Undergraduate - UnitEDF2214 - Science education

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2015 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 1, 0.125 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Education
Offered	Berwick First semester 2015 (Day) Peninsula First semester 2015 (Day)
Coordinator(s)	Associate Professor Gillian Kidman (Berwick); Mrs Gemma Eastwood (Peninsula)

Synopsis

This unit explores teaching science within five broad frames: science as a way of thinking and acting, learning about learning science, teaching as the transformation of knowing science, the engagement of learners and communicating science. The unit prepares students to develop a constructivist approach to teaching science, incorporating strategies such as connecting to children's prior knowledge, questioning and inquiry learning, hands-on approaches, scientific investigations and learner-owned/learner-centred investigations. The relationship between science, technology and society is explored, and the nature of science as a discipline is considered. Students build understanding of science learning and teaching across levels Foundation to Year 8 through collaborative participation in a range of contexts and critically reflect on these.

Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this unit students should be able to:

appreciate science as a way of thinking that generates knowledge (representing cultural and societal dimensions) that is used to describe and respond to our environment
demonstrate an understanding of the ways in which science responds to changing technological and social change
critically reflect on their experiences as learners of science and identify implications for their professional identities
identify, develop and deliver appropriate strategies to establish, monitor and develop learners' understanding of science as a way of knowing and the importance of reasoning and critical thinking skills
communicate science understanding in multiple ways and to multiple audiences.

Assessment

Investigating science learners' science ideas (2000 words, 50%)
Reflective critique on science teaching (2000 words, 50%)

Workload requirements

Minimum total expected workload equals 144 hours per semester comprising:

(a.) Contact hours for on-campus students:

24 hours over the semester comprising seminars (2-3 hours each) and online activities

(b.) Additional requirements

independent study to make up the minimum required hours per semester

Chief examiner(s)

Associate Professor Gillian Kidman

This unit applies to the following area(s) of study

Primary and secondary education
Primary and secondary special education
Primary and secondary health and physical education