Perspectives of Hands-On
Science Teaching

David L. Haury and Peter Rillero, 1994
8. How does or should the use of hands-on materials vary with age?

Too often we assume that good teaching is good teaching. What works well with one group of students will probably work well with others. But we all differ in a lot of ways, and many of the differences we progress through are age related. What are the implications for actively engaging students with materials? What are the age-related factors that must be considered?

Teacher Responses

• In the early childhood (ages 4-7) years, the process of exploring, experimenting, and inquiring should be the major emphasis. The language association should be primarily oral. In the middle years, the process of inquiry should be followed, rather than preceded, by writing/ reading experiences. Ruthanne McCarthy, kindergarten teacher, Gertrude M. Bailey International School, Lowell, MA
• All students of any age should have hands-on experiences. As they become older then they may use written materials to further the knowledge base. The important thing is to be sure a student is cognitively ready for an experience - without this the activity may be fun but no real learning or understanding takes place. Bonita-Talbot -Wylie, Presidential Awardee 1990, President of SEPA, third grade teacher, Minnetonka Schools, Excelsior, MN
• I strongly believe that hands-on learning is for everyone. As an early childhood educator, hands-on learning has always been a vital element of developmentally appropriate learning. However, as an adult I look back on the learning that I remember most and without fail it involved active participation. Since when is fun only for children! Barbara Axene-Kidwell, Disabilities Coordinator, Head Start Program, Columbus, OH

Developer Thoughts

• There is no student too old for hands-on activities. Teachers, senior citizens, etc., still enjoy learning and participating through activities. The type of activity will vary with age, from observing, exploring, and manipulating tangible objects and places at young ages, to thinking about and trying out planned events at upper elementary, to manipulation of data, maps, and remote images in high school. There is a period in which activities are not cool (grades 8-9, 12, and middle age...), but seniors who go to elder hostels and nature summits, etc., love to get involved in their own learning. Isn't it sad how some people don't let themselves participate because they don't want to seem unsophisticated or they think they can learn just as much by watching others? Rosanne W. Fortner, The Ohio State University School of Natural Resources, producer of Ohio Sea Grant Education materials and Project JASON curriculum activities

Notes from the literature

• "Hands-on activities have a clear place within instructional models that are built upon a constructivist view of learning. They can be used at any point during inquiry-based instruction that strikes a developmentally appropriate balance between the use of physical materials and verbal, reflective interactions with other students and teacher. Hands-on activities are necessary for developing concrete, experiential background especially for students who have little exposure to experiences important for learning about the natural world" (Flick, 1993, p. 6).
• Several research studies have been conducted to try to determine how teachers are using hands-on science. Harty, Kloosterman, and Matkin (1989) surveyed elementary school principals and concluded that teachers in the upper elementary grades have more science manipulatives than teachers in the lower grades. Teachers at the lower elementary grades spend 70 minutes per week on hands-on science teaching as opposed to the upper elementary teachers who spend 90 minutes per week.
• Manipulatives are used to teach science more frequently in grades 3-5 than in grades K-2, and problem-solving was given greater emphasis in grades 3-5 than in grades K-2 (Kloosterman & Harty, 1987).
• At higher grades, teachers report more time spent on teaching science. In the NAEP report (Mullis & Jenkins, 1988) 70% of grade three teachers reported spending two hours or less on science. For grade seven and grade eleven, the percentage of science teachers that reported spending two or less hours per week for a class was 17 and 10, respectively. It appears as though elementary science teachers are spending a greater proportion of their time using hands-on science activities. For example, in the NAEP report card 44% of seventh grade students and 40% of third grade students reported not having done any experiments in the previous month (Mullis & Jenkins, 1988).
• From a sample of ERIC abstracts analyzed (n=782) during the years from 1970 to 1990, Rillero and Roempler (1993) determined the NSTA publication for elementary school teachers, Science and Children, consistently devoted more attention to science activities than did the NSTA publications for high school teachers (The Science Teacher) and college teachers (Journal of College Science Teaching). For example, the percentage of abstracted articles mentioning science activities in 1990 for Science and Children, The Science Teacher, and the Journal of College Science Teaching were 93.0, 57.7, and 10.0, respectively.
• The importance of the early use of hands-on learning has been long recognized. "The study of both plants and animals should begin in the lowest grades, or even in kindergarten. One object of such work is to train the children to get knowledge first hand. Experience shows that if these studies begin later in the course, after the habit of depending on authority - teachers and books - has been formed, the results are much less satisfactory (National Education Association, 1893, p. 139).
• "Hands-on activities are critical for [elementary school] science learning, particularly because elementary students are at the concrete stage of their cognitive development" (Loucks-Horsley, et al. 1990, p. 48). "Elementary school experiences are important for establishing understanding of science concepts and developing needed skills for further learning" (Howe, Blosser, Helgeson, & Warren, 1990, p. 33).
• In Britain, it has been proposed that the National Curriculum for elementary school science be composed of 50 percent inquiry activities and 25 percent for the secondary school curriculum (Tinker, 1993).
• Hands-on elementary science curricula can assist children in making transitions from one Piagetian level of thought to the next (Kren,1979).
• The earlier teachers emphasize the concrete, sensual aspects of science, the firmer the foundation will be for science learning. However, no matter what the age of the student, "experiences form the basis of real learning. Early in any science lesson, your students should begin their hands-on experiences. Save the vocabulary words and textbook reading activities for later as reinforcements of the lessons the students have already learned firsthand" (Kotar, 1988, p. 40).
• Arons (1979) observed that college students doing the ESS Battery and Bulb activity went through exactly the same sequence and pace as elementary students doing the activity. "When these students are given a dry cell, a length of wire, and a flashlight bulb and are asked to get the bulb lighted, they almost invariably start by connecting the wire across the terminals of the battery and holding the bottom of the bulb to one battery terminal. They have no sense of the two-endedness of either the battery or the bulb; few of them notice that the wire gets hot when connected across the battery terminals and almost none infer anything from the observation (Arons, 1973, p. 771).
• Hein (1987) argues that science educators need to do a better job of determining when specific process skills should be learned. "In many other fields - reading, music, mathematics, or sports, for example - a sequence of progressively complex steps to help children achieve mastery in a systematic way has been devised. In these fields, students learn new fields while integrating them with earlier ones and practice using them. But in science, we speak of observational skills, problem-solving skills, and other skills, such as measuring, but we have not defined a progressive development" (Hein, 1987, p. 10). Hein points out that observational skills are one of the most important science skills; however, state and local guidelines do not differentiate between the observations of a first grader and those of an eighth grader.

Summary

It is interesting to note that the age-appropriateness of hands-on learning strategies is less than clear cut. Though there is some agreement that activities for younger students are developmentally more appropriate when the emphasis is on skills associated with the concrete world, such as observing and measuring, activity-based learning is appropriate at all ages. A theme expressed repeatedly is that learners of all ages benefit from hands-on learning. This is congruent with constructivist views of learning. When coming to understand a new domain of knowledge, we all progress through similar sequences of exploring, interpreting, and gaining meaning from experiences. So, hands-on learning is not just for young learners; we all construct our knowledge on an experiential base that must be developed, sooner or later.

Posted to the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory's
Pathways to School Improvement Internet server on July 10, 1995.

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