Discuss the Relevance of Science in Early Childhood Education
Discuss the Relevance of Science in Early Childhood Education.Imagine you are employed as a teacher in an education setting where the management has decided to cut back on the inclusion of Science within the curriculum. Write a report to the management team that outlines the importance of integrating Science content, processes and concepts for children aged 0-3 years of age.Instructions:Assignment 1: Report Word limit: 2000 (+/- 10%) Assignment overview Imagine you are employed as a teacher in an education setting where the management has decided to cut back on the inclusion of Science within the curriculum. This report is a useful way to articulate the values and relevance of Science in early childhood and primary education. Related learning outcomes This assignment assesses the following unit learning outcomes: 1. Summarise the critical importance of Science content, processes and attitudes in teaching young children. 3. Develop and critique explicit and systematic teaching approaches to science and technology appropriate to the content area and levels of understanding of the children they teach. 5. Investigate the categories of science and the content and concepts within them. Assignment detail Include the following headings: 1. Executive summary: A short, clear summary of the whole report. 2. Table of contents. 3. Introduction: o introduce the issue and outline the key aspects of your report o include a rationale for why you think Science is important in the early years of learning. 4. Key points: o include points one to three (1-3) outlined in the assignment criteria. 5. Conclusion: o short summary of key points o recommendations for the management team about how and why Science can and should be included in the early childhood curriculum. Be sure to utilise the following guide to report writing to help you develop this assignment. Writing your report Executive Summary – Approx. 250 words An executive summary provides a quick overview or synopsis of a report, summarising the essential parts. It outlines the following information: ? The purpose of the report. ? An outline of the main content of the report examples and sources, or methods used for research. ? The conclusions drawn from the research. ? Recommendations for future actions. The executive summary or abstract is generally written last. This allows you to summarise all the major areas of the report. People who read only the executive summary should get the essence of the document without fine details. As your report will be addressed to management in an educational setting, it will not necessarily use language such as ‘results’. Your ‘method’ will be how you went about gathering your findings – i.e. what sources you used. See below and example Executive Summary. (Purpose) The aim of this report was to investigate university teaching staff attitudes to the use of mobile phones by students in tutorials. (Method) A survey of teaching staff from each college was conducted in first semester of the academic year. (Conclusions) Overall, the results indicate that the majority of staff found student mobile device use a major disruption in tutorials. (Results) The report concludes that the predominant view of staff is that mobile phones are disruptive and should be turned off during tutorials. (Recommendations) It is recommended that the university develops guidelines which would support staff in the restriction of student mobile phone use in tutorials, except for in exceptional circumstances. – Source: https://emedia.rmit.edu.au/learninglab/content/beginning Contents – Approx. 10-15 words ? Set out as you might see in a book, i.e. Introduction, p. 1, Key points, p. 2, etc. ? No additional details, just sub headings as outlined in the assignment instructions. Example of contents page: Table of Contents 1. Executive Summary 2 2. Table of Contents 3 3. Introduction 4 4. Key Points 5 4.1. Biology 5 4.2. Chemistry 8 5. Conclusion and recommendations 10 References 12 Introduction – Approx. 250 words Introduce the key aspects of your report. Include a rationale about the importance of science in early years education. A good introduction is important in a report. It should give the reader all the information required to understand the importance and relevance of the report. It should clearly state: • the context of the report • the purpose of the report. Example of report introduction: There has been a great increase in the use of personal mobile phones over the past five years, with every indication that this usage will continue to increase. Indeed, widespread use of mobile devices in educational contexts for non-educational purposes has been reported as distracting and disruptive to learning environments. Recently a number of university teaching staff have proposed that an institution wide policy be developed regarding student mobile phone use during tutorials and lectures. This report will discuss research into staff attitudes to the issue of student mobile phone usage in the teaching and learning environment. – Source: https://emedia.rmit.edu.au/learninglab/content/beginning Key Points – Approx. 1250 words • Look at points 1-3 outlined in the assignment criteria • Approximately 800-900 words are attributed to Criteria 1 and 2 • Criteria 1 and 2 could be combined. You could look at the science categories and write a definition, the application to science, and an example of an activity that a 0-3 child might do. • Criteria 3 is where you display understanding of the EYLF and the A.C. Link it to learning outcomes and demonstrated elements of science. Make connections between documents, conceptual understanding and deeper reading. For instance: … this (biology) activity meets … Conclusion – 250 words • Concise summary of key points including your recommendations. This is an essential element of your report. Recommendations could be in dot point form or numbered. For instance, ‘inclusion of science in the curriculum will …, and will lead to …’. • Give a brief example of an activity to illustrate your recommendation and apply it back to their learning and development. • Recommendations to management should align with key points. • Don’t introduce new ideas or information. APA Reference list – not included in word count. This equals 2000 words plus 10% for contents. Assignment criterion 1. Summary of importance of teaching Science content, processes and attitudes. 2. Inclusion and explanation of at least two Science categories (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Earth and Space Sciences) with examples of relevant conceptual understandings and learning for infants and toddlers. 3. How Science is described in the Australian Curriculum and Early Years Learning Framework. (Although infants and toddlers are not included within the Australian Curriculum, it will strengthen your argument to understand the continuum of Science education expectations from birth to Year Six). 4. Depth and breadth. 5. Academic expression. Your work will be assessed using the following marking guide: Criteria No Pass Pass 50-59% Credit 60-69% Distinction 70-79% High Distinction 80-100% Summary of the importance of science content, processes and attitudes (25%) Did not meet criterion. Summary focuses on the importance of science and how this aligns to teaching. Completed key aspects of the requirements but could be more succinct and/or include relevant examples. As per Pass and: Includes examples of Science processes and attitudes. As per Credit and: Includes supporting literature. As per Distinction and: Identifies the alignment with Science content, processes and attitudes and the benefits these have on teaching young children. Inclusion and explanation of at least two Science categories (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Earth and Space Sciences) with examples of relevant conceptual understandings and learning for infants and toddlers (25%) Did not meet criterion. Clear links between Science categories and developing conceptual understandings. As per Pass and: Examples are provided that illustrate how Science categories and concepts are explored with a particular age group. As per Credit and: Some examples outline the importance of conceptual understandings and how children learn about science. As per Distinction and: Chosen examples demonstrate acknowledgement of Science concepts, set high expectations for young children’s learning and demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the categories for teaching Science. How Science is described in the Australian Curriculum and Early Years Learning Framework (20%) Did not meet criterion. Report outlines some understandings of how the EYLF and Australian Curriculum inform Science teaching. As per Pass and: Examples are provided that demonstrate aspects of Science from the two curriculum documents. As per Credit and: Inclusion of principles and ideas from the curriculum documents. As per Distinction and: Deep thinking that integrates principles and ideas from the curriculum documents into your arguments and rationale. Depth and breadth (20%) Did not meet criterion.
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