How can science and technology be made engaging and relevant in primary education?

“If we teach today as we taught yesterday, we rob children of tomorrow” (Dewey, 1944, p.167), Dewey highlights the importance of updating our knowledge to suit the high demands of technology, as technology is changing and evolving, so is society and the pedagogical methods which were once successful, may now be completely outdated. “Educators can no longer bury their heads in the sand when it comes to using technology in the classroom” (Younie and Leask, 2015) as they must be aware of all technological evolvement, to ensure that they have the tools to appropriately facilitate their students. Stokes (2012) proposed that “technology has no impact on its own, it all depends how we use it” and “you need to have an effective use of technology if it is going to make an impact on pupil’s achievement” (Cuban, 2001). Donaldson agrees with these statements and has revised the Welsh curriculum and suggested that the subjects Science and ICT are ineffective when taught individually but when they are combined to produce ‘Science and Technology’ the subjects become “dynamic” and children are able to “develop a solid understanding of the world around them to allow them to become confident, capable, creative citizens” (Donaldson, 2015).

According to Donaldson’s report ‘Successful Futures’ (2015), “Science involves acquiring knowledge through observation and experimentation” and “technology applies scientific knowledge in practical ways”. By applying the two simultaneously, it enables students to solve real-life problems that they may not be able to solve by applying them individually, the Welsh Government (2012) suggested that Science and Technology makes and sustains our modern society and it help us to understand and solve the big questions that we face, making their learning more authentic and meaningful. The Plowden Report (1967, p.555) stated that “throughout our discussion of the curriculum we stress that children’s learning does not fit into subject categories” (Plowden, 1967, p.555) and therefore the cross curricula pedagogical method is necessary. A cross-curricula pedagogical approach is beneficial for everyone involved as it can be achieved anywhere and through all aspects of the curriculum (Department for Education and Skills, 2016). “Cross curricular learning helps to develop metacognitive learners, as metacognitive learners can adapt their learning to new situations” (Shannon, 2008) and it “makes learning more relevant”, this approach puts “key concepts into context”, rather than learning unnecessary non-transferable skills (Dean, 2001; Barnes and Shirley, 2007).

Science and Technology are not the only subjects that work well together, Engineering and Mathematics have also been introduced to create ‘STEM’. The STEM subjects according to (Jones, 2012) “are the bedrock for innovation in business and industry and the Welsh Government will continue to push forward links between these and education- helping young people get the real grasp of the real world of work”. STEM “education has been discussed as a critical issue inside and outside of schools, and a large share of funds have been invested to encourage students and to increase educators’ interests and efforts in STEM fields” (Han, Capraro and Capraro, 2015)”. In Wales four million pounds was to be invested in 2017 to improve teachers’ skills in Science and Technology and improve pupil’s quality of experience of the subjects whilst they are still in school (Welsh Government, 2017). It is estimated that “by 2030 the U.K. will have over 7 million jobs needing STEM skills and…science can help broaden young people’s life choices and opportunities in terms of keeping their future options open” (OECD, 2011), therefore Donaldson introduced the Digital Competence Framework (DCF), which “focuses on developing digital skills which can be applied to a wide range of subjects and scenarios” (Learning Wales, 2017). Donaldson intends for the STEM subjects to prepare young people for the world of work and he is hopeful that more young people will begin to enjoy science and technology and therefore want to pursue a career in that area. Through the new curriculum reform Donaldson aims for ‘Science and Technology’ to aid in the development of all four purposes of the curriculum, the first purpose of the curriculum is for the children to become “ambitious, capable learners” and this can be achieved through working individually on their observation, research and critical thinking skills. The second of the four purposes are to contribute in enterprising and creativity which will be accomplished through the process of design and by creating digital products, by evaluating the impacts of developments regarding science and technology, the child can become “ethical, informed citizens” (Donaldson, 2015). Lastly, for the children to become all round “healthy, confident individuals”, they learn to “use digital technologies safely with respect for others” (Donaldson, 2015).

Curricula design should not begin from the content but from the learner (Nunan, 1988; Savery and Duffy, 1996), this suggests that for the lessons to be engaging and relevant, the children’s’ interests must be followed, the activities must also teach children authentic and transferable skills that they can apply to real-life circumstances. Educational trips and class experiments are excellent ways of involving the children and making Science fun and engaging as they can use their senses to gain a deeper understanding, DeWitt and Storksdiek, (2008) agreed, proposing that “trips can have a positive impact on learning of facts and concepts”. This form of pedagogy applies a kinaesthetic learning style and this “employs a combination of sensory functions; such learners have to feel or live the experience to learn; they prefer simulations of real practices and experiences, lessons that emphasize on performing an activity” (Shah et al., 2017), Wooten et al (2010) adds to this stating “tell me and I will forget, show me and I may remember; involve me and I will understand. Virtual reality trips are also very educational as “patients are exposed to virtual environments that resemble…real-life situations” (Morina et al., 2015) however, this can be less authentic due to not as many senses being involved. During a university seminar, we conducted some simple yet interesting experiments which would allow the children to gain basic scientific skills such as “generate and test ideas, gather evidence, make observations, carry out practical investigations, and communicate with others” (Donaldson, 2015, p.50). By physically conducting these experiments rather than watching them on YouTube, the children are being involved in a deeper and more meaningful way, allowing them to ask questions and estimate what is going to happen before it happens right in front of them. Experimentation also enables the children to change and adapt the substances and objects in any way they see fit, allowing them to lead their own learning.

During our university seminar, we also took a trip to Techniquest which is a Science and Technology centre, designed to “embed science in Welsh culture through interactive engagement”. I have attached a video below, explaining how their exhibits engages the children and provides them with the opportunities to captivate an interest in Science and Technology.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sP7Ze3OKROI

To conclude, Donaldson has designed a new curriculum that includes Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), to promote the relevance of the areas in a cross-curricula approach. This method aims to enlighten teachers and children of the benefits and importance of Science and Technology in this highly technological society and train the teachers to facilitate the children with regards to making Science engaging but most importantly relevant. STEM projects are being funded by the government to ensure that enough is being done to achieve these aims as it was estimated that “by 2030 the U.K. will have over 7 million jobs needing STEM skills and…science can help broaden young people’s life choices and opportunities in terms of keeping their future options open” (OECD, 2011). Donaldson is hopeful that children will be prepared for the world of work through learning about real-life problems, Pearce (2016) suggests that children should be taught about ‘real-world issues’ in schools and their “learning experiences should mirror the complexities and ambiguities of real life”, finding ways to solve them through experimentation and observation, as these methods are more fun and engaging and by following a more child-led approach.   

In this picture, we are discussing how to build a bridge from only spaghetti and marshmallows.

  

References

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DeWitt, J. and Storksdieck, M., (2008). A short review of school field trips: Key findings from the past and implications for the future. Visitor Studies, 11(2), pp.181-197.

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Donaldson, G., (2015). Successful futures: Independent review of curriculum and assessment arrangements in Wales. Welsh Government, p.50.

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Nunan, D., (1988). The learner-centred curriculum: A study in second language teaching. Cambridge University Press.

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Pearce, S. (2016) 'e-Teaching-Management Strategies for the Classroom', Authentic Learning: What, Why and How?, Available at: http://www.acel.org.au/acel/ACEL_docs/Publications/e-Teaching/2016/e-Teaching_2016_10.pdf (Accessed: 15/04/2018).

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Stokes, K. (2012). Decoding Learning: The proof, promise and potential of digital education. Education Journal, 149, 8-12.

Techniquest (2017) Schools' Programme. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sP7Ze3OKROI (Accessed: 13/04/2018).

Techniquest (2018) The Story of Techniquest. Available at: https://www.techniquest.org/about-us/the-story-of-techniquest/ (Accessed: 15/04/2018).

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Younie, S., Leask, M., & Burden, K. (2015). Teaching and Learning with ICT in Primary School (2nd ed.). Hoboken: Taylor and Francis.