Planning a 5E STEM lesson

“Tell me and I’ll forget, teach me and I’ll remember, involve me and I will learn”

Benjamin Franklin

In pedagogy, constructivism appeared thanks to the psychologist Jean Piaget. He said, that “knowledge is not transmitted, It is created.”
If briefly, explain constructivism approach, then we get that learning is an active process of knowledge formation, which is formed from individual experience in realistic conditions. Thus, the test of knowledge occurs in the course of acquiring experience. The human brain keeps in its memory a discrete value selected from different points of view, the fidelity of which is supported by additional connections of experienced events. Therefore, the lessons based on the 5E model or the principles of constructivism are often referred to as alive training.

In order to simplify the process of designing educational materials according to the theory of constructivism, the educational model 5E (The 5E Instructional Model) was proposed. According to this model, the lesson is divided into 5 phases, each of which has its own purpose, which in English can be represented by a word beginning with the letter E:

Engage

First, it is necessary to create links between past and present experiences. The purpose of this phase is to explain to students the meaning of acquiring knowledge. When preparing the material, answer the question: “What for it is?”. Discuss how to apply the acquired knowledge!?

Explore

Please ask questions before students start to explore: What is measurable? How to made measurements to get valid results? You should not help them find an answer. But it is the best point to tell them, that it is an engineering way of thinking should be applied.

Conclusions can be considered correct if they are confirmed by experiment. A properly planned experiment should always give the same measurable result. To do this, it is necessary to find the factors that affect the result, and establish whether it is possible to measure these forces. In other words, fix the conditions. But it should be noted that it is often not effective. Hence, to achieve reliable results they need to have a plan of the experiment.

Explain

It is a time for story, definitions and interpretation of accepted definitions. It is much easier to explain that the spiral of an incandescent lamp emits photons and phonons that transfer heat to someone who knows that the bulb shines and warms. Not a little important at this stage is the instruction on the order of execution and safety. The more powerful the incandescent lamp, the more heat it emits. What do you need to do not to get burned?

Elaborate

After explain comes elaborate. So, let students try. In fact, this is gaining experience through practice and cooperation with other students. The concept of phonons is easier to remember by presenting the palm to a warm bulb.

If a group work, the roles of each member should be defined. It opens the students meaning of the responsibility area.

Evaluate

It is self-assessment of learning material. What did I understand? Will I be able to explain clearly to another? In the final phase, students evaluate, reflecting on and providing evidence of their new understanding of the material.

Improvement is a continuous process. What could be improved in the work of the group / in the approach / in the lab equipment/ materials?

The main idea of constructivism is that students build knowledge for themselves, and we, as teachers, help them. Therefore, when developing educational material, the focus of attention is transferred from the subject of study to the student, since the level of learning on the knowledge created by the student or the group of students.

That approach use PASCO SCIENTIFIC in material preparation. For example:

1. Essential Chemistry. It is complete Chemistry Solution with Equipment, e-Book, and Textbook.
2. Essential Physics. The same as Essential chemistry it is complete set for 45 labs with interactive simulations in the e-book and editable documents in a Teacher e-Resources.
3. STEM Modules: Biosphere, Air Bag, Egg Drop, Collisions

Now you know how to organize 5E model lessons. To get know more read the article “Selecting educational tools for a STEM lesson”.