National/World Editor
Everyone has a least favorite subject. And oftentimes, one’s least favorite subject corresponds with the one they understand the least. For me, this subject has always been science. Whether I was sitting in chemistry or biology, or learning lessons as basic as solids, liquids, and gasses, I could never understand what I was learning. In every class I anticipated my dismissal, excited by the thought of leaving. I always thought it was my fault I couldn’t wrap my head around science, that my shortcomings were preventing me from grasping notions about cells and electrons.
However, the reason for my struggle was simple: my personal experiences with science didn’t correspond to scientific ideas and oftentimes contradicted them, so I struggled to relate to lessons and understand their context. The solution to this issue, which a lot of students face, is the way we teach science. Teachers, starting as young as elementary school, need to teach science using more hands-on methods and exercises based on the complexities of theories and topics.
To preface this article, I want to say that all of the science teachers I’ve had at this school have been wonderful. Rather, this article is meant to examine education in science in a broad setting, not specifically our school and community.
Dr. Jennifer Docktor, a physics education researcher at the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse, encapsulates the problems with learning science in her talks, and proposes solutions to possible learning drop-offs or struggles. One of her most notable solutions is worksheets that ask students to analyze different claims regarding certain physics laws or ideas. Rather than simply asking students yes or no questions, or to explain specific ideas, these activities demand students know and learn about the different intricacies and complexities of theories or ideas. They then ask students to apply this knowledge to differentiate between common misconceptions and correct postulations.
Similarly, Docktor advises that teachers give students tests and problems that incorporate a multitude of scientific topics into a single question, which helps students recognize connections across their learning and how to utilize these connections effectively to aid in their solving. Both of these learning modes are ones that help students better understand what they are learning, as well as how to apply them effectively and accurately to situations and circumstances. If employed more often in science class as homework and activities, rather than questionnaires and readings, students would better understand science, and therefore most likely enjoy it more. The problem with questionnaires that ask students to perform specific calculations or solve given problems, or readings that demand passive highlighting, is they often don’t require deep analysis of concepts and their solutions, preventing students from genuinely learning the details of certain theories or topics.
Overall, the way that we look at teaching science needs to change. Classrooms need to move away from passive note taking and fact copying, and instead focus more on giving students the tools to analyze and understand the details of certain scientific ideas independently. These tools include more analysis-focused worksheets and activities that involve a broad array of concepts. Not only do these exercises help students distinguish lessons from personal experiences, they also result in science better learned, and more enjoyed.
Categories: Opinion