Guide
|
Notes
on Section A Exploring current practice
The main aims of this section
are:
-
To review how computer
simulations and models are
used in the teachers’ existing science curriculum.
-
To evaluate their existing
use of computer simulations
and models.
-
To identify particular
areas of existing teaching
that they would like to address.
Notes on the activities follow:
Teachers will bring with them
to the workshop their
own views about the merits, or otherwise, of using computers in science
teaching. The views will influence the way they react to new ideas
introduced,
and they will certainly want to discuss these views with others during
the workshop. This activity is therefore an essential starting point
for
the workshop, as it allows teachers to raise issues that they want to
raise,
to set their own agenda, and to relate the remaining activities in the
workshop to their own practice.
This activity focuses on
teachers identifying problems
in their existing practice. It is possible that they will identify
these
issues without specific prompting in the course of Activity A1, and if
this is the case then this activity could be omitted. It may be,
however,
that in such a discussion they may tend to focus spontaneously on
aspects
concerned with the availability of suitable hardware, which is
frequently
a major issue. In this case, this activity is intended to broaden the
discussion. |
Teaching with computer models