Development of The Salters-Nuffield Advanced Biology Curriculum (SNAB): the importance of evaluation

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Development of The Salters-Nuffield Advanced
Biology Curriculum (SNAB) the importance of
evaluation

• Jenny Lewis
• Centre for Studies in Science and Mathematics
  Education
• University of Leeds
• UK

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Salters Nuffield Advanced Biology (SNAB)

• An Advanced Level biology course for students
  aged 16-18
• Development began in 2000
• Piloting began in 2002 (52 schools 1500
  students)
• Approved qualification available from 2005

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Advanced level courses in England

• The full A Level is designed for students aged
  16-18 and takes 2 years
• Each year ends in an exam which leads to a
  qualification
• Year 1 leads to AS (a stand alone
  qualification)
• Year 2 builds on AS and leads to A2
• AS A2 give the full A level qualification
• Only some of the students who take AS will go on
  to take A2
• But students cannot normally take A2 if they have
  not successfully completed AS.

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The traditional A level biology course

• Content is organised around broad subject areas
  and processes, for example genes and genetic
  engineering, microbes and disease.
• The full concept is usually taught once, to the
  required depth.
• Social and ethical issues are often treated as an
  add on, if there is time.
• The approach is teacher led and content driven
  with an emphasis on factual recall rather than
  understanding.

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The SNAB A level biology course

• Content is organised around real world contexts,
  drawing biological content from across
  traditional areas, supplemented with additional
  content, to provide an integrated explanation
  for example
• a forensic investigation of 2 dead bodies draws
  on pathology, physiology, immunology and
  microbiology to determine whether or not there
  has been a murder.
• Biological concepts are only taught to the depth
  required to understand the context this means
  that the full concept might be developed across
  several contexts for example, meiosis.
• Relevant social and ethical issues are routinely
  integrated into the teaching of the context.
• The focus is on the development of conceptual
  understanding through the active engagment of
  students in their own learning this has an
  impact on the SNAB approach to practical work.
• There is a reduction in traditional content to
  allow time for a more student centred approach
  to make room for more relevant and up-to-date
  content.
• There is an extensive range of resources and
  activities to support this novel approach, mainly
  ICT based ICT is integrated across every aspect
  of the course.

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Approach to Evaluation

• To implement SNAB as intended, teachers had to
  make substantial changes to their usual classroom
  practices.
• To take this into account 2 different approaches
  to evaluation were used
• A broad approach, drawing data from as many
  sources and participants as possible
• An in depth approach which looked explicitly at
  implementation in the classroom.

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The broad approach

• Monitoring of the e-networks (for teachers, for
  students, for technicians)
• Queries and questions from individual teachers
• Group feedback during training workshops and
  feedback meetings
• School visits
• Questionnaires (teachers, students and
  technicians)

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The in-depth evaluation of implementation

• Sample
• 3 centres 8 teachers
• Approach
• 3 phases
• Each teacher was interviewed and observed in
  each phase their students and technicicians were
  interviewed to provide supporting evidence
• Phase 1 the start of the pilot
• (baseline data usual teaching approaches
  understandings and expectations of SNAB)
• Phase 2 at the end of the first year
• (development of understanding and actual use of
  SNAB)
• Phase 3 at the end of the second year
• (teachers, own perceptions of the changes in
  practice which they needed to make).

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Outcomes the build up of concepts across contexts

• Biological concepts are built up across topics
  and across the the two years
• Teachers needed to teach the whole of the course
  before they could see how these concepts were
  built up and to get a good understanding of the
  correct breadth and depth needed for each
  particular context.
• Without this the teachers tended to over-teach -
  to provide too much in depth explanation too
  early in the course
• Most of these teachers shared the teaching of the
  course so never got the full picture.

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Outcomes the teachers own subject knowledge

• In a traditional curriculum, related concepts are
  presented together within topics such as
  inheritance, biochemistry etc.
• In SNAB each context required teachers to draw on
  a wide range of biological concepts, including
  some which were new to them.
• Mostly they coped well with this, but when the
  concepts were very removed from their area of
  expertise they sometimes felt stressed.
• we cant be expected to be all-singing,
  all-dancing biologists . Im a biochemist

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Outcomes reduction of traditional content

• To make way for new, topical, content and to
  allow students time to take more responsibility
  for their own learning, some traditional content
  was dropped
• Some teachers found this very difficult to accept
  it offended their sense of what it meant to be
  a biology teacher
• I thought  Oh, theyll have to know (colour
  vision).. How can you teach biology without
  teaching that? 
• Others found it very helpful
• Although there is less content overall, SNAB
  students are better equiped to find additional
  information for themselves.

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Outcomes selection of resources

• SNAB provided extensive resources, with the
  expectation that teachers (and students) would
  select as approrpriate to their needs.
• Initially, most teachers didnt know they needed
  to be selective and tried to use everything.
• Initial selection of resources was pragmatic
  based on cost, time and availability.
• With more experience, teachers began to take more
  account of educational purpose and to recognise
  that the way they presented an activity
  influenced its effectiveness
• I think Ive used the Carbon Cycle sheet much
  better this year We got into discussion much
  more the first time, I didnt make enough of the
  activity, I was in a bit of a rush and then I
  was back to my traditional, on the board,
  approach
• When teachers couldnt identify the intended
  purpose they were reluctant to use the activity
• some activities seem to lack a clear
  educational purpose they may be fun but they
  feel likeadd-ons and leave you with a sense of
  so what?.

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Outcomes approaches to practical work

• Traditionally, practical investigations had
  become routine, with an emphasis on getting the
  right answer in SNAB the emphasis was on
  critiquing the methodology and explaining the
  results
• Initially this was challenging for teachers,
  but especially for students, who were unused to
  having to think about their work in this way.
• With more experience, teachers developed more
  effective ways of supporting and encouraging
  their students
• we dont waste time on write-ups students now
  refer to the details one line were
  referring to the method on Sheet X (attached)
• I dont mark their practicals, I give them
  feedback youve done this well next time,
  think about this question
• Most teachers appreciated this change in
  approach
• its great to see them doing individual
  projects rather than just jumping through hoops

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Outcomes the use of ICT

• SNAB produced an incredible range of ICT
  resources, particularly to support student
  learning.
• Many schools were poorly equipped to support
  these state of the art resources but those that
  teachers and students could access were extremely
  well received
• the ICT is really, really good to do
  something in September, to be revising it in June
  and to have it on the screen, just as it was in
  September is amazing!
• I keep saying to them you know, you should be
  using these for revision going back through the
  activities, using them like a resource, just as
  you would a book.
• I know Ive taught that section nerve
  impulse/action potentials much better than Ive
  evertaught it before
• Because ICT was such an integral part of the
  course, biology teachers found they were treated
  very favourably when new resources were being
  allocated, often ending up with excellent
  resources.

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Outcomes approaches to teaching and learning

• SNAB requires teachers to change their usual
  classroom practices, and this presented teachers
  with some challenges.
• Discussionmost teachers were unclear about the
  purposes of discussion and uneasy about enaging
  with social and ethical issues there was little
  recognition of the need to structure a discussion
  and anxiety about losing control and losing
  respect when they couldnt give the right
  answer many teachers foudn ways to avoid or
  contain these areas of the curriculum
• ICT when integrating ICT into whole class
  teaching, teachers had to re-learn how to manage
  the class in this new situation.
• Active Learning some teachers felt quite
  threatened by the idea that students should take
  more responsibility for their own learning even
  teachers who explicitly wanted to make this
  change found it more difficult than they
  expected

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• Trusting that students will take responsibility.
• Developing monitoring and management strategies
  to support students.
• Giving the students time to think things through
  for themselves.
• Extending their questioning technique giving
  students time to think encouraging students to
  explain their answers asking extension
  questions not responding when students say just
  tell us!.
• One teacher described it as a process of
  evolution, not revolution 4 years later he felt
  he had finally evolved!

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References

• Lewis, J. and Scott, A. (2006) The Importance of
  Evaluation During Curriculum Development the
  Salters-Nuffield Advanced Biology (SNAB)
  experience School Science Review 88 (323)
  p119-126
• Lewis, J. (2006) Bringing The Real World Into The
  Biology Curriculum Journal of Biological
  Education 40 (3)