Standard 3 | Educ5464

(3) PLAN FOR AND IMPLEMENT EFFECTIVE TEACHING AND LEARNING

AITSL Standard 3.4 - Select and Use Resources

Textbooks (analogue)

In my second practice, I used a range of different analogue resources including textbooks, worksheets, and models. For my Year 7 and Year 10 classes, I used the corresponding Pearson Science textbooks that were available at the school. These textbooks served as reference material for students to verify information found in other sources. Since the content was generally written at a higher literacy level, it was not suitable as a primary resource for teaching. Instead, we utilised these textbooks for locating and evaluating information. My Year 10 class used these textbooks to find information on the different Biogeochemical cycles. This helped them to develop a checklist for all the elements involved in their chosen cycle. Consequently, this improved the quality of their presentations in the following assessment.

Screenshot of "Greenhouse Gas Effect" worksheet - created by Peter Lam (2019) with Microsoft Word

BBC Bitesize (digital)

Students often need guidance when researching information for their assignments. Moreover, information sources online can sometimes be inaccurate or misleading. Therefore, I decided to select a reliable source for students to locate factual information. For example, my Year 8 classes were required to research about the different body systems and explain how they are adapted for efficient tasks. I provided a link to BBC Bitesize on Seqta (moodle/database) so that students could access it at any time. I also added this link to the Symbaloo app as an alternative way for students to find the link (see standard 2.6).

Education Perfect (digital)

Education Perfect is an online database that contains a library of courses and educational content. It also features additional functions such as setting tasks and creating online assessments. During my research intervention at a school, I created a digital test to explore the effect of text-to-speech (TTS) functionality on the academic achievement of students with low literacy skills. The results showed that there was a strong increase in engagement and a slight improvement in academic achievement.

Screenshot of "Science test B" - created by Peter Lam (2019) using Education Perfect

Worksheets (analogue)

Once students have access to the relevant information, it is important for them to process it. Therefore, I supplied worksheets and activities that consolidated the lesson objectives. For example, I followed up the notes for my Year 7 class with a worksheet activity on the phases of the moon. I also provided questions and worked examples for a modelling task on the Earth, sun and moon (see standard 1.2). Students who completed these questions were able to achieve the learning objectives for that lesson. This was evident in the formative Kahoot quiz at the end of that week (see standard 2.6).

ClickView (digital)

ClickView is an online resource that includes a library of videos and complementary worksheets. I chose this resource because it allowed students to access the content in a more engaging way. When my Year 7 class was learning about Earth’s resources, I showed them a movie on ClickView called “The Lorax”. ClickView also allowed me to integrate an interactive worksheet into the movie. This would then pause the movie at certain points of interest so that we could answer questions and have group discussions. Hence, ClickView can be used to help students analyse and process information.

Screenshot of "Dr.Suess' The Lorax" taken from ClickView (2015). Retrieved from: https://online.clickview.com.au/exchange/videos/2615/dr-seuss-the-lorax

PDF version of "Question Sheet: The Lorax" - created by ClickView (2014)