Lesson 5

Approaches in Teaching
Science
Joel B. Faustino
College of Education
Bulacan State University
Introduction
• The biggest challenge
before a teacher is how to
teach Science lessons.
• Effective teaching through
learning activities –
students can reach the
goals of life by acquisition
of knowledge, skills and
values in Science.
Knowledge
• Is sometimes labeled
as the product of
science.
• It generally refers to
facts, concepts,
principles, laws, and
theories.
Process skills
• Science process skills are
the things that scientists do
when they study and
investigate.
• Observing, classifying,
communicating, measuring,
inferring, and predicting
Scientific Attitudes
• Refer to the general predispositions that
characterize the work of scientists.
• Important attitudes:
• Curiosity
• Objectivity
• Honesty
• Perseverance
• Openness
• Skepticism
• Withholding judgment
Characteristics of
learners
1. Learners learn and develop
as a whole person.
• The learners’ cognitive,
affective, physical, social, and
emotional areas are intricately
intertwined. Learners cannot
grow in one area without
affecting the other areas.
Characteristics of
learners
2. Learners grow through the same
predictable stages but at different
rates.
• This means that children of the
same age group may not exhibit
uniform characteristics. Some may
be more intellectually or socially
advanced than the others in the
same age group.
Characteristics of learners
3. Learners learn best through
active involvement with concrete
experiences.
• Research studies show that the
use of hands-on activities can
result in significant improvements
in academic performance and the
attitude of students toward
science.
Characteristics of
learners
4. Learners are curious
and eager to learn.
• When the teacher fits
the learning
environment to learners’
interests, needs, and
their levels of maturity,
they become highly
motivated.
Characteristics of
learners
5.Learners have
different learning
styles.
• Learning styles are
preferred ways that
different individuals
have for processing
and responding to
environmental stimuli.
Learning styles are
also referred to as
cognitive styles.
Effective Science Teaching
1. Present science as a way of finding
out rather than as a body of facts
to be memorized.
2. Emphasize learning by doing.
3. Encourage interaction among
learners.
4. Adapt science experiences to
learners’ developmental needs.
5. Use a variety of approaches in
teaching science.
 Teaching Approach

• It is a set of principles,
beliefs, or ideas about
the nature of learning
which is translated into
the classroom.
Teaching Method
• It is a systematic
way of doing
something. It
implies an
orderly logical
arrangement of
steps. It is more
procedural.
Teaching Strategy
• It is a long-term
plan of action
designed to
achieve a
particular goal.
Teaching
Technique
It is a well-defined
procedure used to
accomplish a specific
activity or task.
Approaches in
Teaching Science
• Inquiry Approach
• An approach to
learning that engages
pupils’ natural curiosity
and desire to make
sense of the world.
• Encourages the asking
of questions and the
seeking of answers to
those questions
through investigation
and exploration.
Approaches in
Teaching Science

• Inquiry Approach
When to use this
approach and
why?
• If you want to develop a
spirit of inquiry in
children, use the inquiry
approach of teaching
science, as children will
find out themselves by
inquiry instead of getting
readymade information
from the teacher.
Advantages
• Children are proactive
and work under the
guidance of their
teacher.
• They learn to formulate
a hypothesis, and also
to verify the
hypothesis.
• They are trained to
learn on their own.
Disadvantages
• This method is slow
and time-
consuming.
• Not suitable for
children of all age
groups.
• Require practice for
teachers to teach
science by this
approach.
Approaches in
Teaching Science
• Problem-Solving Approach
• Is a technique that provides
children an opportunity to
solve scientific problems
quite independently or
through a guided approach
by following systematic
steps.
• Start the lesson with a
problem
Sample Problems
• Can air make shadows?
• How do free energy machines work?
• How do levers create energy if the conservation of energy does not
allow energy to be created?
• How do projectors project the color black?
• How do scientists cool objects to absolute zero?
• How do tractor beams work?
• How do you focus regular light to make it a laser beam?
• How do you make a one-photon-thick beam of light?
Approaches
in Teaching
Science
Problem-Solving
Approach
Advantages
1. Students do their own learning under the
guidance of their teacher.
2. They learn to propose and structure
problems.
3. They learn to collect varied pieces of
information relevant to the problem from
different sources.
4. They learn to formulate hypotheses.
5. They learn to test the hypotheses, and
collect the evidence to prove or disprove the
identified hypotheses.
Advantages
6. They learn to solve problems in their
everyday life.
7. They are very closely familiar with various
objects and phenomena around them, their
applications, and their relationships instead of
having mere knowledge.
8. They establish a healthy and favorable
relationship with their teachers and peers, and
9. They develop a scientific attitude and
scientific temper
Disadvantages
1. This approach is very slow, long, and time-consuming.
Therefore, if we always use this approach, we cannot
complete the syllabus.
2. There is too much emphasis on practical work which
may give a wrong concept of the nature and
philosophy of science in general. Learning science is a
joyful process but too much practical work makes it
dull and routine type of affair:
3. Most of the teachers are perhaps not able to teach by
this approach, as they have not experienced practical
teaching of science by this approach.
4. Not suitable for learning for all age groups.
Approaches in
Teaching Science
• Demonstration Method
• Demonstration means 'to show'. In
the lecture method, the teacher just
talks but in the demonstration
method, he shows or illustrates
certain phenomena, concepts, or
principles.
• Demonstrations provide concrete
experiences to students. Thus, it
helps to understand abstract ideas
to students.
Approaches in
Teaching Science
• Demonstration Method
• Using the demonstration method, the
teacher can:
1. illustrate abstract ideas in concrete
form.
2. coordinate theory with practical
3. do those demonstrations which are
dangerous for students to perform
themselves.
4. teach how to solve a problem.
Approaches in
Teaching Science
• Demonstration Method
• A problem can be solved by using a
demonstration using the following
steps:
a) pose a problem to students.
b) invite their hypotheses.
c) provide concrete experiences
(demonstration of experiments) for
the solution of the - problem.
d) enable students to reach on the
right conclusion.
How to use Demonstration Method
• When using this method, the teacher (you) should keep in
mind the following characteristics of a Good Demonstration:
• It should be clearly visible to all students, even to the
backbenchers.
• Students should be fully involved.
• If there is more than one demonstration in a lesson, they
should be done in a proper logical sequence.
• In a demonstration only one idea should be taken at a time.
Too many ideas in one demonstration may confuse the
students.
• As far as a possible result of the experimental
demonstration should not be known to students
Advantages
1. There is a possibility of using more
sophisticated apparatus, which generally
students cannot handle in the laboratory.
2. More difficult experiments may be
undertaken.
3. More hazardous experiments may be
attempted.
4. Expenses may be minimized compared to the
laboratory method.
5. There is a possibility of demonstrating
manipulative and allied practical skills.
Disadvantages
1. All students do not do the experiment with their own
hands. It is a substitute for laboratory works
2. When the demonstration is complex or there are too
many demonstrations in one lesson, students feel difficulty
understanding the basic concepts, principles, and skills.
3. Various details of the apparatus, significant reactions
and other essential steps undertaken by the teacher in
drawing conclusions are not necessarily visible to all the
students of the class equally well.
4. It deprives students of many of the advantages of
laboratory methods such as handling the apparatus and
other materials as well as making their own
interpretations.
Approaches in Teaching
Science

• Laboratory Method
• Students perform laboratory
experiments by their own
hands individually or in small
groups, under the supervision
and guidance of their science
teacher.
Approaches in Teaching
Science

• AIMS OF LABORATORY METHOD

1. To give firsthand experience
to pupils
2. To provide pupil participation
in original research
3. To build scientific attitudes in
the pupils
Approaches in Teaching
Science

• AIMS OF LABORATORY METHOD

4. To develop skills in the use of
laboratory equipment and
instruments
5. To make use of the power of
observation and reasoning
6. To make use of reality to make
learning easier and permanent
Advantages
1. Promotes learning by doing.
2. Provide the opportunity to handle material by their
own hands.
3. Learn to follow directions carefully.
4. Help to learn skills for performing experiments,
recording observations and results, summarizing
data, and drawing conclusions.
5. Provide opportunities for critical thinking, scientific
attitude, and scientific temper.
6. Provide opportunities for training in the scientific
method and investigatory science projects
Disadvantages
1. More expensive as separate equipment
is to be provided to each student.
2. Difficult to schedule in the school
timetable as double periods are to be
provided in groups.
3. More time consuming compared to
Lecture-Cum-Demonstration method as
students are unskilled workers and are
not as competent to handle apparatus
as their teachers.
Approaches in Teaching
Science
• Project Method
• A project is any purposeful activity. It may
be the preparation of a model static or
working, a chart, or performing an
experiment.
• When your students make or work on a
project they explore and use a lot of
scientific knowledge. They do their own
learning. You, as a teacher are there to
facilitate and guide them whenever they
need you.
Advantages
1. It creates interest in science.
2. It develops an understanding of various
scientific concepts and generalizations.
3. It promotes curiosity and develops
scientific temper, interest, and
appreciation.
4. It develops abstract and concrete scientific
skills.
5. It develops scientific hobbies for the right
use of leisure time later in life.
6. It develops self-confidence, cooperation,
leadership, and emotional stability.
Disadvantages
1. This is the most difficult method as it
requires more planning and effort for
execution for the teacher if she/he is
not trained, can face problems in using
this method.
2. It is very time-consuming.
3. It needs proper coordination as
different groups of students will be
working on different projects.
4. It requires more materials and
equipment.
5. Not suitable for large classes.
 “Pupils can learn any subject matter when
they are taught with methods and
approaches responsive to their learning
styles.”
- Rita Dunn, Director, International Learning Styles Network
Thank you!