Teaching Experimental Sciences II

Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)

• 4. Quality education

Objectives

Teaching Experimental Sciences II aims to prepare students for the challenges of teaching science in kindergarten and primary school in English (if necessary). The course is going to focus on formative assessment and evaluation. From the lesson plans that were designed in Teaching Experimental Sciences I, students will design new lesson plans for CLIL contexts. For this reason, during the course students will have the opportunity to teach Science in CLIL real contexts.

Learning outcomes

• Know the main curricular contents and learning sequences of the area throughout primary education.
• Know and use appropriately the key ideas related to astronomical phenomena. (LO2)
• Know and use adequately the key ideas related to the living beings classification, the nutrition function of living beings and the functioning of ecosystems. (LO42)
• Apply critical thinking techniques of scientific methodology for science education at school. (LO3)
• Acquire knowledge of the basic competences of the scientific field and interaction with the environment. (LO4)
• Identify the educational needs in the learning processes that may affect the student's progress in these areas and adjusts its intervention to these needs. (LO5)
• Know and interprets the alternative conceptions of the students.
• Understand the theoretical and practical aspects and the methodology in primary education. (LO7)
• Know and uses adequately the evaluation instruments related to science learning. (LO8)
• Show skills for critical reflection in the processes related to the professional practice. (LO8)

Competencies

General skills

• Show interest in up-to-date professional knowledge and lifelong learning.

Specific skills

• Design, plan and assess teaching proposals for different areas of the curriculum, consistent with theories of learning and encouraging cooperative work.
• Develop and adapt educational resources for different curricular purposes, using information and communication technology as basic tools for learning.
• Identify the basic principles of scientific knowledge and its impact on learning processes in the context of experimental and social sciences.
• Manage learning spaces in contexts of diversity and inclusion, taking into account the needs arising from disorders and learning difficulties, in order to establish appropriate guidelines for intervention in collaboration with other services, professionals and families.

Basic skills

• Students have demonstrated knowledge and understanding in a field of study that builds on general secondary education with the support of advanced textbooks and knowledge of the latest advances in this field of study.

Core skills

• Be a critical thinker before knowledge in all its dimensions. Show intellectual, cultural and scientific curiosity and a commitment to professional rigour and quality.
• Become the protagonist of one's own learning process in order to achieve personal and professional growth and acquire all-round training for living and learning in a context of respect for linguistic, social, cultural, gender and economic diversity.

Content

1. Inquiring the human body in elementary school
   1. Learning the path of the nutrients
   2. Learning the path of the information
2. Evaluation and assessment in science teaching
   1. What does evaluation mean in science teaching?
   2. What should the initial evaluation look like in science teaching?
   3. What should the assessment look like in science teaching?
   4. What should the summative evaluation look like in science teaching?
3. Designing and applying science learning and teaching sequences in English for elementary students

Evaluation

Evaluation is divided into three different content blocks. To pass in the course, students have to pass each individual content block.

1. Human body (20%)
   • Oral test: video recording explaining the human body model to explain the nutrient pathway and the information pathway. (20%; cannot be retaken; group)
2. Assessment and evaluation in Science education (35%)
   • Written test: written test on diagnostic evaluation and formative assessment activities for elementary students (20%; test can be retaken during closure week; individual)
   • Reflection: Reflective essay about responsive assessment (15%; cannot be retaken; individual)
3. Science EU project sessions (45%)
   
   • Written work: Self-reflection on teaching performance (45%; activity can be retaken during closure week; individual)

Note: Attendance to the sessions with children of the Escola-Universitat Project is compulsory. Non-attendance without a justified cause will imply the failure of the written work of block C.

All content blocks must be passed separately in order to average the overall grade.

Methodology

Our approach is based on reflective practice, because the main goal of the course is to uncover conscious and unconscious social structures that are orienting teacher students' mental schemas and practices. For this reason, the course is going to provide different learning contexts to promote the reflection on:

• Science teaching in CLIL context experiences
• Their own science teaching in CLIL context
• Their own science learning in CLIL context
• Expert opinions

Therefore, a wide range of teaching strategies will be used, such as: coteaching lessons, cooperative groups and reflection on CLIL practices in an elementary science school.

Bibliography

Key references

• Amat, A., Martí, J., Darné, I. (2018). Investiguem com funciona el cos humà. Retrieved from https://media-edg.barcelona.cat/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/14202724/investiguem_com_funciona_el_cos_humae_web.pdf
• Martí, J. (2012). Aprendre Ciències a l'Educació Primària. Graó.
• Robertson, A.D., Scherr, R.E., Hammer, D. (editors) (2016). Responsive Teaching in Science and Mathematics. Routledge.

Further reading

Teachers will provide complementary bibliography and compulsory reading throughout the course via the Virtual Campus.