Special Students: Exploring the Best Methods for Learning Science “Science is for all students” (Haskell, March 2000) Written by: Laura Shipman

What is the best method for instruction? Textbook Mnemonic Activity approach Inquiry learning Hands-on Lecture

Textbook Enormous amounts of vocabulary The readings maybe harder for special needs children to understand Paper and pencil work – end of chapter questions/workbook Students have difficulty learning from reading/worksheet assignments *

Mnemonic memory-enhancing strategy Study guides keyword method – “three R’s” recording, relating, and retrieving

Activity Approach/Inquiry Learning/Hands-on Engages students in using the multiple literacies of all disciplines while gathering data, determining how the data constitutes evidence for the claims the students are generating, and sharing/evaluating the claims with fellow classmates Teachers are challenged in inquiry based instruction Learn through doing the experiments – build on prior knowledge Use less vocabulary More time spent interacting with actual examples of the concepts being studied FOSS Students like these approaches to learning commenting that it helps them learn more and is more enjoyable

Lecture Problems for students with short attention spans Lectures need to be brief for special needs children

Conclusion The inquiry based, hands-on, activity approach is the best method for special needs children to learn science! “Learning science is an active process,” (Haskell, March 2000)