what research says to the science teacher

MUM'S THE WORD More About Science and Silence

MARY BUDD ROWE'S article of a few years ago entitled "Science, Silence, and Sanctions" caused quite a stir among science teachers. How long do you allow students to answer your questions before you ask another student or ask another question? Surely anyone who has tried to conduct an inquiry-oriented classroom in which questioning style assumes a major role had to do a little soul-searching after reading the section on teacher "wait-time." Were you surprised to find that your own wait-time was substantially less than the five seconds recommended in Rowe's article? As was pointed out, the effect of varying wait-times on student performance was shown to be quite significant. Perhaps if you haven't already experimented with longer wait-times in your own classroom, you might try it.

And while you're doing that, think about the broader implications of a more ore basic type of teacher silence in science. It' not just a wait- time, but rather a ''let kids alone" time. Playing down the "teacher scene" can be very effective in a classroom where activity-oriented programs such as the

Elementary Science Study (ESS),

Science Curriculum Improvement Study (SCIS), or

Science--A Process Approach (SAPA sometimes called AAAS)

are offered.

Contrary to the popular, common-sense view that the good teacher is one who continually asks challenging and probing questions or provides immediate feedback to youngsters, I suggest that a teacher can actually stifle student activity and get in the way" if he or she is not careful.

As part of a study on contrasting teaching strategies in elementary school science, I explored the relationship between the role of the teacher in an activity-centered class-room and certain aspects of student performance. The two fifth-grade classroom environments in the study were identical in all aspects but one: teacher behavior pattern. With one group, the teacher consistently exhibited highly directive behavior (telling the student what to do and/or how to do an activity, and evaluating student performance), while with the second group, the same teacher exhibited highly non-directive be haviors (giving no specific directions or evaluative feedback). Both groups of students worked with the same hands-on activities during the entire study and except for the contrasting behavior patterns, the teacher conducted the classes similarly, interacting with individuals of small groups of children in both classrooms.

The teacher and I found that the problem solving abilities of the students as measured by the TAB Inventory of Science Processes; appeared to be enhanced in the non-directive strategy. However, there was another interesting but subtle relationship uncovered by the study concerning the amount of time the teacher spent interacting with the children as they were engaged in the hands on activities. In the non- directive strategy the classroom interaction data to showed that the more time that a teacher spent interacting with students the less time the students is spent investigating materials and doing lesson-related behaviors on their own.

Think he about this.

- Instead of stimulating further activity and investigations with the science materials, the teacher's interactions with the students appeared to have a stifling effect. This was a science classroom where open-ended activities were provided and the long-range objective of the teacher was to facilitate independent investigations by each student. Yet observations in the classroom over the three-month period showed that as the teacher increased the time she spent asking individual students questions and suggesting alternative approaches through comments and other questions, the less productive and involved these students became.

Being thrust into a new role of "facilitator" instead of information "disseminator" can cause a kind of "identity crisis" for many teachers attempting to implement activity centered programs. Too often teachers try to "teach" activities such as "Batteries and Bulbs" or "Mystery Powders'" (ESS) by inundating students with question after question and suggestion after sug-gestion as to what they might do with the materials.

The best advice

that can be given to a teacher using an activity-oriented program for the first time may be to simply get out of the childrens' way and allow - them and the materials to do their own thing"

This act action does not imply their that the teacher should abandon or ignore students once the science act activities begin. Questions by a teacher are all important. But they must be questions which grow out of what an individual child is doing at any given time rather titan questions which have a "canned" appearance, i.e. asked just for the sake of asking a question, not to find out what the child is really doing or thinking or feeling. Interactions with the strident working on an activity must be approached with utmost integrity. Observations of teacher-student interactions in a classroom for more than three months seem to point out that forced or teacher initiated interactions wit It a student may cause that student to be "turned off" by the hands-on activities.

When Do You Interact?

There is no simple or neat solution to the problem of when it is appropriate to interact with a student who is working with a set of materials in an activity-oriented science classroom by. Surely there are other factors that must be considered in your decision such as what direction if any, have the students I made regarding the activity, how long has the student been engaged in any one facet of the activity, or how motivated does the child appear te be at any given time. Once you have decided to initiate an interaction, there is probably no one set interaction time which is optimum in all cases. What can be used as a general guideline then? If in doubt, don't butt in on a student who is engaged in an activity. Furthermore, I suggest giving the student the benefit of the doubt when you're undecided if he is really working on an activity or is just "wasting time."

Do some experimenting with reduced interaction time:

'wait-time.' Make a conscious effort to take a less dominant role in the science activities going on in your classroom, especially during first few days at a new activity. Try to do less talking and more observing. This will will be difficult at first and ntay rattle the both your and the students. You can make art effort to stay out of the children's way without communicating abandonment. Student-initiated interactions with you might increase initially because their newfound freedom might confuse and even frustrate the students. Many students will take up the slack in your verbal activity arid start interacting with you. Pursue these interactions as you normally would, hut continue the reduced level of teacher-initiated interactions during science and observe the effect on students. Make note of such things as the overall level of student involvement, their level of lesson-related student-student interactions, the amount of covert copying behavior' even oh-serve such things as noise level and discipline problems.

Note changes in your own feelings about teaching science. You can make better assessment of individual student performance on activities and you can deal more effectively with the needs of each student. Some of thie "up-tightness" which you may have experienced while teaching science in the past will disappear.

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