Representations in teaching and learning science

Abstract

It is frustrating, after spending much time and patience explaining a scientific concept with simple, careful language, to glance up and see a look of perplexity on your students' faces. One possible avenue of action is to ask students to represent their thinking in a form that makes sense to them. It could be a drawing, skit, demonstration, prose, etc. A representation is something that stands for something else. This workshop will show through practical activities how teachers can use representations in the classroom. It is important that students can critique their representation against an accepted scientific explanation. The teacher's role in this process is critical. How teachers can do this will be outlined in this workshop. It will explore important questions to consider when using representations such as: • is better, teacher or student generated representations? • is it a strategy or is il a tool for learning? Short video clips of classroom teachers using representations will be shown. It will explore the advantages and limitations of representations. This will be achieved through the utilisation of examples and activities to use in the classroom. It will provide an outline for using representations in teaching science. The workshop will provide examples for using representations in assessment will be provided. Participants will be provided with a handout for enhancing the teaching and learning in science.