The members of the research project comprised NIE staff Associate Professor Tan Seng Chee, Assistant Professors Lee Yew Jin, Tan Aik Ling, and Shawn Lum, and Dr Jennifer Yeo.

SCIENCEED

Issue 17 Mar / Apr 2009

The Nature of Learning

Acting and singing are not what you typically see in a Science class. But that’s exactly what took place at a recent nature symposium for students.

Article highlights

How can we help students build knowledge?
How can nature inspire students to learn science?
What practical tips are there for teachers?

Guided by their teachers, students from four schools – Boon Lay Garden Primary, Corporation Primary, Marsiling Primary and Methodist Girls’ School – had attended a one-day Nature Learning Camp (NLC) last year. The students then conducted investigations into scientific phenomena at Upper Seletar Reservoir from June to November last year, and presented their findings at the symposium this year.

Members of the Natural Sciences and Science Education and Learning Sciences and Technologies academic groups at the National Institute of Education came together to study how students can build on their scientific knowledge. Assistant Professor Lee Yew Jin and Dr Jennifer Yeo tell us about their research project, Making Meaning of Environmental Science through Computer-supported Collaborative Learning.

“The aim of this project was to help students understand the nature of science and environmental issues arising from their NLC visit to Upper Seletar Reservoir,” explained Jennifer.

“What we did was to get the students to identify puzzling questions concerning the reservoir and forest habitats that they were interested in. They then carried out investigations in school and they presented their findings at this symposium after many months of hard work.”

The NIE team wanted to extend the students’ learning experiences to give students more time to explore environmental issues. Jennifer said, “While the children were having fun, their understanding of science increased through doing experiments and, more significantly, discussing with peers and teachers about this very process itself.”

The team also explored how students build scientific knowledge through face-to-face interactions and through computer-based platforms. Students planned and carried out their experiments, conducted searches on the Internet, and in this way gained knowledge about how to do research in collaborative groups. Above all, the NIE team has tried to create informal learning environments beyond the four walls of the classroom.

The Nature Learning Camp

The NLC has its roots in a small reforestation project launched in 1999 with five schools – Bukit View Secondary, Raffles Girls’ Secondary, Corporation Primary, Henry Park Primary, and the Singapore American School. In 2000, in partnership with National Parks (NParks) and the Public Utilities Board (PUB), Assistant Professor Shawn Lum, together with five teachers, conceived what is known today as the NLC.

SingTeach speaks to Shawn about the NLC.

SingTeach: What was the objective behind the NLC?

Shawn: To foster a better understanding of and an appreciation for the environment and our water resources, and also to get students from different age groups and schools to work together.

I really do think, based on experience and what I’ve read in the literature, that it’s really important to get students out there to do authentic, hands-on work. I mean, watching a video and actually doing something are two totally different things.

The other objective was how to then, through these activities, build up a database of knowledge so that students could build upon the work and information gathered by their predecessors. In that way, it was set up as a kind of a long-term research project; not so much about research on learning, but rather, research in environmental and ecological sciences.

SingTeach: It’s been 10 years since it all started. What impact has the NLC had?

Shawn: I suppose you’ll have to ask the students but some of them have gone on to study at great universities – Columbia, Stanford, and other fantastic places. Many of them did major in environmental science and have actually done a lot of good work, both as volunteers and professionally in environmental sciences.

We’ve had great buy-in from the NParks Board and the PUB. Of course I don’t think this happened just because of the NLC, but you can see how these two organizations – from being just managers of our environment and natural resources – have really changed into outreach organizations, in particular NParks: They have 2 full-time outreach officers now, and we’ve worked closely with them. I’d like to think that maybe some of that developed because of these nature camps.

The other thing was that we started out with 6 teachers and now there are about 10. We continue to work together, even 10 years later, voluntarily; it’s not mandated by anybody. It’s just out of sheer interest that we continue to work together and develop material. Hopefully it will result in a set of resources that will be available to any student or any teacher.

So there’ve been benefits not only for the students involved but also certainly for teachers and practitioners. There’s been a steady process of working together continuously. It’s quite inspiring for all of us to participate in something like this.

Let Them Ask Questions

And what did the NIE team discover from the experience?

“One thing that struck us was when we worked with the younger students – the quality of questions that they raised sometimes really surprised us,” noted Yew Jin.

“The type and the depth of probing into certain scientific phenomena were actually quite deep. These were curiosity-driven questions about science that we thought only older children were capable of asking.”

Keep an Open Mind

For teachers who are keen on implementing a similar environmental science cum thinking programme, Yew Jin advises: “Just try it! Once you try teaching science in such interactive and motivating ways, you gain more confidence.”

“I think this was the case for ourselves, too. We set off with a more academic emphasis but when we started working with teachers and young children, we realized that sometimes you just have to implement it to know what works and what does not. And everybody learns in the process, even teachers.”

Tips for Teachers

For teachers who may be interested in embarking on similar projects with your students, here’s what the experts have to say:

Look: Yew Jin says, “The school grounds have many teaching resources for environmental science. We just made do with what we had in the school, like the school garden, the pond, and even the drains. All it needs from teachers is to look with new eyes, to look afresh at what they have in their immediate surroundings.”

Ask: While big classes can be a challenge, you may need to be creative in getting enough manpower to run such a programme. Schools can make arrangements so that there would be at least two teachers, or enlist the help of allied educators. Help is there if you ask for it.

Do: Ultimately, Jennifer advises teachers to “Just do it. You have to learn science through doing and through experience.”