Inquiry Based Science Education Training for Primary Teachers

A series of training sessions is run by the Pri-Sci-Net Project in partnership with the Mathematics and Science Learning Centre, at the University of Southampton. The training is aimed at teachers and science coordinators and consists of three face-to-face sessions interspersed with two periods of classroom based science inquiry work.  The course, run by Dr Jenny Byrne and Willeke Rietdijk aimed to help teachers implement inquiry based science in their classrooms and schools.

Through attending this course primary school teachers were enabled to stimulate their thinking about inquiry based primary science education and were provided with strategies to design and deliver inquiry based science activities, taking into consideration assessment and building in progression across the primary ages.

Taking part in these sessions allowed teachers to:

• Reflect on what inquiry based science education is, what challenges it poses for them and their school and how  these might be overcome

• Reflect on their own/your school’s inquiry based science education practice and needs, and address any identified areas for development

• Evaluate, design and implement inquiry based science activities for their own class/school

• Develop and implement ideas for inquiry based science in particular areas of science such as outdoor education or specific subject content for their class and/or the whole school

• Build in assessment and progression into inquiry based science activities and reflect on the role and place these have in inquiry based science education

A teacher who attended the course commented:

“What I found most useful was the variety of ideas, the practical activities and having an opportunity to look at them and discuss investigations carried out with them. Being able to talk with colleagues from other schools and share good practice; it was great for us to be able to give science priority for a change.”