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Study group meeting“Polished or unpolished rice”

Study group meetingStudy group meeting““Polished or unpolished ricePolished or unpolished rice””

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The aims of the meeting:

• Sharing of some good teaching practices, especially good practices in teaching Ideas about Science (IabS)

• Sharing of some good approaches in making use of students’ ideas

⇒Acquire the “lenses” of reviewing your own teaching of IabS

⇒ Learn the strategies and skills of teaching IabS

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The content of the meeting:

• Reviewing video episodes of two lessons of Polished rice

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Background information of the lessons

• Two F.4 Biology lessons

• Major teaching activities: – Telling story

• how beriberi was discovered • research work by Christian Eijkmanto study its cause

– Group discussions: • Propose hypothesis • Design experiment…

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Lesson One

a) T introduced the aims of learning IabSand emphasized the discussion approach adopted in this lesson.

b) T used Swine flu / H1N1 as a SET to introduce Ss to the unknown disease called beri-beri.

Do you think this is a good approach to start an IabS lesson?

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Specialty of the approach

• Related to daily life

• Students were induced to a theory-laden context (experiential learning)

• Effects of Western research on the development of IabS

Group discussion: “Which of the following - rice, contaminated water or the camp site - is the possible cause of beri-beri?” (about 5 mins)

T projected Ss’ proposed causes of beri-beri on the screen. (about 1 min)

T then asked why the researchers at that time thought that bacteria was the most likely cause of the disease. (about 5 mins)

Is there anything special with this teaching approach?

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Specialty of this approach

• Observations are theory-laden (as experienced by the students)

• T’s comments on the timeline of discovering bacteria in advancing scientific investigations

Group discussion: “What hypothesis will you propose to explain the effect of polished and unpolished rice?” (4 mins + 1 min)

T projected Ss’ proposed hypotheses (that polished rice might have caused beri-beri) on the screen and gave comments. (4 mins)

Is there anything special with this teaching approach?

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Speciality of the approach

• Reflective approach

• T encouraged Ss to be creative in hypothesizing

• T dealt with Ss’ opposing ideas

Group discussion: “Design an experiment to test Eijkman’s hypothesis.”

(4 mins + 2 mins)

T projected Ss’ experimental designs on the screen and gave comments.

(4 mins)

Ss were guided to realize the importance of duration, sample size, control, and choice of experimental subjects (rat vs chicken). Then T introduced a question proposed by another scientist.

Is there anything special with this teaching approach?

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Specialty of the approach

• Good use of Ss’ ideas in the experimental design

T unveiled the cause of beri-beri and briefly revised vitamin deficiency symptoms

Is there anything special with this approach?

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• When is the best time to teach the concepts of vitamin deficiency?

• Why?

T summarized and consolidated the IabS taught in this lesson by asking Ss to stick IabS labels alongside the relevant stages of scientific investigation. Ss were also requested to mark the newly encountered IabS with a highlighter.

The worksheet given by the teacher

Do you think this is a good approach to summarize an IabS lesson?

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Speciality of the approach

• Reflective approach

• T clarified Ss’ misconception for the ‘linear pattern of scientific inquiry’ using the blackboard

• Assessment on the spot

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Lesson Two

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T used OHEC as a mnemonic to help Ss to memorize the stages of scientific method

b) T asked Ss to write down the 7 IabShinted by the holy grail icons that will jut out in the PowerPoint presentation

Do you think this is a good approach to start an IabS lesson?

c) T introduced the aims of learning IabS

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Speciality of the approach

• T used mnemonic to help Ss to memorize the stages of scientific method

• T highlighted IabS• T used an icon to follow the stages of

scientific inquiry throughout the lesson

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Compared with the previous approach, which one do you prefer?

Group discussion: “Based on your biological knowledge, what are the possible causes of beri-beri?” (3 mins)

At the end of the 3-min group discussion,T projected Ss’ proposed causes of beri-beri on the screen and gave comments. (about 2 mins)

Some possible causes suggested by students: virus, bacteria, weather, hygiene, emotion, homesickness, as well as problems related to shoes, humidity, living conditions and food poisoning.

Is there anything special with this teaching approach?

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Speciality of the approach

• Ss could warm-up

• Note the diversity of Ss’ answers

• What implications can be drawn from their answers with regard to the teaching of IabS?

T explained why bacteria were suspected to cause beri-beri.

T showed a few IabS statements with spaces for Ss to fill in.

Is there anything special with this teaching approach?

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Speciality of the approach

• Fill-in-blanks for the IabS statements

• Is it effective?

Compared with the previous approach, which one do you prefer?

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Group discussion: “What hypothesis will you propose to explain the cause of beri-beri?” (3 mins)

At the end of the 3-min group discussion,please note that all Ss came up with only one suggestion i.e. something lost from the polished rice. T suggested to class if the disease could be caused by something being added to the rice and he provided an extra minute for further group discussion. (3 mins)

Is there anything special with this teaching approach?

T projected Ss’ hypotheses on the screen.

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Can you comment on…

• the diversity of Ss’ answers?

• how the T could address this issue?

After the 5 minutes’ discussion about the experimental design, T picked 3 groups to present their ideas followed by a Q&A session. (5 mins)

Group 1: using chicken as experimental subjects

Group 2: using solders as experimental subject to do the same as group 1

Group 3: using chicken as experimental subjects, but feeding the sick chicken with materials from crust of the rice grains to see if they can recover

** How could T respond to the Ss’ reports?

T discussed with Ss why human beings could not be used in the investigation.

**What IabS can be taught

here?

The actual cause of beri-beri

Is there anything special with this teaching approach?

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Compared with the previous approach, which one do you prefer?

T checked the IabS written on the worksheets in response to the 7 holy grail icons

T summarized and consolidated the IabS taught in this lesson by asking Ss to carry out the following tasks on their worksheets: • stick IabS labels alongside relevant stages of scientific method; • mark the newly encountered IabS with a highlighter;• asterisk two IabS which, in their opinion, were the most important

Do you think this is a good approach to summarize an IabS lesson?

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Activity

Which group will you choose to present to the whole class?

T projected and discussed Ss’ completed worksheets on the screen.

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Compared with the previous approach, which one do you prefer?

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