Essay

Children are naturally curious is a statement found in Methods for Teaching Science as Inquiry. We know that this is true and therefore our teaching practices should be a reflection of this statement. The approach which addresses student centeredness is Constructive Learning. In this mode, students take information from many sources, including personal discoveries and acquisition from teachers, books, videos, and other resources (Bass, Contant and Carin, 2009, p. 4). In the teacher centered approach,  Behaviourist learning is used. This is where there are specific behaviours that a teacher expects the students to display as a result of instruction. A shift can be made from teacher-centered to student-centered.  However, a balanced approach where both concepts are used, would truly make science teaching effective. The student-centered approach requires a lot of time for preparation and implementation. The teacher-centered approach requires preparation as well but does not have manipulatives to consider and to make decisions about before the class period.  For the purposes of exams, sometimes the teacher-centered approach is the better way to go because exam questions tend to be convergent. This means that there is a specific answer to the question. Also, teacher-centeredness provides the opportunity to cover more material. The knowledge and skills needed to respond to the questions would be achieved in the teacher-centered classroom. On the other hand, student-centeredness results in students being able to explore possibilities and attempting to find logical reasons for their answers. The investigative side of science is not always addressed in exams which could leave students at a disadvantage. We teach bearing in mind that our students will have go into the world, being scientifically capable. They need to develop higher order thinking skills. Focusing on the student and their needs greatly aids in this goal. While it is true that the traditional approach may not seem applicable in today’s advanced world, it has some benefits and we cannot discard it.