The Course Attended Was Entitled Science Activities to Engage and Stimulate Pupils With

STEM Bursary Course Report

MICHELLE EARLEY

ST PATRICK’S HS, KEADY

SCIENCE

The course attended was entitled ‘Science Activities to engage and stimulate pupils with special needs’. I am teaching in an all ability co-educational secondary school. We do not apply a selection policy. Within each year group of Key Stage 3 we have a learning support group. I was interested in learning of new approaches that would help guide me in stimulating and motivating these pupils and most importantly promote their self esteem.

The course tutor was Dr Mark Biddis who is widely recognised for making science fun through his television programmes on CBBC. I have learned that his approach involves using multisensory input and doing activities followed by discussion. The pupil is asked questions such as ‘What did you observe?’ ‘What could we change to re-test?’ Through this approach the pupil doesn’t get a feeling of failure because they cannot be wrong. He promotes obtaining answers through association, trying to make links between cause and effect and ruling other things out by using many of the simple experiments that he showed during the course. I have tried to use this approach in class and focus more on observation and discussion. I can always teach them the theory after listening to their own ideas.

I have received access to a set list of activities with colourful worksheets and further activities. I will be integrating them into my existing schemes of work and lesson plans where possible and hope to integrate them properly during the planning process at the end of the year. The pupils seem to enjoy the simplicity of the easy to do activities and they are not afraid to ascertain a guess as to what is going on. They are improving their observation skills as a result of the new approach using these activities.

The success of the professional development activity will be evaluated through several means. On a personal level I will complete a PRSD activity using some of what I have learned. If other teachers take up some of the activities and apply the approaches with their pupils this will be a success. All our pupils are entered for GCSE and in single award GCSE’s there is a particular emphasis on the process of observation and relating this to effects and causes. If pupils have improved outcomes in their module results through doing such activities in junior school then this could be deemed a success.

I have placed the activities into our central system so that all teachers in the department have access to them. I will give an in-service presentation to members of my department to demonstrate the approach Dr. Mark Biddis has with his activities. He is all about promoting enjoyment, stimulation and self esteem.

I feel that the course was worthwhile and I have learned some valuable insights into the area of special needs. I met other teachers who come from completely different backgrounds where their pupils have profound physical, mental or behavioural issues. It was enriching to listen to the different stories and how different teachers used different approaches in the past. We all gained something from the course and will use some of this approach in future.

As with everything time is needed to integrate and use everything we learn. If I even use a percentage of what I have learned and use it well I feel that my pupils will benefit. I would like to gain access to more resources of this nature and continue to develop my skills.

By Michelle Earley

St. Patrick’s High School Keady