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Teaching Resources

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TEACHING RESOURCES INFORMATION

TITLE OF TEACHING RESOURCE
Chemistry Stimulus To Engage - Discover Sensors
IMAGE
NAME OF AUTHOR(S)
Teacher network
NAME OF PRODUCER
Discover Science and Engineering - Discover Sensors
DATE OF PRODUCTION
on-going
WEBSITE OF THE PRODUCT
http://www.discoversensors.ie/teachers_area/
TYPE OF PRODUCT
Web Site/Portal, Downloadable software, Downloadable material
LEVEL OF CHEMISTRY KNOWLEDGE
Medium
PEDAGOGICAL APPROACH
Cooperative learning, Modelling, Experiential learning
SUBJECT AREA
Fundamental Chemistry
TARGET GROUP LEVEL
Lower Secondary School
LANGUAGE/S OF TEACHING RESOURCES
English
TUTORIAL SUPPORT
Yes
DESCRIPTION
Discover Sensors supports teachers in the use of inquiry based science teaching, learning and assessment. Central to the project is the Discover Sensors Framework and the use of sensor technology in hands-on scientific investigations by Junior Science students.
Discover Sensors supports the use of inquiry based science teaching and learning at second level in Ireland. The project also uses sensor technology in “hands-on” scientific investigations by Junior Science students. Ultimately, Discover Sensors provides students with an experience of "real science" in the classroom by engaging the students in the investigative approach promoted by the Junior Science syllabus. Students have to undertake at least one investigation as part of the syllabus and sensor technology very often lends itself to the prescribed chemistry investigation.
The website includes 'Chemistry Stimulus to Engage' which provides a list of resources covering all areas of the Chemistry curriculum. These resources can enhance the student's understanding of certain investigations.
The more specific chemistry section of the website includes:
Framework Activities - A list of investigations for a number of different areas of the Junior Chemistry syllabus.
Support Activities - A list of further experiments that can be used to support the use Sensor technology in the classroom.
Stimulus to Engage - A list of resources covering all areas of the Chemistry curriculum.
Interactive Materials - A list of resources with interactive materials for all areas of Junior Cert Chemistry.
Data Sets - A list of additional sets of data for all areas of Junior Cert Chemistry.

The web-site also has a dedicated Teacher Area:
In the Teachers Area, teachers have the opportunity to communicate and share with other science teachers, get access to e-learning tutorials and find out what’s happening in the Discover Sensors project.
The Teacher Forum is an online community of practice. Through the forum, teachers are in constant contact with other teachers involved in Discover Sensors, share ideas, get help when you need it and contribute to a growing community of science teachers.
Teacher Tutorials bring the teacher through the various aspects of the Discover Sensors programme. These tutorials explain the inquiry based approach to science teaching, provide ideas for questioning and classroom management and explore how the teacher can introduce various science based projects and approaches.
COMMENTS
Sensor technology and data-logging are so relevant to industry that this initiative is one more example of bringing classroom chemistry into the real world applications.
NAME OF THE REVIEWING ORGANISATION
Limerick Institute of Technology

Comments about this Publication

Your comments are welcome

Date: 2012.10.03

Posted by Giorgio Matricardi (Italy)

Message: The resource has been developed within the “Discovery Sensor” project (Ireland), a partnership between Discover Science and Engineering, the National Centre for Technology in Education (NCTE), the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA), the Education Centre Network, and ICT Ireland (IBEC) to offer a range of supports to the schools.
Discover Sensors can be a valid support for the science teachers (lower secondary school and beyond) that intend to address their teaching in an inquiry-based learning framework. A section of the site, rich of insights, is devoted entirely to the "Inquiry-based teaching and learning framework", a resource developed by a group of Discover Sensors facilitators & teachers working with science education specialists. This resource supports the teacher to plan active learning activities that follow an investigative approach by the students, even through proper insights on the scientific method, the investigative approach, the pivotal role of the teacher in science education.
Another effective section of the site is aimed to stimulate the visitor to engage in scientific investigation, offering a wide range of videos and resources selected by teachers to introduce topics and stimulate inquiry based learning in the classroom. In this section the chemistry teachers can find a complete selection of activities covering all areas of the chemistry curriculum many of which show how the use of sensors and datalogging can support the investigative approach to teaching and learning chemistry. Videos, interactive materials, framework and support activities are good tools to engage students in an active learning process.
The site also includes a "teachers area" which includes an online forum promoting the exchange of experiences, ideas and suggestions between the teachers: the construction of an active community of practice is another useful tool for science teaching. In this area you can also find tutorials of the various activities proposed by the project, the reporting of events and workshops of interest to the issues addressed and an in-depth section on a range of assessment questions which focus on learner understanding and inquiry.
Although it does not provide truly interactive materials, the resource is of great interest and use in particular for the chemistry teacher and supports him in the design and development of the curriculum.

National Reports on successful experiences to promote lifelong learning for chemistry The national reports on chemistry successful experiences to promote lifelong learning for chemistry are now available on the related section of the project portal. The reports presents examples of successful experiences in the partner countries and the results of testing of ICT resources with science teachers.

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