questions could we ask about this?

Ã If _____ then why do you think _____’?

Ã How is changing _____ going to affect what happens?

Ã How much variation is there? Do you think that is okay?

Ã How do you think your findings link with the real world?

Ã What might be an alternative explanation?

Ã Would more data help?


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Resource Sheet 2.4

Experience and explore the world

around them.


Consider how you could find out the answer

to your question.

Collect evidence to answer the question and consider how good it is.




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Resource Sheet 2.5

Placemat

INQUIRY SKILL =


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INQUIRY SKILL = Raising questions to investigate

Resource Sheet 2.6

Placemat Example

Does the skin act like a life jacket?

Weigh the oranges.

Measure how high they float in the water.

Reweigh without the skin and work out the

fruit size.

Put back in the water and see if they measure

the same.

The skin acts like a life jacket holding in air.

If you drop the oranges from the same distance,

the hard one will float lower in the water.

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accu

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Session 3:Crafting Inquiry Pedagogy

This is the third workshop session in the series of four. In this third session, the teachers first reflect on how successful the inquiry activities from sessions 1 and 2 were in their classrooms.

The teachers will then use their experience of inquiry pedagogy to unpack how open or guided specific inquiry activities are and carefully work out how they can ensure that the inquiry is as pupil-centred as possible. This will also require teachers to think again about how to use questions and tools to check on understanding during an inquiry. The teachers will also explore, trial and discuss three SAILS inquiry units and compare the various ways they might approach these to allow sufficient opportunity for sustaining interest and curiosity and for recognising opportunities for assessment.

Ã to reflect on and share ideas on how successful the inquiry activities from trials

in their own classrooms

Ã to recognise that there is a range of approaches to inquiry that require different amounts of support and lead to different outcomes

Ã to trial three inquiry units designed to broaden views of what constitutes IBSE

Ã to consider how pedagogy needs to adapt to enable assessment to provide feedback

during the inquiry activity.

Aims


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Session Overview


Slides 1–3

30 mins Reflection on Classroom Inquiries Ã to share ideas of how successful the inquiry activities were in their

classrooms


Slide 4

5 mins Findings from SAILS Project Ã to outline how the research from the project feeds into the TEP

Slides 5

70 mins Exploring Inquiry Activities Ã to trial three inquiry units designed to work out both students’ and

teacher’s role with each inquiry

Slides 6-9

Sheets 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4 (Pg 46–51)

30 mins Exploring Collaborative Learning Ã to analyse how collaborative learning works and think about how

groups can improve their group and teamwork

Slides 10-13

Sheet 3.5 (Pg 52)

10 mins Collecting Evidence of Learning Ã to recognise how to use questions, Placemats and Learning

Landscapes to check on understanding during an inquiry

Slides 14-17

Sheet 3.6 (Pg 53)

30 mins Planning Next Steps Ã to reflect on today’s session

Ã to plan how to trial one or more activities in the classroom

Slide 18


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Activities

Reflection on Classroom Inquiries Introduction

Welcome Slides 1-3 Explain that the aim of session 1 and 2 were to introduce teachers and their students to a more inquiry-based learning approach in science. Today’s session begins by reflecting on and sharing how successful or not the inquiry activities were in the teachers’ classrooms. The session then moves on to consider how different inquiry activities require a variety of approaches ranging from open to a more guided approach from the teacher. Ideas and strategies to support assessment in the classroom are also considered before asking the teachers to plan for the next phase of activities in their classrooms. (Slides 2 & 3)

Slides 4Teachers spend 10 minutes discussing with a partner which inquiry activities they have tried, how successful they found probing understanding during the inquiry and how their classes responded to these activities. The teachers then have 2-3 minutes each to explain the main points from their discussion with the rest of the group.

Summarise the main points that came out of the teacher feedback in order that you can use this to support the action planning at the end of this session. The teachers may have already raised pointers on areas students either found difficult or easy. It is useful to make a note of any questions or strategies that helped teachers recognise where difficulties arose and to return to it in Activity 4.

These points might be:

Ã unclear about what question they are trying to answer

Ã lack of familiarity with apparatus

Ã unsystematic in approach

Ã not collaborating in their group

Ã collecting insufficient or inappropriate data to answer their question

If you have a large group of teachers, you may want to split them into two groups for this part, with you moving between the groups to pick up the main ideas and issues raised.


•  to share reflections on how successful the inquiry activities were in your classrooms

•  to recognise that there is a range of approaches to inquiry that require different amounts of support and lead to different outcomes

•  to trial three inquiry units designed to broaden views of what constitutes IBSE

•  to analyse how collaborative learning works and think about how to improve their group and teamwork

•  to workout how you might use assessment during the inquiry to evidence learning and identify areas for improvement


Outline of Session

•  Reflection on Classroom Inquiries •  Classroom Assessment Model

•  Exploring Inquiry Activities •  Collecting Evidence of Learning

•  Planning Next Steps


Teacher Feedback on Classroom Inquiries

•  Which inquiries did you try? Why these? •  Which inquiry skills did your students focus on?

•  How did your students respond to the inquiry activity? •  What evidence of learning did you notice?

•  Which questions did you use to probe students’ understanding?


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It is important to help teachers explain clearly how the inquiry was setup in their classroom and how they recognised and maximised opportunities for discussion and assessment. The questions below may be useful:

Ã How did you setup the inquiry for the students?

Ã At what point, in each inquiry, did you get groups to share ideas with one another? How did the students use the ideas from the other groups?

Ã How did you plan opportunities for assessment and how successful was this?

Ã What evidence of learning or good performance of a specific skill did you identify? Was this for individual students or groups of students?

Ã What did the students find difficult/easy?

Ã What did you find difficult/easy?

Ã How would you do this inquiry differently next time? Why?


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Findings from SAILS Project

Slide 5Show the findings from the SAILS project. These set the scene and guide the ideas for Session 3.

Explain that one focus for today is to help the teachers work out successful approaches to different types of inquiry and how they might do assessment effectively during an inquiry activity. It is important here to highlight that when evidence of students’ ideas are collected during the learning, students can check whether their ideas seem to be helping them find an answer to their question. They can then decide whether to continue, adapt their plans or rethink how they might move forward. Making such changes during the inquiry is generally more useful than finding out at the end of the activity what you might have done to improve. This is formative assessment in action.

The other focus for this session is the importance of collaborative learning. In our research, we found that collaborative learning was an essential part of successful inquiry work. This is because students need to use one another as a resource to spark ideas off, to discuss their developing understanding and to also provide support and encouragement to work through their ideas and achieve an answer that both they and their peers are confident about explaining.


•  Collaborative learning is at the heart of inquiry and needs to be planned for and supported by the teacher

•  Placemats and Learning Landscapes support data collection for assessment

•  Teachers can select whether to make the inquiry activity open, guided or bounded


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Resource Sheet 3.4 Analysing the Support Needed

Slides 6-7The purpose of this section is to give the teachers experience of doing inquiry activities so that they can better understand the possibilities offered in each inquiry and any likely difficulties that students might encounter. This is the key part of the session. Teachers are more likely to conceptualise the changing role that students take when doing inquiries through experiencing the inquiry activities themselves. It is therefore not only important that the teachers do each inquiry activity but also that they compare the ways they have found answers to their inquiry questions with other groups. In this way, they will begin to understand the scope, flexibility and possibilities within each inquiry, which will help them conceptualise the range of ways that their students might tackle each inquiry in the classroom.

Three Inquiry Activities

•  Think about and list the inquiry skills involved in each inquiry activity

•  Try each inquiry and consider how you might do the activities with your students


Trying out some inquiries

These are 3 inquiry activities, parts of which, require different amounts of guidance from the teacher •  Collision of an Egg (see Resource Sheet 3.1 & SAILS website

www.sails-project.eu) •  Algal Balls (see Resource Sheet 3.2 & Science and Plants for

Schools website www.saps.org.uk) •  UV Radiation (see Resource Sheet 3.3 & SAILS website

www.sails-project.eu)


Categories of Inquiry

•  Think of each of the inquiry activity as a group of subtasks. What would these subtasks be in each inquiry? Use Resource Sheet 3.4 and list the 2, 3 or 4 subtasks in each of the inquiries

•  In each inquiry, decide which subtasks you might need to guide with specific instructions and which you can leave open for students to make the decisions

•  Which factors determine how open or how guided a particular subtask is?


Slide 8The three inquiries for session 3 have been selected because they are different in the amount of information provided at the start and the degree of flexibility that they appear to have in the choices that students can make at different points in the inquiry. It is likely that students would be unfamiliar with some of the apparatus and related methodologies within these three inquiry activities to some extent. Therefore, in order to get the inquiry

activity underway or perhaps to draw together ideas partway through, the teacher may have to guide some aspects of the activity.

For example, in the Collision of an Egg inquiry, the teacher may want to check that all students understand about control and manipulation of variables and so may explain this idea to the class, using an example, before they are allowed to make decisions about their three types of variable. In this way, initial guidance provides some clues as to how they recognise the difference between the three types of variable. In the Algal Balls inquiry, the teacher may decide that the students make up the algal balls prior to the inquiry, if she feels that they will struggle to complete this part of the activity effectively. In organising and overseeing the production of the algal balls, the teacher might be more confident that the students will produce sufficient numbers of uniform algal balls to use in their inquiry. So the task in this session is designed to help teachers workout which parts of the inquiry activity might benefit from guidance and which parts the teacher can leave open, in order for students to make choices as they interpret their ideas within each inquiry.

In the first session the focus was on doing inquiries that focused on encouraging students to use specific inquiry skills. In session 2, the three inquiries were based on using inquiry to develop conceptual understanding. In this session, the inquiries are set within a problem-solving scenario. In all three approaches it is important to allow the more open principles of inquiry as far as possible – such as allowing learners to make decisions, to allow them to learn from mistakes, to encourage them to work well in groups using one another as a resource and to share ideas with other groups.

Depending on how the teachers decide to organize the subtasks in the inquiries, the algae balls is a guided inquiry with students taking decisions such as number of balls used in each bottle and the distance to place the

bottles from the lamp. The Ultraviolet Radiation and the Collision of an Egg inquiries have some subtasks being open and others guided.

Teachers usually suggest time is the main factor in curtailing the openness of an inquiry and also sometimes the capabilities/inexperience of their students with practical work. However, teachers need to think about how they can encourage their students to take risks and rely more on their peers within their group, rather than relying on teacher direction. This means that students, on occasion, need to be given some space by the teacher to try out ideas, even if the teacher feels unsure they are heading in a fruitful direction.

Provide each group with three copies of Resource Sheet 3.4 after their inquiry, to reflect on how easy or difficult different parts of each inquiry were. They divide the inquiry into 2, 3 or 4 subtasks and decide which parts they feel they need to keep as open inquiry for the students and which might need some guidance. The teachers discuss this in their groups and reach a consensus before sharing their ideas with other groups. It is important here, that teachers try and keep as many subtasks as open as possible, while trying to be pragmatic about time and other factors. This should enable teachers to focus both on what they perceive is the key inquiry part of the activity and also on their role in different aspects of the inquiry. In this way, they are more aware of when they need to facilitate and when they are able to stand back and let the students make the choices.

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Please refer to the sails-project.

eu and saps.org.uk for more detail on the

practical aspects of the inquiry activities

Reflecting on the three inquiries

Wenning categorises inquiry into 3 groups: •  Bounded inquiry

(Teacher makes all decisions) •  Guided inquiry

(Teacher makes some of the decisions) •  Open Inquiry

(Students make all or the majority of decisions)

Where do each of today’s inquiries fit in Wenning’s categorisation?


Slide 9With the Wenning categories, Bounded inquiries are the ‘recipe-style’ practicals where teachers take all the decisions, deciding on the questions to be asked, the method to explore these and the strength of the answers found. The three inquiries that the teachers completed today range from Guided to Open, depending on how much of the inquiry enabled the learners to take decisions. While there may be some variation, depending on how the teachers decided to do the subtasks within each inquiry, generally the UV Radiation is more guided than the other two as fewer variations are possible.

Algal Balls InquiryEach group requires:

Ã beaker (100 or 250 ml) with 50-100ml calcium chloride (1.5% w/v)

Ã clamp and clamp stand

Ã small beaker/ bottle with lid

Ã green algal suspension

Ã sodium alginate solution

Ã syringe

Ã distilled water

Ã plastic sieve/tea strainer

Ã pipettes

Ã hydrogen carbonate indicator solution

Ã metre rule

Ã lamp

Collision of an Egg InquiryEach group requires:

Ã tray

Ã cloth

Ã bucket/plastic container

Ã deep bowl

Ã tape measure

Ã ruler

Ã stopwatch

Ã scissors

Ã box of eggs

There needs to be:

Ã supply of rice, flour, sand

Ã bubblewrap

Ã cotton wool

Ã sticky tape

Ã digital balance

UV Radiation InquiryEach group requires:

Ã UV lamp

Ã UV beads

Ã small box/tray

Ã pieces of different types of clothing material

Ã sunglasses

Ã 2-3 different suncreams

Ã umbrella fabric


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Collaborative Learning

Collaborative learning is when two or more people learn together capitalizing on one another’s resources and skills (asking one another for information, evaluating one another’s ideas and monitoring one another’s work.) This approach implicitly integrates social and emotional processes with the formulation of knowledge and skill development. It reinforces a socio-cultural model of learning and inquiry.


Resource Sheet 3.5 Exploring Collaborative Learning

Slides 10-13Collaborative learning is an essential part of inquiry. The idea behind this task is to help you think about the benefits of collaborative learning and how students can develop their social, emotional and logical skills through focusing on improving teamwork. In this activity, group behaviour is captured and analysed as a problem solving task is completed. By comparing an observer’s view of how the task was completed with the perceptions of the group members, the teachers will get an insight into both what makes effective groupwork and also how they, as individuals, might improve their collaborative learning.

The task involves constructing a tower of at least 52cm that can support a 100g mass. The task can be done in groups of 4-6 people, with one teacher being nominated as observer in each group, or one group can be selected to complete the task and the rest of the teachers act as observers. Each observer needs an A4 size Resource Sheet 3.5.

During the task completion, each observer notes down on Resource Sheet 3.5 the talk and actions of group members as they complete the task - noting when each person speaks, if they interrupt or challenge anyone, what roles each person takes and how they interact with one another. At the end of the task, the group discuss how they perceived the talk and how behaviors progressed as they did the task. The observers then present the data that they have each collected and explains how much they agree and disagree with the group’s perception. Sometimes, there is quite a difference between individuals within the group’s perceptions and that of the observers and so the group may need time to talk these differences through. It is not uncommon to find that some people are unaware of how they behave in a group situation and these people, in particular, need time to reflect on and make sense of the data collected in this task. The group discuss their individual roles and how effective or not they feel had been in this task and move on to consider how both they and the group could have been more effective in the particular task.

It would be useful to ask all the participants to analyse the observer’s data and look how often a female in the group takes the lead or takes charge of the tower building and to see whether the roles within the group seem

to be affected by gender. The group discussion should develop awareness as to whether factors such as cultural, gender, ethnicity, or social class, had any impact on the way the group worked and it would be useful here for teachers to discuss how they would work with their students to avoid unconscious gender, ethnic or class bias.. Many teachers find it useful to repeat this task with their students to help students develop their awareness of others and to build their social and emotional skills

Exploring Collaborative Learning

Group feedback on the task

•  Group discusses briefly how well they completed the task and how individuals worked with and reacted to one another

•  The observers feed back to the group •  Group responds to the feedback and considers how

effective they were at working together at solving the task


Collaborative Learning Task

•  In a group of 4-6, make a tower to support 100g mass at a height of 52 cms or higher

•  Observers use Resource Sheet 3.5 to collect data on the way the group performs the task


Exploring Collaborative Learning

The idea behind this task is to help you think about the benefits of collaborative learning and how your students can develop their social, emotional and logical skills at the same time.

You will need to work in mixed gender groups of 4-6, with an allocated observer or

have one group of 4-6 people that the rest of the class observes doing the task.


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ApparatusEach group requires:

Ã 10 double sheets of newspaper

Ã sticky tape

Ã scissors

Ã 100g mass

Ã metre rule


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Resource Sheet 3.6 Learning Landscapes

Slide 14–15Remind the teachers of the assessment model we use for inquiry with its focus on formative assessment. In session 2, the teachers were introduced to Probing Questions and Placemats as means of assessment. Ask the teachers to select one inquiry from the three they have completed today and explain how they would assess during the inquiry. Ask them to share within their group how they might use probing questions or Placemats to support assessment during the inquiry.

Slide 16-17 In this session, a further tool is introduced – the Learning Landscape. This is a tool for recording assessment data and contains descriptions of a range of learning behaviours for a specific inquiry skill. Resource Sheet 3.6 is an example of a Learning Landscape for discussing with others.

Teachers use Learning Landscapes to record assessment data when observing a class. Sometimes the teacher will focus on individual students and sometimes on group behaviour. She can simply circle any of the behaviours she observes or make notes by that behaviour. Some teachers also use Learning Landscapes with their students where they ask students to reflect on the way they worked during an inquiry and then to put a circle around any of the behaviours they felt they had done well and to circle, with a different colour, a behaviour thy might target to work on next time. In this way, Learning Landscapes can be utilised as a self-assessment tool.

Discuss with the teachers how useful they feel the Learning Landscape tool might be for them in the inquiry classroom. Ask them how it differs from whatever system they were using to assess in class. If there is sufficient time, teachers might want to work in pairs and produce Learning Landscapes for planning or critiquing an inquiry to get an awareness of the behaviours they would be looking for.

Slide 18 Teachers reflect on the session activities and decide and plan which inquiry activities they will do in school. Focus them on collaborative learning and plan how they might either work on this as a separate aspect with their students or incorporate this better within the inquiry or inquiries they plan to try with their students. The teachers should also be encouraged to think about using probing questions or Placemats to collect evidence of learning and also Learning Landscapes as a means of either recording assessment data during the inquiry or as a self-assessment tool afterwards.

Collecting Evidence of Learning Planning Next Steps

Looking for Evidence of Learning

Select one inquiry from today and think about: •  which questions might you ask during specific

subtasks to probe understanding and collect evidence of learning?

•  where in the inquiry might you use place mats to collect evidence of learning?


Learning Landscape

•  A Learning Landscape is a tool for recording assessment data and contains descriptions of a range of learning behaviours for a specific inquiry skill

•  See Resource Sheet 3.6 for an example of a Learning Landscape


What is a learning landscape?

King's College London | www.kcl.ac.uk/SAILS

•  Teachers can use Learning Landscapes to record performance on one or more inquiry activities

•  Students might also use this assessment tool to recognise their progress in one inquiry or to map their progress across several inquiry activities

Slide 17 .

Planning Next Steps

•  Try out one or more of the inquiry activities from today over the next few weeks. Alternatively, develop an inquiry of your own.

•  How will you organise and support your class to work well collaboratively?

•  How will you assess your students during the inquiry? How will you record your judgements?

•  What feedback might you need to give during the inquiry?


6 7

Assessment

•  The assessment model focuses on formative assessment during the inquiry

•  Teachers can then provide feedback and guidance during the inquiry

•  Sometimes, teachers also decide to record how well students or groups are doing specific inquiry skills



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Resource Sheet 3.1

What factors influence forces during collisions?

IntroductionIn our everyday life, safe travel is of high priority. When travelling by various vehicles the most important consideration is the safety of passengers. When developing safety equipment, it is important to understand the forces affecting the body during collisions.

Design an inquiryTo understand the interactions during collisions, we recommend studying the effects of impact on an egg.

Ã As a team, list the factors that might affect the egg during collision.

Ã Design an inquiry in groups of 3 or 4 to study the factors of collision.

Don’t forget to identify variables:

Ã an independent variable (that changes)

Ã a dependent variable (that you measure or observe)

Ã the control variables (that you choose to be constant)

Question: From how high can you drop an egg into a bucket of flour without breaking it?

ObservationsCarry out your inquiry and write down your observations/results.

Ã How do your results compare with those of other groups? How can you account for the variability? Decide, with reasons, whether you can pool the data from all the groups or not.

Ã What changes would you make if you did this inquiry again? Explain your reasoning.

Ã Consult with your group on how the observations and results provide ideas about safety equipment in vehicles.

Equipment available: Ã tray

Ã cloth

Ã bucket

Ã deep bowl

Ã tape measure

Ã ruler

Ã stopwatch

Ã box of eggs

Ã digital balance

Ã water

Ã semolina

Ã flour

Ã sand

Ã bubblewrap

Ã cotton wool

Ã sticky tape

Check with your teacher if you need additional equipment/materials.


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Resource Sheet 3.2

Making Algal Balls (Adapted from SAPS)

Method Ã You will be given a beaker with algae settled at the bottom. Carefully pipette

off the water, taking care not to bubble air into the beaker as this may disturb the algae.

Ã Pipette 3mls of the concentrated green algae at the bottom of the beaker into a bottle.

Ã Pipette 3mls of the sodium alginate into the bottle with the algae. Place the lid onto the bottle.

Ã Gently mix the algae and alginate together by tipping your bottle back and forward. Try not to be too vigorous as this may trap air bubbles in the mixture.

Ã Place a syringe vertically in the clamp stand.

Ã Pour approx. 50ml calcium chloride in a beaker. Place the beaker directly underneath the syringe.

Ã Pour your algae and alginate mixture into the syringe. The mixture will drip slowly into the beaker of calcium chloride.

Ã When all the mixture has all dripped through, leave the algal balls in the beaker of calcium chloride for 5-10 minutes. They will become solid.

Ã Tip the algal balls into a tea strainer and rinse with distilled water.

Ã Place the algal balls in a beaker of fresh distilled water until you need them for the investigation.

Equipment Ã beaker (100 or 250 ml) with 50-

100ml calcium chloride

Ã clamp and clamp stand

Ã small beaker/bottle with lid

Ã green algal suspension

Ã sodium alginate solution

Ã syringe

Ã distilled water

Ã plastic sieve

Ã pipettes


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Resource Sheet 3.2

Light and Dark (Adapted from SAPS)

Introduction You will either have made or been given some algal balls. You are going to use them to answer the question ‘Does photosynthesis need light to proceed?’

Method Ã Place the same number of algal balls (rinsed with distilled water) into two bottles.

Ã Fill each bottle full with red indicator solution using a pipette and replace lid.

Ã Fill a third empty bottle with the indicator solution (this is a control).

Ã Wrap black paper round one of the bottles containing algal balls and indicator.

Ã Tape this firmly into place so that no light can get into the bottle.

Ã Place all three bottles near to the light source that your teacher has asked you to use. They should be at the same distance from the light. Leave for half an hour.

Ã Prepare a results table to record the colour in each bottle afterwards.

Results table Prepare a results table similar to the one below:

Things to consider while you wait This indicator solution goes purple when carbon dioxide is removed from it:

Ã What process in plants uses carbon dioxide?

Ã In which of your bottles will this process be taking place?

This indicator solution goes yellow when carbon dioxide is added to it:

Ã What process in living things (including plants) produces carbon dioxide?


Ã Why have we set up a bottle without the algal balls?

Ã What are your predictions? Explain using the terms ‘photosynthesis’ and ‘respiration’.

What do your results show?After you have collected your results, compare them to other groups near you and say whether they fit your predictions. Try to explain any anomalies (odd results).

Ã Can you answer the question that you were investigating?

Bottle Indicator colour at the start

Indicator colour after 30 mins

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Resource Sheet 3.2

Light Intensity - distance from lamp (Adapted from SAPS)

Distance from the lamp (cm)

Indicator colour at the start

Indicator colour after 30 mins

Introduction You will either have made or been given some algal balls. You are going to use them to answer the question ‘Does light intensity affect the rate of photosynthesis?’

Method Ã Place the same number of algal balls (rinsed with distilled water) into 5 bottles.

Ã Fill each bottle full with indicator solution using a pipette and replace the lid.

Ã Place the bottles equal distances apart along a 30cm ruler.

Ã Place a switched off lamp at one end of the ruler facing the bottles.

Ã Switch on the lamp and set your timer for the time you have chosen.

Ã When the time is up, record the colour and /or pH in each tube.

Results tableResults table prepare a results table similar to the one below:

Things to consider while you wait This indicator solution goes purple when carbon dioxide is removed from it:

Ã What process in plants uses carbon dioxide?

Ã In which of your bottles will this process be taking place most quickly? - explain

This indicator solution goes yellow when carbon dioxide is added to it:

Ã What process in living things (including plants) produces carbon dioxide?


Ã What are your overall predictions? – Explain using the terms ‘photosynthesis’ and ‘respiration’.

What do your results show?After you have collected your results, compare them to other groups near you and say whether they fit your predictions. Try to explain any anomalies (odd results).

Ã Can you answer the question that you were investigating?

Ã How will you show your results on a graph/chart?

Questions on the method Ã Was this a fair test?

Ã What were your variables (dependent, independent, control)?

Ã Can you think of a method that would have enabled you to collect more reliable data?


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Resource Sheet 3.3

How can you protect yourself against the sun’s UV rays?In this activity, you are asked to consider different ways to protect against UV rays, i.e. how to prevent them from reaching your skin. For this inquiry, you will use a UV lamp to generate UV light and UV beads as detectors. You will be provided with different types of materials that may stop the rays, such as suncreams, umbrella material, t-shirt fabric, umbrella fabric, sunglasses, sunhat, swimwear material etc.

Ã Organise your apparatus so that you can recognise when the UV beads can detect the UV light from the lamp.

Ã See what effect different materials have on stopping the UV rays reaching the UV bead detectors.

Ã Now try different types of suncream and lotion. Do these have any effect on stopping the UV light? How can you make a comparison between these different suncreams and lotions?

Ã From your results, what advice would you give to people about how you can protect yourself from the sun’s UV light?

Adapted from: To Tan or Not to Tan? Students learn about sunscreens through an inquiry activity based on the learning cycle, Linda Keen Rocha, The Science Teacher, 2005, 72, 46-50

http://people.uncw.edu/kubaskod/SEC_406_506/Classes/Class_6_Planning/To_Tan_Not_Tan.pdf [accessed October 2015].

Method Ã Try different types of fabrics. Take a thin and a thick fabric, one

white and one dark.

Ã How does the fabric work if it is wet? Do you notice any difference?

Ã Test the umbrella fabric.

Ã Does your sun hat or cap protect from UV?

Ã What about UV protection by your sunglasses? Is there a difference between Polaroid glasses and other sunglasses?

Ã Is there any difference between glasses made of plastic or glass?

Ã What other things could you try?


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Resource Sheet 3.4

Analysing the Support Needed

Subtask Subtask Subtask Subtask Summary

Guidance needed

Inquiry activity …………………………..…………………………..…………………………..…………………………..


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Resource Sheet 3.5

Exploring Collaborative Learning Ã The observer(s) note(s) down who speaks, who interrupts and the roles individuals take

in the group as the task progresses

Ã At the end of the task, the group discuss how they perceived the talk and behaviors progressed as they did the task

Ã The observer(s) then presents the data that they have collected and explains how much they agree and disagree with the group’s perception.

Ã The group discuss their individual roles and how effective or not they had been in this task. The group discussion should make explicit whether cultural factors, such as gender, ethnicity or social class, had any impact on the way the group worked.

Name & gender TALK, ACTIONS and ROLES

Start......................................................midpoint............................................................end


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Resource Sheet 3.6

Learning Landscape

Speak Give reasons Encourage others

Listen to others Disagree with respect Peacemaker

QuestionRefocus ideas

Help consensus

ChallengePursue a line of discussion

Revisit ideas


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Session 4:Strengthening the Inquiry Approach

This is the fourth and final workshop session in the series of four. The focus of the final session is to discuss and explore how individual understanding of ‘science inquiry’ has evolved and help teachers to reflect on how they have begun developing students’ ideas about inquiry.

A planning framework is introduced to help teachers plan assessment opportunities during the inquiry, which the teachers use to work out how they might adapt and teach a new inquiry. The final part of the session supports the teacher in both reflecting on how their experience in the Teacher Education Programme (TEP) has strengthened their professional learning and supports teachers in planning for future inquiry learning in their classrooms.

Ã to share ideas on how successful the inquiry activities were

in their classrooms

Ã to reflect on and rethink what inquiry and IBSE means in science classrooms

Ã to develop a planning protocol for inquiry

Ã to plan for and trial an inquiry activity

Ã to reflect on how pedagogy and assessment have supported an inquiry

approach

Aims


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Session Overview


Slides 1–3

30 mins Reflection on Classroom Inquiries Ã to share ideas of how successful the inquiry activities were in

their classrooms

5 mins Findings Ã to report on what the UK SAILS group success

Slide 4

15 mins Changing View of Inquiry Ã to consider how ideas about inquiry have changed

Slides 5–9

20 mins Planning an Inquiry Lesson Ã to plan an inquiry activity

Slides 10-18

Sheet 4.1, 4.2, 4.3 (Pg 65–67)

50 mins Inquiry Activity Ã to trial an inquiry activity Floating Garden and note any

changes to lesson plans

Slides 19–22

Sheet 4.1 (Pg 65), 4.4, 4.5 (Pg 68–71)

25 mins Reviewing the Advantages and Disadvantages of Inquiry Learning

Ã using a PMI, to reflect on how inquiry learning has worked

Slide 23–24

Sheet 4.5 (Pg 70–71)

30 mins Reflecting on the Inquiry TEP Ã to contemplate how individuals might take inquiry forward

in the future

Slide 25–26


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Introduction

Welcome Slide 1-3This session draws together the ideas developed during the Teacher Education Programme (TEP) on inquiry and inquiry learning. It begins, like the previous sessions, by focussing on the more recent impact that inquiry has had in the teachers’ own classrooms. Much of today’s session will be focused on shared reflection of experiences over the TEP programme and also on developing protocols to enable teachers to continue working on inquiry beyond the TEP. Working out a planning protocol for opportunities to assess, guide and provide feedback within the inquiry is introduced before the teachers attempt one more inquiry to gain experience from the learner’s perspective. The session ends with a reflection on how involvement within the TEP has changed pedagogy and teacher thinking.

Activities

Reflection on Classroom Inquiries

Teachers spend 10 minutes discussing with a partner which inquiry activities they have tried since the last TEP session, how successful they found probing understanding during the inquiry and how their students responded to these activities. It is important to focus the teachers on how they created and managed assessment opportunities and also how they planned and supported collaborative learning during the inquiry. The teachers then have 2-3 minutes each to explain the main points from their discussion to the rest of the group.

If you have a large group of teachers, you may want to split them into two groups for this part, with you moving between the groups to pick up the main ideas and issues raised.

Findings

Slide 4Show the Findings from the SAILS project slide.

Explain that we found that teachers were successful in introducing more inquiry to their classrooms and became confident in assessment.

Ã Teachers can develop assessment strategies relevant to specific inquiries

Ã Teachers can assess during an inquiry and provide feedback opportunities to allow students to make changes in their work

Ã Choice of inquiry tended to be content-driven, in most cases, and choice of what to focus assessment on is affected by this

Ã Some aspects of inquiry lend themselves to mapping progression and self- and peer-assessment

Today’s session builds on the work that was developed with the SAILS project teachers.


•  to share reflections on recent inquiry activities •  to reflect on what inquiry and IBSE means in science

classrooms •  to audit inquiries completed on the TEP •  to consider how to plan effectively for inquiry activities

•  to trial one inquiry •  to look at the use of rubrics for assessment



•  Teachers can develop assessment strategies relevant to specific inquiries

•  Teachers can assess during an inquiry and provide feedback opportunities to allow students to make changes in their work

•  Choice of inquiry tends to be content-driven, in most cases, and choice of what to focus assessment on is affected by this

•  Some aspects of inquiry lend themselves to mapping progression and self- and peer-assessment


Feedback

1) Which inquiry skills have you focussed on since the last session? Why did you select these skills?

2) What feedback have you had from your students about how inquiry activities are different from their other science lessons?

3) How did you gather evidence of student learning during the inquiry activities?

4) How did you group the students to make the most of collaborative learning opportunities? How is this different

from previous groupings? Slide 3 . King's College London | www.kcl.ac.uk/SAILS

1

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Slides 5Ask the teachers to individually write down their current definition of what they believe inquiry is and how inquiry supports learning in the classroom.

Teachers, in pairs first and then in groups of 4, read each other’s pre-course ideas about inquiry. Through discussion, the teachers summarise what their early notions of inquiry and IBSE were and how these have now changed through the TEP.

While there will be individual differences in both early notions of inquiry and those developed through involvement with the TEP, which need to be acknowledged, it is important to summarise the changes overall. Through making the inquiry lessons more student-centred, the students have been more involved in raising questions and seeking answers. This requires the learner to take note of new ideas and contexts and question how these fit with their existing understanding. It is about the learner building an understanding through

guidance and challenge from their teacher and from their peers.

What is important here is to air ideas and begin to link inquiry with some of the aims of science education such as the

development of scientific skills and thinking, informed decision-making for citizenship and development of 21st century skills, such as problem solving and teamwork. Some teachers may mention changes in their learners, such as motivation or focus on task but it is important here to concentrate more on the science learning than the improved learning behaviours, which are likely to be discussed more in Activity 7. Some teachers may have also found that the inquiry approach has improved or strengthened conceptual development.

It is also likely that teachers may report changes in their practice and possibly in their beliefs about inquiry, practical work, learning and assessment.

Slide 7-9Explain to the teachers that another way of categorising inquiry is through its main pedagogic purpose – the science learning intentions.

Ã Learning about inquiry skills. This is where pupils develop specific inquiry skills through an inquiry approach. (eg. Floating Orange)

Ã Learning through inquiry. This is where inquiry is used to help the pupils develop their conceptual knowledge. (eg. Food labels)

Ã Learning through doing an inquiry. The focus is on understanding aspects of inquiry and the nature of science through completing a whole inquiry (eg. Rates of Reaction)

The ways that teachers organise the inquiry is usually strongly influenced by their science learning intentions. This means that if the teacher is hoping to strengthen a specific inquiry skills, such as developing hypotheses, they will organise a particular inquiry differently to when they use inquiry to develop conceptual understanding.

Changing View of Inquiry

Slide 6Refer the teachers to the Wellcome (2013) definition of inquiry.

Changing View of Inquiry

•  How has you view about inquiry changed since session 1?

•  What is your current definition of inquiry?

•  How do you believe inquiry learning helps students in science?


Does your definition fit with the Wellcome 2013 ideas? “Inquiry-based science learning sees students learning through inquiry, using skills employed by scientists such as raising questions, collecting data, reasoning, reviewing evidence, drawing conclusions and discussing results. When students learn through inquiry they can develop scientific knowledge and they can also learn about inquiry, including the processes of science and how to construct reliable, valid and accurate investigations.” (Wellcome 2013 p2)


4

Question: What is similar and what is different in your current ideas about inquiry?

Question: How does an inquiry approach help children learn?

Wellcome Perspectives on Education series. Inquiry based learning: http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/stellent/groups corporatesite@msh_peda/documents/web_document/wtvm053969.pdf

Yeomans, E. (2011) Perspectives on Education: Inquiry-based learning. London;Wellcome Trust

Question: How does the Wellcome view of inquiry match with your current ideas about inquiry?


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11In this activity, we use Cooked Spaghetti as the example. This inquiry in TEP1 was focused on developing inquiry skills. Because inquiry lessons are student-centred, then planning for them is different from other lessons. What is essential is that the teacher plans time into inquiry lessons for students to explore and experiment before they begin their main inquiry activity. Teachers also need to think how to maximise the collaborative learning and so the planning the composition of groups is important. Teachers are likely to discuss group size, gender, ethnicity, class and the perceived motivation of children in science as factors they need to consider when putting together the groups.

During the inquiry, teachers need to recognise where they suspect the opportunities for assessment may occur and so planning for these is essential. This enables teachers to prepare and prompt themselves as to when and what to look for when assessing during an inquiry. Resource Sheet 4.1 provides a framework for planning assessment opportunities into an inquiry lesson. Resource Sheet 4.2 shows a completed framework for the Cooked Spaghetti inquiry. Ask teachers to look at how this form has been completed and to ask questions or make suggestions about how they might use it in their planning. Ask the teachers to discuss and decide when and how feedback can be given to students.

Giving feedback is a key part of formative assessment. However, in an inquiry classroom teachers are faced with a dilemma because they want students to be more involved in making decisions about next steps. So, in providing feedback, teachers need to take care not to direct students too much but rather to discuss and negotiate with students what possibilities there are for next steps. It is therefore important that teachers share ideas as to how they might approach feedback and guidance in the inquiry classroom.

Using Resource Sheet 4.1, ask the teachers to think about the last inquiry they did in their classroom. The teachers then need to plan how they might do the same inquiry with a similar class. Ask the teachers to share their plan with a colleague.

Planning an Inquiry LessonFor example, in the Cooked Spaghetti inquiry in TEP1, we focused on using the inquiry to develop the skills of measurement and observation. If the teacher wanted to use that inquiry to focus on physical and chemical change, they would plan and implement it differently. In many cases, the science learning intentions within an inquiry may focus on more than one pedagogic purpose as the teacher intertwines skills with conceptual development.

Ask the teachers to list the other 6 inquiries they have done during the TEP, plus any they have introduced themselves in their classrooms. The teachers are then required to categorise their list of inquiries and note any specific changes they made when they taught the inquiry compared to when they did the inquiry on the TEP. It is likely that some teachers may focus on a specific purpose and this may match with their conceptualisation of inquiry that they revealed through their definition earlier in the activity. Other teachers may have a mix of different purposes – sometimes focusing on learning about specific inquiry skills and sometimes on learning through inquiry.

Inquiry Lesson Plan

•  Use Resource Sheet 4.1 to write a lesson plan for the last inquiry you did with your students.

•  Compare your lesson plan with a colleague’s. What similarities can you see between the two plans? Are there specific parts of the lesson when its possible to assess a particular aspect of inquiry or a specific inquiry skill?


Inquiry Lesson Plans

For the Cooked Spaghetti inquiry: •  Which purpose would you allocate this

inquiry to? •  Which decisions do students take in this inquiry? •  How would you organise the students to ensure

collaborative learning works well? •  Where and how would you assess students in this

inquiry? •  Where and how would you provide feedback in this

inquiry?


Planning an Inquiry Lesson

Lesson planning is different for inquiry lessons because: •  students take a more active role in decision making

•  teachers need to think about how to set-up a collaborative learning environment

•  opportunities need to be planned for assessment and feedback during the inquiry


Auditing the Inquiry Purposes

•  List the inquiry activities you have done on the TEP •  Thinking about the different inquiries you have tried,

which category would each activity fit into: Learning about inquiry skills Learning through inquiry

Learning through doing an inquiry •  Did you change anything when you tried an inquiry

with your students? Why was this? •  Do you tend to focus on one, two or all three inquiry

purposes with your students?


Inquiry types

1. Learning about inquiry skills This is where pupils develop specific inquiry skills through an inquiry approach. (eg. Floating Orange)

2. Learning through inquiry This is where inquiry is used to help the students develop their conceptual knowledge. (eg. Food labels)

3. Learning through doing an inquiry The focus is on understanding aspects of inquiry through completing a whole inquiry (eg. Rates of Reaction)


Slide 12Some of the assessment opportunities, that teachers will plan for, involve the teacher observing the students working or the teacher might have specific probing questions to elicit student thinking. Resource Sheet 4.3 provides some Socratic questions to help with this. For further information on Socratic questioning see the website: http://www.umich.edu/~elements/5e/probsolv/strategy/cthinking.htm

A Learning Landscape could be used throughout the main inquiry activity to note down either individual or group behaviours that the teacher observes. Teachers might also suggest using a Placemat to collect individual student’s questions or suggested method, as well as their group question and method, at the end of the exploration phase.

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Question: Are there specific parts of the lesson when it seems most effective to assess particular aspects of inquiry or specific inquiry skills?


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Formative Assessment

•  How and where might you use a Placemat or Learning Landscape in the Cooked Spaghetti inquiry?

•  What feedback might you give in this inquiry? •  How might your students use a Placemat or

Learning Landscape for peer assessment?


•  These support the teacher making judgements and are a means of recording assessment data

•  Decide what a successful performance would look like for the skill you are assessing in the Cooked Spaghetti inquiry

•  How might a student who is still developing that skill perform? What would early development look like?

•  What might an exceptional performance look like?


Rubrics

Slide 13Teachers sometimes use rubrics to help them make judgements about how well a student is performing in an inquiry and to help set targets for future inquiries. For the SAILS project, our teachers decided on and often used a range of 4 stages of performance - emerging, developing, crafting and extending. Be aware that by the end of the project, not all rubrics were in a matrix . Some other examples are illustrated in the pictures on this page. There is no need to draw attention to this unless the teachers ask.

Feedback situations will differ depending on how the teachers have structured the lesson. The teacher could choose to feedback, as they interact with students, or to have a subtask, in the lesson plan, where the various groups of students give feedback to one another and in which the teacher can add a layer of feedback. Alternatively the Learning Landscape could be used in a peer or self-assessment exercise towards the end of the lesson. Here feedback would be provided by peers. Some of the teachers may also wish to record the data from several inquiry activities and then summarise information collected and provide feedback in a student interview, where the teacher and student could target areas to work on in the next batch of inquiry activities.


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Slides 15-18These slides demonstrate how a rubric was constructed for the skill ‘asking inquiry questions’ in the Floating Orange inquiry from TEP1. An added extra here is how the teacher exemplified the different performance descriptions after completing the inquiry with one class. This provided the teacher with more elaborate descriptions of the range of performance both for the next time they used this rubric with another class and to share with other science teachers in their school.

Rubric Development

• 


Emerging Developing

Crafting Extending

Ask inquiry questions

Raises a testable question that forms a hypothesis

• 


Emerging Developing

Crafting Extending


Raises a testable question with reasoning from previous science ideas they have encountered


Rubric Development

• 


Emerging Developing

Crafting Extending


Discusses a number of testable questions and agrees one they feel is testable

Raises a testable question with reasoning from previous science ideas they have encountered


Raises a testable question that forms a hypothesis and are able to explain what results to look for to prove or disprove the hypothesis

Rubric Development

• 

Emerging Developing

Crafting Extending


Discusses a number of testable questions and agrees one they feel is testable (eg Does the skin/shape/amount of air in the fruit make it float/sink?)

Raises a testable question with reasoning from previous science ideas they have encountered(eg Is it the amount of air that makes the fruit float because this lowers its overall density?)

Raises a testable question that forms a hypothesis (eg How does the amount of air in the fruit alter its ability to float? )

Raises a testable question that forms a hypothesis and are able to explain what results to look for to prove or disprove the hypothesis (eg If the waxy skin helps the fruit float then removing it will cause it to sink)


Rubric Development

Slide 14 To construct these rubrics the teacher needs to decide what a satisfactory performance would be for a specific inquiry skill in the context of the particular inquiry. The decision about what satisfactory performance would look like is both age dependent and related to the context of the inquiry. So the teacher expectation of performance by an 11 year old in the Floating Orange inquiry from TEP1 would be significantly different from that of what they would expect from a 15 year old completing the Speed inquiry from TEP2. What is important in rubric construction is that the teacher articulates as clearly as they can what their expectations are for a satisfactory performance. In our SAILS rubrics, we label a satisfactory performance as the crafting level – this would include some students who could just manage to do the particular skill and others who perform the skill easily. The crafting level is always the first level to be set for each inquiry.

The teacher then decides what support some students might need to complete their inquiry because the particular students may not be able to reach a satisfactory performance without some input from the teacher. The teacher describes, in the rubric, the level of performance these students would be likely to achieve without teacher or peer support and this is described as developing.

The emerging level is a description of the performance of students who need to be directed extensively by the teacher in order to complete the particular step in the inquiry.

The extending level describes the performance of students who can easily perform a particular inquiry skill and whom add an extra layer of sophistication or degree of thoroughness or flair to the way they complete it.

In most classrooms, the crafting and developing levels would be appropriate for 75-85% of the students in the class. If this percentage is higher or lower than this, then it is likely that the inquiry was set at the wrong level for that particular class.

•  These support the teacher making judgements and are a means of recording assessment data

•  Decide what a successful performance would look like for the skill you are assessing in the Cooked Spaghetti inquiry

•  How might a student who is still developing that skill perform? What would early development look like?

•  What might an exceptional performance look like?


Rubrics


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Slides 19-20Introduce the final inquiry, developed by Practical Action. Further details are available on the website practicalaction.org/stem

In this activity, teachers work in groups of 2-3 and plan an inquiry – to create a model of a floating garden on which they can grow cress seedlings. Resource Sheet 4.4 provides the lesson outline suggested by Practical Action. The teachers need to decide how much of this protocol they will follow and how much they will adapt the subtasks for their lesson. The main inquiry idea fits with a guided inquiry, in that the teacher selects the inquiry question and then the students have a more open inquiry approach, when they make their own decisions about materials and designs of their raft on which their floating garden will sit. As well as designing a raft that will be buoyant and support the weight of the garden (layer of vermiculite/soil and the seedlings), students might also design ways of ensuring water reaches the growing plants when the garden is floating.

Because the students are using their inquiry skills to solve a real world situation, this inquiry is both about developing inquiry skills and learning through inquiry. However, the teachers may plan an emphasis on one or other of these purposes.

Slide 21The teachers then need to plan how they would make assessment opportunities within the Floating Gardens inquiry. Resource Sheet 4.1 can be used here to map out the assessment opportunities.

The teachers then try out their lesson plan, noting any changes to their plan that they make as they deal with the reality of timings and equipment within the Floating Gardens inquiry.

Slide 22Next, the teachers share their lesson plan with another group and discuss what changes they felt they had to make to their initial plan. Help the teacher summarise this activity by asking them for advice for other teachers on how you would plan an inquiry activity and its assessment opportunities.

Inquiry Activity

Floating Garden Inquiry The problem: The land where crops grow often gets regularly flooded The challenge: Design and build a model of a structure that farmers could grow their crops on even when it floods


Writing an inquiry lesson plan: Floating Garden •  How would you engineer opportunities for students to

demonstrate their learning? •  What evidence of student learning would you be looking for?

Where in the lesson would you create the assessment opportunities for this? Use Resource Sheet 4.1 to indicate how you would do this

•  Which questions would you use to tap into student understanding?

•  How might you use a Place mat or Learning Landscape in this activity to encourage peer assessment?

•  What assessment data would you record? When and how might students receive feedback?


Floating Garden Inquiry

•  Agree on one lesson plan for each group. •  Carry out the Floating Garden Inquiry

according to the lesson plan •  What changes did you make as you tried out

the inquiry? Why did you need to make these changes?

•  How might you strengthen peer and self-assessment in this inquiry?


Writing an inquiry lesson: Floating Garden

•  The next slide shows an inquiry devised by Practical Action

•  Which type of inquiry does Floating Garden inquiry seem to be? –  open, guided or bounded?

–  learning through / learning about or doing an inquiry

Practical Action: www.practicalaction.org/floatinggardenchallenge


6

Equipment Ã empty plastic & polystyrene food

containers/trays of various shapes and sizes

Ã polystyrene cups

Ã packaging material

Ã 250ml plastic drinks bottles

Ã straws

Ã plasticine

Ã string

Ã card

Ã doweling

Ã cartons

Ã corks

Ã yoghurt pots

Ã elastic bands

Ã lolly pop sticks/wooden spills

Ã blu-tac™

Ã bubble wrap

Ã scissors

Ã masking tape

Ã sticky tape

Ã cress seeds

Ã vermiculite™ or soil

Ã small trowel/large Spoon


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Reviewing the Advantages and Disadvantages of Inquiry Learning

Slide 23Self-reflection is a precursor to effective self and peer assessment. The ability to self-reflect effectively can be developed with teachers and students using a number of tools. Edward deBono’s PMI is an example of one simple structure that has been found to be help individuals to step outside of a narrow mind set of like and dislike or can and can’t and think more deeply by drawing their attention to different perspectives of what they have experienced. PMI is an acronym where each letter stands for a different perspective which the individual uses to focus their reflections:

P (+) M (-) I (?) Ã Students liked working

in groups

Ã Gave me a different perspective on certain students capabilities

Ã Feel excited and re-engaged with my teaching

Ã Not enough time to fit inquiry into the current timetable

Ã Worried that I might struggle to manage all the different groups

Ã Interested in seeing how different students behave in different grouping arrangements

Ã Surprised that all students seemed motivated by doing inquiry

Slide 24The teachers consider how inquiry learning has worked in their classroom using a PMI. They then discuss this with a colleague. Resource Sheet 4.5 provides two alternative formats of PMI.

PMI on Inquiry

•  Use the PMI technique to reflect on how inquiry learning has worked in your classroom

•  What was positive, negative and interesting?

•  Discuss your reflections with a colleague


PMI

•  Plus (+) what went well, what am I happy with

•  Minus (-) what did not go well or as expected

•  Interesting (?) what caught their attention as interesting or surprising de Bono, E . (2015) Lateral Thinking: Creativity step by step. Harper Perennial


7

Plus (+)what went well, what am I happy with?

Minus (-)what did not go well or as expected?

Interesting (?)what caught their attention as interesting or surprising?

An example might be:An example of a PMI by a teacher is shown:


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This final activity allows some space to teachers to consider the learning journey that they have been on through the TEP. The questions ask them to reflect on the changes in their beliefs and practices over the course of the TEP and to think about events that have affected this.

By looking back at their early entries in their Inquiry Diary, they will become more attuned to the changes that they have made in both their practice and their thinking. They are also likely to be more able to articulate how such changes in their teaching has affected their learners and the way that their students respond in their classroom.

Slide 26Teachers then need to look ahead anticipating where they are likely to take their next steps in the learning journey in the short term and in the future. By documenting their aspirations for inquiry learning in their Inquiry Diary, teachers are more likely to return to these ideas once back in school.

Reflecting on the Inquiry TEP 8

Thinking about Inquiry TEP

•  How have your ideas about inquiry changed through doing this TEP?

•  Which events influenced this?

•  How has your practice changed as you have included more inquiry in your classroom?

•  What effect have these changes had on your students?

•  How has inquiry-based learning changed the way students think about science?


Planning Ahead

Think about what you want to achieve with inquiry learning;

•  in the next few months •  over the rest of this year

•  next year •  in the future



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References

de Bono, E (2015) Lateral Thinking: Creativity step by step. Harper Perennial

http://www.umich.edu/~elements/5e/probsolv/strategy/cthinking.htm



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Resource Sheet 4.1

Making Assessment of Inquiry More Explicit

Inquiry Focus Indicators of skill Phase of Lesson Collection Method Probe Questions

Activity …………………………..……………………


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Resource Sheet 4.2

Making Assessment of Inquiry More Explicit

Inquiry Focus Indicators of skill Phase of Lesson Collection Method Probe QuestionsRaising Questions Ã Asks questions that are

testable

Ã Uses science knowledge to make assumptions

Ã Uses science terminology

Exploration phase Groups list their question on the board. Stop lesson 20 mins in and ask each group to share question they have decided on.

Ã What are you focusing on with this question?

Ã Which change are you focusing on with this question?

Making Measurements Ã Measuring instrument chosen

Ã Use of instrument/method

Ã Repeats where appropriate

Practical phase Ã Observation & recording for as many groups as possible

Ã Questioning groups that I don’t get to see

Ã Tell me how you went about doing the measurement part…

Ã How confident are you in the measurement data? Tell me why you believe this.

Team work Ã Sharing of roles/all involved

Ã Everyone aware of each other’s role

Ã Reaching a consensus on question and/or method

Throughout lesson but particularly in Practical phase

Ã Observation & recording for as many groups as possible

Ã Questioning groups that I don’t get to see

Who did what in the practical and how well do you think it went?

Activity …………………………..……………………Cooked Spaghetti


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Resource Sheet 4.3

Six Socratic question stems1 Questions for

clarification:

Ã Why do you think that? Say that? Feel that?

Ã How does this relate to the earlier discussion?

Ã How does this relate to what you say here ..?

2 Questions that probe assumptions:

Ã What could we assume from this?

Ã How could we verify or disprove this assumption?

Ã Why might we include X but not W?

3 Questions that probe reasons and evidence:

Ã What examples of that can you think of?

Ã What other ways could that be shown?

Ã Other ways could that be done?

Ã What alternatives might there be?

Ã Why might this one be better than that?

Ã What do you think the strengths and weaknesses of this might be?

Ã What might a counter argument be?

4 Questions about Viewpoints and Perspectives:

Ã What would be an alternative?

Ã What is another way to look at it?

Ã Would you explain why this is correct, do you all agree?

Ã What are the strengths and weaknesses of...?

Ã How are X and Y similar? What is the opposite argument?

Ã How do the members of the group differ from each other?

5 Questions that probe implications and consequences:

Ã What might the consequences of that assumption be?

Ã What would make you think this might be going the right or wrong way?

Ã How might this … effect that …?

Ã How does this tie in with what you already know about …?

Ã Are there any generalisations could you make from your evidence?

Ã What generalisations could you make from the evidence?

6 Questions about the question:

Ã Why do you think I asked this question?

Ã How might this apply to everyday life?

Ã What questions could you ask about this?

From http://www.umich.edu/~elements/5e/probsolv/strategy/cthinking.htm


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d ou

t a

set

of p

ictu

re c

ards

per

gro

up f

rom

the

sta

rter

act

ivit

y an

d al

low

stu

dent

s ti

me

to d

iscu

ss t

he q

uest

ions

on

the

Pow

erP

oint

pre

sent

atio

n.

E

nabl

e pu

pils

to

feed

back

on

how

the

y’ve

gro

uped

the

ir p

ictu

res,

refl

ecti

ng h

ow c

limat

e ch

ange

is c

ausi

ng d

roug

ht a

nd fl

oodi

ng

in d

iffe

rent

par

ts o

f th

e w

orld

(P

ower

Poi

nt s

lide

3).

Main

activ

ity

Intr

oduc

e th

e co

ntex

t, p

robl

em a

nd c

halle

nge

for

pupi

ls.

Yo

u m

ay w

ant

to g

et s

ome

init

ial i

deas

fro

m p

upils

bef

ore

show

ing

them

con

side

rati

ons

on P

ower

Poi

nt s

lide

6.

This

incl

udes

de

tails

of

the

max

imum

siz

e fo

r th

eir

mod

els.

Teac

her’s

Not

es

Resource Sheet 4.4


ctio

n fo

ur: S

tren

gthe

ning

the

Inqu

iry

App

roac

h

Resource Sheet 4.4

practicalaction.org/floatinggardenchallengeTe

ache

r’s N

otes

Cont

inued

:

Han

dout

indi

vidu

al o

r gr

oup

desi

gn s

heet

s an

d al

low

pup

ils s

ome

tim

e to

look

at

the

mat

eria

ls a

vaila

ble

befo

re t

hey

star

t de

velo

ping

the

ir d

esig

n id

eas

for

thei

r flo

atin

g ra

fts.

A

llow

pup

ils a

set

tim

e to

mak

e th

eir

mod

els

befo

re t

hey

will

be

test

ed t

o se

e ho

w m

uch

wei

ght

they

can

car

ry b

efor

e si

nkin

g.

Rem

ind

them

to

chec

k th

e si

ze t

o en

sure

the

cha

lleng

e is

‘fai

r’.

Dep

endi

ng o

n w

hat

you

wan

t to

ach

ieve

fro

m t

his

acti

vity

you

may

w

ant

to g

ive

the

stud

ents

a li

mit

ed s

et o

f m

ater

ials

wit

h tw

o or

thr

ee v

aria

bles

to

choo

se f

rom

e.g

. bu

oyan

cy.

–

Enc

oura

ge p

upils

to

test

the

n ad

apt

thei

r m

odel

s.

–

Get

eac

h te

am t

o fe

edba

ck t

o th

e re

st o

f th

eir

clas

s, in

clud

ing

wha

t th

ey u

sed

for

thei

r m

odel

and

why

, ch

ange

s th

ey m

ade

etc…

the

n te

st t

heir

mod

el.

Th

e w

inni

ng t

eam

will

be

the

one

who

se m

odel

sup

port

s th

e m

ost

wei

ght.

–

E

ncou

rage

pup

ils t

o co

mpl

ete

thei

r ev

alua

tion

of

thei

r w

ork

on t

heir

des

ign

shee

ts.

Yo

u m

ay w

ish

to a

war

d ce

rtifi

cate

s fo

r ev

eryo

ne w

ho t

akes

par

t, w

ith

spec

ial c

erti

ficat

es f

or t

he w

inne

rs.

They

are

ava

ilabl

e to

do

wnl

oad

from

the

web

site

.

Afte

r the

activ

ity

Aft

er t

he m

ain

acti

vity

, sh

ow p

upils

Pow

erP

oint

slid

es 7

–9 a

nd/o

r th

e po

ster

acc

ompa

nyin

g th

e ch

alle

nge

whi

ch c

an b

e or

dere

d fr

ee b

y em

ailin

g [email protected]

or

dow

nloa

ded

from

practicalaction.org/floatinggardenchallenge.

The

se g

ive

deta

ils

of a

sol

utio

n de

velo

ped

by P

ract

ical

Act

ion

– a

raft

mad

e fr

om la

yers

of

hyac

inth

roo

ts, b

ambo

o an

d so

il to

gro

w t

he c

rops

on.

U

se P

ower

Poi

nt s

lide

10

to

prom

pt r

eflec

tion

on

why

the

raf

ts a

re m

ade

from

tho

se m

ater

ials

and

whe

ther

the

se r

afts

cou

ld b

e de

velo

ped

and

used

els

ewhe

re.

Yo

u ca

n ex

tend

you

r pu

pils

exp

erie

nce

by e

nabl

ing

them

to

grow

som

e cr

ess

or le

ttuc

e on

the

ir r

afts

and

/or

deve

lop

a la

rger

raf

t fo

r a

scho

ol p

ond.

M

ake

a ‘li

ving

’ dis

play

of

the

stud

ents

floa

ting

gar

dens

wit

h th

e fr

ee A

2 p

oste

r so

the

y ca

n w

atch

the

ir g

arde

ns g

row

ove

r se

vera

l wee

ks.

If

you

’d li

ke t

o sh

are

your

exp

erie

nce

of w

orki

ng o

n th

e ch

alle

nge

or p

ictu

res

of s

tude

nts

wor

k, t

hen

plea

se e

mai

l the

m t

o [email protected]

. W

e’ll

aim

to

add

them

to

our

web

site

.

S

tude

nts

doin

g th

is a

ctiv

ity

may

qua

lify

for

a C

RE

ST

Awar

d. T

o fin

d ou

t m

ore

go britishscienceassociation.org/crest

whe

re y

ou c

an

find

your

CR

ES

T Lo

cal C

oord

inat

or.

Fo

r de

tails

of

othe

r P

ract

ical

Act

ion

chal

leng

es in

clud

ing

CR

ES

T Aw

ards

ple

ase

go t

o practicalaction.org/stem

A han

ds-o

n cha

lleng

e to fi

nd a s

olutio

n to a

real

life p

roble

m ca

used

by cl

imat

e cha

nge i

n Ban

glade

sh


Sect

ion

four

: Str

engt

heni

ng th

e In

quir

y A

ppro

ach

Resource Sheet 4.5

Edward DeBono PMI

P+ M- I?


ctio

n fo

ur: S

tren

gthe

ning

the

Inqu

iry

App

roac

h

Resource Sheet 4.5

Edward DeBono PMI

Plus +

Interesting ? Minus -


Sect

ion

four

: Str

engt

heni

ng th

e In

quir

y A

ppro

ach

AcknowledgementsThe SAILS teacher education programme beneffited greatly from the input and involvement of the project teachers. Their enthusiasm and collaboration with researchers within the SAILS project has meant we have a deeper and richer understanding of the how teachers can implement inquiry based science learning in their classrooms and how teachers have begun to develop ways of assessing student learning within inquiry activities.

We thank the following teachers and their schools and hope that they will continue to develop inquiry practice in their own settings.

We also wish to acknowledge and thank the following educational consultants who contributed time and effort to supporting the project, helping us recruit teachers and reviewing our progress.

Jason Harding Senior consultant for the Intervention Team for the local authority’s school improvement. Enfield

Martin Reece Independent school advisor. Northamptonshire

Ramla Ali Gordon's School, Woking, Surrey

Junaid Awan Kelmscott School, Walthamstow, London

Rachel Balding The John Roan, Greenwich, London

Katie Barber St Ursula's Convent, Greenwich, London

Paul Barber The John Roan, Greenwich, London

Kwodo Barney The Forest Academy, Ilford, Essex

Emma Boussida Ivanhoe College, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire

Ed Carew Robinson

Wilson School, Wallington, Surrey

Sarah Clarke Royal Russell School, Croydon, Surrey

Rachel Cook Wilson school, Wallington, Surrey

Priya Dade Sarah Bonell, Stratford, East London

Lindsay Dale The John Roan, Greenwich, London

Kathrine Daniels Whitgift, South Croydon, London

Steven Dawson Bede's Senior School, Hailsham, Eastbourne

Natasha DeSouza Winchmore School, Enfield, North London

Ken Dignon The Forest Academy, Ilford, Essex

Nasima Hussain Rokeby school, Newham, London

Parul Inamdar The Forest Academy, Ilford, Essex

Amy Jordon Emanuel School, Battersea, London

Amandeep Kang Moulton School, Moulton, Northamptonshire

June Knowles Emanuel School, Battersea, London

Deborah Lowe Chelsea Academy, Kensington & Chelsea, London

Anja Luther Northampton Girls, Northamptonshire

Ed McLaughlin Wilson's School, Wallington, Surrey

Lee Moore Wilson's school, Wallington, Surrey

Alex Murphy The John Roan, Greenwich, London

Nick Myint City Academy Crystal Palace, Croydon, South London

Hannah Patel Kingsbury High, Kingsbury, London

Zara Patrick Hinching Brook School, Huntingdon, Cambridge

Stephen Philips Therfield School, Leatherhead, Surrey

Catherine Sandy Montsaye Academy, Rothwell, Northamptonshire

Angela Smith Rushden Academy, Rushden, Northamptonshire

Melissa Swan Magdalen College, Brackley, Northamptonshire

Kirsty Taverner St-Ignatius College, Enfield, London

Amit Verma Beal High School, Ilford, Essex


Dr. Christine Harrison has been the Principle Investigator on the Pan European SAILS project. Her experience in education and science includes working in secondary schools for 13 years before joining King’s College London to run the Biology Education section. Her teaching and research have centred on assessment, science education, cognitive acceleration and the use of text and TV in classrooms. Throughout all of these, she has maintained an interest in professional learning, in working

collaboratively with teachers and in ensuring effective knowledge transfer. She led the Royal Society Assessment 14-19 Science project, the King’s Researching Expert Science Teaching project (KREST) and the King‟s-Oxfordshire Summative Assessment Project (KOSAP) as well as taking consultancy roles with Assessment for Learning Projects in the USA, Jersey, Wales, Scotland, Peru and London. She has also been the Chair of the Association for Science Education to drive forward and support initiatives on assessment and professional development in science education.

Sally Howard has been a Research Associate on the Pan European SAILS project. Her experience in education spans all phases from Early Years through to university postgraduate education. Prior to joining King’s College London, she was a senior lecturer at Warwick University for Initial Teacher Education (ITE) and the programme lead for primary science. She was formerly a primary Head Teacher, school’s inspector, and a senior lecturer at Nottingham Trent University leading a range of Masters

Modules for primary and secondary teachers. Sally took on a range of consultancy roles including Assessment for Learning Projects in Wales, Jersey, Scotland, Peru and London. She co-authored the assessment for learning booklet, ‘Inside the Primary Black Box’ with Dr Chris Harrison. Sally’s research interest include assessment for learning, cognitive acceleration and understanding the relationship between teacher’s belief and their practice.

Brian Matthews has been a Research Associate on the Pan European SAILS project. He was formally a science teacher and Head of Department in London secondary schools before running the PGCE Secondary Science course at Goldsmiths, University of London; where he was also Head of the Secondary PGCE Programme. Brian contributes to the teacher training post graduate course (PGCCE) at King’s College and also undertakes consultancy roles as part of his own company. His research

interest include developing pupil’s emotional and social literacy which has included the publication of a book: ‘Engaging Education.’ Developing Emotional Literacy, equity and co-education’ and presenting at conferences.

This teacher education programme was developed and written by the UK partners of the SAILS project team: Chris Harrison, Sally Howard and Brian Matthews, as part of their research.

The project team


This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 289085

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Published 2016

www.kcl.ac.uk/SAILS2016

teacher education programme - king's college … where the assessment system provided targets...

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