ECE220 - Science 1: Science and Environmental Awareness for Young Children
Unit details
| Year: | 2024 unit information |
|---|---|
| Enrolment modes: | Trimester 1: Burwood (Melbourne), Online, Community Based Delivery (CBD)* |
| Credit point(s): | 1 |
| EFTSL value: | 0.125 |
| Unit Chair: | Trimester 1: George Aranda |
| Cohort rule: | Nil |
| Prerequisite: | Nil |
| Corequisite: | Nil |
| Incompatible with: | Nil |
| Typical study commitment: | Students will on average spend 150-hours over the teaching period undertaking the teaching, learning and assessment activities for this unit. This will include educator guided online learning activities within the unit site. |
| Educator-facilitated (scheduled) learning activities - on-campus unit enrolment: | 1 x 3-hour seminar per non-placement teaching weeks |
| Educator-facilitated (scheduled) learning activities - online unit enrolment: | 1 x 1.5-hour online seminar per non-placement teaching weeks |
Note:*Community Based Delivery (CBD) is for National Indigenous Knowledges, Education, Research and Innovation NIKERI Institute students only. | |
Content
The content is organised around key science concepts cognitively appropriate for babies, toddlers and pre-school children. A range of issues are addressed:
- Science understandings relevant to the early childhood settings;
- The nature of science and its relationship to society and the environment;
- The nature of learning in science and the environment; teaching approaches and strategies for linking science with the other curriculum areas;
- Collecting and interpreting documentation to assess children's scientific understandings;
- Setting learning goals to build on children’s scientific learning;
- Planning and implementing learning experiences that use a diverse range of teaching strategies, resources and communication to support children’s scientific learning;
- Contemporary issues in curriculum provision and the teaching of science and the environment through play;
- The importance of language in the exchange of science ideas with children.
Aspects of science that are relevant to early childhood and primary educators are presented - for example, investigation of living things, materials, properties of water, air, electricity and magnetism, light, sound. Environmental concepts are integrated throughout the program. This unit will identify teaching approaches and strategies for supporting learning in early childhood settings. It will demonstrate, through practical activities applied through play, how young children develop their scientific and environmental understandings.
In class experiences, provide students with hands on practice of science activities and tasks that can be implemented with children in early childhood and primary (F – 2) classrooms. Students will practice the set up of learning environments, communication strategies (verbal and non-verbal) to support learning and assessment techniques. These authentic experiences will support students completion of assessment task 2.
| ULO | These are the Learning Outcomes (ULO) for this unit. At the completion of this unit, successful students can: | Deakin Graduate Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|
| ULO1 | Evaluate and discuss key theoretical and pedagogical perspectives and issues in children’s learning of science and environmental understanding | GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities |
| ULO2 | Evaluate and apply understanding of key science and the environment concepts and processes to the planning of teaching and learning in early childhood contexts | GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities GLO4: Critical thinking GLO5: Problem solving |
| ULO3 | Apply a range of assessment strategies in the evaluation of children’s understandings and learning of science and the environment | GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities GLO4: Critical thinking GLO5: Problem solving |
| ULO4 | Adapt scientific and environmental knowledge into broader pedagogical practices in early childhood contexts | GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities GLO4: Critical thinking |
| ULO5 | Employ a variety of multimedia within early childhood learning environments to communicate language relating to everyday scientific and environmental phenomena | GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities GLO3: Digital literacy |
Assessment
| Assessment Description | Student output | Grading and weighting (% total mark for unit) | Indicative due week |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment 1 - Portfolio Activities | 800 words or equivalent | 20% | Week 4 |
| Assessment 2 - Probing Children’s Understandings | 12000 words or equivalent | 30% | Week 5 |
| Assessment 3 - Teaching for Quality Learning in Science | 2000 words or equivalent | 50% | Week 12 |
The assessment due weeks provided may change. The Unit Chair will clarify the exact assessment requirements, including the due date, at the start of the teaching period.
Learning Resource
The texts and reading list for the unit can be found on the University Library via the link ECE220
Note: Select the relevant trimester reading list. Please note that a future teaching period's reading list may not be available until a month prior to the start of that teaching period so you may wish to use the relevant trimester's prior year reading list as a guide only.
Unit Fee Information
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