Teaching Chemistry

Course Development and Class Planning

Planning a scheme of work, long term planning (Alsop, S. and Hicks, K. 2001)

A scheme of work should act as a basis of what is to be taught and should make clear and show the sequence for the skills, content and concepts at each key stage. A scheme of work should be planned with lessons and pupils in mind. It will often contain a list of learning objectives, teaching activities resources and assessment issues. A scheme of work needs to be carefully ordered to provide progression and continuity.

Factors involved in designing a piece of work

  • Student needs, interests and characteristics
  • Programmes of study
  • Cross-curriculum dimensions
  • Teacher interests and experience
  • Classroom and lab activities
  • Resources available [Back to top]

Planning a Class
There are a number of models and templates advocated for class planning. This is one proposed by Kyriacou (1991)

1. A decision about the educational objectives that the lesson will be designed to foster;
2. A selection and scripting of a lesson (deciding on the type and nature of activities) and ordering and allocating time for these activities
3. A preparation of all the props to be used ( sorting out lesson materials, arranging the classroom, checking lab equipment and setting up demonstrations)
4. A decision regarding how you will monitor and assess pupils' progress and attainment ( deciding on how you intend to evaluate whether the intended learning has taken place). [Back to top]

Selecting lesson objectives Alsop, S. and Hicks, K. (2001) Teaching Science
Selecting lesson objectives might seem straightforward. Unfortunately, it is not as simple as it seems here are some questions to consider:

1. What concepts, skills and attitudes will students already have?
2. Do some pupils have particular needs?
3. What concepts, skills and attitudes do I want the students to grasp?
4. How can I structure these teaching objectives to build upon pupils' needs and previous experiences? [Back to top]

The seven ‘E's of lesson structure (Trowbridge and Bybee (1996)) Elicit structure activities to find out about student's background knowledge

Engage use activities to engage students interest and curiosity

Explore provide students with opportunities to explore particular phenomena and generate their own explanation of these phenomena

Encounter any misconceptions should then be challenged. This could involve setting up activities that promote alternative conceptions and demonstrate the weaknesses in students understanding

Explain students are given opportunities to explain their understanding in their own words

Elaborate Activities are provided that give students the opportunities to apply their new ideas in different contexts and different situations

Evaluate Students are given the opportunity to evaluate their own learning, to explore why they changed their views and the strengths of their new ideas when compared to their old ideas.

Ideas to reflect upon – How are the activities in your class plans sequenced? What makes particular strategy successful /unsuccessful? Are some activities more popular than others? [Back to top]

Planning for group work From Alsop, S. and Hicks, K. (2001) Teaching Science
  • How are the groups arranged in the room? Does the arrangement of the students encourage or discourage teamwork?
  • What is the nature of the tasks that involve groupwork eg written work, discussion, practical work, presentation etc?
  • How are the groups organised eg same sex, mixed ability, friendship groups, teacher directed?
  • Do the groups change during the lesson?
  • How is the lesson's work divided between the teams?
  • How do you deal with students who want to dominate or take a back seat in the group?

After the class, is over spend time reflecting upon how the lesson worked. Are there things you would change? Why? How would you change things for next time? [Back to top]

Dublin Institute of Technology © 2002