This one-year foundation science course is designed for year 11 students who are likely to benefit from a stepping stone approach in their science learning. It recognises that students learn at different rates and that carefully scaffolded internal assessment is more appropriate for some students.
These students’ previous experiences of science may have been unsatisfactory. As a result, they may arrive with low self-confidence and poor motivation.
Involving them early on in planning the course is likely to prove valuable.
The more practical and hands-on the course can be, the better for these students. They need concrete experiences to base their learning on.
The key is to find contexts that the students can see are directly relevant to their interests and their lives.
While learning in such a course is likely to involve ideas from across all the strands in the science curriculum, students will not be assessed using standards for every strand.
For example, a project may require ideas about pH and carbon chemistry, but these concepts will be assessable only as they contribute to the overall project.
The literacy and numeracy standards are designed to be used across learning areas other than mathematics and English. Teachers could consider whether to assess their students against one or more of these standards as part of their science courses.
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Last updated December 11, 2012