Does Practical Work Really Work? A study of the effectiveness of practical work as a teaching and learning method in school science

Abrahams, Ian; Millar, Robin

doi:10.1080/09500690701749305

Cited by 518 publications

(530 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…For intended learning, teachers' persuasive passion comes first and students' heuristic passion follows. Teachers usually spend time in planning what and how to teach for students' effective learning (Abrahams and Millar 2008). This reflects teachers' persuasive passion to make students learn something valuable.…”

Section: Interpreting the Unintended Learning From The Perspective Ofmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The use of 'unintended', unlike 'incidental', places a greater emphasis on the fact that whilst learning might have taken place in a particular lesson it was, from the teacher's perspective, unintended. Using the model of Abrahams and Millar (2008) such a lesson cannot, in terms of that specific unintended aspect of learning, be considered effective.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This is because most of science education research has tended to focus on whether students learn what the teacher intended them to learn and the effectiveness of the intended teaching and learning process. Indeed, Abrahams and Millar (2008) suggested that the effectiveness of a lesson can only be considered in terms of what the students do and learn relative to what the teacher intended them to do and learn. For this reason, previous research (Allen 2010;Chinn and Brewer 1993;Nott and Smith 1995;Rigano and Ritchie 1995) dealing with effectiveness of practical work in science classes has merely reported that the tasks are not effective in terms of teachers' intended learning objectives.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Unintended Learning in Primary School Practical Science Lessons from Polanyi’s Perspective of Intellectual Passion

2015

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This study explored, from the perspective of intellectual passion developed by Michael Polanyi, the unintended learning that occurred in primary practical science lessons. We use the term 'unintended' learning to distinguish it from 'intended' learning that appears in teachers' learning objectives. Data were collected using video and audio recordings of a sample of twenty-four whole class practical science lessons, taught by five teachers, in Korean primary schools with 10-to 12-year-old students. In addition, video and audio recordings were made for each small group of students working together in order to capture their activities and intra-group discourse. Pre-lesson interviews with the teachers were undertaken and audio-recorded to ascertain their intended learning objectives. Selected key vignettes, including unintended learning, were analysed from the perspective of intellectual passion developed by Polanyi. What we found in this study is that unintended learning could occur when students got interested in something in the first place and could maintain their interest. In addition, students could get conceptual knowledge when they tried to connect their experience to their related prior knowledge. It was also found that the processes of intended learning and of unintended learning were different. Intended learning was characterized by having been planned by the teacher who then sought to generate students' interest in it. In contrast, unintended learning originated from students' spontaneous interest and curiosity as a result of unplanned opportunities. Whilst teachers' persuasive passion comes first in the process of intended learning, students' heuristic passion comes first in the process of unintended learning. Based on these findings, we 123 Sci & Educ (2016) 25:3-20 DOI 10.1007 argue that teachers need to be more aware that unintended learning, on the part of individual students, can occur during their lesson and to be able to better use this opportunity so that this unintended learning can be shared by the whole class. Furthermore, we argue that teachers' deliberate action and a more interactive classroom culture are necessary in order to allow students to develop, in addition to heuristic passion, persuasive passion towards their unintended learning.

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Section: Interpreting the Unintended Learning From The Perspective Ofmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Unintended Learning in Primary School Practical Science Lessons from Polanyi’s Perspective of Intellectual Passion

2015

Self Cite

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“…For this reason, practical work is commonly regarded as being central not only to science but to science education as well (Abrahams & Reiss, 2012). This relationship is reflected in the widespread use of practical work in school science (Abrahams & Millar, 2008), but out-of-school science education providers such as museums may also have an important role to play. Indeed, museums have a privileged relationship with a number of scientific disciplines because the practices and discourses of those disciplines have historically been intertwined with the collections of objects and specimens housed in the museum (Arnold, 1996;Livingstone, 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Objects prompt authentic scientific activities among learners in a museum programme

Achiam

Simony

Lindow

2016

International Journal of Science Education

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“…However, despite the importance attached to labwork, there has been a lot of debate as to its effectiveness (Abrahams & Millar, 2008;Hodson, 1991;Hofstein & Lunetta, 2004;Osborne, 1993;Toothacker, 1983;Wellington, 1993). Research on the effectiveness of labwork in school practice is restricted.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Students’ Interaction and Its Relationship to Their Actions and Verbalized Knowledge during Chemistry Labwork

Skoumios¹,

Passalis²

2013

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The present study focuses on the interaction of students during chemistry labwork and investigates its relationship with students' actions that are related to the context of labwork and verbalized knowledge expressed by them. At first, labguides for chemistry labwork were designed and were implemented in three groups of 16-year-old students. The labwork process was videoed in each group of students. Each part of the half-minute videos was analyzed. The analysis identified the types of students' interaction, the categories of their actions that are related to the context of labwork and the categories of their verbalized knowledge throughout the labwork. It emerged that there is a relationship among the types of students' interaction, the categories of their verbalized knowledge and the categories of their actions that are related to the context of labwork. The results of this study affect the designing of labwork activities so that they can become more effective.

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Does Practical Work Really Work? A study of the effectiveness of practical work as a teaching and learning method in school science

Cited by 518 publications

References 19 publications

Unintended Learning in Primary School Practical Science Lessons from Polanyi’s Perspective of Intellectual Passion

Unintended Learning in Primary School Practical Science Lessons from Polanyi’s Perspective of Intellectual Passion

Objects prompt authentic scientific activities among learners in a museum programme

Students’ Interaction and Its Relationship to Their Actions and Verbalized Knowledge during Chemistry Labwork

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