Comments on: literacy in physics

By: sinclair

sinclair — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 19:14:51 +0000

@ A. Fraser
Thanks for taking time to leave a comment and participate in the discussion, it’s always good to hear what other people are thinking on these topics.
My point in using activities like this in class is to encourage pupils to identify for themselves the criteria for writing a good answer. The exercise is designed to be collaborative in nature and I encourage learners to provide feedback to their peers and help them to develop the necessary skills to succeed in meeting the intended learning outcome.
As I said in the original post, writing this kind of response is challenging for most pupils in S3/S4 – these are the years where pupils at my school encounter electronics in the Standard Grade Physics course. I believe it is important to keep the language of these tasks accessible for all pupils, including those working at a lower General level. Differentiation by task and outcome can be achieved in terms of circuit complexity, e.g. by considering the behaviour of a voltage divider or transistor switching circuit, rather than in linguistic terms.
The alternative wording you have suggested highlights the difficulties we appear to have with literacy in Physics. For example, the term “potential difference” does not actually appear in the SQA arrangements document for Standard Grade Physics. It does, however, appear in the content statements for Intermediate 2 and Higher.

By: a fraser

a fraser — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 09:11:46 +0000

It is a good thing to ask a group of pupils to reflect on, analyse and discuss ‘what makes an answer a good answer’. It is a better thing (for a teacher) to ask themselves (and other engaged stakeholders) what makes a good question in the first place.

‘Question: Look at the circuit diagram below. Describe what will happen in this circuit as the light level is increased.’ (Pupils are asked to discuss which of various answers provided is best)

I suggest this alternative:

Look at the circuit diagram below. When the ambient light level increases, the potential difference displayed by the voltmeter always falls. Explain, as fully as you can, the physical processes that lead to this observed ’cause and effect’.

Make no mistake, I am mightily impressed by your engagement in the task of teaching science; but I hold to my belief that the purpose of teaching science is to engage pupils in the process of understanding ‘natural philosophy’. It is wooly sheepshit to ask pupils to ‘describe what happens’, when the key task is for them to develop the desire to understand WHY things happen. I could go on, but I guess you get the point. My question is, are you at least open to the argument that I am advancing?

I appreciate that the example question you have used here may have come from the SQA or some other reputable source. That doesn’t prevent it from being a poor question, does it? If Curriculum for Excellence is going to make a real difference, the exams in fourth and fifth year will have to change in response to the progress in teaching and learning that will be made in the earlier years. ps thanks for Wordle!

By: Bill Boyd

Bill Boyd — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 17:05:23 +0000

Sinclair,
Thanks for the generous comments in your post. Some really good ideas here. I would add that when students are at the stage of writing reports as part of the formal requirements in national qualifications they should still be encouraged to read them aloud to help with, and to demonstrate, understanding. We often shy away from asking older kids to read their work which is a shame, as you can’t always judge the degree of understanding from a piece of writing. That is not to say that they should necessary be asked to read aloud in front of the whole class, but there are other ways to do it, even if it is only reading it to themselves in the mirror! Audio and video recording and playback seems the obvious way to do it.

Bill

By: sinclair

sinclair — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 12:28:00 +0000

Kim,
Thanks for that brilliant idea!
At this stage of CfE implementation, I think it would be helpful for both students and staff to see examples that illustrate different levels of work. I’ll get some of their work photocopied copied for a sample portfolio.

By: sinclair

sinclair — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 11:25:40 +0000

Thanks for your comment, Dave. Feel free to pass it on.

By: Kim Pericles

Kim Pericles — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 10:06:15 +0000

Great post – your strategies really show what is required and the students get a good practical understanding of the quality required. I have tried your wordle suggestion in my (primary school) classroom to great effect, thanks

May I suggest another step at the end of your process? Collect examples of students responses (or jointly construct responses with your class) and use them as examples of various grades/ levels. I’m not sure how you grade in Scotland, but in Australia we use A-E so we design (usually as a class group) example responses that show an A grade, a B grade etc.

This extra step really models and makes it very clear to students what great responses “look” and “sound” like.

KimP

By: dave t

dave t — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 09:55:58 +0000

Good stuff as always Mr M!

Will point Mr PK and the other science teachers to your blog post.