Week 5 - Types of Investigation

After a month in the UC School of Earth and Environment, much investigation has been observed!

I have spent most of my time with the Geologists, with a little Environmental Science investigating insect populations. Whether working in the field to formal laboratory sessions, the vast majority of investigations have been 'classifying and identifying', with some 'exploring' in the field and also some 'pattern seeking'. So far I have not really observed any investigating models, fair testing, making things, or developing systems. This is certainly in part due to the nature of Earth Sciences - where there is 'no planet B' and there are often multiple complex and interacting variables, often with limited or no ability to control variables.

This is an almost total reverse of most high school science lessons, where there is a focus on fair testing and testing models ("proper science") with occasional tangents into making things or developing systems (often treated as 'break' from 'core subject material'). There is a mindset that science is all about 'doing experiments' - where experiment = fair test, and a sense that these types of investigation are better/ superior to exploring, classifying & identifying or pattern seeking. It is interesting to think how this flows over to form a false dichotomy between mātauranga Māori (based on observation and making things) + 'scientific' knowledge (based on fair testing and explicit models).

First thoughts found the contrast in investigation types between university and high school quite surprising. Second thoughts began to analyse why those differences exist. Third thoughts put me in a place where some of my unconscious biases are exposed and challenged. Limited teaching time and the volume of curriculum content/ subject knowledge often lead to the temptation to portray Science as a process of fair testing to confirm established theories, which can then be learned and repeated in assessments. To what extent does this approach make 'Science' seem difficult, complicated and beyond the reach of 'normal' school students?

There is certainly scope to increase the variety of investigation types in my own teaching. I can also make it far more explicit to students that activities other than fair testing are also valid components of the scientific process. This is something that can also be explored further with teaching colleagues. In primary there is reassurance that many activities that they do already are 'science', or could be modified only slightly to explore the Nature of Science strand of the curriculum. For year 7 and above our school is currently reviewing our current learning programmes. Greater emphasis on the Nature of Science and the full range of investigation types will give greater variety of learning opportunities, hopefully making Science feel more accessible and relevant to students, and raise engagement and achievement.