3.4 Select and use resources

Upper school science subject can require students to learn large volumes of content knowledge and be able to re-call it in examinations. My own experience of being an upper school science student largely involved reading textbooks, re-reading, highlighting, note-taking, flashcards and testing. However, research regarding cognitive psychology has found that common study techniques such as re-reading textbooks and highlighting have low utility (Dunlosky et al., 2013). Integrating ICT resources into upper school science has the potential to make teaching more engaging and effective.

ICT resources to get students to engage with science content and discover how it is relevant to their lives, and practice applying their content knowledge. Key factors affecting engagement in science classrooms are:

1. Novelty. Humans tend to focus their attention on experiences that are new or unusual (Niv, 2007)
2. Personal relevance. Students view content that is relevant to their lives as more valuable and interesting (Venville & Dawson, 2012)
3. Success. When people build self-confidence in their ability to do a task, they are more likely to persist and apply effort in the future (Bandura, 1997)

These factors can be brought into the classroom with traditional analogue teaching methods, but ICT resources can add meaningful diversity classroom resources. The SAMR model outlined by Dr. Ruben Puentedura shows how ICT can be used to enhance and transform teaching (Figure 1). I have applied this model for integrating ICT into the classroom to increase engagement in my Year 12 Human Biology class when teaching the endocrine system.

1. Novelty

Using digital games add an element of novelty to classes. Practice testing helps students commit information to their long-term memory (Dunlosky et al., 2013), after teaching new content I would use games as revision. I created quizzes on Kahoot, which would get students excited and create friendly competition. I also used online activities specifically about the endocrine system (Figure 2).

2. Personal relevance

Students could learn about how endocrine conditions affect young people through ICT resources. There are a range of YouTube videos and blogs where people share their experiences with having endocrine conditions such as diabetes and dwarfism (Figure 3). Showing these videos sparked discussion about how having an endocrine condition would affect students’ lives and those around them. In future, the students could be extended by creating their own blog posts from the perspective of being a student that has to change their lifestyle due to an endocrine condition.

3. Success

In the Year 12 Human Biology course, students were tested at the end of each unit. The students commented that they struggled to remember the content before these tests. Spaced revision is more effecting than studying just before a test (Dunlosky et al., 2013), so I gave the students the task of creating revision videos which could be shown at the start of class in the week leading up to their assessment. The students created them by drawing flow diagrams on the whiteboard and creating animations on iMovie, many students also added music (Figure 4). When students received positive feedback from their peers, they felt accomplished and confident about their ability to communicate the content knowledge.

Figure 4. Screenshots from a revision video made by a Year 12 Human Biology student.

References

Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: the exercise of control. New York: W.H. Freeman.

Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K. A., Marsh, E. J., Nathan, M. J., & Willingham, D. T. (2013). Improving students’ learning with effective learning techniques: Promising directions from cognitive and educational psychology. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14(1), 4-58.

Niv, Y. (2007). Cost, benefit, tonic, phasic: what do response rates tell us about dopamine and motivation?. Annals-New York Academy Of Sciences, 1104, 357.

Venville, G., & Dawson, V. (2012). The Art of Teaching Science: For Middle and Secondary School (2nd ed.). Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin.