Amity Institute of Education

Amity University, Noida

Teaching of Science

(Report on Module 4)
Management of Science Education

Submitted to: Dr. Jipsy Malhotra

Submitted by:
Divya Mahajan (A3410520145)
Muskan Baldodia (A3410520147)
Rohini Taneja (A3410520131)
Soumya Panda (A3410520153)

B.Ed. Semester 2 Section C

Contents:

S. No. Topic Page No.

1. Planning 1

2. Teaching aids and textbooks 3

3. Practical work and Science Labs 5

4. Co-curricular activities 7
 Module IV: Management of Science Education

1. PLANNING

● Instructional Objectives

An instructional objective is a statement that will describe the skills, knowledge,

and attitudes that the instructor will be attempting to produce in learners.

Objectives are the foundation upon which one can build lessons and assessments
and instruction. These are specific, measurable, short-term, observable student
behaviors. The purpose of objectives is to ensure that learning is focused clearly
enough that both students and teacher know what is going on, and so learning can
be objectively measured.

● Formulation of Instructional objectives

Instructional objectives must be written to communicate realistic, measurable, and

learner centered outcomes.
Learner centered objectives state what the learner can do at the end of training.
They always start with action verbs.

● Domains of learning

Learning can be divided into three domains:

Cognitive: This is the most commonly used domain. It deals with the
intellectual side of learning.
Affective: This domain includes objectives relating to interest, attitude, and
values relating to learning the information.
Psychomotor: This domain focuses on motor skills and actions that require
physical coordination.

● Bloom’s Taxonomy and Action Verbs for framing objectives

Bloom’s taxonomy is a hierarchical framework of cognitive skills in which

achievement of each level is built upon the level before it. The goal of Bloom’s
taxonomy is to provide a guide that can be used to create objectives and

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 assessments. As learners move through each level, deeper comprehension of
subjects is attained until learners reach the highest level.

The pyramid can be used to develop learning and development strategies, such as course
planning, when to reinforce information, as well as the appropriate time to introduce new
concepts.

● Unit Planning
The planning for the unit is known as “Unit Planning”. It is a plan that sets out the
learning goals into a coherent set of lessons.
Generally a unit plan is created based on goals because all units are rooted in
goals. When we refer to goals-based units, we refer to a group of topics focused in
the same content or skill area.
For example, a Science teacher might plan a plant unit to teach students the skills
of identifying different types, parts and usage of plants.
The essential activities of a unit plan include:
● Selection of type of unit to be used
● Selection and statement of objectives
● Selection of learning situations
● Selection of knowledge component, topic and subtopics
● Selection of teaching-learning activities

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 ● Selection of teaching aids
● Selection of methods of evaluation
Unit planning is usually done after preparing the yearly plan.

● Lesson Planning

A lesson plan is the instructor’s road map of what students need to learn and how
it will be done effectively during the class time. Then, one can design appropriate
learning activities and develop strategies to obtain feedback on student learning.
Having a carefully constructed lesson plan for a lesson allows the teacher to enter
the classroom with more confidence and maximizes the chance of having a
meaningful learning experience with students.

A successful lesson plan addresses and integrates three key components:

Learning Objectives and teaching points
Learning activities throughout the session
Assessment or evaluation to check for student understanding

Providing a meaningful organization of the class time can help students not only
remember better, but also follow the presentation and understand the rationale
behind the planned learning activities

2. TEACHING AIDS AND TEXTBOOK :

Teaching aids aim to promote learning in students. Apart from the traditional textual structures,
different types of aids, such as audio, video etc are used to help student in increasing their
learning experience.

Different tools such as computers, maps etc are required for different types of interactions. The
main objective of this tool is to involve the students, promote interaction, help in fast learning
and better comprehension.

Teaching aids can be broadly classified as :

1) Traditional aids : Blackboard teaching

2) Visual aids : Charts, figures, diagrams, graphical representation etc

3) Mechanical aids : Audio, visual, audio-visual

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Importance of teaching aids :

1) It helps improve student learning through direct experience.

2) It helps to increase the vocabulary of students.

3) It helps to motivate students to learn new or difficult concepts.

4) It helps in better understanding and clarity with the concepts

5) It helps in saving time and money in the overall learning process.

TEXTBOOK FOR SCIENCE CURRICULUM :

· A textbook is a prescribed book for the students of a particular age group.

· A textbook is a tool for both the pupil as well as the teacher.

A good textbook is :

· A good source of knowledge

· A guide

· An instruction to the pupil.

· A means of interpreting truth

· A tool

Scope of Textbooks :

· Textbook extends the habit of self study

· Textbook helps in developing the thinking and reasoning ability.

· Develop efficiency in different areas.

· Expand the knowledge

· Develop good relationship between people and the society.

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3. PRACTICAL WORK

● Importance of practical work in teaching science

○ Practical work and hands on activities are extremely important in science

education. Science is the study of natural phenomena and it includes the skills of
observation, experimentation, data collection, interpretation, evaluation etc. These
skills can only be developed when the learners are engaged in activities that
require them to focus, observe, and interpret data.

○ For example, a student who investigates the basic nature of metal oxides by
himself/herself (by conducting an experiment) will better remember it as
compared to someone who has just read it in the book. Similarly, those who
actually experiment with resistors, parallel circuits, series circuits etc. will better
understand the basic concepts of electricity.

○ Aside from developing scientific attitude and skills, practical work makes the
learners curious and creates interest to learn further. It allows the learners to
construct their own knowledge through observations and interpretations.

○ Practical work also helps in the development of 21st century skills within
learners. Firstly, while conducting an experiment, the learners are able to apply
their knowledge. They also collaborate and communicate with their peers, and the
staff present in the lab. In addition, students may come up with a variety of ways
to investigate one problem (for example, the rate of a reaction can be investigated
in multiple ways) leading to the development of creative and collaborative
thinking.

○ Improvisation is also extremely important, especially right now because teachers

and students can no longer use the science labs. While virtual labs and simulations
are available, they cannot completely replace offline science labs. Therefore, it is
up to the teacher to improvise and create DIY science kits and teaching aids that
can help the students understand a concept better. For example, she may use
turmeric paste, lemon juice and soap solution to teach the concept of indicators.
Similarly, she may use a potato to build a voltaic cell to teach electrochemistry or
create a rocket using baking soda and vinegar. These fun home experiments will
engage the learners and also make them curious about what other experiments
they can do at home!

○ Thus, practical work and hands-on activities make the learners curious, create
interest, lead to the development of 21st century skills and also help them
construct their own knowledge while building their scientific temper and attitude.

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● Science Labs

○ Science Lab is often regarded as the heart of science as it is the place where
discoveries and inventions take place. Science lab is also a place which students
are eager to visit.

○ A laboratory is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific or

technological research, experiments and measurements may be performed.

○ For effective teaching of science, each school must have well-equipped science
labs because effective teaching and learning of science involves observing and
experimenting with real objects and materials.

● Planning and Designing Science Labs:

○ The lab should be well-ventilated and should have proper lighting. There should
be an adequate number of sinks, water supply, disposal bins, gas supply. An open
and pollution free environment must be maintained.

○ The labs should be large enough to accommodate 30-35 students, and should have
an adequate number of seats and tables to prevent over-crowding and congestion.

○ The labs should be well-equipped and should have all required apparatus,
chemicals, and other equipments.

○ There should be at least one whiteboard/blackboard, one teacher and one lab staff.

○ The teachers and lab staff should be aware of all safety guidelines and they should
observe the learners at all times.

● Types of Science Labs

○ Lecture room cum laboratory plan

Dimensions: 13.5m x 7.5m. The room is

divided into two equal compartments. One
compartment is used as the lecture room (can
accommodate 40-45 students) and the other as
the lab (can accommodate 20-25 students).

The floors should be slightly slanted so that

any accidental spill can flow towards the

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 drainage and the floor can then be washed with water.

○ All purpose labs

■ These labs can be used for teaching physical sciences as well as biological
sciences.
■ Dimensions: 13.5m x 7.5m
■ There should be almirahs for storage of all equipment and chemicals.
These equipment and chemicals should be organized on the basis of
disciplines.
■ There should be a demonstration table and a blackboard as well as
multiple exit doors. There should be 6 tables and enough chairs for all
students.

○ Separate labs for biology, chemistry, and physics discipline.

■ Physics lab should have working tables and at least one table with gas pipe
fitting. There should be amirahs, a dark room, platforms for balances and
pendulums etc. Two large sinks must also be present.

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 ■ Chemistry labs should also have working tables with many sinks, a
separate room for weighing balances, almirahs for chemicals, fume hoods,
gas pipe fittings, sand bins and disposal bins, and proper ventilation.

■ Biology labs should be equipped with working tables with microscopes, a

separate amirah(s) for specimen, proper lighting, a culture room, and at
least one table with gas pipe fitting or electric hot plate.

● Simulated Labs and Virtual Labs

○ Like the name suggests, virtual labs are interactive online platforms based on
simulations of real life phenomena. Virtual labs allow students to explore and
investigate different scientific concepts and experiments.

○ Simulations and virtual labs are excellent methods to teach abstract concepts like
atomic structure, structure of a cell etc. In addition, they are a great way to
conduct investigations that may involve the use/emission of harmful substances.
They can also be used when there is a lack of resources and materials in the
school lab or when the school labs cannot be used (for example, in this pandemic
situation.)

○ There are many platforms which host virtual labs like amitraolabs, PhEt
simulations, vlabs, labster etc.

4. CO-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

Co-curricular Activities are defined as the activities that enable to supplement and complement
the curricular or main syllabi activities. These are a very important part and parcel of educational
institutions to develop the students’ personality as well as to strengthen classroom learning.

The co curricular activities in science includes-

❖ Science Clubs- The Science Club is the place for students who are interested in
science to learn about all scopes of science from medicine to chemistry to physics
to the environment.

objectives of science club are-

- Promote interest in science and scientific outlook

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 - Involves practical application of science
- Bridge building competitions

Activities undertaken by science clubs are-

● Science excursions and field trips

● Inter school project exhibitions and science fairs
● Mini research projects
● Science albums or film clips
● Competitions like- debates, seminars and quizzes etc.

❖ SCIENCE FAIRS

- Science fairs are intended to demonstrate scientific concepts on a small scale.

- Science fairs allow students in elementary, middle and high schools to compete in
science and/or technology activities and teach about the scientific method.

- Science fair provides a platform for the students and teachers where they can learn from
each other’s experiences and get motivated to design and develop something new and
innovative.

❖ SCIENCE EXHIBITIONS - Science exhibitions exhibit 3D working models, Charts,

models , real objects etc.

The objectives of organising science exhibitions are-

- Stimulates interest in science and technology and help include scientific spirit in
younger generations.

- Provide exploratory experiences, encouraging creative thinking and promoting

psychomotor skills among students through self developed exhibits or models.
- Encouraging problem solving approach and developing scientific ideas with daily
life situations.
- Popularising science among masses and creating an awareness regarding the role
of science and technology in socio economic and sustainable growth of the
country.

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 ❖ FIELD TRIPS AND EXCURSIONS -

Field trips and excursions are educational experiences conducted during

school hours and planned by a teacher to correlate with the regular
classroom.

Need and importance of field trips -

- It help bridge gap between education and hands on experience.

- It develops the social skills of learner.
- It helps stimulate interest and motivation in science.
- It also helps add relevance to the learning.
- help strengthen classroom materials and bring classroom lessons to life.
- such trips provide students with the opportunity to visualise, experience and
discuss information.

❖ BULLETIN BOARDS

As essential part of creating an inviting and engaging learning environment in your

classroom is having enticing bulletin boards. Ideally, bulletin boards are both
eye-catching decorations and functional references for the students.

These bulletin boards are great ways to encourage student participation in the physical
classroom environment. Science in the news and scientist(s) of the month entries can be
extra credit opportunities or students can be assigned a week or month for which they are
responsible.

❖ SCIENCE QUIZ

A quiz can be defined as a game or brain teaser to test knowledge of students.

It contains an element of competition when participants play against each other to get the
highest score, which makes participants become more engaged.

It is a great way to check student’s progress and learning in a fun way.

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