Teaching high school science is challenging due to varying teaching methods, philosophies, and student needs. Engage students personally, use multimedia resources, engage all senses, and be open to creative approaches. Listening to feedback and using technology can help accommodate different learning styles. Creative approaches can benefit all students.
Teaching science in high school can be challenging, whether the subject is taught in a private school, the public school system, by tutors, or home educators. Teaching methods vary widely, depending on culture, institution, teaching philosophies, and the level of difficulty of a specific lesson. Few recommendations for teaching high school science are universal, given all the variables involved. In general, the best tips for teaching high school science are to engage students personally, use multimedia resources to accommodate different learning styles, engage all of a student’s senses, and remain open to creative teaching approaches.
Engaging students on a personal level with science lessons requires listening to students’ verbal and non-verbal feedback. Listening to body language and watching facial expressions provide clues when students need more or less of a challenge. Alternatively, soliciting open discussions about high school science education, including suggestions for better approaches, helps students take ownership of science studies. A student who is actively involved in choosing how to learn is more invested in their education.
Today’s technology offers a wealth of multimedia options for high school science education. From videos to online games, slideshows to interactive tutorials, teaching science to young adults can now accommodate nearly any learning style. Teachers using multiple multimedia options provide auditory, visual and tactile students with the opportunity to learn through the method that is best for each learning style. Video helps auditory students who learn best by listening, while lab work and experiments help tactile students who learn best by doing.
The use of multimedia teaching aids in high school science teaching also engages all of the students’ senses. Three-dimensional teaching methods engage students physically and mentally in lessons. Lab experiments, for example, allow students to physically experience scientific concepts through sight, sound, touch and smell. Similarly, field trips are another opportunity to engage all of a student’s senses. When a student is able to associate sights, sounds, smells, and other memories with a particular scientific concept, knowledge of her is retained longer than without associated memories.
Creative approaches to high school science teaching help, especially when teaching adolescents with learning disabilities, developmental delays, or students who simply need a non-standard approach. Even students who have no impediments to learning benefit from creating instructional approaches. In situations where more traditional methods of lecturing, memorization, and recitation fail, less traditional or creative approaches can help jump-start a student’s progress. Having students learn the periodic table to the tune of a popular song, moving the classroom outside for a day, or reversing teacher-student roles for a particular lesson are all examples of creative teaching approaches.
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