Trust Projects
King’s College, London – Border Crossings (Innovative Project)
Border crossings: developing science and mathematics teachers’ cross-curricular competence key stage 3/lower secondary innovative project
How might schools respond to the demands of the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) agenda to increase the number of suitably-qualified graduates, given that one of their greatest challenges is that posed by rigid subject divisions in the curriculum? Opportunities for cross-curricula work in schools abound and yet, for several reasons, teachers have primarily focused on teaching within their own subject curriculum. However, recent changes to the Key Stage 3 curriculum, particularly in Science and Mathematics, have created new opportunities to explore the potential for cross-curricular work. This proposal, Border Crossings, which takes as its starting point a successful and innovative curriculum development and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) project (Thinking Beyond the Urban Classroom), funded by the AstraZeneca Science Teaching Trust (AZSTT), is designed to explore some of these new opportunities for science and mathematics teachers to cross their traditional subject borders.
Overview
Border Crossings has emerged from the success of several curriculum projects. The first is the successful primary project, Let's Think Through Science, funded by AZSTT (and subsequently published by NFER/Nelson) aimed at teachers of science at KS2, which itself evolved from the KS3 initiatives, CASE and CAME (Cognitive Acceleration through Science/Mathematics Education). The second source is the London Outdoor Science Project which was funded by the Field Studies Council (FSC) from 2004-6. The third source is the Thinking Beyond the Urban Classroom project which is due to come to an end in August 2008. The fourth source is Trailblazers, a well-established and highly successful outdoor learning programme involving schools throughout Hampshire.
The Border Crossings project is supported by four organisations who share a commitment to education beyond the classroom: the Department of Education and Professional Studies, King’s College London, Southampton University School of Education, the Field Studies Council and Hampshire Outdoor Service. The four organisations have worked together and have developed excellent professional relationships.
Aims
The aims of the proposed project are as follows:
- To adapt an existing set of innovative teaching resources for use by teachers of mathematics and science which can be used in the outdoor classroom and which incorporate best practice in terms of assessment for learning and cognitive acceleration at KS3.
- To train student teachers and experienced mathematics and science teachers in the use of the teaching resources and to support them in the use of the materials at KS3.
- To evaluate the impact of the project in terms of its activities and training strategies and to disseminate the findings widely.
Programme
The project will use the eight innovative KS3 science teaching resources developed by the Thinking Beyond the Urban Classroom Project as a starting point to encourage trainee and experienced mathematics and science teachers in 2 universities and 20 urban, suburban and rural secondary schools in London and Hampshire to engage in cross-curricular work in the outdoor classroom.
Outcomes
The outcomes of the proposed project are as follows:
- A pack of 8 innovative teaching resources incorporating best practice in terms of assessment for learning and cognitive acceleration which can be used by both mathematics and science teachers in ways which promote cross-curricular work.
- A teachers’ guide available electronically through an appropriate website.
- 100-125 student teachers of mathematics and science trained in using the new activities.
- 20-40 trained teachers of mathematics and science in London and Hampshire.
- A set of training materials, based on the project’s outcomes, that can be used by teachers new to the project as well as by those already trained.
- An evaluation report identifying the effectiveness of the resources as perceived by experienced teachers student teachers.
- Research papers and other material that can act to disseminate the project’s methods and findings (e.g. workshops at the ASE Annual Meeting and Science Learning Centres).
Evaluation
The project will be evaluated by a research associate based at Southampton, in collaboration with the AZSTT external evaluators.
The performance indicators and success criteria that would be used include:
- Reaction: 90% teachers reporting high levels of satisfaction levels with their training and materials;
- Learning: Evidence that >90% teachers appreciate the pedagogy of the project;
- Behaviour: 90% of teachers implementing the resources with one or more classes;
Other evaluation techniques might involve using indicators of student learning such as those employed in the original Let’s Think Through Science project. However, the staff would discuss which measure might be most appropriate as the project progresses.
Additional
The project will be a feature of the FSC’s outdoor classroom work and information about it will be available through their website. The project team will give talks at conferences and teachers’ meetings and would write articles and papers for a wide range of audiences. There is also good potential for the good practice developed in Border Crossings to be used in the training of inner-London park educators who will be working with secondary science teachers in a recently initiated three-year HLF-funded project. The latter project, Schools in the Parks, is a successor to the London Outdoor Science project.
Update
As this project comes to a close, plans are in hand to put the activities generated into the Resources section of the Trust website. It is also hoped to produce a Continuing Professional Development unit for the website to show how outdoor activities can be used in the teaching of science and mathematics.