Asia-Pacific Forum on Science Learning and Teaching, Volume 5, Issue 3, Foreword (Dec., 2004) Agnes Shook Cheong CHANG Promoting Thinking through Pedagogical Changes in Science Lessons Previous Contents Next

Project work with real-world application

Thinking and reasoning should be reinforced with the context of authentic tasks. Teachers should set assignments which require students to do some research, analysis, synthesis and evaluation.

An example of such a science assignment at secondary level is on “Recycling of Waste Materials”. Such an issue would sensitize students to the global issue of environmental conservation. The following questions could be used to guide students:

1. Classification of all waste materials and justification for the classifications
2. An explanation of the effects of one selected category of waste on the environment
3. Proposal of a plan on how the selected category of waste in question 2 can be recycled to benefit the society/community.

The above task would require students to employ the following thinking skills:

1. Information gathering
2. Classification
3. Problem-solving
4. Explanation for causation
5. Analysis
6. Synthesis
7. Evaluation.

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