Developing Higher Order Scientific Enquiry Skills: Difference between revisions

'''and Skills '''

=What characterises higher-order scientific enquiry skills? =

* critically reflect on their learning and develop their own next steps.  

Curriculum 2008 is learner-centred and skills-focused. It gives opportunities for schools to provide a relevant and motivating educational experience for learners. Scientific enquiry is at the heart of developing such experiences. The use of scientific enquiries to challenge learners' current understanding and for them to better their skills and knowledge will lead to more resilient and reflective learners. The use of scientific enquiries that will challenge learners to progress their learning is essential to raising expectations and, ultimately, achievement. Below are a number of factors that need to be taken into account when planning for scientific enquiries for'''all''' learners.

==Classroom management==

Learners work best when they can share ideas and articulate their thoughts. Establishing effective collaboration in the classroom is key to successful learning. Through working in random pairs and small groups, learners learn from each other, raising their expectations and achievements. Teachers are able to listen in to conversations, and ask leading questions as in the enquiry 'What's the best way to minimise global warming?', in order to ascertain progress or otherwise. Learners need to agree on, and be frequently reminded of, the basic rules for interaction2. They also need to feel that the classroom is a safe and reflective environment in which to take risks with their ideas.

Enquiries can take many different forms, as stated in ''Science in the National Curriculum for Wales'', and reflected in the associated guidance,'' Science: Guidance for Key Stages 2 and 3'' (both Welsh Assembly Government, 2008).  

[[Image:HigherOrderEnquiryTable.png]]

In order for learners to demonstrate characteristics of the highest national curriculum levels, they usually need to link knowledge and understanding from across areas of the Range. Therefore, questions posed for enquiry should allow for this to happen naturally. Enquiries related to respiration and combustion (as in Ben's profile in ''Science: Guidance for Key Stages 2 and 3'', for example) allow learners to demonstrate an understanding of:  

IO2: how food is used by the body as fuel during respiration

A seemingly simple enquiry such as 'How do respiration and combustion compare?' can challenge learners and lead to the demonstration of a wide range of level characteristics from Level 5 to Exceptional Performance.  

All learners need challenging tasks to engage and motivate them to succeed. The'' Skills framework for 3 to 19-year-olds in Wales'' (Welsh Assembly Government, 2008) states that the challenge of tasks increases as they move from:  

When using open-ended 'big' questions, learners will need to plan carefully and initially will need support to tread a successful path through the enquiry. Teachers can facilitate this by asking probing questions, such as in the enquiry 'Are single-celled organisms plants or animals? Explain.' Here the teacher leads Ali into reviewing his original findings to improve his work. In addition, learners will need to use thinking tools3 to organise their thoughts and ideas so that the planning, organisation and reflection processes are clear and meaningful. This is exemplified in 'What's the best way to minimise global warming?', where George designs and later modifies a graphic organiser, and in 'Are single-celled organisms plants or animals? Explain.', where Ali uses a teacher-modified PMI diagram*. Also, in 'An ice problem?' Sam uses several tools, such as stepping stones* for metacognition, as well as others such as skimming, scanning and diamond ranking*.  

This is a new element of the level descriptions for the science national curriculum Order 2008. It encourages a focus on how learning is taking place, in addition to what has been learned. Focusing on the process of learning, and allowing time in lessons for reflection leads to faster and more sustained progression. The planning and management of enquiries should allow learners the time that they need to 'think about their thinking' rather than rushing too quickly to arrive at outcomes. Initially, learners may require teachers to pose reflective questions. Learners working at the highest levels will be more likely to pose such questions and insist on the time they need both to explore the process of learning as well as to push the boundaries of the enquiry. Learners will need a repertoire of thinking strategies and tools to draw upon when they encounter new situations. They also need an agreed shared vocabulary so that they can have 'learning conversations' between themselves and with their teachers. Science always requires significant thought to plan, improve methods, analyse findings and explain anomalies. For such reflection to be valuable, it needs to occur throughout the learning experience, and not just towards the end of the task, lesson or module. Learners need to focus on the process of learning, how they are going to do it, how they are doing it and eventually how they have done it. This is exemplified in 'An ice problem' where Sam uses metacognitive stepping stones* to deconstruct his learning and make it visible.  

Learners need to be able to transfer skills, knowledge and understanding from one lesson to another and from one subject to another. Through asking questions such as ''How do you know that?'' and ''Where did you get that idea from?'' teachers will lead learners to articulate their thought processes and make these initial transfers. Towards the end of an enquiry, questions such as ''Where else could you use that idea/skill/strategy?'' or ''How could you adapt the tool/strategy you used to be used elsewhere?'' will enable learners to firmly root their understanding in other contexts. Once these transfers have been made, the deeper understanding reached will lead to improved learner performance. In 'An ice problem?', the teacher leads the learners into the initial tasks by asking them to record what they did and how they did it. In this enquiry, this gives a platform for the teacher to ask questions as described above. The conversation that the teacher then has with Sam regarding his choice of tools enables Sam to be even more explicit about why he might have used an alternative strategy. Learners working at the highest levels might well transfer skills, knowledge and understanding consistently but without necessarily articulating their ideas. Allowing the time for these articulations and ensuring a reflective environment will better enable these learners to consolidate their learning. Equally, it will open up their thought processes to other class members and so help to raise the expectations of the whole class.