Teaching science in a constructivist way : 18 activities for the topic materials Years 1 to 6

Abstract

One way of encouraging the growth of science in primary schools is to develop strategies that assist teachers in implementing science activities. This study aims to provide such a strategy. It is based on a constructivist approach to teaching and learning, and reflects much of the current understanding of how children learn science. The study describes the design, development and evaluation of eighteen activities for the topic Materials for Years 1 to 6 of the primary school. They are designed to appeal to teachers who are not science specialists, and who are looking for a way to teach science activities, in this case in the topic Materials. Six teachers from two state primary schools were presented with the activities, together with worksheets and teachers' notes. They conducted the lessons with their pupils and were later interviewed by the researcher. Feedback from the pupils' point of view was obtained by means of interviews with five pupils from Year 5 and five pupils from Year 6. From the study it has emerged that children can reason things out in ways that may surprise adults; they also prefer working things out for themselves, but need to feel that the teacher is there to give help if needed. On their part, some teachers may not be giving much importance to science teaching due to their perceived lack of content knowledge and the constraints of a loaded syllabus. On the basis of this study, a number of recommendations are suggested to enable teachers to implement the constructivist approach in their science teaching.