Trust Projects

Introducing discussion techniques relating to Science and Health Issues

This innovative project aims to introduce schools in Edinburgh, Midlothian and East Lothian Council's to activities and methodologies which encourage the discussion of science related health issues in the classroom. It will build on the project which has been running in Fife council for the past year using both the materials and the expertise which has been established and embedded there.
Additionally this project will provide the materials and teacher and pupil video clips and interviews to establish a new CPDU for the AZSTT website.
 

Aims

The cluster of 3 local authorities involved in this project will work together to promote discussion skills relating to controversial areas of science and health in schools in their areas. The topics to be discussed are:

• Diet, Diabetes and Obesity (DDO)
• The Liver and Alcohol
• Vaccines and Vaccination

The project will build on the skills already found in each area and the activities will support the introduction of the Curriculum for Excellence. The specific aims and outcomes include:

To establish working groups of teachers within Edinburgh, Midlothian and East Lothian local authorities. Each group would consist of primary and secondary teachers selected by the appropriate Quality Improvement Officer (QIO). Approximately 30 schools and 60 teachers will be recruited

To train 8 trainers from the local authorities who would work initially with the project leader in each authority and then directly with the schools to provide training and support and to encourage feedback

To run a series of training meetings for groups of teachers in each authority. These would include some cross-curricular meetings encouraging teachers and local authority leaders to invite teachers from other departments in their schools to help to embed the project in the wider school curriculum

To hold a final celebration meeting ‘Discussion of Science and Health issues’, for teachers from all the local authorities including Fife. This will be done in association with SSERC and both the local and the national government adviser

To raise the awareness of scientific health issues with young people allowing them to discuss sensitive issues in a secure environment

To encourage the young people to develop an understanding of different viewpoints when considering scientific issues and to move them forward in the process of expressing informed and balanced opinions based on understanding and evidence.
 

Programme

The activities to be used in this project are aimed at late primary and early secondary pupils.
They have been developed and refined through a previous AZSTT grant and will be available for all
teachers who sign up for this new project. The topics are all very relevant to the new science and
health and wellbeing curriculum which is about to come on stream. The topics are:

• Diet, Diabetes and Obesity (DDO)
• The Liver and Alcohol
• Vaccines and Vaccination

The approach which will be used is to establish the background science and then to use a variety of
different ways to engage the pupils in the issues by encouraging group discussion, debate and using
real life stories to encourage the pupils to consider the impact which these issues have in the real world.
Each activity will contain a teacher guide, background information, help cards, pupil activities, DVDs,
short plays, picture stories and dialogues.

CPD courses and ongoing support

The activities use a variety of different approaches to engage pupils in issues. Many of these methods
may not be familiar to the teachers or the pupils. The training and the CPD courses will focus on these
methods and techniques and how they can be used to engage pupils. The training will take place at the
launch meeting and at subsequent meetings and events. The QIOs will identify teachers who will be
suitable to act as trainers and they will have extended opportunities to use the activities and have
access to other materials such as the power-point presentations and other relevant background
information. The trainers will then be available to support the project in their own schools and in
schools in their area. They may also be available to run workshops at the final meeting.
 

Evaluation

Internal feedback: all the activities produced have feedback forms. This feedback will be summarised and form part of the interim and final reports. The meetings and CPD events will also provide detailed feedback to the project leader and to the other participants. Experience from a previous project indicates that giving teachers time together to discuss the activities and to suggest other approaches and ideas is time extremely well spent. 

External feedback: an evaluator (Peter Anderson) will work alongside the project team, producing a quantitative survey questionnaire which will be sent to schools through the QIOs. He will also visit schools directly to interview teachers who deliver the activities, curriculum leaders who are in charge of the introduction of the curriculum for excellence and pupils who have taken part in the activities. He will look in detail at the impact of the activities on classroom practice. He will also attend the CPD events and meetings and assess their quality and impact.
 

Additional

Success Criteria:

• The provision of well planned, effective CPD training for trainers and for teachers taking part in the project
• The provision of updated appropriate resources to schools which are ready to use and which are suited to the methodologies and content of the Curriculum for Excellence
• The teachers in each Authority feel supported by the project leader, QIOs and trainers and able to confidently try out new pedagogical techniques with confidence in their classrooms
• The pupils in each authority have been able to openly discuss the scientific health issues openly and have made some progress towards being able to express an informed view about the science behind the issues and an informed decision about their health and wellbeing
• The project makes appropriate links with the science and health and wellbeing development officers for the Curriculum for Excellence ensuring that the outcomes of the project meet the needs of the implementation of curricular change
• The final celebration meeting has an audience and an impact beyond the people directly involved in this project
• The QIOs and the schools are ready to pass these methodologies and activities onto other schools in their Local Authorities

 

Contact

Marjorie Smith – Biology teacher/Development Officer'

Email contact:   graham.smith2@btinternet.com