CONTRIBUTOR Improving engagement
thro ugh questions Thismonth, regular Education Today
contributor FELICIA
JACKSON, Chair of The Learn2Think Foundation, explains howthe
Foundation’sQuestioning Proj
oject is helping one
school use questioning to enhance its pupils’ learning .
Can student-generated questioning improve levels of oracy and engagement? A school in Tower Hamlets thinks it will. They have recently embarked upon the Learn2Think Questioning Project, a methodology aimed at cultivating student’s critical thinking skills through the development of good questioning habits.
According to the school’s Head of English, “We have fantastic children who work hard. Due to a large number of EAL pupils, language and vocabulary can be an issue.We work hard to address this in school through exposure to quality texts, modelling discussions and focus on new words each week. The work Learn2Think do with their Questioning Project is appealing to us because it also helps us address these challenges.”
Given that the methodology works within existing lesson formats rather than as a stand-alone bolt-on or an entirely new curriculum approach it is easily integrated into day-to-day teaching.
overwhelmed. It is a very important, but
She continues, “Improving children's participation in classroom talk is it needs to be manageable and teachers mustn't be lways a challenge introducing somet hing new or
different into a busy school and keeping staff on board. Nothing can be a 'fad'!
New initiatives have to be well integrated into the curr shown to meet the children's needs. A strong link to the why something is successful is important. Learn2Think's research helped make deciding to work with them much easier. “So far with have had small groups of staff training. This was developed after doing some work with the children and targeting it for our school. It really helped that L2T knew a bit about our children and school. The training had a good balance of sharing the way they brain responds to asking questions, and fun practical ways to activate questioning skills. It also gave all staff opportunities to try these games for themselves wh ich is always more fun than just sat lis tening! “All teachers have now been directed to try out questioning- generating activities in their classes and they will be regularly feeding back in staff meetings about successes, questions and failures. Staff have found it both easy and fun to try out the techniques and there has already been some positive feedback.
science behind iculum and be
“So far children have enjoyed the active response to the nature of designing their own questions. This just piques their interest that bit more. Furthermore, by coming up with their own questions they have been motivated to find out more.” She added, “The resources that L2T have provided help with this too. The question characters are engaging and provide consistency across the school.”
Questioning can be a powerful tool for increasing levels of engagement whilst teachers still lead the teaching process. ‘Handing over’ elements of question generation to students is a mind-set change yet it is a practical learnable skill for the student long benefits.
that will provide life for the teacher, and
If you’d like to knowmore, please contact us at info
fo@learn2think.org.uk 1 8 www
.education-today.co.uk.co.uk www
CONTRIBUTORS
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KIRSTY BERTENSHAW highlights the educational benefits of science practicals not always going to plan .
KIRSTY BERTENSHAWhighlights the educational benefits of science practicals not always going to plan.
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Science lessons are most fun when they feature practical experiments. These experiments are usually designed with a specific aim to show a relationship between reactants, or a general rule, usually to fit an exam specification. But does it matter if they go wrong?
Science lessons are most fun when they feature practical experiments. These experiments are usually designed with a specific aim to show a relationship between reactants, or a general rule, usually to fit an exam specification. But does it matter if they go wrong?
Practising practical skills Practising practical skills
The chance to complete practical work is limited within the time frame for completion of the GCSE curriculum, with a lot of theory knowledge needed. However, this makes practice even more important as practice leads to conficonfidence as well as skills.With more skilled students, more practical work can be achieved in the time given in future. In time, students develop consistency – better science, better results and more meaningful conclusions.
The chance to complete practical work is limited within the time frame for completion of the GCSE curriculum, with a lot of theory knowledge needed. ve
ct po ce
dence as well as skills. With more skilled students, more practical wor can be achieved in the time given in future. In time, students develop consistency – better science, better results and more meaningful conclusions.
Enjoyment Enjoyment
The obvious reason for including as much practical work as possible is that is it fun! If we can continue to encoura e enthuse and motivate students i n tudy further. Using the
it fun! If we can continue to encourage, enthuse and motivate students in the sciences, th
ci then more students will take their stu he ng
laboratory equipment is the carrot we dangle on transition days, open evenings and the first few weeks of science lessons in year seven. Inevitably, the pressures of the curriculum take over and practical work is sometimes reduced. Combine this with shared equipment over large classes, and it can ea
at ct he Th
can dampen the enjoyment for our students. Problemsolving
Sometimes students are testing a hypothesis and have
Problem solving im
en te hy ve a strong prediction ng ct
based on prior knowledge. If the trend expected is not shown, can students work out why? Taking time to work out why the experiment isn’t working is tant – it embeds practical skills and leads to better planning for future practical work. Was the balance zeroed? Was the method used for measuring accurate enough? Spotting the problem and solving it is a amazingly important skill set across the curriculum
Expected results vs actual result Expected results vs actual results
Sometimes a practical should have simple results; an obvious end point. But sometimes (as students often put it to me “because Science!”) it doesn’t go to plan. It could be impurities, old chemicals, or leaves refusing to release their chlorophyll and reveal their starch. But does it really matter? Being able to see that experiments don’t always give the answer you expect is actually valuable. Students can learn the importance of repeating experiments and calculating the averages, ignoring the anomalous results and the difference between reliability and repeatability.
Analyse and compare! Analyse and compare!
Unexpected results, anomalous results and differences in results across a class can all be analysed and compared to develop a better understanding of how scientific theory develops over time with new evidence. Comparing results show whs why more than one scientific study is done before new medicines are established to be safe.
th ci fo
medicines are established to be safe. Fear of fa
Fear o faif failurelure
Many students fear failure. If an experiment doesn’t go to plan, they blame themselves and decide that they aren’t good at science or refuse to take part in further practicals. The more they experience the realities of practical work, the more skills they develop, and the more confidence they build in themselves as scientists.
Many students fear failure. If an experiment doesn’t go to plan, they blame themselves and decide that they aren’t good at sc part in further practicals. The more they experienc
e the realities of practical ience or refuse to take
work, the more skills they develop, and the more confidence they build in themselves as scientists
The same is true for all practical activities across the curriculum – students must have the chance to experience the imperfect as well as the perfect.
The same is true for all practical activities across the curriculum – students must have the chance to experience the imperfect as well as the perfect.
Kirsty is the founder of STEMtastic, an education consultancy with a focus on Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths
www.stemtastic.co.uk
KiKirsty isis th rsty the fo on Science, Te e, Technology,
founder of STEMta gy
TE tastic, c, an educati y, Engineering and Ma
tion consultancy with Maths
www.stemta
ta cy with a fo focus Octobe r 2019
2019
tastic.co.uk
Unexpected results, anomalous results and differences in results across a class can all be analysed and compared to develop a better understanding of how scientific theory develops over time with new evidence. Comparing ts
Sometimes a practical should have simple results; an obvious end point. But sometimes (as students often put it to me “because Science!”) it doesn’t go to plan. It could be impurities, old chemicals, or leaves refusing to releas their chlorophyll and reveal their starch. But does it really matter? Being able to see that experiments don’t always give the answer you expect is actually valuable. Students can learn the importance of repeating experiments and calculating the averages, ignoring the anomalous results and the differenc e between reliability and repeatability.
based on prior knowledge. If the trend expected is not shown, can students work out why? Taking time to work out why the experiment isn’t working is imporimportant – it embeds practical skills and leads to better planning for future practical work.Was the balance zeroed?Was the method used for measuring accurate enough? Spotting the problem and solving it is an amazingly important skill set across the curriculum.
laboratory equipment is the carrot we dangle on transition days, open evenings and the first few weeks of science lessons in year seven. Inevitably, the pressures of the curriculum take over and practical work is sometimes reduced. Combine this with shared equipment over large classes, and it can seem easier to demonstrate a practical rather than allow a cl class to do it. This can dampen the enjoyment for our students.
The obvious reason for including as much practical work as possible is that is g ,
ntribut
utor
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