Designing Teaching and Learning

Assessment 2 – Lesson Plan Analysis

Science Lesson Plan

Ahya Arsalan

17495657
102086 Designing Teaching & Learning
Assignment 2: QT Analysis Template

Evaluate the lesson plan according to the following NSW Quality Teaching model elements.

Evaluation score – refer to NSW QTM Classroom Practice Guide for each element
Comments incl. evidence for evaluation score (2 sentences)
Part A
1 Intellectual quality
1.1 Deep knowledge
1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 Comments: Provides basic knowledge about the topic and activities without going into
background information and the concept behind. Rathe focuses on barnstorming and testing
students’ level of knowledge on the topic.

1.2 Deep understanding

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 Comments: The class is somewhat student led and includes a lot of ‘asking questions’ which
provides an opportunity for students to develop deep understanding on the topic by asking more
relevant questions for better preparation for the experiment.

1.3 Problematic knowledge

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 Comments: Students are encouraged to predict multiple predictions of what will happen before
and during the experiment and there is scope for them to work out their experiment based on their
predictions. Students are also encouraged to predict the aim of the experiment and can ask
questions if unclear or in doubt about their predicted aim.

1.4 Higher-order thinking

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 Comments: Throughout the experiment students are encouraged to think constantly which starts
from question answers to predict their own observations and then work towards it. This gives
students an opportunity to analyse of what they are doing and what results can be obtained at the
end of the experiment.

1.5 Metalanguage
1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 Comments: Metalanguage is used throughout the practical. Experiment, temperature, catalysts
and chemical reactions and boiling points are all examples of metalanguage.

1.6 Substantive communication

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 Comments: Experiment is well organised with students highly engaged in substantive
communication about their predictions and ideas relating to the experiment in both oral and
written form.

Quality learning environment

2.1 Explicit quality criteria
1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 Comments: The experiment is set out with some instructions and method to be used but is mostly
referring to the predictions of students. No set result is mentioned that is needed to be achieved.

2.2 Engagement
1–2–3–4–5 Comments: The experiment is highly engaging with students constantly working in groups.
However, students unable to come up with any predictions and have no prior knowledge on the
topic can show disinterest in the practical experiment.

2.3 High expectations

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 Comments: Again, students are constantly encouraged to make predictions which keeps the
expectations high of both teachers and students. However, not all students can make predictions
and there is scope that one or two students per group may not engage in the challenging work.

2.4 Social support

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 Comments: Experiment is a group work and students are paired in a group by the teacher with
roles allocated to each student. Teacher should endorse respect and support within a group and
let the students to choose their desired role to avoid disagreement and conflict within a group.
 2.5 Students’ self-regulation
1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 Comments: No reference of students’ self-regulation and the teacher goes straight to the content
of the lesson plan. This could be due to class already being well behaved and high self-regulation
is already evident.

2.6 Student direction

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 Comments: There is scope for students to develop their own predictions and aim for the
experiment but the activities are highly set out by the teacher and students need to work through
those set activities. Also no scope is given for students to choose their desired role within a group.

3 Significance
3.1 Background knowledge
1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 Comments: Background knowledge is not evident and it is unclear to connect the experiment with
prior learning. Though the outcome does mention about different types of chemical reactions but
it is just a generic definition and does not highlight the previous knowledge.

3.2 Cultural knowledge

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 Comments: No scope is given to other cultures, diverse and social groupings. Possibly there is
not scope to incorporate cultural diversity within this lesson plan; but perhaps could mention
about Greek Philosophers for the work relating to the basic concept of any element and its
composition.

3.3 Knowledge integration

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 Comments: No presence of meaningful connections between different topics and subjects. Could
incorporate cross cussiculum priorities and assimilate into different learning areas to enhance
students’ richness to the wider knowledge.

3.4 Inclusivity
1–2–3–4–5 Comments: The lesson plan incorporates group work but no mention of inclusivity. Could
mention about the benefits of high inclusivity.

3.5 Connectedness
1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 Comments: The experiment attempts to connect classroom knowledge to the wider knowledge of
outside the school setting by engaging students in discussion relating to why to think certain way
in relation to the topic; allows students to think broadly and connect to the wider community.

3.6 Narrative
1–2–3–4–5 Comments: The lesson plan includes a video demonstration which explains ‘how salt melt ice’ in
a story form but it is very basic. No mention of personal stories, biographies or case studies,
therefore the narrative is low.

Identifying Areas for Improvement

Identify the four NSW QT model elements you are targeting for improvement.

QT model
1) 3.1 Background Knowledge 2) 2.4 Social Support
3) 2.3 High Expectations 4) 3.6 Narrative
 Part B: Modified Lesson Plan

Topic area: Stage of Learner: Syllabus Pages:

Temperature, Freezing points Stage 4 CW1 – d
and Chemical reactions CW4 – a, b, c

Date: Location Booked: Lesson Number: 4/5

17.5.2019 Science Labs Building 2
Time: 60 minutes Total Number of students: 28 Printing/preparation

Materials for students:

100mm clear plastic test tubes,
test tube lid or cork, test tube
rack, water at 10oC, salt, sugar,
periodic table, freezer,
teaspoon, marker, timer, foam
spheres of different sizes and
colours to represent the
elements: Sodium (Na),
Chloride (Cl) and Water (H2O).
Small wooden sticks to
represent connections for the
elements and compound.

Additional Materials: Freezer,

monitor in front of classroom,
access to the internet, large
bottles of water at 100C,
correct chemical and physical
equations for both salt water
and sugar water.

Students prior knowledge test

on different chemical and
physical reactions and their
end products using “Kahoot
quiz”. (Note: students will
need to use their laptop, tablet
or smartphone for this activity)

Outcomes Assessment Students learn about Students learn to

Chemical World 4 (CW4): Asking formal The students will: SCLS-22CW
Different types of questions - Explain how Recognises the
chemical reactions are throughout the dissolving salt properties of common
used to produce a range practical and sugar into substances
of products and can occur component of the water will affect
at different rates and experiment. the freezing point
involve energy transfer E.g. What is depression of SCLS-23CW
(New South Wales. Board expected to occur water. Explores how common
of Studies, 2012). next? - Predict the chemicals affect
freezing points of everyday life
Kahoot quiz prior the water
to start the solutions SCLS-24CW
experiment for containing either Investigates a variety of
formal and informal salt or sugar and chemical changes
assessment. which will freeze
E.g. Water particles first. SCLS-4WS
are disorganised in - Demonstrate the Asks questions that can
solid or liquid state? ability to record be tested and makes
and analysis the predictions (New South
Practical Report of data collected Wales. Board of
the experiment per from the Studies, 2012).
group: hard copy experiment as
including aim, they engage in
method, results, critically thinking
discussion, about the topic.
limitations and - Display the ability
conclusion to formulate
equations of salt
dissolved in water
and sugar
dissolved in
water.
- Explain the
differences
between a
physical and
chemical
reactions.

Syllabus

CW1 – d
Relate changes in the
physical properties of
matter to heat
energy and particle
movement that occur
during observations
of evaporation,
condensation,
boiling, melting and
freezing.
CW4 – a
identify when a
chemical change is
 taking place by
observing a change in
temperature, the
appearance of new
substances or the
disappearance of an
original substance

CW4 – b
Demonstrate that a
chemical change
involves substances
reacting to form new
substances

CW4 – c
Investigate some
examples of chemical
change that occur in
everyday life, e.g.
photosynthesis,
respiration and
chemical weathering

Time Teaching and learning actions

10 Introduction and Background Information
min
Commence the classroom with prior background knowledge on freezing points and
chemical reactions and highlight:
- the difference between different chemical and physical reactions
- the composition of salt and sugar
- the effect of salt and sugar when added in water

Prepare class for the interactive kahoot quiz. Make sure every student has access to the
quiz. Provide laptops for the quiz if necessary.

Ask general questions before the quiz:

I. How does something freeze?
II. Why it freezes?
III. What happens when something freezes?
Body Assessment – kahoot quiz – Freezing points and Chemical Reactions
10 Teacher to play the video before the quiz.
min Video representation of why salt reduces the freezing point of water with similarities to
the foam models
Link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkhWV2uaHaA
Similarities in 0:50 seconds to 1:12 minutes of the video.

After the video is finished, students will immediately get on to the quiz.
 Teacher to write the password for the video on interactive whiteboard and provide the
link.

Quiz Link:
https://create.kahoot.it/details/freezing-points-chemical-reactions-and-
temperature/a94cee8e-e7ad-4f6f-adfc-7bc7066eab6c

Quiz Pin – 128788

Following the quiz, teacher should indulge in a class discussion about the answers.
- Try to ask each student one question.

Conclude the introductory and assessment session by explaining a valid point which
links to the practical:
E.g. Slat lowers the freezing point of water and that is what we are going to test in our
practical next.

5 Safety Precautions (Safety Data Sheet)

min

Explain to the class the aim of today’s lesson and that it will be based on the freezing
points of water, salt water and sugar water.

Explain safety procedures of the experiment before the start of the practical.
Teacher to make sure each student is familiar with the safety precautions.
Teacher to hand out safety data sheet and students must read and sign the declaration
and hand it back to the teacher before commencing the practical experiment.

The experiment (practical)

10
min
Assign students into groups. 4-5 students per group. Give students 1 minute to assign
themselves a role within a group. They have a choice of choosing a role as a: timer
(keeps track of the time), recorder (writes down results), handler (mixing the solutions
together) and retriever (takes and places the test tube rack in the freezer).

Teacher to explain the method to the whole class. Method sheet should be given to each
group and teacher to go through each step and demonstrate how to do it.

Teacher to ask students to make their predictions on what will happen to the three
solutions before and during the practical.
- Students to predict the aim of the experiment,
- if students are confused or haven’t identified the correct aim help them factor it out
or provide the aim if necessary.

Teacher to walk around the class and observe if all groups are following the method
correctly. Provide guidance wherever necessary in order to correct any errors without
influencing the students’ thought processes.
 Results
10
min
After the students record the first lot of results for the practical teacher to:
- introduce the boxes foam spheres representing the elements: Na (Sodium), Cl
(Chloride), C12H22O11 and H2O (Water) to each group.
- Start with saying: Ok class lets zoom in on what’s happening to the three solutions in
the freezer. I have a box of elements and compounds of the water, salt and sugar
- Ask if the students know the common names of elements and compounds of
chemical symbols on the foam spheres. Allow them to refer to their periodic table
for guidance.
-
Use sugar as an example:

“Sugar is make up of these elements Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen which of the
spheres has these elements?”

Followed by: “Now what can Hydrogen and Oxygen make and which of the spheres
represents water?”

Instruct the student to predict what is happening to all three solutions using the foam
spheres.

Students write down all the results then indulge in critical thinking for the practical
report that needs to be submitted in a week time. Each group needs to submit one
practical report as a hard copy. Note: Students are encouraged to use several case
studies, videos and biographies in their report as we aimed to introduce narrative
based learning.
15 Discussion, reflection and evaluation of the practical
min

Teacher to discuss the results and engage students by:

- Preparing a table for the combined results of all the class data.
- Have the recorder of each group to write down their result on the table.
- Discuss the predictions and errors from each group and compare them with all class.
- Correct any misconceptions the students may have.

Students to present their results in front of the whole class and explain whether their
predictions prove to be right or wrong.
- If their predictions prove to be wrong, then what errors may have caused the results
to be different?
- How they can minimise the errors and improve the accuracy of the experiment in
the future?
- How the reliability of the results could have been improved based on inconsistent
results among different groups?

Teacher to finish the class by engaging students into critical thinking and asking
questions such as:
- Discuss if by dissolving salt and sugar is a chemical change or physical one referring
to the experiment the student preformed and foam modals.
Part C: Academic Justification

The original science lesson plan was well constructed and sufficient in terms of its content and
knowledge for a set task, however, there is room for improvement in several areas. The
improvements were noted and analysed using the NSW Quality Teaching Model (QTM) (Ladwig,
2005; NSW Department of Education and Training, 2006). The improvements were made in the
area of background knowledge, social support, high expectations and narrative.

In the original lesson plan, not much emphasis have been put on the background knowledge (3.1)
and is designed in such a way that the teacher straight away indulges students in question
answers relating to the topic. Without having prior knowledge in the subject that is being taught
or about to be taught, students may feel a sense of disengagement and avoid being expressive
enough to ask relevant questions (Sharon, 2006). Therefore, in the modified lesson plan, the
introductory section of the original lesson was altered to incorporate background knowledge
about temperature, freezing point and different chemical reactions in the lesson plan. Providing
students some background information about the topic beforehand enhances their learning and
build their confidence to ask more questions and be more productive (Marzano, 2003).
Introducing some background knowledge will create opportunities for students to be critical in
their thinking and be familiar with wider knowledge which may lies outside the classroom such as
diverse cultural knowledge.

The next modification was made to stress upon social support (2.4). Though, the set task was a
group work and students were assigned in a group of 4-5, however, there was scope for
improvement. For instance, in the original lesson plan, the importance of try harder and taking
risk without fear of failure in the classroom is lacking. In other words, the encouragement for
students to answer questions without it being right or wrong but taking that initiative and
answering them is somewhat lacking or not highlighted in the original lesson plan. Gigliotti (2012)
explains that social support is a key for quality learning in a classroom where group work and
collaborative work is in high demand. Prosocial peer group members who encourage other group
members to thrive and encourage them achieve their goals have higher rates of developing deep
knowledge and thinking. On the other hand, in a classroom where social support is low, negative
behaviours either by other students or teachers could lead to low self-esteem, less participation in

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tasks especially in group tasks (Sullivan, 1999), and learning difficulties (NSW Department of
Education and Training, 2006).

The original lesson plan has demonstrated high expectations (2.3) for students to predict the aim
for the experiment. This is significant because it encourages students to take risks in challenging
tasks that require deep and critical thinking. However, there is still room for improvement as not
all students are on the same level of knowledge and may find it hard to make their own
predictions about the experiment which can make them feel vulnerable to express themselves.
This is where quality pedagogy comes as teachers have a huge responsibility to know the potential
of their students and they have the authority to implement positive strategies within their
classrooms which incorporate equity (Brophy & Good, 1971). Teachers can rethink their
pedagogical beliefs and observe the students who are more capable of doing the experiment
unsupervised. In the modified lesson plan, the experiment (practical component) also includes a
practical report which the students will need to submit as a group. This is a good opportunity for
students to demonstrate high level thinking and can strive to attain the high expectations of their
teacher.

Lastly, the original lesson plan lacks narrative (3.6) based learning which is significant in students’
quality learning. Narrative based approach within a classroom promotes interest and students
become excited to learn something new in a way of a story telling or watching a video (Marunda-
Piki, 2018). The original lesson plan does include a video to be watched at the end but only if time
allows. This is modified in the lesson plan and included at the start of the assessment section
before the kahoot quiz. In the modified lesson plan, students will be able to watch the video in the
beginning to get familiar with the basic concept of the experiment and will be able to answer the
basic questions in the quiz. The video explains the basic concept of freezing as a means of a story
and it will be beneficial for the students to watch it before the actual experiment.

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References

Brophy, J., and Good, T., L. (1970). Teachers’ communication of differential expectations for
children’s classroom performance: some behavioural data. Journal of Educational Psychology,
61(5), 365-374. doi: 10.1037/h0029908

Gigliotti, R., A. (2012). Quality teaching and learning in the educational context: teacher pedagogy
to support learners of a modern digital society. Journal of Student Engagement: Education
matters, 2(1), 78-84. Retrieved from
https://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=
1019&context=jseem

Ladwig, G., J. (2005). Monitoring the quality of pedagogy. Leading and Managing, 11(2), 70-83.
Retrieved from https://search.informit.com.au/fullText;dn=200604213;res=IELAPA

Marzano, J., R. (2003). Building background knowledge for academic achievement: research on
what works in schools. Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development. Alexandria, United
State.

Marunda-Piki, C. (2018). The impact of narrative-based learning in classroom. Research in Drama

Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and performance, 23(1), 107-113. doi:
10.1080/13569783.2017.1399055

NSW Department of Education and Training, (2006). Quality teaching in NSW Public Schools: a
classroom practice guide. Retrieved from https://app.education.nsw.gov.au/quality-teaching-
rounds/Assets/Classroom_Practice_Guide_ogogVUqQeB.pdf

NSW Education Standard Authority. (2018). NSW Syllabus for the Australian Curriculum. Retrieved
from https://www.educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/wcm/connect/49168748-3e44-4f7a-
b5a0-5de8a97d2089/science-7-10-syllabus-2018.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CVID=
(Note – Used for the syllabus in the modified lesson plan analysis)

Sharon, C. (2006). The importance of background knowledge. Teacher Librarian, 34(1), 60.
Retrieved from
https://search.proquest.com/docview/224878598/fulltextPDF/D4AA5597A5E94CEDPQ/1?account
id=36155

Sullivan, M., A. (1999). Establishing academic and social support groups for teacher education
students. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 24(2), 47-56. Retrieved from
https://ro.ecu.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&artic
le=1167&context=ajte

Learning Portfolio Link

arsalanahya.weebly.com

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