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Does Practical Work Really Motivate? A study of the affective value of practical
work in secondary school science
Ian Abrahams a
a
Institute of Education, University of London, UK
First Published on: 31 October 2008
To cite this Article Abrahams, Ian(2008)'Does Practical Work Really Motivate? A study of the affective value of practical work in
RESEARCH REPORT
The present paper reports on a study that examined whether practical work can be said to have
affective outcomes, and if so in what sense. The term affective is used here to refer to the
emotions, or feelings, engendered amongst pupils towards school science in general, or one of the
sciences in particular. The study is based on 25 multi-site case studies that employed a condensed
fieldwork strategy. Data were collected, using tape-recorded interviews and observational field
notes, in a sample of practical lessons undertaken in English comprehensive (non-selective) schools
during Key Stages 3 and 4 (ages 1114 years and 1516 years, respectively). The findings suggest
that whilst practical work generates short-term engagement, it is relatively ineffective in generating
motivation to study science post compulsion or longer-term personal interest in the subject,
although it is often claimed to do so. This suggests that those involved with science education need
to develop a more realistic understanding of the limitations of practical work in the affective
domain.
Introduction
In countries with a tradition of practical work in school science (such as the UK),
practical work is often seen, by teachers and others (particularly scientists), as
central to the appeal of science. There is also evidence that pupils prefer practical
work to other methods of teaching science (Cerini, Murray, & Reiss, 2003).
Yet despite the frequent and widespread use of practical work in English schools
(Bennett, 2003; Millar, 2004; Third International Mathematics and Science Study,
1999), and the common perception amongst teachers that its use motivates pupils
*Institute of Education, University of London, 20 Bedford Way, London, WC1H 0AL, UK.
Email: i.abrahams@ioe.ac.uk
ISSN 0950-0693 (print)/ISSN 1464-5289 (online)/08/00000119
2008 Taylor & Francis
DOI: 10.1080/09500690802342836
2 I. Abrahams
(Wellington, 2005), recent studies (Abrahams, 2007; Haste, 2004) have shown that
pupils attitudes towards secondary school science become progressively more negative over time. Indeed, the absolute number of pupils choosing to pursue science at
A-level is in steady decline (Osborne, Simon, & Collins, 2003)a decline that is
most pronounced in chemistry and physics (House of Commons Science and Technology Committee, 2002), arguably the two science subjects that offer the most
practical work during Key Stages 3 and 4.1
However, despite the potential affective value of practical work, it is important to
recognise that a pupils decision to pursue science beyond the compulsory stage of
their education is likely to be more strongly influenced by a variety of factors; for
example, career and/or university aspirations (House of Commons Science and
Technology Committee, 2002), relevance (Jenkins & Pell, 2006), or the personality
and teaching approach of individual teachers (Jarvis & Pell, 2005; Reiss 2005).
Whilst recognising the potential affective value of such influences (indeed, the findings of this study lend credence to the potential value of career aspirations as a
means of motivating pupils towards the study of science), the focus of the present
study has been to examine the affective value of practical work itself rather than to
address the broader issue of what factors influencepositively or negativelypupils
subject choices.
Hodson suggests five reasons that teachers might be expected to give for using
practical work, one of these being To motivate by stimulating interest and enjoyment (1990, p. 34). The House of Commons Science and Technology Committee
(2002) likewise claims practical work is absolutely essential in creating enthusiasm
(Question 514).
Whilst the term motivate was frequently used by science teachers within this
study to describe the value of practical work, the following illustrates (all names used
within the study are pseudonyms) what is often meant by this:
I think in most instances its short-term engagement for that particular lesson rather
than general motivation towards science. In general I think its very difficult to motivate
kids in Year 10 and 11 into thinking about engaging in science and thinking about
science in terms of thats a career that I want to follow. (Mr Rainton)
Are teachers, we might then ask, using this term in its strict psychological sense or as
a catch-all term that embodies elements of interest, fun, enjoyment, and engagement?
Teachers are not the only ones to say one thing and mean another. Bandura
suggests that the terms motivate and interest have been used, in the literature, to
mean the same thing even though there is a major difference between a motive,
which is an inner drive to action, and an interest, which is a fascination with something (1986, p. 243; emphasis added). An example of this can be seen in Lazarowitz
and Tamir (1994), who claim that practical work motivates pupils, citing in support
of this Ben-Zvi, Hofstein, Samuel, and Kempa (1977), Henry (1975), and Selmes,
Ashton, Meredith, and Newal (1969), even though these studies focused almost
exclusively on the issue of pupil interest rather than motivation. Indeed, of these three
citations, only in Henry is the term motivation actually used, albeit only once,
4 I. Abrahams
work that accompanied the Nuffield-inspired changes to the curriculum during the
1960s did not, as Hodson (1990) has noted, result in any increase in the number of
pupils choosing to pursue science post compulsion, as might have been anticipated
had practical work been an effective motivating factor. In fact, a report by the
Department of Education and Science (1968)The Dainton Report, produced at a
time when Nuffield-inspired changes to the curriculum might have been expected to
increase the uptake of science at A-levelfound that the number of pupils pursuing
science at this level had actually decreased.
There is, however, a need to recognise that the educational system in England, in
which pupils are required to specialise at the end of Key Stage 4, must result in some
pupils not pursuing their study of science because of positive choices in favour of
other subjects, rather than negative views of, or a lack of motivation towards, science.
However, the old adage that actions speak louder than words lends credence to the
claim by Bennett (2003) that, whilst certain practical tasks can generate interest and/
or engagement within a particular lesson, there is little evidence to suggest that they
motivate pupils towards science in general or, more importantly, towards the further
study of one (or more) of the sciences in particular.
Interest
Prenzel suggests that the term interest, as commonly used, describes preferences
for objects (1992, p. 73)where the term objects is used in a very broad sense as,
for example, when someone claims to have an interest in sport. Within the psychological literature the term interest is used more precisely to refer to a persons
interaction with a specific class of tasks, objects, events, or ideas (Krapp, Hidi, &
Renninger, 1992, p. 8; original emphasis). Whilst this description of interest is
widely accepted (Hidi & Harackiewicz, 2000), many psychological theorists make a
distinction between what have been termed personal interest and situational interest (Bergin, 1999; Hidi & Harackiewicz, 2000). To evaluate what is actually meant
by claims that practical work generates interest, it is necessary to understand that
these two types of interest differ appreciably one from the other.
a choice, to study what already interests them (Bergin, 1999). By increasing their
knowledge of that subject, or activity, they increase their personal interest in it
(Alexander, 1997; Alexander, Jetton, & Kulikowich, 1995; Deci, 1992), yet further
developing what might usefully be thought of as a system of positive feedback.
Numerous factors can stimulate personal interest. Bergin (1999) suggests relevance,
competence, identification, cultural value, social support, background knowledge,
and emotionsall of which are, generally speaking, beyond a teachers immediate
domain of influence. Whilst personal interest can be an important factor in effective
learning (Schiefele, Krapp, & Winteler, 1992), it is not something that is, in the short
term, susceptible to teacher influence (Bergin, 1999; Hidi & Harackiewicz, 2000).
6 I. Abrahams
subject can, in the case of situational interest, arise independently of each other (Hidi
& Anderson, 1992).
It is also necessary to recognise that interest in doing a particular practical task
as evidenced by the pupils apparent involvement with the objects, materials, and
phenomenadoes not imply cognitive engagement with any, or all, of the intended
ideas or concepts. It has been reported (Blumenfeld & Meece, 1988) that pupils can
be fully engaged and seemingly interested in what they were doing without their
being cognitively engaged with the task in a manner that would have been necessary
for them to have learnt what the teacher intended. Indeed, Bergin cautions that
although most teachers aspire to increase the interest of their students, they should
keep in mind the fact that interest enhancement does not necessarily lead to learning
enhancement (1999, p. 96).
The literature has shown that there is a clear distinction, within psychological
theory, between the terms motivation, situational interest, and personal interest.
Analysing the comments and actions (actual and/or intended) of both teachers and
pupils using this psychological framework provides an effective and consistent means
of evaluating the affective value of practical work.
Research Strategy and Methods
Previous large-scale questionnaire-based studies of practical work in English and
Welsh secondary schools (Beatty & Woolnough, 1982; Kerr, 1964; Thompson,
1975) have focused on the rhetoric of practical work. That is, whilst they explored
the views and opinions of teachers and students, they did not examine and/or
compare such views with actual practice. Indeed, Crossley and Vulliamy (1984)
have suggested that questionnaire-based surveys are more likely to reproduce existent rhetoric than to provide accurate insights into the reality of teaching within its
natural setting. As similar objections have been raised to the use of studies based
solely on interviews (Cohen, Manion, & Morrison, 2000; Hammersley & Atkinson,
1983), this study adopted a multi-site approach, involving a series of 25 case studies
in different settings, similar in scale to those undertaken by Firestone and Herriott
(1984) and Stenhouse (1984). This approach enabled the researcher to focus on the
observation of actual practices and to augment these with interviews conducted in
the context of these observations.
There are a number of precedents in which case studies have been used, within an
educational context, to explore the relationship between rhetoric and reality (see,
e.g., Ball, 1981; Sharp & Green, 1976). The use of case studies also offers the potential for achieving a higher degree of external validity and generalisability to other
settings: what Bracht and Glass (1968) refer to as ecological validity. As well as the
fact that studying numerous heterogeneous sites makes multi-site studies one
potentially useful approach to increasing the generalizability of qualitative work
(Schofield, 1993, p. 101), such an approach also avoids what Firestone and Herriott
(1984) refer to as the radical particularism of the traditional single in-depth case
study.
Table 1.
School
Location
Derwent
Foss
Kyle
Nidd
Ouse
Rye
Swale
Ure
Urban
Urban
Urban
Rural
Rural
Rural
Rural
Rural
School samples
Size
Education authority
500
1,480
1,550
890
630
720
670
1,280
1116
1118
1118
1118
1118
1118
1116
1118
A
A
B
B
B
C
B
C
Eight schools were approached, with the head of the science department being
asked for permission to observe one or more science lessons at national curriculum
Key Stage 3 or Key Stage 4 (students aged 1114 years and 1516 years, respectively)
that involved some student practical work, to talk to the teacher about the lesson, and
perhaps also to talk to some of the students. All the schools approached were maintained state comprehensive schools (all school names are pseudonyms), in a variety
of urban and rural settings. Some of their characteristics are presented in Table 1. As
a group they were broadly representative of secondary schools in England.
One other factor influenced the nature of the science lessons we requested permission to observe. The English national curriculum divides the science curriculum into
four main strands, or attainment targetsone of which is called Scientific
Enquiry and is about developing students understanding of the scientific approach
to enquiry and their skill in using it. This is assessed, at ages 14 and 16 years,
through one or more written reports by each student on a practical investigation they
have carried out. Donnelly, Buchan, Jenkins, Laws, and Welford (1996), in a
detailed exploration of this aspect of the English national curriculum, point out that
extended and more open-ended investigative practical tasks are rarely used to teach
students about scientific enquiry, but almost entirely to assess their performance in
conducting an enquiry scientifically. In identifying practical tasks to observe, we
wanted to observe (and thought we would be more likely to be given permission to
observe) teaching situations where no high-stakes assessment was involved. We also
knew that open-ended enquiry tasks typically extend over several science lessons,
and would therefore require several visits to observe the complete task. We therefore
chose to restrict our data-set to a broad range of practical tasks that were not being
used for assessment purposes, which in practice meant that we observed tasks associated (in teachers minds) with the teaching of the biology, chemistry, and physics
strands of the national curriculum.
Typically on arrival at the school, the head of science would present the researcher
with a list of lessons that were taking place on that day and that it would be possible
to observe and, as such, we had limited control of the content or subject matter of
the lessons actually observed in each school. Choices were made, whenever practical
8 I. Abrahams
considerations of timing permitted, to allow pre-lesson and post-lesson teacher
interviews, with the aim of achieving a reasonably balanced coverage of the five
school years in Key Stages 3 and 4 by the end of the study, and of ensuring that the
sample included biology, chemistry, and physics topics. Whilst the sample was not
unduly large, it was felt, on the basis that later lesson observations in the sequence
appeared to raise the same issues as earlier ones, that data saturation had been
achieved by this point and that nothing would be gained by increasing the size of the
sample further.
Field notes were taken in each lesson observed, and tape-recorded interviews
were carried out with the teacher before and after the lesson. The pre-lesson interview was primarily used to get the teachers account of the practical work to be
observed and of his or her view of the learning objectives of the lesson. The postlesson interview collected the teachers reflections on the lesson, its success as a
teaching and learning event, and their views on the affective value/role of practical
work. Where possible, conversations with groups of students during and after the
lesson were also tape-recorded. These conversations provided an opportunity to
gain insights into the students thinking not only about the task that they were
observed undertaking, but also with regards to the affective value of practical work
in general.
Findings
Pupils Claims to Like Practical Work
Almost all of the pupils questioned in this study said that they liked practical work.
Yet when these responses were probed further it was found that in many cases it was
not that the pupils actually liked practical work per sealthough some pupils in Year
7 did, and these will be discussed laterbut merely preferred it to most alternative
methods of teaching science. In contrast to Head (1982), who reported finding an
appreciable minority of pupils who expressed a dislike of practical work, in this study
one pupil claimed to dislike practical work, on the basis that it was boring, whilst
96 students claimed to like it. Because of time constraints it was not possible to
question all of the pupils, but there seems no reason to believe that the responses
obtained are not representative of the pupils involved in the study as a whole. Pupils
reasons for claiming to like practical work are presented in Table 2, in which there
are two types of claim: those indicative of a relative preference (containing comparative terms such as better than, less than, more than), and what might be termed
absolute claims (such as it is fun, it is exciting, I just like it). An asterisk indicates a
relative preference.
Of the 96 claims, 65 (68%) are indicative of a relative preference for practical
work whilst 31 (32%) are absolute. Whilst the sample size (N = 96) was relatively
small, and not all year groups were equally represented, it is still possible to compare
the proportion of absolute and relative responses given by pupils in each Year
groupand these results are presented in Table 3.
Number of pupils
offering such a response
47
16
4
3
1
1
1
1
10
2
1
1
3
3
2
What emerges clearly from Table 3 is that after Year 7, in which the majority of
pupil responses were absolute, the situation reverses to one in which the majority of
claims to like practical work have become statements of relative preference. This
remains much the same in Years 8, 9, and 10 before shifting even further towards
relative in Year 11. One possible explanation for this is that, amongst Year 7 pupils,
many of these practical tasks provide the first opportunity to use scientific equipment
and/or materials and this is something that the pupils appear to like in an absolute
sense. Many Year 7 pupils spoke excitedly simply about being allowed to use standard
Table 3.
Group
Number of
absolute responses
Number of
relative responses
Percentage of
absolute responses
Percentage of
relative responses
Year 7
Year 8
Year 9
Year 10
Year 11
14
8
2
6
1
12
23
7
16
8
54
26
22
27
13
46
74
78
73
87
10 I. Abrahams
pieces of laboratory equipment and/or materials such as Bunsen burners, electrical
wire, and acidssomething that was not observed amongst pupils in later years. The
following extracts are a sample of the comments made by Year 7 pupils.
FS11:
FS10:
FS11:
Researcher:
KG5:
What the data in Table 3 suggest is that an absolute liking of practical work, which
arises out of the fun, enjoyment, and excitement that many pupils appear to associate with using new equipment and/or materials in what is a novel environmentthe
science laboratorystarts to wane during the latter part of their first year at secondary school. Whilst the onset of a decline in pupil interest in science (practical work
was not considered independently) from Year 7 onwards has been reported
(Bennett, 2003; Doherty & Dawe, 1988), the fact that this study found almost onehalf (46%) of the Year 7 claims (Table 3) regarding practical work were already
claims of relative preference lends credence to the findings of Pell and Jarvis (2001)
that a decline in interest in science may start before pupils reach secondary school.
Because it appears that many pupils, especially after Year 7, cease to like practical
work in an absolute sense, the interest that it generates seems best described as
situational rather than personal. Since situational interest does not persist beyond
the immediate period of an individuals interaction with the subject or activity (Hidi
& Harackiewicz, 2000), it might be expected that without regular practical workto
re-stimulate situational interestpupils will perceive science as boring despite their
having used practical work on numerous previous occasions. This does, in fact, seem
to be what was observed in this study. The following extract illustrates how an
underlying view that science, as a subject, is boring emerged as soon as it was
suggested that practical work, the source of situational interest, be either reduced or
removed from science lessons:
Researcher:
KD13:
What do you think science would be like if there was less practical?
Boring. If you come in and theres no practical its not as fun, youre just
sitting down writing stuff from the textbook.
Yet the following example illustrates that whilst practical work might be preferred to
theory, it is not necessarily succeeding in motivating pupils towards the study of
science as a subject in the post-compulsory phase of their education.
Researcher:
SK28:
Researcher:
SK28:
Researcher:
SK28:
Such claims illustrate that, for many pupils, practical work is perceived as distinct
from, and separate to, science as a subject. Indeed, it emerged that a preference for
practical work within science did not always imply a preference for science over other
subjects.
The implication here is that even when pupils claim to prefer science practical
work to other subjects, and it must be emphasised here that the preference is not for
science as a subject but rather the practical work component within it, their reasons
for doing so appear to have little to do with personal interest in the subject per se. As
with a previous study (Hodson, 1990), this study has found that, generally speaking, pupils regard practical work as a less boring alternative to other methods
(Hodson, 1990, p. 34).
Another way to look at the data in Table 2 is to divide the reasons pupils gave for
liking practical work into three broad categories:
i
ii
iii
As Table 2 shows, claims in the broad affective category constitute the largest
group of reasons given by pupils for liking practical work, accounting for 77% of all
responses. It is important to point out that some of the reasons for claiming to like
practical work within this category, as the following quotation illustrates, are less of a
positive endorsement of practical work than a desire to avoid having to write and/or
do too much work:
Researcher:
SW1:
Researcher:
SW1:
Researcher:
SW1:
Researcher:
SW1:
This view, that practical work does not involve working lends credence to the view
expressed by Dr Kettlesing, one of the teachers in the study, who, when asked
why she thought practical work was popular amongst pupils, claimed: I think its
[practical work] just an easy option. Likewise Mr Normanby, a head of department, expressed a similar view when he claimed that the popularity of practical
work amongst pupils was, in part, due to the fact that it avoided their having to
think.
Of the remaining pupils, 15% cited issues relating to making, doing, and seeing as
their reason for liking practical work whilst only 8% claimed that they liked it
because it helped them to learn, understand, and recollect ideas and concepts. This
suggestsand similar findings have been reported by Cerini et al. (2003)that,
despite many of the pupils claiming to like practical work better than non-practical
12 I. Abrahams
alternativesin particular, writingfew pupils see it as a better way of learning
about, and understanding, scientific ideas and concepts.
Although the researcher observed pupils making similar requests as they entered the
laboratory, it appeared that those keenest on doing practical workas evidenced by
It is a carrot with them [academically low ability pupils], it is more about making it
bearable. For them its just less writing. I think higher ability pupils could get by with
fewer practicals. (Dr Kepwick)
One teacher saw the actual use of a laboratory, especially for non-practical science
lessons, as problematicin that laboratories, unlike classrooms, are essentially
designed, with their uncomfortable stools, and benches containing sinks, power
points, and gas taps, for doing rather than sitting and writing (Donnelly, 1998).
Whether or not the pupils expectations and/or hopes to undertake practical work
in science lessons are driven by a genuine personal interest in practical work, or
merely by a desire to avoid having to write, it is clear that these expectations and/or
hopes are real. What is therefore important is the question of how pupils react to
those lessons, or sequences of lessons, in which their expectations and/or hopes to do
practical work are not fulfilled. Amongst the teachers in this study, what emerges, as
the following example shows, is a widespread perception that without interspersing
practical work into a teaching sequence, on a frequent and regular basis, pupils
become not only uninterested but also noticeably more behaviourally difficult to
manage during non-practical lessons:
The kids soon work out which teacher gives more practical work and certainly, for most
classes, two lessons of theory on the trot is about the limit, after that theyll be very hard
to teach. Its carrot and stick really. (Mr Normanby)
14 I. Abrahams
Amongst some of the teachers there was a perception that, for some low academic
ability pupils, practical work was essentially just something for them to do in order
to make both their time, and therefore hopefully the teachers time, bearable. In
some cases there appeared to be little, if any, expectation on the part of the teacher
that any meaningful learning would occur:
Because, if nothing else, its [practical work] a relief, its something different theyre
doing. (Mr Rainton)
It [practical work] gives them something to do, especially the ones who get bored with
too much writing. (Mrs Ramsgill)
In a recent study on learning experiences outside the classroom it was found that,
amongst some teachers who perceived such experiences as only a "fun" day out
(Jarvis & Pell, 2005, p. 79), there was a similar low expectation that any meaningful
learning would occur.
Role of Practical Work in Helping to Foster a View of Science as Fun, Exciting, and
Enjoyable
A disappointing finding to emerge from this study has been the fact that pupils, from
as early as the end of Year 7, have moved from claiming to like practical work in an
absolute sense to merely preferring it to other non-practical teaching methods and
approaches (Table 3). One factor that might help explain this change emerged
during discussions with teachers at a school where the lesson observations occurred
during a period when the teachers were actively considering the arrangements for an
impending Open Evening for prospective Year 6 pupils and their parents. What
came out of these discussions was an acknowledgement that the image of secondary
school science, which these Year 6 pupils are encouraged by the teachers to see
(Ogborn, Kress, Martins, & McGillicuddy, 1996) during these initial school visits, is
designed to inculcate an image of science as being primarily a fun, exciting, and
enjoyable practical activity:
Mrs Kettlesing:
Researcher:
Mrs Kettlesing:
Such views suggest that teachers recognise practical work is not, generally speaking, fun and exciting, and that there are only a limited number of practical
tasksthe whiz, bang, popsthat can be used on Open Days, or the like. It
must be emphasised that this is not to suggest that science is never fun, exciting,
and enjoyable, but that such an image does not truthfully reflect normal school
science.
We try to give them [academically low ability pupils] as much practical work as possible
so that they will remember science as being enjoyable and interesting. (Mr Fangfoss)
Although this view was expressed by only one teacher, it suggests that when practical work is used with pupils of low academic ability the aim might not necessarily be
to motivate them to study science beyond Key Stage 4 but rather to provide them
with a positive recollection of the subject. The implication, if this view is taken to its
logical conclusion, is that it becomes more important for the teacher to ensure that
the pupils enjoy their lessons, irrespective of whether or not they learn, and that the
best way to achieve this is to maximise the amount of time spent doing practical
work.
Some of the claims made by teachers about the value of practical work appear, as
the following example illustrates, to reflect the fact that their own positive recollections of school science involve specifically memorable practical episodes:
I was lucky really because when I was at school my science teacher ran a science club at
lunch time and, even now, I can remember us all getting shocks from the van de Graaff.
It made it so much fun. (Miss Kilburn)
Whilst indicating that some teachers views as to the affective value of practical work
have, at least in part, been influenced by their own experience as pupils, it must be
remembered that these are the recollections of people who, from an academic
perspective, did well in science and who chose to pursue it as a career. Using such
recollections to inform their own current beliefs about the affective value of practical
work fails to take account of the fact that, in all likelihood, the vast majority of their
peer group at school did not find the same practical tasks exciting, interesting, and/
or fun, and in all likelihood chose not to pursue science post compulsion.
Conclusion
The present paper has suggested that what teachers frequently refer to as motivation is, in a strict psychological sense, better understood as situational interest. The
fact that situational interest is, unlike motivation or personal interest, unlikely to
endure beyond the end of a particular lesson (Hidi & Harackiewicz, 2000) helps to
explain why pupils need to be continuously re-stimulated by the frequent use of
practical work. Once this fact is recognised, the reason why many of those pupils
who claim to like practical work also claim to have little, if any, personal interest in
science, or any intention of pursuing it post compulsion, becomes clearer. For whilst
these pupils do like practical work, their reasons for doing so appear to be primarily
that they see it as preferable to non-practical teaching techniques that they associate,
in particular, with more writing (Hodson, 1990). What has been shown (Table 3) is
that the proportion of pupils, within each year group, who claim to like practical
work in an absolute sense, as against simply preferring it to writing, decreases as the
16 I. Abrahams
pupils progress through the school. Indeed it would seem from the pupils comments
that, within their first year at secondary school, the novelty of being in a laboratory
environment appears to wear off and they evidently become disillusioned by the reality of school science, which is clearly very different from the image that teachers
initially seek to create in order to make their subject appear attractive on, for example, Open Days.
This paper has also considered the affective value of practical work as a means of
contributing towards effective behaviour management. Teachers comments suggest
that when faced with having to teach science to pupils with little, if any, personal
interest in science, or in some cases of even being in the lessonand this is particularly so at Key Stage 4practical work provides an effective coping strategy. Whilst
these teachers felt it unlikely that such pupils would learn any more (or, equally
importantly, any less) from practical work than non-practical work, it was thought
that the use of practical work made them easier to deal with from a behavioural
perspective. Whilst this might be considered a lost learning opportunity, it is arguable that amongst those pupils who have already switched off the use of practical
work might, at the very least, mean that their perception of science will be less negative than it might otherwise have been were they compelled to undertake more
conceptually demanding, non-practical, work.
Note
1.
The use of the term Key Stage is peculiar to the UK. Key Stage 3 relates to the first three
years of secondary school education (ages 1114 years). Key Stage 4 corresponds to the fourth
and fifth years of secondary school education (pupils aged 1516 years), the completion of
which marks the end of compulsory education in the UK.
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