Resources - Teacher's Guide
Article Reading
Article reading provides students an opportunity to explore the
interconnections between science, technology and society, broaden
and enrich their learning. In promoting science article reading,
teachers may select suitable articles for their own students according
to their interest and abilities. Appropriate follow-up activities
should be selected to facilitate students・ learning after reading
the science articles. The following follow-up activities are recommended
in the teaching and learning of article reading.
Searching and presenting information
Article is distributed to students in advance. Students are required
to have pre-reading. After reading the article, they are required
to prepare a group presentation on the article or related topics.
The article itself is not a class teaching material. It is an induction
material or catalyst to encourage students to enrich their presentation
through searching for information from various sources such as books,
magazines, scientific publications, newspapers, CD-ROMs and the
internet. The activity provides student training in knowledge acquisition,
informed judgments, organization of materials and presentation.
After class presentation and discussion, teacher・s feedback stimulate
students・ reflection and further exploration on their work.
Project Learning
Students are required to complete a project to reflect their understanding
on the article topic. It enables students to connect knowledge,
skills, values and attitudes and to construct knowledge. Project
work usually consists of several stages including planning (goal
setting, identifying foci of projects), gathering (finding resources,
collecting data), processing (analyzing and synthesizing information),
and applying (reviewing, revising, evaluating), and the final sage
of presentation may be done in form of a reading report, multimedia
presentation, poster or pamphlet design, or model construction.
Discussions or debates
Students are required to discuss or debate the article topics
or related questions in the class. Discussions and debates promote
students・ understanding, and allow them to be actively engaged in
the learning process. Students are involved in the processes of
researching and analyzing information, organizing and presenting
ideas in a clear and logical manner, and making judgments from arguments.
The method is particularly suitable for dealing with controversial
issues such as ：the desirability of nuclear energy；. In the process,
teachers distribute relevant articles to students for background
reading. Students are divided into groups to express their opinions
and exchange views. They should be encouraged to interact with each
other and the teacher facilitates the discussion so as to direct
students・ learning, and comments on their performance.
Hands-on activities
Students are required to do hands on activities, such as "straw
bridge building", in order to consolidate what they learn from
relevant articles. Teachers should avoid giving instruction or explanation
according to the distributed articles. Hands-on activities allow
students to gain personal experiences and develop independent thinking.
Some activities are appropriate to put students into a science contest
in order to establish a platform for them to compete with each other
to generate fun in learning science.
Learning through reading historical stories
The understanding of historical development of physics advancements
provides students with a better understanding of the nature of science.
The stories of famous scientists always motivate students to appreciate
the ways scientists thought, they work they did and the joy and
frustrations they experienced. It also encourages students to investigate
the relationship among politics, economy, society and technology.
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