a comenius 2.1 Project 226373-CP-1-2005-1-BE-COMENIUS-C21

1. a comenius 2.1 Project226373-CP-1-2005-1-BE-COMENIUS-C21 www.stipps.info Life long learning link: http://ec.europa.eu/education/programmes/newprog/index_en.html

3. KATHO Tielt, BelgiumKristof Van De Keere (kristof.vandekeere@katho.be)Nele Mestdagh (nele.mestdagh@katho.be) University of Education, Karlsruhe, GermanyWalter Kosack (walter.kosack@ph-karlsruhe.de)Daniela Schmeinck (Daniela.Schmeinck@ph-karlsruhe.de) Academic Inspection, Nancy, FranceJacques Marchal (j.marchal@ac-nancy-metz.fr) Teacher Training Centre in Lomza, PolandWojciech Sidor (sidowoj@interia.pl) University of Dundee, ScotlandAllen Thurston (a.thurston@dundee.ac.uk) University of MaltaSuzanne Gatt (suzanne.gatt@um.edu.mt)Miriam Teuma (teuma@orbit.net.mt) External Evaluation Liverpool Hope University, UKKarl Donert (donert@hope.ac.uk) “to work with one another” means “to learn from one another”

4. THE STIPPS PROJECT • Goals of the STIPPS project • Starting Point of the STIPPS project • What is Scientific Literacy? • What is Scientific Thinking? • The STIPPS model and its pillars • Conclusion

5. GOALS OF THE STIPPS PROJECT • Developing new and innovative ways of promoting cognitive development in science education in (pre) primary school settings and teacher training by • Creating a theoretically grounded model of how children learn science in (pre)primary school settings • Illustrating the model with good practices and materials • Engaging teachers in knowledge transfer process (workshops, presentations, lectures and continuing professional development via website)

6. STARTING POINT OF THE STIPPS PROJECT • An important life skill for young people is • the capacity to draw appropriate conclusions from evidence and information given to them, • to criticize claims made by others on the basis of the evidence put forward, • to distinguish opinion from evidence-based statements… • Science has a particular part to play here!

7. STARTING POINT OF THE STIPPS PROJECT Scientific Literacy is vital for the survival of democratic societies. OECD/PISA defines scientific literacy… “Scientific literacy is the capacity to use scientific knowledge, to identify questions and to draw evidence-based conclusions in order to understand and help make decisions about the natural world and the changes made to it through human activity.”

8. STARTING POINT OF THE STIPPS PROJECT • Scientific literacy in PISA involves • the use of key scientific concepts in order to understand and help make decisions about the natural world. • It also involves problem solving skills, such as: • recognize scientific questions, • use evidence, • draw scientific conclusions and • communicate these conclusions. • Focus in STIPPS will be on both dimensions. • Since no scientific process can be "content-free“, science questions will always require understanding of key scientific concepts.

9. WHAT IS SCIENTIFIC THINKING? • In the literature about “Scientific Thinking” one can distinguish between 2 paradigms (Duschl et al., 2006): • Focus upon development of what children know about • scientific phenomena (a process of theory change) • Focus upon development of problem solving skills and argumentation (a process of reasoning about evidence)

10. WHAT IS SCIENTIFIC THINKING? • In science , students should be asked to demonstrate a capacity to solve scientific problems through a process of ;

11. STIPPS global model for effective learning in (pre) primary school education. The model is presented as pillars of learning. Each pillar has five layers. In each layer you will find information on: Layer 1: The global model for effective learning in science Layer 2: A scheme for each pillar explaining the fundamental aspects of its constructionLayer 3: Further details about the meaning of each pillar Layer 4: A learning line for each pillar explaining how the progression of the skills and capabilities can be developed Layer 5: This layer houses resources that illustrate good practice in science teaching and draw on the classroom experiences of effective teachers from throughout Europe. (video clips, lesson plans, activities and examples of good practice)

12. STIPPS global model for effective learning in (pre) primary school education. Goodsocialskills Effectiveclassroomorganisation Scientific thinking circle Lesson is at the right level Effectivecommunicationskills Active learning Building understandingthroughmediation Peer Learning Children’s existing ideas/skills/attitudes about science Toolbox of thinking and problem solving skills

13. STIPPS global model for effective learning in (pre) primary school education. Peer Learning Children’s existing ideas/skills/attitudes about science

14. PEER LEARNING AS A FUNDAMENT • Peer learning in science can take place through two main processes. • between peers as peer tutoring. • - cognitive conflict • - Piagetian theories of cognitive constructivism. • as collaborative learning. • - co-construct new meaning and cognitive structures • - Vygotskyan co-construction. • - Social constructivism

15. PEER LEARNING AS A FUNDAMENT • Peer learning can be effective in learning contexts when it is characterized by • positive mutual dependence • Individual responsability – Shared responsability • Immediate interaction • special attention for co-operative skills • assessment of group processes

16. STIPPS global model for effective learning in (pre) primary school education. Goodsocialskills Effectivecommunicationskills Peer Learning Children’s existing ideas/skills/attitudes about science

17. SOCIAL SKILLS – COMMUNICATION SKILLS • Working in groups present opportunities for helping children develop good social skills. • E.g. expressing personal thoughts, ideas and emotions to the group , dealing with peers or the teacher/other adults within the school setting, cooperation skills. • Cooperation through talk (communication skills) enables learners to reconstruct and elaborate their ideas through peer dialogue. • E.g. active listening, asking and answering questions, expressing and requesting ideas and opinions, giving and asking for help,…

18. STIPPS global model for effective learning in (pre) primary school education. Goodsocialskills Scientific thinking circle Effectivecommunicationskills Peer Learning Children’s existing ideas/skills/attitudes about science

19. LEARNING SCIENCE THROUGH SCIENTIFIC THINKING CIRCLE Restructuring phase Reflection - verification - conclusion (metacognition) Children reflect on new ideas about science by thinking critically about the learning experience. Orientation phase Problem orientation - identification What is the problem? What do we have to find out? Teachers check understanding and prior learning Active learning experience e.g experiment, field trip Executive phase Observe , record and analyse data Children make observations and record results and thoughts Exploration phase Talk Children talk about their predictions and previous ideas with peers and the teacherTry to find a solutionfor the problem

20. LEARNING SCIENCE THROUGH SCIENTIFIC THINKING CIRCLE

21. STIPPS global model for effective learning in (pre) primary school education. Goodsocialskills Effectiveclassroomorganisation Scientific thinking circle Effectivecommunicationskills Peer Learning Children’s existing ideas/skills/attitudes about science

22. ROLE OF THE TEACHER IN SCIENCE TEACHING: EFFECTIVE CLASSROOM ORGANISATION Effective classroom organization enables pupils to be actively engaged in the process of learning science. The maximum time can be spent on effective learning and teaching. Requires access to an appropriate range of resources

23. STIPPS global model for effective learning in (pre) primary school education. Goodsocialskills Effectiveclassroomorganisation Scientific thinking circle Lesson is at the right level Effectivecommunicationskills Peer Learning Children’s existing ideas/skills/attitudes about science

24. ROLE OF THE TEACHER IN SCIENCE TEACHING: LESSON IS AT THE RIGHT LEVEL Children at a given age have a wide range in their skills, knowledge, and conceptual development. A teacher therefore needs to be able to evaluate each child’s knowledge and conceptual and skill development The children draw a picture about a topic e.g. light and shadows. The range of pictures that may show different existing cognitive models could be as follows:

25. ROLE OF THE TEACHER IN SCIENCE TEACHING: LESSON IS AT THE RIGHT LEVEL

26. ROLE OF THE TEACHER IN SCIENCE TEACHING: LESSON IS AT THE RIGHT LEVEL Level of the lesson is too high - results in ineffective learning New cognitive construct/way of thinking Prior cognitive construct/way of thinking Cognitive change possible Level of the lesson is judged correctly Previous learning experiences Teachers takes into account previous learning experiences and prior cognitive constructs/ ways of thinking when planning lesson Level of the lesson is too low - results in ineffective learning Input withoutdifferentiation Input withdifferentiation

27. STIPPS global model for effective learning in (pre) primary school education. Goodsocialskills Effectiveclassroomorganisation Scientific thinking circle Lesson is at the right level Effectivecommunicationskills Building understandingthroughmediation Peer Learning Children’s existing ideas/skills/attitudes about science

28. ROLE OF THE TEACHER IN SCIENCE TEACHING: BUILDING UNDERSTANDING THROUGH MEDIATION • Effective mediation Style is charactarized by: • Process questions to be asked • Encouraging children to think of other applications / strategies • Questions enquiring justification • Reflection

29. ROLE OF THE TEACHER IN SCIENCE TEACHING: BUILDING UNDERSTANDING THROUGH MEDIATION

30. STIPPS global model for effective learning in (pre) primary school education. Goodsocialskills Effectiveclassroomorganisation Scientific thinking circle Lesson is at the right level Effectivecommunicationskills Active learning Building understandingthroughmediation Peer Learning Children’s existing ideas/skills/attitudes about science

31. ROLE OF THE TEACHER IN SCIENCE TEACHING: ACTIVE LEARNING • The teacher’s role is to facilitate the process by engaging the students in an active and reflective learning process. • In order for learners to be actively engaged in their own learning it is important to consider three dimensions to the make up of the learner (Perkins, 1999): • The active learner: knowledge and understanding need to be acquired actively. • The social learner: knowledge and insight need to be constructed socially. • The creative learner: knowledge and understanding need to be (re)constructed.

32. STIPPS global model for effective learning in (pre) primary school education. Toolbox of thinking and problem solving skills Goodsocialskills Effectiveclassroomorganisation Scientific thinking circle Lesson is at the right level Effectivecommunicationskills Active learning Building understandingthroughmediation Peer Learning Children’s existing ideas/skills/attitudes about science

33. WHAT ARE SCIENTIFIC THINKING SKILLS? • Scientific thinking is coordinating a number of cognitive skills that can be divided in 2 groups (Hassard, 2005): • Basic thinking skills emphasize the foundations of science learning. E.g. observing, inferring/predicting, measuring, classifying. • Integrated thinking skills are related more directly to problem solving (higher-order intellectual skills).E.g. noticing and naming problems, formulating hypotheses, controlling variables, interpreting data

34. CONCLUSION • Goals of the STIPPS project • Starting Point of the STIPPS project • What is Scientific Literacy? • What is Scientific Thinking? • The STIPPS model and its pillars • Thank you!