About our project: Us and the Universe
Is there life elsewhere in the universe and can humans continue to survive on Earth? What does it all mean? How can we share what we are learning and apply it outside of the classroom? How might this impact the future of employment? These were some of the questions 29 Year 10 students grappled with, initially reluctantly, during their Creative Schools Science project in 2023, under the guidance of teacher Julie Hughes and visual artist Jodie Davidson.
What happened:
This cohort of Year 10 students are the current seniors in the school and as such, their priority is a focus on assessments and achieving grades for their year 11 subject selections. Implementing creativity under these circumstances was always going to be challenging.
Students remained with friends rather than getting into groups. The correlation between creative learning and adequately covering the subject matter was challenging for some as it was outside of what they would normally do. Open-ended activities were met with resistance and having enough time to reflect while still allowing time for materials to be put away and for students to move between activities indicated that taking risks, dealing with uncertainty and working together were unfamiliar and uncomfortable.
This is stupid…I don’t even want to be an artist… this [creative thinking] is not going to help me with future employment. Student
It is scary. Student
Even in groups, most students appeared to be working individually rather than collaboratively. There was confusion between forces and energy. Were they waiting to be given the answer rather than working collaboratively to come up with a potential answer? How would they respond if they weren’t provided with an answer? As soon as they began working on computers, any potential for collaboration ceased. Their ability to think creatively appeared limited.
I don’t get what we’re meant to do. Student
I’m waiting… for the teacher to come and give me the answer. Student
Gradually, things improved. Realising that students didn’t recall content they had covered previously gave us the opportunity use warm-ups to repeat and revise content, including collaborative recall of words written on the board, increasing the number of words each session. Movement into groups and interacting with partners increased noise level, sometimes groaning, sometimes explaining and at other times laughter.
It’s more fun than doing work. It is work but it’s funner than sitting still in the classroom. We are basically doing the lesson but in a funner way. Student
Collaborative activities including making mobiles to demonstrate energy in the water system, comics explaining the four categories of the Earth’s physical environment and illustrations of genetic engineering to continue human survival began to lift previously evident awkwardness. Observation indicated that when students were beginning to understand what they were doing, conversation and collaboration increased. Noise became a hum as students gave each other feedback and shared ideas demonstrating imagination, discipline and collaboration.
We are learning more to work with other people, you need that. We are getting better at working together. At the start some people didn’t want to move tables. Student
Continuous working in groups to present ideas and explore ways of sharing information enabled our students to develop persistence while being challenged to enhance critical thinking skills and collaborate as a class to demonstrate inclusivity. Debates and experiments to support/oppose personal points of views and hypotheses increased inquisitiveness as they wondered about potential possibilities for the future of human survival. Experimenting with ideas and possibilities increased student ability to demonstrate persistence rather than giving up at the first hurdle.
When we do things hands-on we can remember the information more easily. Student
How did we use the Five Creative Habits of Learning?
Rather than students considering which habit they had used in the session, we asked which habit they felt they didn’t use. The insights were revealing:
Discipline. Because we just guessed, we didn’t really get it. Student
We weren’t inquisitive because we didn’t really understand or ask any questions, we just did it. Student
We weren’t collaborative because we didn’t share the load. Student
Asking each group how reflection could be done differently to encompass the Creative Habits and information provided an assortment of ideas including writing questions to which they didn’t know the answer and swapping this with another group. The result promoted collaboration, critical reflection, giving and receiving feedback and increased wondering and questioning.
What did we discover?
Chunking tasks into smaller activities helped pick up the pace, mixing digital content with creative activities enabled us to keep a semblance of familiarity but also to gently introduce our students to the creative aspects of learning and recalling information and content. Continuously trying different methods based on student feedback and engagement enabled the balance of independent and collaborative activities. Positive response to challenges meant that incorporating these into sessions increased participation. Students often individually understood partial content but allowing opportunities to share information became mutually beneficial as they managed to piece their knowledge together.
Initially, it was more common for female students to be reluctant in collaborating outside of their friendship group. By session 4 complaining about working in different groups lessened. Imagination improved both from students and as teacher/creative.
Sometimes flipping warm-ups, main activities and reflections was beneficial. Using the ‘elevator pitch’ as a reflection tool gave students opportunities to wrap up their learning in 90 seconds. What initially began as a challenge for us all led to sharing of ideas, reflecting and collaborating, eventually constructing a template of what works and what doesn’t. This is useful for other classes.
This is like we are doing science in person rather than just watching someone else do it. Student
It's a different way of learning but it’s good. Student
The lessons let us become more involved, less distracted. Student
This is really fun. We have to think more. Student
High school timetabling results in one-hour lessons with students working independently, predominantly using computers and online content. They come to class, do what is required and leave. Moving outdoors from a second-floor classroom is not time efficient or practical and determining how to implement creative thinking strategies that were valued later in student education required experimentation, patience and constant reflection between students, teacher and creative.
Main Curriculum Focus: Science
Term 2 Physics
Syllabus
● The motion of objects can be described and predicted using the laws of physics (ACSSU229)
Elaborations:
● gathering data to analyse everyday motions produced by forces, such as measurements of distance and time, speed, force, mass and acceleration
● recognising that a stationary object, or a moving object with constant motion, has balanced forces acting on it
● using Newton’s Second Law to predict how a force affects the movement of an object
● recognising and applying Newton’s Third Law to describe the effect of interactions between two objects
Term 3 Earth unit 1
Syllabus
● Global systems, including the carbon cycle, rely on interactions involving the biosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere (ACSSU189)
Elaborations
● investigating how human activity affects global systems
● modelling a cycle, such as the water, carbon, nitrogen or phosphorus cycle within the biosphere
● explaining the causes and effects of the greenhouse effect
● investigating how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples are reducing Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions through the reinstatement of traditional fire management regimes
Physics Unit 2
Syllabus
● Energy conservation in a system can be explained by describing energy transfers and transformations (ACSSU190)
Elaborations
● recognising that the Law of Conservation of Energy explains that total energy is maintained in energy transfer and transformation
● recognising that in energy transfer and transformation, a variety of processes can occur, so that the usable energy is reduced and the system is not 100% efficient
● using models to describe how energy is transferred and transformed within systems
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