If you’re a science teacher and not yet aware of the approach being trialed and developed as part of YorkScience, you should probably go have a look. My understanding is that it revolves around two linked ideas:
- If we start by considering how we will assess competence, we can make sure we use appropriate activities to develop that competence.
- Students should have access to everything we can provide about how answers are judged, so they can focus on what separates good and better answers.
To a novice, outsider or government minister, this may look like ‘teaching to the test’. The problem is that using that phrase shows the speaker thinks the test is no good. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t teach students to perform well in a test, if the test shows us something useful about the students’ knowledge and skill.
Anyway, political point made, let’s get on with the show.
I’ve produced (or more accurately, mostly finished producing) a resource which teachers can use to assess and develop understanding of generating electricity. There are two pdfs. The first is intended to make a booklet (4 sides of A4) which students write on over the course of a lesson and homework. The lesson plan would be as follows:
Starter: “Wind or Nuclear Power?” on the board, with cartoons or images if preferred.
Main:
- Students attempt multiple choice question in exam conditions. Allow time to fill in the ‘Why’ section too – perhaps ten minutes overall?
- Model the process of using the confidence grid using the first part of the exam question, ideally projecting the pdf and, by discussion, ticking appropriate boxes.
- Students work together in pairs or small groups to finish the grids.
- The second resource generating electricity diagnostic incomplete ms leads students through different (but overlapping) activities depending on which answers they chose. This is intended to mimic the teacher judgement which means you explain things in different ways depending on how and why a student made a mistake. This so far only has the first part (of four) completed.
- Discuss and compare the notes students have made to support them in each answer.
- Start (and probably set for homework) the notes summary on the last page of the booklet. This includes key words for prompts and gives some suggestions of format.
Plenary:
- Which would you choose, Wind or Nuclear Power? Students must back up their opinion with a (revisable) fact.
- What exam skills have we practised today?
I’m hoping to post the full version of the markscheme pages, as soon as they’re done. This may be completed as an extension activity by my triple group. 🙂 Comments and suggestions welcome, please let me know what you think.
Teaching Science 