sciEnce-a process approach [sapa]
SAPA was determined in
the 1960’s by a project funded by American Association for the Advancement of
Science[AAAS]. It utilized 11 basic skills to implement good science.these
skills are in effect the underlying components of what is frequently called
‘scientific method of reasoning’.These 11
major processes are;
observation,inferring,predicting,measuring,communicating,interpreting
data,making operational definitions,formulating questions and
hypothesis,experimenting and formulating models.
Most of these
11 process skills are used and agreed upon by all science educators as
desirable outcomes for learners of science.when students are given
opportunities to explore freely the aspects of the world and scientific
endeavour such as diversity,change,continuity,interaction,organization,and
limitation,then the skills of science can be learned in an easy and exciting manner.these conceptual schemes combined with hands on activities
provide the framework for learning in science but even beyond that,they become
the platform for critical thoughts and open mindedness
COGNITIVE ACCELERATION THROUGH SCIENCE EDUCATION[CASE]
CASE was developed in
the 1980’s at King’s college,London,by Michael Shayer,Philip Adey and Carolyn
Yates and is based on the cognitive psychology of Jean Piaget and Lev
Vygotsky.It uses a teaching approach which challenges student’s current level
of thinking,encourages students to learn through cooperation with their
peers,and develop their meta-cognitive skills including the ability to
reason,assess arguments and solve problems.
The educational theory
behind CASE will be gone into in more depth in the full CASE training course,
but essentially stems from the Piagetian ideas of cognitive levels and the fact
that ,with training,students can be moved up to higher cognitive levels.
Simply cognitive
acceleration is an approach to teaching designed to develop student’s thinking
ability.The teacher sets up good learning context and intervenes to guide the
learners towards the learning goal.A mediator asks probing questions which
gradually leading the learners to discover the answer for themselves.The
mediator can offer clues which direct the learner , improving chance of
successful thinking. Learner which develop abstract thinking directly have the following structure,
Setting the
scene-concrete preparation seems a similar purpose to the ‘bridging’section and
links the activity to current knowledge,explains the task and check vocabulary.
Challenge-challenge
must be set just above the current level of secure knowledge-hard enough to be
a challenge,but not so hard as to make the learners switch off.In a science
lesson this can be taken in the form of demonstration with an unexpected
effect.
Group work-The teacher
can easily engage her students by group work.
Plenary-once the groups
have solutions, the class shares ideas.The teacher does not give the answer but
asks a group for a solution,then asks another;if they agree or disagree and
why.The discussion continues until there is agreement.Teacher leads the group
towards the answer through questioning.
Metacognition-during
group work and the plenary,the teacher ask questions that reveal the thinking
process,metacognition,which has been shown to be effective in securing
knowledge.
Bridging knowledge in
isolation from the learner’s secure knowledge is usually lost. The learner
needs to bridge new learning to existing experiences.
let’s think through science
Let us think program are the set of
problem solving classroom activities geared to different ages which provide
learners with interesting and puzzling challenges.Carefully orchestrated by
trained teachers, students tackle the problems collectively,reach their own
conclusions and reflect on the thinking process they used.As a result they
become more confident.
