How can science and technology activities be made engaging and relevant in primary education?- Hannah Burton

The aim for this blog post is to focus on how science and technology activities can be made engaging and relevant in primary education.

From previous experience of being taught science and technology within primary school, it was very different from what it’s like now as they were taught as separate subjects; which I think didn’t make it very engaging for myself as I wasn’t interested within science nor technology within school. I think this was due to not being able to take part within realistic experiments and having a hands-on experience. Also, whilst having a technology lesson it was only about what we could learn to do on a computer like using paint and clip art, as well as becoming familiar with power points and word document which wasn’t very interesting.                                                          

However, science and technology has recently become very important within education as the Welsh Government (2016) places importance on the future growth of science and technology within the world. Also, Donaldson (2015, p.28) says “Children and young people need an ability to deal with difficult and contested ethical issues such as those that can arise from developments in science and digital technologies.”                                                                                                              Donaldson (2015) refers to science as gaining an understanding of something through observing and then exploring it; and technology as using this scientific information in realistic ways. Also, Gardner (1994) cited in Davies (1997) views science and technology as partners in ways in which they can work together and learn new and different things from each other. This can be seen as relevant as these have been combined into one area of learning and experience as Donlaldson (2015) highlights how important science and technology has become in relation to managing different data, coding, designing different things and using what scientific understanding they have learnt in various situations. It has been shown that experts within a specific area of interest or work are the only ones that are seen to have the ability to approach a situation within the area (Harlen & Qualter, 2014); this intends to be changed within the new curriculum coming in.  

Donaldson (2015) mentions the ICT Steering Group Report (2013) as it supports the idea of having science and technology as one together; this is due to children needing to be taught better digital skills than what is already being taught within schools. This is down to technology becoming more advanced every quickly which can be seen to have a benefit on children socially and help them become success within future careers. Arthur, Crick and Hayward (2013, p.13) state that the aim of the report is to make Wales a “Agile-Digital Nation”; which is all about being able to have the skills to quickly use within a digital world.

Recently, new technologies and equipment are coming in very quickly; there are many places you can use technology such as work places, within education and around the world to communicate as well as collaborate. iPads have been placed within the classroom to enhance children’s digital skills. Using technology as a tool for teaching has been seen as beneficial within the classroom not only on the pupils but on the teachers (Beauchamp, Burden, & Abbinett, 2015). It has made it easier to collaborate with one another and Hicks (2011) mentions how using technology within the classroom has been seen to support learning as well as allowing for meaningful experiences to take place.

Even though technology has been seen to have so many benefits on children and within the classroom; it only has an impact depending on the way it is used (Stokes, 2012). Also, Cuban (2001) proclaims that having technology accessible to pupils does not mean it will be beneficial for them. Teachers must be careful when spending too much time using technology within the curriculum as the internet in the school could be quite slow as a lot of children and teachers would be using it. So, if teachers are waiting for technology to work then they could be teaching the other areas of learning as they are all wanting priority of the curriculum.

Technology can also be used in the ways that wouldn’t be beneficial for the child such as just replacing a writing book for an iPad. Would this really enhance learning? We must be careful as we don’t want children becoming too reliant on technology and using it for everything. We must question will it be around in 30 years as Mitra (2015) cited in Marsh (2015) predicts that physical schools and teachers may be replaced in the future.

In order for science and technology activities to become more engaging and relevant within the classroom; technology needs to be used efficiently and successfully which will also result in having an impact on pupil’s achievement (Cuban, 2001). Also, more girls need to be inspired to learn about Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and pursue careers within science and technology (Welsh Government, 2016) as Wilson (2017) claims from research that over half a million jobs will need filling after the current workers retire. Also, a report from the BBC News (2016) has said that 600 of these STEM positions could be taken up by women.

The STEM plan has been introduced within schools to ensure pupils have the skills in order to become successful in their careers in the future and to deliver the knowledge needed to achieve within a more science and technology world (Welsh Government, 2016). It has also been said by the Welsh Government (2016) that there is a substantial amount of pressure from employers for STEM graduates and their skills. However, the problem with STEM is that it is separate to the curriculum, so teachers wouldn’t have enough time to link it all in even though STEM is just as important as all the areas of learning and experience.

A way to make science and technology relevant and engaging for children is by taking them on an educational trip to Techniquest; they have a variety of exciting activities to take part within and solve (pictures are below). Also, Techniquest do follow the STEM plan so its beneficial for them.

Another tool to make science and technology engaging would be using Virtual Reality (VR). McMillian, Flood & Glaeser (2017, p.163) define virtual reality as “as the computer‐generated simulation of a three‐dimensional image or environment that can be interacted with in a seemingly real or physical way by a person

using special electronic equipment, such as a helmet with a screen inside or gloves fitted with sensors.” 

This can make science and technology activities engaging as it enables the child to be put in the virtual world. For example, if they are learning about space and planets then the teacher can use the VR headsets to enable the children to experience space. There are many benefits to VR such as they motivate and interest the pupils which can be the key to learning (Dawley &Dede, 2014) as well as giving them autonomy 

over their own learning (Nelson, 2007).

Whilst in a seminar, we took part in a coke and mentos experiment which would be very engaging for children. We had to find out what happened when mentos were added to coke in which we found out that the coke starts to explode out of the bottle and a few mentos that were added also came back out with the coke. To make this engaging for children, they could start with coming up with a prediction on what they think may happen either in groups or individually, then actually doing the experiment and lastly, gathering their results and addressing back to their main question. 

However, making science and technology engaging for pupils could become a challenge for teachers as they need to come up with new ideas on how to make these technologies engaging in order for learning to happen (Welsh Government, 2011).