New Perspectives in Science Education

Students who began their lower post-primary education in Ireland in September 2016 are the first cohort of students to study the new Junior Cycle Science curriculum. One of the main emphases of the new curriculum is that the students experience more Inquiry Based Learning (IBL) and have the opportunity to conduct investigations. Research has shown that the curriculum materials available to teachers has an impact on the probability that they will implement IBL in their classrooms. This paper investigates how three topics (solubility and crystal formation, measuring volume and respiration) are addressed by four of the widely-available textbooks in the Irish market: “The Nature of Science”, “Investigating Science”, “Exploring Science”, and “Essential Science”. The paper outlines how the textbooks differ in their likelihood to promote IBL in the classroom based on four aspects: in whether the information is presented as fact or as an investigation to be carried out; the level of detail provided to students in conducting the investigation; whether the student is told how to manipulate results obtained (if any); and whether the conclusions obtained from the experiment are presented in the textbook, or left to the student to determine. It was found that the textbooks varied enormously in their approach to the three topics. In some cases, the information was presented as fact, without any accompanying investigation; in others, detailed instructions were given in how to conduct an experiment, including in one case the conclusions to be drawn were given in the textbook; and others yet provided sparse guidelines but left the detail in conducting the experiment to the student. It was concluded that, by choosing the ‘wrong’ textbook, teachers may reduce the likelihood of true inquiry taking place in their classrooms. 

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