Teaching/ Instruction

Teaching/instruction:

a) Approach: General term. e.g : behaviorist, constructivist

b) Strategies/Method: e.g constructivist: teacher guiding, discussion, experimentation

behaviorist: discussion , experimentation

***although strategies like experimentation is appeared in both approach above,

it is depend on how teachers is going to implement them on students.

e.g experimentation strategies in constructivist approach, it is more open since

only the apparatus are provided but students are required to design the

procedure.

Whereas, in behaviorist, students are provided apparatus, procedure, etc.

c) Techniques: e.g constructivist: questioning technique

Inquiry-discovery approach

1) Structure: problems and materials are given, students are asked to find the

outcome.

2) Guided: problems or questions and materials are given, students are asked to

discover the process and outcome.

3) Open: students are required to discover problems, doing investigation, find the

procedure and outcome.

Constructivism

Students learn by constructing their own knowledge based on their prior knowledge. Therefore, learning occurs as a result of students' own effort. Beside, constructivist approach provide opportunities to cooperate, sharing ideas, experiences and reflecting. In order to make comparison with previous ideas, we need to follow the sequence:

Orientation -> Elicitate of Ideas -> Restructuring of Ideas -> Application of Ideas-> Review Change in Ideas.

Contextual learning

For over twenty-five years, CORD, the internationally acclaimed R & D agency, has been studying how different students learn and how great teachers teach. The result is improved student success through new curriculum and instruction.

CORD calls its highly effective pedagogy Contextual Learning. Sometimes described by theorists as “scientific constructivism,” this Contextual Learning approach incorporates the five teaching strategies embodied in the R.E.A.C.T. acronym - Relating, Experiencing, Applying, Cooperating, and Transferring. 

Science, Technology and Society

Relate to students' daily experiences and investigate problems through discussion.

  
Mastery Learning 

Mastery learning is based on deductive (Behaviorism). For example, in experimentation , students are provided with all those aim, apparatus, random variables, hypotheses.

Focus of this approach is to ensure all students to acquire and master the intended learning objectives.

But what if teachers had re-teaching after 3 times and students still not able to master the knowledge try to  delivered to them???

Then , teachers should give the enrichment activity to the group of students who able to master the knowledge and gather the poor students and try to do something on them (remedial).

** Mastery learning consisting of elements of remedial and enrichment.

Scientific Skills

Scientific skills are involved manipulative skills, science process skills (SPS) and thinking skills.

Science Process Skills (SPS)

a) Basic SPS: Observing (attributing), Classifying, Measuring, Using Numbers, Predicting, Communicating, Using Space Time Relationship and Interpreting Data.

b) Integrated SPS: Defining Operationally, Controlling Variables, Hypothesizing, Experimenting.

*** Scientific Skills is interrelated to Thinking Skills


Thinking Skills


a) Critical Thinking Skills

A person who thinks critically always evaluate an idea in a systematic manner before accepting it.

It includes Attributing, Comparing and Contrasting, Grouping and Classifying, Sequencing (e.g food pyramid), Prioritizing (e.g nutrition), Analyzing, Detecting Bias (e.g teacher asks students to detect bias in an advertisement), Evaluating and Making Connections.

b) Creative Thinking Skills

A persons who thinks creatively has a high level of imagination, is able to generate original and innovative ideas, and modify ideas and products.

It includes Generating Ideas (approach in open enquiry : round robin), Making Inferences, Predicting, Making Generalizations, Visualising (e.g computer simulation), Synthesising, Making Hypotheses, Making Analogies and Inventing.

Thinking strategies are high order thinking processes that involve various steps.

a) Conceptualising
b) Making Decisions
c) Problem Solving

***Beside the thinking skills and strategies, another skills emphasised is
reasoning.

Reasoning is a skills used in making logical, just and rational judgement.


Scientific Attitudes and Noble Values

Scientific Attitudes: being objective, being systematic, being cooperative, being fair and just, daring to try, etc

Moral dilemma: teacher may try to tell a story and see students can think what is right and what is wrong. Beside, teachers also can ask student to detect bias.