Perspectives of Hands-On
Science Teaching

David L. Haury and Peter Rillero, 1994
Questions and Answers

1. What is hands-on learning, and is it just a fad?

Hands-on learning has become a common phrase in science education. Like many other highly used terms and phrases, there are various interpretations of what is meant by "hands-on learning." Rather than attempt to offer a definitive operational definition, we present in this section a variety of viewpoints on what is meant by hands-on learning in science. Then we address the issues of whether hands-on learning is a new phenomenon and whether hands-on approaches will continue to have a continual impact on science teaching and learning in schools.

Teacher Responses

• Hands-on learning is learning by doing. To even imply that it is a fad is to ignore what has been taking place in education, both formal and informal, for years. Vocational education has always understood that if you want someone to learn to repair an automobile, you need an automobile to repair. If you want to teach someone to cook, you put them in a kitchen. Whoever heard of teaching someone to swim in a traditional classroom? Likewise, I do believe we are learning that in order to truly teach science, we must "do" science. Jeff G. Brodie, fifth and sixth grade teacher, East Side Elementary, Edinburgh, IN
• Hands-on learning involves the child in a total learning experience which enhances the child's ability to think critically. The child must plan a process to test a hypothesis, put the process into motion using various hands-on materials, see the process to completion, and then be able to explain the attained results.

Hands-on learning is not just a fad because it enables students to become critical thinkers, able to apply not only what they have learned, but more importantly, the process of learning, to various life situations. Sister Judith Mary Frederick, fifth grade teacher, St. Mary's Elementary School, Sandusky, OH

Developer Thoughts

• Hands-on learning means many different things to different people. It has become a slogan and is often used to describe any activities in classrooms that use materials. As a slogan, it can easily become a fad. Hands-on learning, however, is not simply manipulating things. It is engaging in in-depth investigations with objects, materials, phenomena, and ideas and drawing meaning and understanding from those experiences. Other terms for this are inquiry learning, hands-on, and minds-on learning. Karen Worth, Education Development Center Inc., Newton, MA
• The importance of student investigation of basic scientific principles cannot be overstated. Hands-on learning is the only way students can directly observe and understand science. As students develop effective techniques for observing and testing everything around them, they learn the what, how, when, and why, of things with which they interact. These experiences are necessary if the youngsters of today are to remain "turned-on" to science and become scientifically literate. Mathew Bacon, Delta Education (publisher of SCIS 3, Delta Science Modules, ESS, OBIS), Hudson, NH
• There is no doubt that there is more emphasis on hands-on materials than in the recent past. That does not mean, however, that the hands-on science activity ever passed away. Furthermore, good science programs cannot exist without hands-on; I do not think it will ever pass away. I do think that we must continue to emphasize the necessity of hands-on in science curriculum, and I truly hope we can keep the hands-on component at a high level. Jerald A. Tunheim, Project SMILE (Science Manipulatives in the Learning Environment), Dakota State University, Madison, SD
• A hands-on approach requires students to become active participants instead of passive learners who listen to lectures or watch films. Laboratory and field activities are traditional methods of giving students hands-on experiences. With the advent of classroom technology, students can now participate in a non- traditional form of hands-on education through the use of computers. This technology extends hands-on learning to include minds-on skills. An example of this hands-on/minds-on learning is the unique MarsLink curriculum project which provides data to students from the Mars Observer spacecraft. This partnership brings near "real-time" science to hands-on learning. Carol J. Stadum, The Planetary Society (producers of Marslink teaching packets), Pasadena, CA
• Programs that are fun and clearly result in developing the curiosity, competency, creativity and caring of learners must, by definition, represent appropriate educational practices. The value of such programs does not change, no matter when or what they are called. Julie Gantcher, Bronx Zoo Education Department, producers of Pablo Python Looks at Animals, Bronx, NY

Notes from the literature

• "Hands-on activities mean students have objects (both living and inanimate) directly available for investigation" (Meinhard, 1992, p. 2).
• James Rutherford director of the science reform initiative, Project 2061, describes his view of hands-on science. "Hands-on quite literally means having students 'manipulate' the things they are studying - plants, rocks, insects, water, magnetic fields - and 'handle' scientific instruments - rulers, balances, test tubes, thermometers, microscopes, telescopes, cameras, meters, calculators. In a more general sense, it seems to mean learning by experience" (1993, p. 5).
• "There are two ways that we find the term hands-on science in common use today. The first, uses hands-on science to refer to a general approach to instruction. Hands-on science can be thought of as a philosophy guiding when and how to use the broad range of teaching strategies needed to address diversity in contemporary classrooms.... The second way hands-on science is commonly used is in terms of a specific instructional strategy where students are actively engaged in manipulating materials, using called a hands-on science activity" (Flick, 1993, pp. 1-2).
• Other terms for hands-on activities are materials-centered activities, manipulative activities, and practical activities (Doran, 1990). According to Hein (1987), materials-centered science is synonymous with hands-on science and activity-centered science. The term hands-on is also related to the use of manipulative materials. Elementary school mathematics teachers have long been interested in the use of manipulatives to provide concrete learning experiences (Ross & Kurtz, 1993). The Thesaurus of ERIC Descriptors defines manipulative materials as "instructional materials that are designed to be touched or handled by students and which develop their muscles, perceptual skills, psychomotor skills, etc." (U.S. Department of Education, 1990, p. 249).
• "The concept of hands-on science is predicated on the belief that a science program for elementary children should be based on the method children instinctively employ to make sense of the world around them. Science must be experienced to be understood. These experiences should allow students to be actively engaged in the manipulation of everyday objects and materials from the real world. Children are by nature observers and explorers, and the most effective approach to learning should capitalize on these intrinsic abilities" (Shaply & Luttrell, 1993, p. 1).
• "Hands-on science is defined as any science lab activity that allows the student to handle, manipulate or observe a scientific process" (Lumpe & Oliver, 1991, p. 345). Hands-on teaching can be differentiated from lectures and demonstrations by the central criterion that students interact with materials to make observations, but the approach involves more than mere activity. The assumption is that direct experiences with natural phenomena will provoke curiosity and thinking, so, "recently, a new twist has been added, and the topic is called Hands-on/Minds-on science" (Lumpe & Oliver, 1991).
• "Teachers are now seeking to understand what students are learning as a result of busy hands. This need is being expressed through the introduction of new terms such as minds-on and heads-on science" (Flick, 1993, p. 1).
• "The one metaphor that has become a password for good science teaching is that science teaching should be hands-on. In recent years, however, this metaphor has been enriched and expanded with the use of the phrase 'minds on science'" (Hassard, 1992, p. 8). Despite the simplicity and logic of using this approach, research indicates that the recitation (discussion) is the most common method of teaching science (Hassard, 1992).
• Inquiry-oriented instruction is related to hands-on learning; however, these terms are not synonymous (Haury, 1993b). Welch would have agreed with this assessment. In the Project Synthesis report Welch states the following: "Instruction in inquiry classrooms reflects a variety of methods - discussions, investigation laboratories, student-initiated inquiries, lectures, debates. . . . Science content and processes are inseparable. 'How do we know?' enters many conversations. Individuals, small groups, or the entire class move easily from discussion to laboratory or other 'hands-on' activities." (Welch, 1981, p. 56).
• Karen Worth, chair of the teaching standards committee of the National Science Education Standards Project defines hands-on activities as follows: "Students work directly with materials and manipulate physical objects to physically engage in experiencing science phenomena" (from Bruder, 1993, p. 23). Worth defines inquiry or discovery learning as follows: "Involves the thinking, reading, writing, or research that gives meaning to hands-on. Students probe, collect, and analyze data; draw conclusions; and ask new questions" (Bruder, 1993, p. 23). Worth defines project- based learning as follows: "Provides a real-life context for science learning. Students have hands-on experiences with water, for instance, probing its properties, then do a project (often with peers) to find out how water comes into and leaves the school building."
• Hands-on learning can be thought of as comprising three different dimensions: the inquiry dimension, the structure dimension, and the experimental dimension. In inquiry learning, the student uses activities to make discoveries. The structure dimension refers to the amount of guidance given to the student. If each step is detailed, this is known as a cookbook style lab. These types of activities do not increase a student's problem-solving abilities. The third dimension is the experimental dimension which involves the aspect of proving a discovery, usually through the use of a controlled experiment (Lumpe & Oliver, 1991).
• Museums devoted to science are increasingly using a hands-on approach. "The Exploratorium is a hands-on museum of science, art, and human perception in San Francisco. It's been called a scientific funhouse, a giant experimental laboratory, even a mad scientist's penny arcade" (Doherty, 1992a, p. 2).

The historical roots of hands-on science teaching

• Science education in elementary schools first existed as selections contained in the eighteenth and nineteenth century children's didactic literature (Craig, 1957; Underhill, 1941).
• By the middle of the nineteenth century, approximately 20% of the pages of the most popular introductory reading textbooks were devoted to science selections (Rillero & Rudolph, 1992). For many students, this was the only science education they received.
• Nineteenth century American schools had bleak learning conditions. "Teaching was by rote and drill. Encouragement was by the rod. Obedience (to God, parent and teacher) was the foundation rock for the mansion of learning" (Withers, 1963, p. vii).
• Pestalozzi extended Enlightenment ideas into education by having students learn from experiences and observation rather than from the authority of the textbook and the teacher (Elkind, 1987; Rillero, 1993). "After the experts in getting knowledge discovered that it was far more profitable to examine real things and observe how they did work than merely to speculate and argue about them, and that it was unsafe to trust the authority of any man's opinion without testing it by its accordance with facts in nature, the experts in education also began to advocate teaching by direct study of things and experimental verification of opinions" (Thorndike, 1920, p. 176).
• Pestalozzi's ideas of using objects for teaching were spread in America in the 1860s. The Object Teaching Revolution occurred as a direct result of teacher education (Rillero, 1993). This movement challenged the dominance of the textbook in education and promoted active learning by students. The evolution of methodologies used in science education including science activities, field trips, and school science collections were influenced by object teaching (Rillero, 1993).
• The Committee of Ten (National Education Association, 1893) was instrumental in securing a permanent place for science in the American school curriculum. The science committees repeatedly stressed the importance of object manipulation by students. The Physics, Chemistry and Astronomy Committee recommended "That the study of simple natural phenomena be introduced into the elementary schools and that this study, so far as practicable, be pursued by means of experiments carried on by the pupil" (National Education Association, 1893, p. 118). They added, "The study of books is well enough and undoubtedly important, but the study of things and of phenomena by direct contact must not be neglected" (National Education Association, 1893, p. 119).
• The Natural History Committee of the Committee of Ten concurred on the importance of direct concrete experience. They resolved that "the study of natural history in both the elementary school and the high school should be by direct observational study with the specimens in the hands of each pupil, and that in the work below the high school no text-book should be used" (National Education Association, 1893, p. 141).
• From object teaching and the stress on student activity, the project method of learning came into existence. McMurray in 1921 wrote "It is a truism of our educational creed that sensory impressions based on object lessons and motor response form the primary basis of thought in dealing with the later materials of knowledge. The project conceived and executed by the child on the ground of his own experience is a still better basis of our educational efforts because it sets up in children self- determination and purposeful activity in a complete, natural and well-rounded unit of effort" (p. 3). McMurray lists 37 student projects that could be done in connection with school and home gardens. Other projects include "concreting a basement floor; papering and decorating a family living room, building a tree house, making a tool chest, supplying the kitchen with running water, building and hanging a gate, constructing a corn crib, planning and laying a tile for drainage" (p. 20). McMurray sums up the use of projects in elementary school science as follows: "It is in these very projects, objective and directly practical in the bearings, that children are best able to see the meaning and value of modern science in its influence upon life. What children in elementary schools need is not abstract scientific principles, not the systematic study of any or all the sciences (an impossible thing), but simple, objective, convincing demonstrations of the main ideas and uses of science in the home and neighborhood and in the larger world beyond. What could be better for children than to allow them to see these tangible projects developing and working out their proper, practical influence upon the conditions of life that surround them? These are preeminently needful and instructive topics that should be given the right of way in the elementary curriculum" (1921, p. 8).
• John Dewey "emphasized the same ideas about learning through activity and child-centered instruction advocated during the eighteenth and nineteenth century by Pestalozzi and Froebel.... The most representative feature of Dewey's philosophy of education was his recommendation of the project method of learning described by various followers as a purposive, problem-solving activity carried on in its natural setting" (Smith, 1979, p. 187).
• "In more recent times, almost all the major science curriculum developments of the 1960s and early 1970s promoted hands-on practical work as an enjoyable and effective form of learning" (Hodson, 1990). "Since the curricula innovations of the 1960s, the emphasis in laboratory activities has been providing students with hands-on experiences" (Tobin, 1990, p. 407).
• "During the late 1950s and the early 1960s considerable interest focused on what should be taught and how it should be taught. During the middle to late 1950s textbooks were used by most teachers as the principal tool for teaching science.... The feeling was that if science for elementary schools was to be improved there should be more care and emphasis on the selection of content (facts, concepts, principles), reduction of the way content was taught (sequence, articulation, examples, etc.), more emphasis on processes of science, more 'hands on' science instead of reading about science, and use of a greater variety of media and materials for teaching science" (Helgeson, Blosser, & Howe, 1977, p. 17).
• "Imitating the work of the scientists in investigating the natural world, usually in the laboratory, is found in all the new curricula. Whether it is called inquiry, scientific process, or problem-solving, each curricula group espoused the virtues of "hands-on" experiences to gain greater insights into the basic concepts of science" (Welch, 1979). These curriculum projects were tested and revised and provide a major impetus for current hands-on learning initiatives.
• In 1978, McAnarney wrote "during the last 10-15 years there has been an increased emphasis on the development of elementary school science programs which stress a hands-on experience to teaching and learning. The programs, many of the national curriculum project type, made their appearance during the 1960s and the early 1970s. Within the past three or four years so-called 'second-generation' programs, to distinguish from the 'first generation' ones of the 1960s have emerged" (p. 31).
• "The term hands-on is so widely used that it is hard to believe that it is something of a newcomer. It first surfaced in the late 1960s meaning to learn how to use a computer by actually using one - hands-on the keyboard, as it were. Although the computer people coined the term, the idea of learning by doing is an ancient one in the arts and crafts, and it has become a mark of good teaching in science and math" (Rutherford, 1993, p. 5).
• Hands-on learning is an important aspect of the current constructivist epistemologies that suggest that people construct their own understandings of the world. "Exemplary science learning is promoted by both hands-on and minds-on instructional techniques - the foundations of constructivist learning" (Loucks-Horsley, et al. 1990, p. 48).
• "After a quarter of a century, the familiar phrase hands-on science is now a part of the everyday discussion of elementary science. Teachers, administrators, publishers, and trade books all refer to the importance of hands-on activities in science instruction. This is nothing short of a revolution. Descriptions of science education at all precollege levels have shifted from vocabulary and text material to activities, inventions, and even project-based Olympics" (Flick, 1993, p. 1).

Summary

• There are a variety of ideas about what constitutes hands-on learning. We have compiled views from teachers, curriculum developers, and other writers to arrive at a general notion of hands-on learning in science which encompasses its use in school classrooms, museums, and other learning environments. From the collected responses and writings, we have come to consider hands-on learning in science to be any educational experience that actively involves people in manipulating objects to gain knowledge or understanding.
• An emphasis on actively involving students in learning has influenced American schools since the 1860s. However, the term hands-on learning seems to have emerged during the 1960s and may eventually fall into disuse. However, the activity-based approach to learning implicit in the phrase has long been important in science education and will likely continue to be held in high esteem by science educators who hold a constructivist view of learning.

Posted to the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory's
Pathways to School Improvement Internet server on June 30, 1995.