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Engaging pedagogies at the Australian Science and Mathematics School

 

The Australian Science and Mathematics School (ASMS) is a specialist public school for senior secondary students that was created to promote engagement and retention in the study of science and mathematics.

The ASMS is exploring the use of a range of engaging pedagogies that support students in the taking of reasonable risks and providing reflective feedback, within a supportive learning community, to develop student effort and resilience, thus encouraging them to maintain their commitment to studying science and mathematics throughout the senior years of schooling, and beyond.

What is engagement?

The form that engagement takes can vary, from the situation where a student maintains interest within a particular lesson to a student developing a permanent connection and desire to study further. Fredricks et al. (2004) describes three different forms of engagement. Behavioural engagement is indicated by a student appearing to be on task. This may simply be compliance with the teacher’s instructions and expectations. Cognitive engagement indicates that a student is actively involved in thinking about, and constructing, knowledge. Emotional engagement is reflected in a passion for, and emotional commitment to, the learning event. The goal of the educator is to nurture all forms of engagement, thus encouraging a deep and lifelong learning.

ASMS pedagogies for engagement

The ASMS charter is to provide cutting-edge, deep learning experiences and develop the skills and dispositions for a lifelong involvement with learning. The goal is sustained positive behavioural, cognitive and emotional involvement in student learning, demonstrated by a display of intense effort, the initiation of action, enthusiasm, optimism, curiosity and interest. The assumption is made that certain types of learning experiences will promote motivation and engagement within students. Tobin (1984),  Smith et al. (2005), Shulman (1999), Newman (1989), Mestre (2005), Cunningham (2005), Chickering and Kuh (2005), Zyngier (2004) and Ainley (2004) have all suggested pedagogies that lead to improved motivation and engagement for students. These include the provision of authentic, active, socially and personally relevant learning tasks, within an environment that values student voice, goals and interests, with guidance from those with a common vision for improving student learning outcomes. Essentially, this is a student-centred curriculum taught by professionals who place a high priority on student learning outcomes.

A curriculum for engagement

The ASMS curriculum encourages students to psychologically invest in, and take responsibility for, their learning. The curriculum is planned after student and teacher survey data has been analysed. In this way, student experiences, perceptions and interests are used to personalise the learning for each group of students. Results of the 2004 ACER School Life Questionnaire show that 88% of ASMS students’ believe they are listened to, in comparison with the Australian average of 65%. In addition, 70% of ASMS students ‘find learning a lot of fun’, in comparison with 43% (Australian figures).

The ASMS interdisciplinary curriculum is based on constructivist learning theory. Students study authentic social and political issues, for example ‘Biotechnology’ or ‘Sustainable Futures’. Students are introduced to an inquiry mindset through the introduction of a ‘fertile question’.  ASMS students are encouraged to become emotionally engaged with questions and issues that matter to them. Discussion and individual student questions are derived from the fertile question that carries a theme throughout the semester study. An example fertile question is: ‘How can we think globally and act locally for sustainability?’ The core content and skills are constantly related to the fertile question, and student reflection on their learning is given a context by the fertile question.

Personalising for engagement

Students are able to take control of, and responsibility, for their learning by developing a personalised learning plan. This generally forms a part of their e-portfolio. The personalised learning plan enables them to set personal and academic goals and then devise interesting strategies for reaching these. Many students choose to follow an interest area through an inquiry process (similar to a small thesis). This is done under the guidance of a mentor. Students can work at a level that suits their own ability, so differentiation of the curriculum is possible. 

Assessment for engagement

ASMS students also have control over their assessment through the use of rubrics, which often have student input in the design phase, and peer assessment. Student demonstrations of learning are significant authentic events, demanding accountability to peers and experts. Examples include the Nanotechnology Expo, where students designed a nanotechnology product and demonstrated the science behind the product to an enthusiastic group of visitors from the university and community. The topic, ‘Sustainable Futures’, staged a student conference involving scientific presentations of the inquiry projects students had been working on for the semester. The ‘Earth Summit’ within the same topic is essentially a role play, with students presenting the case of 25 countries towards deforestation and discussing global needs to come up with a concluding paper of recommendations. Learning conversations give students control over the discussion and reporting of their learning to significant family members. The processes of synthesis of information and skills, reflection and evaluation involved in these tasks encourage students to engage, both cognitively and emotionally. This is what Shulman (1999) suggests when he states that learning is most powerful when it is public and communal.

Conclusion

Learning is a personal, internal construct and, as such, students need to take a lead role in deciding on, and controlling, their learning pathway. Adolescence is a time of peak emotional energy. Harnessing this by including meaningful contemporary issues with supportive collaborative learning experiences increases the engagement of this age group with their education. Academic challenge, supported by encouragement when moving outside comfort zones, can also stimulate cognitive and creative thinking. The use of student-centred pedagogies leads to an improvement in student engagement, and thus, student learning outcomes. In a political climate with high stakes testing of standards, it seems inevitable that a ‘teaching to the test’ curriculum will flourish and student engagement may be neglected. The achievement of high quality learning outcomes for students may be jeopardised. Students who engage with their learning psychologically invest in that learning and develop the skills they need to become lifelong learners. These students are destined to be valuable, passionate, scientifically literate members of society.

References

Ainley, M (2004). 'What do we know about student motivation and engagement?' Paper presented at the Conference of the Australian Association for Research in Education, Melbourne, Australia.
Chickering, AW & GD Kuh. (2005). 'Promoting student success: creating conditions so every student can learn.'  In Student Success in College.  Retrieved October 2006, from: http://bl-surv-george.ads.iu.edu.
Cunningham, S (2005).  'Who gets to chew the cracker? Engaging the student in learning in higher education'.  Christian Education Journal 2(2): pp. 302-318.
Fredricks, JA, Blumenfeld, PC & Paris, AH (2004).  'School engagement: potential of the concept, state of the evidence'. In Review of Educational Research 74(1): 59-110.
Mestre, J (2005).  'Facts and myths about pedagogies of engagement in science learning'.  In Peer Review 7(2): 24.
Newman, F (1989). 'Student engagement and high school reform'. In Educational leadership: 34.
Shulman, L.S (1999).  'Talking learning seriously.'  In Change 31(4): pp. 10-17.
Smith, KA, Shephard, SD, Johnson, DW, & Johnson, RT (2005).  Pedagogies of engagement: classroom based practices'.  In Journal of engineering education (January).
Tobin, K (1984). 'Student engagement in science learning tasks'. In European journal of science education 6(4): pp. 339-347.
Zyngier, D (2004). 'Doing education, not doing time. Engaging pedagogies and pedagogues: What does student engagement look like in action?' Paper presented at the Conference of the Australian Association for Research in Education, Melbourne, Australia.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ms Lyn Jefferies is Curriculum Coordinator at the Australian Science and Maths School, at Flinders University, in Bedford Park, South Australia, Australia.

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