 |
Asia-Pacific
Forum on Science Learning and Teaching, Volume 7, Issue 2, Article 3 (Dec.,
2006) David D. KUMAR and Kimberly SCAROLA Nanotechnology and Closed Captioned videos: Improving opportunities for teaching science to ESL students
|
Implications for Curriculum and Instruction
When science educators are presented with the topic of nanotechnology, they would want to know if this subject matches their curriculum standards. For example, in the state of Florida some of the possible concerns of teachers may include the following. Will nanotechnology be on any of the achievement test called the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test? Will it be specifically incorporated into the new revised state Science Education Standards? Who will disseminate information about nanotechnology to curriculum developers? These are a few curriculum concerns dealing with nanotechnology.
How can teachers implement nanotechnology in classrooms if the curriculum standards do not address it specifically and the curriculum materials are not yet developed? How many teachers have even heard of nanotechnology? Perhaps starting nanotechnology introductory lessons with the youngest students (Pre-K and K) all the way through 12th grade could help to establish groundwork for introducing nanotechnology to the nation at large. When introducing any new unit of study, effective teachers try to catch the attention of their students with a “hook”. This may be a counterintuitive demonstration, pictorial riddle, or puzzle. We need to develop “nanotechnology hooks” to capture the attention of students.
How can teachers teach if they do not understand nanotechnology themselves? Kumar (2006b) in a nanoscience and nanotechnology quiz among prospective K-9 teachers noticed a low overall average score of 61.3%. The quiz represented various types of knowledge of nanoscale science and technology including the chemical make up of materials such as sunscreens, etymology, and an understanding of physical scale. The study found a lack of understanding of the basic physical scale of nanoscience and nanotechnology, and the etymology of the term “nano” among prospective teachers. Unless science teachers can keep pace with the rapid advances in science and technology it will be virtually impossible to update science instruction.
Currently there are no widely available science materials for K-12 that specifically teach nanotechnology topics. In the case of videos on the subject of nanotechnology, most of them are beyond the scope of K-12 science because they are very short in length, they do not have any captions or subtitles, and some have no audio at all. The good news is that such existing videos can be edited, captioned and have audio tracks added that might contain dialogue easy enough for an ESL learner to comprehend.
The participation of teachers in addressing nanotechnology information in the school science curriculum is critical. If Closed Captioned Videos of nanotechnology are created with input from teachers they might be more open to the idea of using them among ESL students. Assuming that Closed Captioned Videos become widely available in the near future, the instructional challenges for science teachers might include determining ESL appropriateness of captioned nanotechnology videos and instructional time blocks for viewing such videos in conjunction with hands-on laboratory assignments, and implementing ESL accommodation strategies for captioned viewing.
Copyright (C) 2006 HKIEd APFSLT. Volume 7, Issue 2, Article 3 (Dec., 2006). All Rights Reserved.