Module EDUS2511: SCIENCE FOR PRIMARY TEACHING 2

Department: Education [Queen's Campus, Stockton]

EDUS2511: SCIENCE FOR PRIMARY TEACHING 2

Tied To

• X1G5: Primary Education for Information and Communications Technology (see Undergraduate Handbook 2008-2009 for details)

Pre-requisites

Corequisites

Excluded Combinations

Aims

• To develop a framework for understanding Life Science, to enable students to make informed judgements on the quality of scientific data.
• consider how to apply this understanding in the context of primary children's thinking, the primary science curriculum and classroom practice.

Content

• The Concept of Life Processes: a framework that includes a definition of systems, maintenance and negative feedback.
• inter-relationships between different systems.
• the consequences of changes to systems, substances required by systems.
• Concept of Scientific Enquiry: the concepts of evidence underpinning procedural understanding to enable judgements of the validity and reliability of empirical data.
• validity as shown to depend on the variable structure, sample selection, accuracy of instruments and range of the independent variable.
• reliability as shown to depend on the instrument precision, resolution and readability, the inherent variation in an event and sample size.
• Science Education and Application: scientific enquiry in the National Curriculum.
• planning for teaching and learning in primary science - organising and managing classroom science, resources, planning for differentiation, links to assessment.

Learning Outcomes

• Students will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of key scientific ideas relating to the collection of valid and reliable evidence.
• demonstrate an ability to collect, present and judge the quality of their own empirical data.
• demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of systems at different level of organisation in biology, demonstrate an ability to apply the ideas of systems maintenance and systems change to biological systems.
• demonstrate an ability to apply the above ideas in new situations, demonstrate an ability to construct a coherent argument in the above contexts.
• Subject Application: reflect critically upon how these concepts of Life Processes and Biological Systems relate to the National Curriculum requirements in schools.
• show knowledge and understanding of how aspects of educational theory relate to the learning of science by primary age children.

• think critically and independently;
• analyse, synthesise and evaluate primary and/or secondary data;
• critically analyse literature on a variety of contemporary education issues;
• construct and sustain a reasoned argument.
• observe, record and relate educational practice to theory in primary schools and classrooms;
• and show a developing competence in applying this subject knowledge to the planning of teaching science in the primary classroom.
• and be able to observe, record and relate educational practice to theory in relation to the above ideas.

• communicate ideas, principles and theories effectively in a variety of ways;
• work effectively on given tasks and activities;
• use Information and Communications Technology in a variety of ways; and
• manage time and work to deadlines.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• The course will be delivered through weekly lectures, taught workshops and fieldwork in primary classrooms.
• There will also be occasional seminar sessions where students will present their critical reflections on appropriate readings and research.
• Formative assessment of the understanding of the quality of data will be based on an investigation where students collect their own data.
• The examination will assess all the learning outcomes.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment

Formative assessment (equivalent to a total of about 1500 words) spread out over the module.