All teachers know that kids love getting their hand messy, and that learning in a more interactive hands-on way can bring out the best in students. But it can be difficult to know when and how to bring this approach into your curriculum, and what skills your students will learn from it. At EntreCompEdu we have been thinking of the best ways to inspire teachers to unlock entrepreneurial skills in both themselves and their students. Interested to find out what we are talking about? Then read on!
If you are a science teacher, or a primary teacher who teaches science, you will no doubt have seen your students through many projects and experiments over the course of the academic year, but how can you get the most out of these projects? We think an interactive science fair could be a great way to celebrate your students while encouraging self-awareness and self-confidence to support learning.
The type of experiment is up to the teacher, but you could stick with a theme such as the natural world or ask your students to investigate a specific concept such as bridge construction, this is an adaptive approach, which you can fit around existing topics. The difference however comes in how the results are presented. Traditionally students simply write a report or create a poster to hang in their classroom. With a science fair, however, students still need to make an attractive and informative visual presentation but this is complemented by a show-and-tell style presentation and the chance for students to see and ask about what their peers have been investigating. If your school has an auditorium or stage, you could even consider preparing your students for TED-style talks. This will be a great confidence booster for students as they feel “grown-up” responsibility in presenting to their friends, you could even consider inviting parents along.
Do you have any innovative collaborative learning activities? We would love to know, so why not get in touch, and share your projects with us. You can find us on Twitter and Facebook and join our community of educators. If you would like to know more about the EntreCompEdu project and find inspiration on how you can teach entrepreneurially, visit our blog for more ideas!
