Effective revision strategies in secondary science These materials were developed by Ed Walsh, Lead Consultant for Science at Cornwall Learning and Collins Education author. Tell Ed how you got on with these ideas and find more at freedomtoteach.collinseducation.com. This leaflet presents some ideas about organising effective revision for GCSE science courses. It starts from three assumptions: 1. The best revision is based on active learning. If engaging activities are deployed, the overall outcome is likely to be better. 2. The best revision is targeted. If we can be smart about what students aren’t so good at, there’s likely to be a greater sense of achievement when improvements are made. 3. The best revision is driven by students. The better students are at identifying not only what they need to focus on but also what method works best, the more effective you can be. Knowing what to revise There are a number of ways to identify what students find difficult or haven’t mastered. Sometimes this identification confirms what was already suspected, in terms of recall of content. However, it may also indicate other factors: such as students describing rather than explaining; answers lacking precision and poor use of correct scientific terminology. Students may find it difficult to recall earlier work if it has not been consolidated or revisited; they may have misconceptions that have not been addressed. An effective analysis can give a specific focus to the revision sessions. Diagnostic script analysis By acknowledging strengths, positive reinforcement can be provided; this makes revision more manageable. A good way of identifying strengths and weaknesses is to analyse a sample of scripts from a mock exam or end of topic test. Students may have lost marks due to poor command of concepts, but possibly also because of inaccurate use of scientific vocabulary, repetition of what the question said, not understanding what the question was asking, or being put off by the unfamiliar situation or example. The reasons may be self‐evident, but it is helpful to talk to the students about their responses. This can help to clarify the nature of specific issues. Select a small group of students to discuss their answers to particular questions; they will need to have their scripts in front of them. Select a few questions that caused most students a problem and probe to find out the reasons. Students’ responses should be mediated; they may not necessarily identify correctly why they underperformed. Nevertheless this process will almost certainly be of value. It’s worth bearing in mind that the analysis doesn’t have to be acted upon immediately. It could be that this informs teaching when the next activity of a similar nature comes around. Addressing weaknesses Revision will be more effective if it focuses on weaknesses indicated by evidence, rather than a blanket approach to all possibilities, or an assumption that it’s de facto a weak grasp of the concepts. © Cornwall Learning Publications 2012
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Effective revision strategies in secondary science 2 These are some examples of deficiencies and ways in which they might be addressed: •
Not using the information given in the question. ‘Walk students through’ a question. Model producing a response, making your thinking explicit as you read the information in the question, looking for key words and clues that help to answer it. This may feel slightly awkward if you’ve not done this before, but it can be a powerful strategy. •
Not responding effectively to a question set in an unfamiliar context. Explain that although the context may be unfamiliar, the scientific process will be known. Illustrate this with one or two examples; then provide other examples and ask students to do the same. •
Running out of time. Show students how to work out, from how many marks and how many minutes, the rate at which questions should be completed (a mark a minute is not unusual). Then put in markers to show what point should have been reached and by when. •
Describing rather than explaining. Model constructing a description and an explanation, clarifying the differences. Knowing how to revise An effective approach to revision is likely to include two elements. One of these is preparing students to revise independently and the other is designing classroom activities to enable students to revise as a group. Both of these have implications for lesson design and delivery. Classroom strategies Speed dating You will need a set of cards with open questions – ones that don’t just need a specific response. This is a really good way of injecting some pace and purpose into a revision session. It’s also good at getting students to compare different responses to a question and therefore see what a better response looks like. Students need to be in pairs. One student of each pair needs a chair and a question card. Each pair has a different question. The chairs are arranged in a circle, facing outwards. The seated students ask their partners the question; the partners respond. After a set period of time (typically 30 seconds to a minute), indicate that it’s time to move on. The seated students stay put; the standing partners all move round one chair in a clockwise direction. This means that after a period of time the standing students have had to answer a range of different questions and the seated students hear a range of responses to the same question. After a designated time they should swap roles. At the end, ask a few of the seated students to read out their questions and ask them what they looked for in a good response. Mantle of the expert This is a good way of periodically revisiting topics over time. You will need to select a topic and nominate a student to be the ‘expert’; do this in advance. Set preparation homework: the homework for the ‘expert’ is to revise the topic and for the other students is to produce a question each to ask. (This is also a useful source of questions for other activities.) The following lesson, allocate a certain amount of time (10 to 15 minutes) and ask the ‘expert’ student to sit at the front. (You may want to get them to wear something, such as a paper sash, as the mantle.) Ask other students to ask their questions. You may need to be ready to plant a few questions yourself if this is a new strategy. © Cornwall Learning Publications 2012
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Effective revision strategies in secondary science 3 Effective use of past papers Past papers are a valuable resource but there are possible pitfalls if their use is not carefully planned. ‘Death by past papers’ is a common experience for too many students. If students only receive feedback that consists of being told what the correct answer is, they will continue to rehearse misconceptions, which in turn can undermine confidence and self‐esteem. To enable students to get the most from questions on past papers, the approach needs to be varied and challenging. Remember that GCSE science courses have three Assessment Objectives, which are significant in preparing students to tackle questions: AO1: Recall, select and communicate their knowledge and understanding of science. AO2: Apply skills, knowledge and understanding of science in practical and other contexts. AO3: Analyse and evaluate evidence, make reasoned judgements and draw conclusions based on evidence. Exam questions can assess any of these objectives, or a combination of them. One that assesses AO1 may be a short question – maybe no more than one sentence. One that assesses AO3 is likely to be longer – not least because it needs to present the evidence to be analysed and evaluated. The nature of the challenge and the response will be different for different questions. Rate my response You will need an exam question requiring a longer response, and set of responses. Ask students to work in groups. Show them the exam question and ask them to read and discuss it but not to answer it. Then give each group a set of responses that range in quality. Ask students to rank these from most to least successful. Get them to say why the more successful ones were successful, and take feedback. Include content‐specific points and generic points such as the structure of the response. AO1 level of response questions Some students find it a challenge pulling together the various ideas they need for a good response to an AO1 question. The following technique makes it easier for them to make a good start, builds confidence and also gives you an indication of how familiar students are with various topics. You will need a range of exam questions that require candidates to recall and communicate scientific ideas, enlarged and mounted on large sheets such as flip‐chart sheets. Divide students into groups of three to four. Each group has a mounted question and a marker pen, preferably of a different colour to that of other groups. The group should read the question, discuss it and suggest points that could be included in the response. These don’t need to be in full sentences – they might be words or phrases. After a short period of time (2 to 3 minutes) all the groups move round to another question and repeat the activity. They will see the previous group’s responses, which they should read first. They are not allowed to criticise the other group’s ideas and shouldn’t repeat them. They should add other ideas and can reinforce previous contributions with ticks or by underlining. It is possible to run this with eight to ten different questions; however it may be better to have half that number but mirrored, in which case each group will do four to five questions before getting back to their starting point. At the end they will have a number of ideas to use to construct a quality response. AO3 level of response questions This activity uses the same format but uses questions that have a focus upon the interpretation of information. This time the challenge is not “What do you know that would be useful?” but “What does the evidence tell you?”. © Cornwall Learning Publications 2012
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Effective revision strategies in secondary science 4 You will need a range of exam questions that provide information that needs to be assimilated. As with the AO1 questions, enlarge them and mount them on large sheets such as flip‐chart sheets. Set the questions out so that the information is at the top of the sheet and the question near the bottom. In the first part of the activity, ask students to focus on the information rather than the question, and to write down ideas about what the text/data/graph is showing. As with the AO1 questions, after a few minutes the groups move round to another question, until they are back at their starting point. Then, for the second part of the activity, when students are back at their starting question, ask them to read all the notes that have been made. They should then attempt to write an answer to the question. One of the reasons this works well is that when faced with a longer question, some students skip the text and go straight to the question and then ‘backtrack’ to try to extract information to answer it. This isn’t always successful, as they may not have explored the information fully. This activity focuses on the importance of engaging with the information. Having done this, students often find the question more straightforward. It also works because instead of telling students to sit down and write, you’re encouraging them in the first stage to move around and discuss. Developing the role of questions It goes without saying that for students to do well in exams they need to be able to answer questions. It’s therefore worthwhile looking at the role that questions play in lessons. Students are less likely to be able to answer challenging questions in exams if they haven’t met a similar degree of challenge in lessons or come across questions that develop those skills. Working on a familiar topic, devise questions that challenge students to: •
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recall key points apply ideas from this context to another engage with and interpret new evidence. Develop different types of question to expand the range. Often questions that challenge students to recall and (in some cases) apply knowledge and understanding are quicker and easier to produce than ones that require the assimilation of new evidence. You may find these stems useful: 1. Name the … 2. Describe the … 3. Compare … 4. What happens when …? 5. Explain why … 6. What do you think would happen if … and why? 7. Which (of these) do you think is better and why? Good questions need preparation and managing like other resources, to be passed around, refined and kept for wider use.
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