FEATURE: SUCCESSFUL INNOVATIVE TEACHING PRACTICE
learning allows them to understand how wind turbines work while learning more about the energy transfers and other forms of renewable energy. Our students looked at the impact of getting energy to more rural locations and the need to use more than one type of renewable energy in order to address issues such as weather conditions. It has helped to introduce them to technology such as hydrogen fuel-cells at an earlier stage in their academic career.
Encourage students to investigate and be creative Open-ended investigative science projects allow our students to thrive creatively, and they truly relish the challenge that the CREST Awards present. Previously, we had been running CREST in after-school or lunchtime STEM clubs, however we decided to embed the CREST projects into our everyday lessons because they offer students a brilliant opportunity to extend and challenge their learning. Since the investigative projects are also mapped against the national curriculum they mirror and complement our learning objectives, which is extremely useful. We added an extra timetabled lesson into the
curriculum for our Year 12 A-level Chemistry cohort so our students could work on their CREST Silver and Gold Awards together. We chose a creative topic for students to explore – the synthesis of aspirin. This experiment aligned brilliantly with our required practical element for Chemistry A-level, and yet it is not typically something students would have the opportunity to explore until they reach Year 13. This Award enabled students to take
ownership of their research, use more complex laboratory equipment and develop their writing and referencing skills by completing a final report. Students love the creative element of working towards an Award and leading their own investigations on their interests. Awards like this also have no fixed outcomes, meaning they allow students to build valuable skills such as problem- solving, resilience, time management and teamwork. These are all key competencies which will benefit students well beyond the classroom. It was wonderful to see how quickly my
students’ confidence in Chemistry flourished as a result of this hands-on learning. It also really benefitted them to work closely with our school laboratory technicians, who helped to develop their communication skills and encouraged them to be as imaginative as they like with the projects. A Year 12 student, who helps to teach younger years, explained: “In years gone by, the students were very much waiting for us to come to them and prompt them. It’s nice that they are asking us. I sense that they are developing a passion for Chemistry which is great.” In addition to this, CREST is recognised by
UCAS. This means that students can reference the Awards in their applications and use them as unique discussion points during university or future job interviews, whilst reflecting on the importance of science in wider society.
Motivate students Due to the ongoing uncertainties during lockdowns and the emotional toll of the pandemic, it is understandable that students might feel demotivated and potentially unhappy while learning. Practical experiments, awards or projects can combat this. These hands-on learning
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opportunities can motivate students and pull them out of unhappy phases because they offer students autonomy, a project to feel proud of and space to be creative and test boundaries. These experiments can also help students to
build independence and resilience. They need to problem solve by themselves and bounce back from any hiccups throughout their journey. This will help them significantly in the future, whether with their studies, with training or in the workplace. Practical lessons also allow an array of students
to work together as they have equal access to investigative work. This means that all students can benefit from experiments, not just those who attend an extracurricular STEM club.
Pique interest by offering advanced science opportunities As many teachers will know, running more advanced lessons enables students to feel a sense of accomplishment and pride. To achieve this, I recommend running STEM days, which allow students in a year group to work on a STEM project in small teams to reach an investigation goal, all to a realistic but challenging deadline. It allows them to apply their curriculum knowledge in a creative way and feel empowered and inspired to undergo further scientific studies with STEM careers in mind. Our STEM days are themed and provide
opportunities for us to invite in experts and ambassadors from relevant fields who can share their knowledge and support students throughout the project. Examples we have used include designing and building tower blocks which are earthquake proof, making and testing elastic cars and investigating the effect of cargo load on the buoyancy of a ship. These activity days allow for cross-curricular
collaboration and therefore help to contextualise learning over a wide range of subjects. They give students the chance to make adjustments and improvements and see the impact of those
immediately, rather than in a subsequent lesson which is so often the case with normal timetable constraints and typical one-hour lessons. One Year 8 student reported: “I have a greater understanding of what engineers do as I was thinking like one today”.
The benefits for teachers Setting up and running open-ended, practical investigative projects can be daunting for teachers, especially since planning time and resources are limited for so many. Ready-made science platforms like CREST can be time effective, fun and engaging for students. Many are aligned with the national curriculum and offer mapping resources which guide teachers through the process of building investigative work into lessons. This guide helped boost my confidence when I was teaching CREST projects. These guides also show that contextualising
science investigations is integral to developing a student’s subject understanding and engagement. It has been great to see how bringing open-ended investigative projects into the curriculum has saved teachers and technicians valuable time that would otherwise be spent in after-school clubs. This has given us more of a chance to support individual students and ensure that they are all receiving the best and most tailored STEM education possible. Everyone at Oaklands Catholic School has been
working hard to raise the profile of STEM amongst all students and prove that science is for everyone. Central to this has been our investigative projects, which have catapulted our students’ confidence and motivation in STEM. We encourage all students to have fun whilst engaging with science in a way that interests them, and will continue to inspire more young people to pursue science-based subjects later in life.
uwww.oaklandscatholicschool.org
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