The incorporation of the USA 'Science Made Sensible

THE INCORPORATION OF THE USA ‘SCIENCE MADE SENSIBLE’ PROGRAMME IN SOUTH AFRICAN PRIMARY SCHOOLS: A CROSS-CULTURAL APPROACH TO SCIENCE EDUCATION Rian de Villiers University of Pretoria Email: Tiffany Plantan University of Miami Michael Gaines University of Miami ABSTRACT The Science Made Sensible (SMS) programme began as a partnership between the University of Miami (UM), Florida, USA, and some public schools in Miami. In this programme, postgraduate students from UM work with primary school science teachers to engage learners in science through the use of inquirybased, hands-on activities. Due to the success of the SMS programme in Miami, it was extended internationally. The SMS team (two Miami Grade 6/7 science teachers and two UM postgraduate students), 195 learners, and five South African teachers at two primary schools in Pretoria, South Africa, participated in this study. A quantitative research design was employed, and learners, teachers and UM postgraduate students used questionnaires to evaluate the SMS programme. The results show that the SMS team was successful in reaching university of south africa DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/1947-9417/2016/553 Print ISSN 1682-3206 | Online 1947-9417 © 2016 The Authors Education as Change www.educationaschange.co.za Volume 20 | Number 1 | 2016 pp. 239–258 239 De Villiers, Plantan and Gaines ‘Science Made Sensible’ program in SA primary schools the SMS goals in these South African schools. More than 90% of the learners are of opinion that the SMS team from the USA made them more interested in the natural sciences and fostered an appreciation for the natural sciences. All the South African teachers plan to adopt and adapt some of the pedagogical strategies they learned from the SMS team. This article includes a discussion about the benefits of inquiry-based learning and the similarities and dissimilarities of USA and South Africa’s teaching methods in the science classrooms. Key words: Science Made Sensible, United States, South Africa, learners, teachers, postgraduate students, natural sciences, hands-on, inquiry-based learning INTRODUCTION Globally, educators are faced with the challenge of making science sensible. Perhaps Albert Einstein put it best when he stated ‘the fundamental ideas of science are essentially simple and may, as a rule, be expressed in a language comprehensible to everyone’ (Einstein & Infeld 1966:27). But this is seldom honoured. Scientific concepts sometimes are made much more complicated and confusing than necessary due to some educators not relating to their audience. For example, there is a tendency for some educators to fall back on excessive technical jargon. Learner1 achievement and interest in science begin a steady decline during primary school when instruction is rote and poorly presented (Osborne et al. 2003). Research shows that there is a connection between having positive background experiences with science and the development of interest in science (Bulunuz & Jarrett 2010). In 2007, Science Made Sensible (SMS), funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), began as a partnership between the University of Miami (UM), Florida, USA and Miami-Dade County Public Schools2. The SMS programme pairs postgraduate students in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines with local primary school science teachers. Each postgraduate works with his/her teacher partner for one continuous academic year in Grade 6, 7 or 8 science classrooms. They strive to make the science education experience interesting and exciting for primary school learners. Postgraduates and teachers work together to develop lesson plans, focusing on inquiry-based, hands-on activities that are connected to core concepts in the sciences. When possible, they integrate the disciplines of mathematics, biology, chemistry and physics in the lessons. By engaging learners in the practices of science, we can help them begin to understand what science is and how scientific knowledge develops and advances (National Research Council 2011). Traditional instructional approaches have little impact on the development of learners’ scientific reasoning abilities (Bao et al. 2009). In contrast, many researchers including Benford and Lawson (2001), Gerber, Cavallo and Marek (2001) and Zimmerman (2000) reported that inquiry instruction can promote scientific reasoning abilities. To develop a society of scientifically literate individuals, educators need 240 De Villiers, Plantan and Gaines ‘Science Made Sensible’ program in SA primary schools to foster an interest in and understanding of science at a young age. This requires the effective communication of scientific concepts through hands-on, inquiry-based class activities. The SMS programme is based on a hands-on/minds-on learning model (Haury & Rillero 1994). Its basic premise is that when students are physically involved in science they are more likely to be mentally engaged. The theoretical framework of this study was drawn from three main areas of the literature: inquiry-based approach, hands-on activity, and minds-on learning. The work of the theorists Piaget and Vygotsky was blended into the philosophy of learning known as constructivism (Cakir 2008), which was used to shape instructional materials. Constructivism implies that learners need opportunities to experience what they are to learn in a direct way and time to think and make sense of what they are learning (Tobin 1990). Loucks-Horsley et al. (1990:48) are of the opinion that ‘exemplary science learning is promoted by both hands-on and minds-on instructional techniques – the foundations of constructivist learning’. Constructivism-based instructional materials are commonly classified under the name of ‘inquiry-based’ and include hands-on activities as a way to inspire and engage learners while concretizing science concepts (Minner, Levy & Century 2009). Hands-on learning activities are consistent with learner-centred strategies based on a constructivist learning-teaching approach (Taraban, Box, Myers, Pollard & Bowen 2007). Inquiry-based learning refers to the pedagogical approach that uses the general processes of scientific inquiry as its teaching and learning methodology (Ketpichainarong, Panijpan & Ruenwongsa 2010). Not only does it promote science content, but it also promotes learners’ habits of mind, creative thinking, problemsolving ability, science process skills and understanding of the nature of science (Hofstein & Lunetta 2003; 2004). Kubicek (2005) emphasised that inquiry-based learning should include the basic abilities of conducting a scientific investigation as well as an understanding of how scientists do their work. But DeBore (2004) makes the important point that inquiry-based learning does not require learners to behave exactly as scientists do. The SMS programme is designed to address the interrelated problems of scientists’ failure to communicate sensibly, school te (...truncated)