Using ICT to help develop working scientifically skills (human body-year 6).

Explore how technology can develop children's skills in working scientifically.

In this paper, I aim to explore how technology can support and develop children’s skills in working scientifically. I will outline a possible approach to teaching year six how to ‘identify and name the main parts of the human circulatory system, and explain the functions of the heart, blood vessels and blood’ (National Curriculum [NC], 2013, pp167). As the Primary Science Journal (133 Supplement, 2008) suggests using an enquiry question to provoke children to work scientifically from the onset- therefore, I created the investigation title “Why do our hearts beat?”. Whilst exploring this topic, I will integrate technology into my activities to enhance these two aspects of working scientifically: recording measurements and representing the data- as well as building on previous scientific skills such as observation (NC, pp160). I believe ICT can support pupils in working scientifically as ‘Computing can be used as an effective aid for learning in a number of ways in science’ (Osbourne and Hennessy, 2006, cited in Ward and Roden, 2016, pp181). It has the important role in making science relevant, interesting and motiving (Mork, 2005) especially as children live in a ‘technology-rich environment’ therefore it can open up a 'wealth of learning opportunities' in primary science (Porter, cited in Kelly and Stead, 2013, pp42).

According to the Department of Education [DfE] (2013), the term 'working scientifically' requires pupils to understand the 'nature, processes and methods of science' in each year group (NC, pp137). There are several skills of working scientifically highlighted in the NC. The focused skills that children are expected to meet by the end of key stage two are: to plan for scientific enquiry; record measurements and data; represent results; form predictions and generate further tests; using models to describe scientific ideas and lastly to identify scientific evidence to support or counter an argument (pp160). It is key for children to learn these skills- as it is the way in which children can learn about science and develop their understanding.

When previously teaching this module, the children believed misconceptions such as: the heart being on the far-right side of the body or that the human heart resembled a heart shape. To challenge this, I would utilise ICT to enhance pupils understanding of how each part of the circulatory system works. This would be done through the online resource of Siemens interactive human body (http://www.tenalpscommunicate.com/clients/siemens/humanbodyOnline/#pages/cvs/info-cvs-full). Siemens interactive programme is an effective tool. It breaks down each part of the circulatory system- providing detailed information alongside labelled visual representations. 

Furthermore, it also provides labelled MRI scans and animations which provide children with the opportunity to observe and understand the movements of the system in their own time through replication. Replication is a key component of ICT, as the information can be viewed and analysed for an unlimited amount of time (Kelly and Stead, 2013).

This component will be helpful for pupils when observing the heart MRI video. It will allow pupils to continuously observe, discuss and build upon further observations without being disrupted. When previously using this video with pupils, I found that observations became more detailed and their questions became more specific. For example, the children conjectured which side of the heart was pumping oxygenated blood and de-oxygenated blood, another child also pointed out that one side of the heart looked thicker than the other. Research scholar Meenakshi (2013) supports the use of video in the classroom as she believes it can help bring life to scientific concepts that may be hard to grasp.

Once children have looked at each part of the circulatory system on the Siemen’s programme, pupils will be tasked with identifying, labelling and describing the functions of the circulatory system from a diagram inside their books. iPads and book resources will be available to pupils for support. Physicist Matthew Schneps (2014) highlighted that iPads and similar tools make a difference for pupils when learning. This is because ICT pads are a light weight tool with a large capacity, allowing children to access vast amounts of information that are up to date to support conceptual understanding (when opposed to scanning through various books). By the end of the lesson, children need a basic understanding of each part of the circulatory system for their learning to progress for the following lesson.

The next part of our topic would be to explore our own heart beats. The purpose of this activity is for children work scientifically by applying their knowledge of the circulatory system. Pupils are to do this whilst using the working scientifically skill of recording measurements. To do this, children will be separated into pairs and given a heart monitor- this will record their pulse rate after each situation. Keith Ross (2008) highlights that it is important to make science personal as it can create links between their existing knowledge and their new scientific ideas, this in turn will promote curiosity as they test their own predictions and work scientifically. Therefore, with this in mind, once pupils have recorded their resting heart rate, children are to hypothesise what their heart rate may be after exercise and a cool down. Furthermore, children are to use their knowledge of the circulatory system to explain why.

By using heart monitors verses recording pulses physically, there is a reduction of inaccuracy when recording measurements. The children involved in the learning may inaccurately record the data through human error- for example, loss of count. However, through the use of this small piece of ICT, children have the opportunity to gather accurate results which will assist their scientific observations and conceptual understanding (Woodley, 2009). Additionally, using the heart monitors also provides a quicker (and easier) strategy than manually counting- this in turn speeds up the processing time of gathering data, allocating more time to analyse the information it provides. This point is further supported by Ofsted who commented in their ‘Successful Science’ (2011) report that there were very few cases of children using ICT to measure or record the outcomes of practical activities, suggesting that it improves the quality of learning.

Once pupils have collected their measurements of their heart rates, pupils will then use the iPads to access the application ‘numbers’. Number’s is a spreadsheet which allows users to turn information into visual representations- users can also include text and pictures. Although pupils could create a line graph of the results on paper- the working scientifically aim is for children to learn to read and analyse data to form ideas not to learn how to create visual representations of them. Therefore, I have decided to use ICT, as the graphs and data will be formed at a quicker speed allowing children to spend more time analysing the data and use it as evidence to support of counter an idea (Wheeler, 2005).

However, the main reason why I have chosen to use numbers (as opposed to laptops or computers with the programme excel) is due to the application ‘tellagami’. Turvey et al (2014) highlights that although applications may be relatively new to the classroom, it has the possibility to provide authentic and rich experiences for communicating, collaborating and deepening understanding in cross-curricular work. Once pupils have created their line graph of the results from the heart rate test, pupils can screen shot the spreadsheet and then use it as a background for the ‘gamis’ (a short-animated presentation). In pairs, pupils then need to simply edit their avatar and programme it (through a voice recording or text) to speak and communicate their results. They can then share these videos with the class. This will demonstrate pupil’s skills in both presenting results and communicating what they mean in relation to the scientific concept of the circulatory system. This is idea is supported by Roden and Ward (2016) who refer to the vitality of providing learners with many opportunities and styles when communicating findings. This application could also be used for pupils to explain the circulatory system and present their conceptual knowledge in this engaging format.

I have considered each of the activities potential challenges and how I could manage them. For example, although the Siemens programme provides animated clips and MRI videos, these features can be access through Youtube. Therefore, if any devices lose connection, teachers have back up videos downloaded and placed onto a flipchart alongside information and pictures. Additionally, there is a possibility that the pulse rate monitors may not work. Therefore, before any practical work it is advisable for practitioners to test all equipment and have spare equipment too. In terms of using the iPads, I recognise that they are an expensive purchase. However, according to a BBC article from 2014, seventy percent of primary and secondary schools use iPads. These devices can provide acceptable results as well as providing applications which can be downloaded for free.

I appreciate that it is important that ICT should be used in science to achieve a learning goal that could not be achieved without its use, or that its use can help to achieve that goal more effectively. In addition to this, the ICT must enable learners to meet the learning goal and not deflect or hinder a pupil from achieving it (Ward and Roden, 2016). In conclusion, I believe that these approaches will help year six pupils to develop their skills in working scientifically. I also feel I have introduced scientific activities which are enhanced with ICT. I believe they will help children to achieve the NC aim of ‘identify[ing] and name[ing] the main parts of the human circulatory system, and explain[ing] the functions of the heart, blood vessels and blood’. This has been achieved through the guidance of researchers and scholars.

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