Primary Science Education Conference

This talk will provide an introduction to curriculum and training materials produced by the EU funded project Creativity in Early Years Science (2014-1017) designed to support creative, inquiry-based approaches to early years science (children aged 3-8). It will include an overview of ways in which project materials were developed through partnerships between researchers, teachers, teacher educators and school leaders. Participants will be involved in discussion and practical activities to explore the nature of creative, inquiry-based approaches to learning and teaching. They will share classroom examples that illustrate both opportunities and challenges in fostering young children’s creativity in science.

We hear a lot about the brain and learning these days. How can we know what is true and how can we know what is useful to primary science education? This interactive talk will give an overview of what is known, how it is known, and what is still a mystery! We value science, but in education we value other things too - how can we use the science of learning in ways that we think are right? A primary science educator and neuropsychologist bring their perspectives together to discuss these issues with the audience.

The poor results of learners in science and mathematics at schools in South Africa have been a point of debate for many decades. This paper reports on an outreach project delivered by the University of the Western Cape’s Science Learning Centre to improve science teaching and learning in schools. This project serves to address the science education dilemma through a number of developmental stages. The first stage of the project involves the training of both primary and secondary science teachers to be confident, effective and efficient propagators of the science curriculum. The second stage involves providing opportunities for learners to engage with science and mathematics activities. The third stage to science development involves the construction of a science laboratory called a UWC science learning centre. The construction of a science learning centre provides the teachers and learners with a creative space in which the teaching and learning of science and mathematics can be harnessed.