If KS3 is truely progressive towards GCSE level (and then A-level) does it matter if we label it KS3 or a 5-year GCSE? As long as the content is there and is appropriate isn’t that what matters? #asechat
I've mentioned it before, but it seems like ks3 science is GCSE lite. And from I can tell, a lot of it almost identical content wise. Be interested to hear what others think. #asechat
Knowledge is key in KS3. If you are not focussed on ensuring the 'big ideas' are well understood and misconceptions are challenged then everything falls to pieces at GCSE #asechat
The question is 'what content'? Call it what we like, what is important is that pupils develop an understanding of key concepts and ways of thinking #ASEChat
I don’t want to get into a ‘what is knowledge ‘ debate but I would say the big ideas are more about conceptual development rather than knowing ‘stuff’ #asechat#KS3science
Knowledge is key in KS3. If you are not focussed on ensuring the 'big ideas' are well understood and misconceptions are challenged then everything falls to pieces at GCSE #asechat
That is always the question - what should be covered and who decides? Ideally you tack back and determine what should be taught to meet qualification standards as well as content that suits the needs of students in your school #asechat
From 11 to 14, kids go through all sorts physiologically, including brain development (I'm riffing about cognitive development, synaptic pruning, etc.) but there seems to be a journey from concrete to abstract in those years. & if we ignore that then it impacts progress #asechat
No I agree but knowledge comes first then they understand as they apply it to other situations #asechat can't get to the latter without the former #cogscisci
The national curriculum represents the minimum entitlement and schools have flexibility to add to that or flex some of the more open objectives. I believe this is part of the Ofsted drive on curriculum - moving people away from seeing the curriculum as shackles #asechat
In the olden days we had 3 hours of science a week at KS3, various curriculum models 1 teacher 3 lessons, 3 teachers 1 lesson, carousel arrangements teach them for half a term then move on and repeat, but they did mostly last for 3 years, with GCSE taking up 2 years #asechat
In reply to
@gregtheseal, @ViciaScience, @sejalpatel13
I like the no rush approach for all years. You can cover the NC in two years and have time to explore ideas. Also gives enough time to teach GCSE #ASEchat
In reply to
@NeedhamL56, @ViciaScience, @sejalpatel13
Yes, I agree, just sometimes we are so intent on teaching stuff that we move on to the next bit without developing the ideas to secure concepts. #asechat
#asechat ks3 chemistry for us involves lots of practical work and building foundations for what comes at gcse. Recently had crisis in confidence that perhaps it needs to include more content from ks4 but now feeling more secure since seeing what the y9s can do!
Yes, I agree, just sometimes we are so intent on teaching stuff that we move on to the next bit without developing the ideas to secure concepts. #asechat
Yes whatever you are teaching topic wise you should always be teaching cells, particles, forces, energy stores and transfers, interdependence where appropriate in that topic #asechat
It is very common in international curriculum for there to be life science, physical science and earth science - so it isn’t always chemistry, physics and biology (more of a UK thing) #asechat
I think it's a diff job. In prim, expectation is that you teach everything. Sec Sci is an anomaly in my view. It would be like having 'Humanities teachers' as the norm which wouldn't be popular imho. Specialists is an ideal though. I recognise budget and TT constraints #asechat
In a previous incarnation of KS3 there was a focus on forces, energy, cells, interdependence and particles. Is that sufficient to prepare students for later study? #ASEChat
That risk is also true between years when teachers change. The job of the HoD is to define a coherent, comprehensive curriculum to ensure that this doesn't happen #asechat
I think also because we are not measuring progress in some of the aspects of knowledge and understanding, we perhaps neglect teaching this? And perhaps just follow what's easiest to do, e.g practical x, or worksheet y. #asechat
So in days gone by, there were nationally set and marked tests at the end of KS3 for science - did they ensure better coverage of the curriculum? #ASEChat
I have changed my lessons at KS3 based on what my daughters have come home telling me they have done in Science that day in primary. One embarrassing example was when the magnets lesson I had planned was identical to one my then 6 year old was doing! #asechat
#asechat I think @MrARobbins had it. cells, particles, energy transfer etc. Absolutely fundamental for me is for students to understand what we mean by chemical reactions, what cells, tissues organs etc are and forces - diagrams, examples. I spend weeks on this at ks3.
I would agree. We need to draw out these common underlying principles in what we teach. Difficult at times for children to recognise the connections (eg food chain and bouncing balls!) #ASEChat
I think potentially, yes. If we had had a careful and coherent NC content redesign under Gove (instead of rushed bodge) it would have helped enormously but with care... #asechat
Any repetition is a failure of holistic curriculum design across the Key Stage divide which often happens when they are independently developed rather than thought about at the same time #asechat
There is also probably room for planting the seeds of abstract thinking to develop concepts, but those kinds of lessons are not satisfying - e.g. they didn't learn to use a formula, or complete ten questions. Thinking is undervalued sometimes! #asechat
...think those topics can be really well-developed to a high level (GCSE level) and lay foundations for other topics (maths, graphs, practical skills, writing etc)#asechat
#asechat exactly. Today we talked about ores vs native metals in y9. They all understood what I meant by compound and element without having covered it at gcse level.
Ive just dug out a couple of Revised Nuffield text books for Biology a coherent programme designed to last 5 years with text 1 & 2 targeted at the "introductory phase", broad general approach followed by more emphasis on reasoning/experimentation/quantitative approaches #asechat
'They must be assisted in making their thinking clear, both to themselves and others, and teachers should ensure that pupils build secure foundations by using discussion to probe and remedy their misconceptions.' (NC KS3 sci) #ASEChat what proportion of lessons do this?
Hi Mary, you realised this , and made adjustments. Think how demoralising it is for students where this doesn’t happen, no wonder they get put off science #asechat
I know! The 's' word. I remember years back, driving to school, hearing the news on the radio that SATs were out, and we literally scrapped a couple of months of planning. A year or two later, I thought did we chuck the proverbial out with the bathwater?
Three key assessment points with ks3 and gcse questions. Plus an open ended key task homework/lesson. The former is mainly testing knowledge, while later is understanding and application.
I think if you are assessing the understanding of the children and preparing them for the future a synoptic exam built based on old ks3 and GCSE questions is the only way to get a good judgement on their performance. 1/2 #asechat
If you want to diagnose misconceptions and show them how to improve then you need smartpy designed questions to elicit a written/drawn response that will expose their gaps #asechat 2/2
The BEST project based at York provides structure to the KS3 science curriculum and uses less formal assessments built into the curriculum https://t.co/xpn959NYPc#ASEChat
I think we have to be careful with clarity. I'm talking about summative judgement in the first tweet and formative in the second #asechat both needed but for different reasons
I think this can even be done with cleverly written multiple choice questions. By looking at how many answers that are picked as a result of a misconception. #asechat
They certainly ensured greater coverage of the scientific process (HSW) because the data proved it.
I remember a dip in national attainment when HSW style questions increased one year at KS3.
training in writing for science would be a good foundation in KS3 - I've been influenced recently by The Writing Revolution's sentence level ideas #asechat
Perhaps needs to add some fundamental chemistry. Elements, compounds, mixtures, types of bonding, Periodic Table, activity series. My chem is not sharp enough to know how coherently can get a load of nice reactions in but sure it's possible. #asechat
#asechat we are served quite nicely by chemical reactions, particles, atoms and separating substances (plus a bit of geology thrown in for good measure).
In reply to
@dodiscimus, @CurlyMan66, @ViciaScience
Have you seen @theASE PLAN assessment resources for KS1 &2 science https://t.co/1qqroXa46e would make a great starting point for KS3 teachers to look at expected progress #asechat
#asechat the idea that atoms are held together by bonds perhaps but approaching types of bonding before understanding atomic structure would be a jump too far I feel.
In reply to
@MaryWild, @dodiscimus, @CurlyMan66, @ViciaScience
Yes, evidence of slightly superficial coverage - great point. Last summer's Y11 did old KS3 did they not? Hardly surprising that new GCSEs were somewhat bolt on. #asechat
In reply to
@ViciaScience, @leyla_pattison, @MrARobbins, @theASE
That is a very good question and one that has been taxing a RSC committee recently. My view is that difficult ideas need firm foundations, rather than earlier introduction. #ASEChat
OCR Science GCSE feedback from AO. Good use but poor recall of equations. Missing unit conversions. No working. Struggling to draw lines of best fit. Free body and RQ diagrams look like 3Dcartoons. #asechat
Personally, by the end of KS3 that there are two main types of bond - get that out there early to prevent confusion between them especially as the type of bond has impact on the language used e.g molecule. #asechat
In reply to
@leyla_pattison, @MaryWild, @dodiscimus, @CurlyMan66, @ViciaScience
Thinking about it we don't even really talk much about the 'atom' despite needing that knowledge to discuss electricity in any meaningful way. It kind of gets mentioned briefly when talking about elements but that's it. #asechat
In reply to
@ViciaScience, @dodiscimus, @CurlyMan66
A lot of later biology requires a firm grasp of bonding - including 'hydrogen' but many biologists forget their basic chemistry #ASEChat How to ensure stuff learnt in previous years is retained??
In reply to
@MarcNeesam, @leyla_pattison, @MaryWild, @dodiscimus, @CurlyMan66
Agreed! At the NC review it was argued that KS2 science should mainly be about observing, raising questions etc and very little factual content as it is easy to put a misconception in so much harder to take it out. However ‘rigor’ won the day and there was more content put in
I'm a bit shy of teaching too many mathematical skills before they have covered them in maths, because I am wary of teaching it a bit differently or with different language. #asechat
But KS2 won out on practical approaches to science with different types of investigation being specified. This is lost at KS3, and I worry investigation at KS3 gets subsumed in the race for more content #ASEChat
From the research I have been reading for @BestEvSciTeach helpful to introduce idea of attraction between particles. This explains why mpt and bpt differ and hence why substances may be in solid, liquid ir gas state at room temp.#asechat
In reply to
@MaryWild, @doc_kristy, @ViciaScience, @dodiscimus, @CurlyMan66, @BestEvSciTeach
