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What can hexagonal tiles do for science teachers?
Science teachers want to teach pupils about the process that leads to knowledge. Researchers have now developed a tool to help them do just that.
"Natural science teaching methods should be a recurring feature in all aspects of science education in schools, but teachers feel that this is defined rather vaguely in the curriculum. We wanted to make the concept more tangible, both for teachers and pupils," says Anne Lien at the University of Agder.
The tool, called UTFORSK, consists of 12 skills. These are visualised as colourful hexagonal tiles.
The skills include observing, describing, systematising, and experimenting. The tiles can be arranged in various ways.
This allows teachers and pupils to discuss which skills an investigation requires.
They can be used when planning and carrying out of an investigation, as well as when reflecting on it afterwards.
Example using woodlice
One example of how the tiles can be used is an exercise involving the observation of woodlice.
In this exercise, students are given live woodlice in a plastic container to investigate.
To prepare and plan the exercise, the teacher can select the tiles relevant to this particular activity: Observe, Describe, Discover, and Ask Questions.
Pupils can sit in groups and be instructed to find the same tiles and lay them out on the table.
The teacher can then use the tiles to show students what they should do and in what order.
“In this exercise, it makes sense to start with the tile called Observe,” says Lien.
"Open up the black box"
"We chose the verbs deliberately. Science is also something we do. It’s not just about reading facts,” says Lien.
She explains that when we use artificial intelligence (AI) tools in teaching, AI often functions as a black box.
"With AI, pupils enter a question and quickly receive an answer, without the path to knowledge becoming visible," she explains.
The new tool is designed to help ‘open up’ this box by encouraging discussion and active engagement with the process itself, not just the result.
"A large part of the point is to open up the black box. With this tool, pupils learn how to arrive at answers by conducting their own investigations," she says.
Guiding questions for teachers
The teacher's set includes guiding questions on the back of each tile that teachers can ask students.
Some of the guiding questions on the Observe tile are: What do you notice? Are some details more important than others? Can you observe more with the help of tools or technology?
Similarly, teachers can use the other tiles – Describe, Discover, and Ask Questions – to guide students through a process of inquiry.
Summarising the exercise
The teacher can summarise the exercise by writing on the board what the students have discovered and what questions they still have.
The teacher can then ask pupils whether any of the questions they have raised could be investigated further, or which other tiles they should use to conduct further investigations.
Lien explains that, in this way, the tiles can also be used to reflect with students on the process of developing knowledge – both what they have done and what they could do next.
“Pupils can use the tiles to make the process visible by arranging them in different ways, either in a line, in a circle or step by step,” says Lien.
Tested in three rounds
The tool was developed through design-based research.
The research team led by Anne Lien has undergone repeated rounds of testing and refinement, working closely with science teachers who will be using the tool.
An early version of the tool was trialled at a teachers’ conference attended by 22 teachers. Of the 17 who responded to an evaluation after the event, 12 said they would use the tool in their own teaching.
"Primary school teachers in particular were positive. This may suggest that, for the time being, the tool is easiest to implement at lower year groups," says Lien.
A gap between theory and practice
In the final round, the tool was presented to a wider group, including headteachers, in collaboration with university's innovation service.
Here, the researchers discovered that many teachers are accustomed to thinking of science as the communication of facts, rather than as training in investigative processes.
"This creates a gap between what the curriculum sets out to achieve and what actually happens in the classroom," says Lien.
Three principles for making it work
The researchers have formulated three principles to ensure that a tool designed to facilitate exploration can work in practice:
It must be flexible and encourage dialogue.
It must stimulate active learning.
It must provide teachers with real support in their teaching.
“The project demonstrates just how much can be gained from developing teaching resources together with those who will use them. The aim is for pupils to acquire skills they can use even outside science lessons,” says Lien.
Source:
Lien et al. Building a Scientific Skill Set: A Design-Based Research Approach to Developing a Tool for Science Education and Beyond, Journal of the International Society for Teacher Education, 2026. DOI: 10.26522/jiste.v30i1.5268
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