Children enter school excited to learn, curious and ready to investigate.
These attributes provide teachers opportunities to instill a sense of wonder
about science and the natural world. By asking questions of children and
encouraging their own questions, by providing opportunities for investigating
materials using scientific processes and by fostering collaboration and the
sharing of information with peers, teachers will help young students think and
learn like scientists. The authors cited here offer the following suggestions:
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Encourage students to discuss their naïve concepts openly, devise experiments
to investigate these theories and use the results of their experiments to
think about their misconceptions and then develop new knowledge. (National
Science Resources Center)
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Maintain a student-centered classroom with cooperative investigations based on
student interests. (Rakow and Bell)
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Develop scientific attitudes (skepticism, reliance on data to support or
refute hypotheses, adjusting explanations based on new information) through
modeling and embedding in other lessons. (Loucks-Horsley and Kapitan)
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Assess students to determine if they are reaching objectives and to identify
misconceptions. (Helm and Gronlund; Abrams; Newton)
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Encourage children's natural curiosity. Curious exploration contributes to a
better understanding of science and accommodates a range of learning styles.
(Loucks-Horsley and Kapitan)
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Use the learning cycle to help students explore, explain and extend new
concepts. This approach helps students take ownership of their learning.
(Karplus)
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Help students construct concept maps to help students make connections between
prior knowledge and new concepts. (Novak and Gowin)
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Encourage collaboration and cooperation among students, since these approaches
model real-world problem-solving skills and may encourage independent
thinking. (Krajcik, Czerniak & Berger) Respectful collaboration will promote
self expression and may facilitate equity in the classroom. (Abrams; Terry)
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Promote classroom journaling to encourage creativity and metacognition, and
provide an alternative assessment. (Shepardson and Britsch; Helm and Gronlund)
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Recognize that students will develop misconceptions and misunderstandings of
science as a result of viewing books as authorities. (Owens)
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Provide young children with the opportunity to investigate and manipulate
materials. Encourage their sense of wonder and inclination to ask questions.
(Saul)
