What sort of learning objectives should be used with students at the start of GCSE Science lessons?
Teachers plan lessons with three kinds of objectives and outcomes in mind:
• Ideas About Science,
• Science Explanations, and
• Skills development.
Only then is it possible to prioritise what the focus of a particular lesson will be. It is useful to share these objectives with students. It is important to value ideas about science, and to help students to develop skills.
Students may need to encouraged to look beyond the content to the ideas and skills being developed. It is rare that a lesson will give equal weighting to the three aspects.
Skills will underpin the GCSE Science coursework assessment tasks (Case Study and Data Analysis).
