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Science is a dynamic, collaborative and creative human endeavour arising from our desire to make sense of our world through exploring the unknown, investigating universal mysteries, making predictions and solving problems. Primary children are natural scientists who ask many questions. Teaching science effectively requires a clear understanding of the nature and philosophy of this subject. This second course in primary science aims to enhance pre-service teachers’ knowledge and understanding of science and ways to teach it to children in Years 3 - 6. As such, this course deals with the formation and challenging of naïve theories about science that children develop at these ages. Constructivism theory underpins modern science teaching, so this is modelled by the course adopting a constructivist approach. The course also makes use of other evidence-based strategies such as collaborative learning and analysis of scenarios of teaching and learning. The course explores the science ideas required at levels based on current science education research, and will afford opportunities for achievement of several national standards aligned with science education at a higher level than in the previous compulsory course.

This is the second course in a suite of two supporting the teaching and learning of primary science. Pre-service teachers will advance their understanding of the nature of science and the organisation and structure of the Australian Curriculum: Science. They will develop an understanding of the content and pedagogical content knowledge required to teach all four Science Understanding sub-strands across Years 3 - 6, and how children learn science. Pre-service teachers will apply these understandings in the development and implementation of science units of sequential lesson plans. They will develop assessments to provide diagnosis of prior learning and feedback on the progress of learning. Pre-service teachers will experience collaborative and problem-based learning strategies, and will be required to demonstrate how they can integrate ICT and design technology with science for diverse learners.

The course objectives define the student learning outcomes for a course in accordance with the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership’s (AITSL) Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST). On successful completion of this course pre-service teachers should be able to:

1. analyse and evaluate different views of the nature of science and how children learn science (APST 1.2, 2.1);
2. develop understanding of the science concepts and related pedagogical content knowledge relevant to Years 3 - 6 across all four Science Understanding sub-strands (APST 2.1, 4.2);
3. develop awareness of misconceptions common to learners in Years 3 - 6 and how these misconceptions could be avoided or challenged (APST 2.1, 2.2);
4. apply their understanding of science concepts and pedagogical content knowledge in developing and implementing units or sequential science lessons (APST 2.2, 2.3, 3.2, 4.2, 5.2);
5. demonstrate how they can integrate ICT and design technology resources into their science teaching for diverse learners (APST 2.6, 3.3, 3.4, 4.1);
6. apply ethical and safety standards in managing practical science experiences (APST 4.2, 4.4);
7. develop assessment tasks to diagnose learners’ prior knowledge and to provide feedback on the progress of learning (APST 2.3, 5.1, 5.2).