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Introduction

Hello world! I’m Annabelle Buda, a student and summer scholar at the University of Sydney, School of Chemistry. Together with my supervisor, Dr Alice Williamson, I will be working on the development of teaching resources with the aim of making practical primary school experiments more accessible to teachers. The project will culminate in the development of a science practical kits suitable for use in primary classrooms; a chemistry version of “HelloFresh”!

Project Aim and Design

In Australian primary schools, science is taught alongside literacy and numeracy, however according to a recent survey of Australian teachers, it has significantly less priority than literacy and numeracy and is taught with significantly less confidence (Watson and Watson, 2014). Demonstrations and hands on classroom activities which are directly linked to science syllabus learning outcomes would likely be beneficial for the teaching of topics that are new and abstract to students such as particulate matter and the differences between states of matter (Skamp, 2009). The kits will be designed with this in mind, so they will include guidance and online support for the teachers as well as engagement for the students. In studies focusing on the pedagogy of teaching science in primary school, hands-on learning has been shown to have had a greater positive impact on pre to post lesson test scores than expository learning alone (Pell et al., 2010; Aho et al., 1993). Thus, it is important that the kits be developed so that they are easily usable within a primary classroom setting which likely does not have access to specialised equipment.

This project seeks to address the need for easily accessible resources created specifically as practical teaching aids for science (Fitzgerald and Schneider, 2013). To begin with, the science kits will have a chemistry focus and be directed towards NSW Year 5 and 6 syllabus points. However, as the project progresses we hope to expand this to syllabus points for higher and lower grades and possibly combine science learning with other subjects such as history.

The kits themselves will contain information which would support the teacher’s knowledge concerning the syllabus as well as equipment for a group or individually conducted experiment. This information as well as research questions for the students will be provided in the form of cards within the kit to support inquiry based learning.

Preliminary design of the science kits

• Information card for teachers
• Method
• Research questions for students
• Equipment suitable for use in small groups

Aside from experiments designed to be performed by the children, some of the kits may be developed as demonstrations designed to be performed by the teacher with the students as an audience to encourage class discussions and group involvement. Prior to the design of specific experiments and equipment for the kit prototypes, background surveys will be carried out to determine the type of support that primary teachers require and the areas of study which would benefit most from this project. These surveys will be directed at a small group of the target audience (primary school teachers) to gauge how best to begin design of the kits. After initial design, we will then continue on a small scale with a focus group of teachers to get preliminary feedback on any prototype science kits produced before adapting them to a wider audience.

Aho. L.; Huopio. J.; Huttunen. S. Int. J. Sci. Educ. 1993, 15(5), 497-507.

Fitzgerald A.; Schneider. K. Teaching Science. 2013, 59(2), 7-10.

Pell. A.; Iqbal. H.; Sohail. S. Evaluation and Research in Education. 2010, 23(3), 191-212.

Skamp. K._ Aust. J. Ed. Chem._ 2009, 69, 5-10.

Watson P.; Watson D. Australian Science Teachers Association Primary School Science Teaching Survey. Teaching survey for the Australian Science Teachers Association; Down to Earth Research: June 2014.