School: Education

This unit information may be updated and amended immediately prior to semester. To ensure you have the correct outline, please check it again at the beginning of semester.

  • Unit Title

    Science for Young Children
  • Unit Code

    SCE6120
  • Year

    2025
  • Enrolment Period

    1
  • Version

    2
  • Credit Points

    15
  • Full Year Unit

    N
  • Mode of Delivery

    On Campus
    Online
  • Unit Coordinator

    Dr Trish COLLINS

Description

This unit focuses on fundamental knowledge, skills and aptitudes required to effectively teach science to young children. Approaches to teaching pedagogies will be critiqued to assist students to use approaches that will enhance the teaching of content knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to be an effective learner of science. Further, students will develop their own scientific literacy as well as the strategies to encourage life long scientific literacy in children in their future classrooms. The students will gain a detailed understanding of the process skills and scientific method employed in the science content area and in execution of other integrated learning experiences. An essential element of this unit will be the focus on the everyday nature of science and the requirement of classroom teachers to listen to and use their student’s questions as provocations for real-world, problem-focused investigations.

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this unit students should be able to:

  1. Critically analyse seminal and current literature on approaches to learning scientific inquiry.
  2. Apply scientific exploration methods in a range of contexts for all children, birth to eight years.
  3. Adapt scientific terminology appropriate to a range of contexts for all children, birth to eight years.
  4. Independently develop a sequential plan for science with appropriate content, experiences, resources and assessments to support all children, birth to eight years.

Unit Content

  1. Effective approaches to effectively teach science in the early years.
  2. Critical reflection on personal perceptions and beliefs about young children and science to demonstrate an awareness of the need for ongoing professional development in scientific teaching and learning.
  3. The advanced concepts, skills and processes that form the basis of science teaching, learning, moderation and assessment in the early years informed by previous research and best practice.
  4. Learning experiences to meet the diverse needs of children from different cultural backgrounds and with a range of abilities.
  5. Appropriate resources (including the ethical use ICT), materials and equipment to support planned experiences for a range of learning contexts including safe indoor and outdoor environments.
  6. Theories and practices in planning and preparing an active safe learning environment.
  7. Scientific language for children.
  8. Methodologies for planning, moderating, assessing and reflection using the most appropriate curriculum documents and guidelines relevant to their teaching setting.

Learning Experience

ON-CAMPUS

Students will attend on campus classes as well as engage in learning activities through ECU's LMS

JoondalupMount LawleySouth West (Bunbury)
Semester 210 x 3 hour seminarNot OfferedNot Offered

For more information see the Semester Timetable

ONLINE

Students will engage in learning experiences via ECU’s LMS as well as additional ECU learning technologies

Additional Learning Experience Information

A combination of lectures, workshops, guest speakers, videos, required readings and group and individually assigned work are used to achieve the unit outcomes. Students are required to become independent learners, who can adapt to the roles of practitioner or learner as they contribute to workshops as competent team members.

Assessment

GS1 GRADING SCHEMA 1 Used for standard coursework units

Students please note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further moderation. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant School Progression Panel.

ON CAMPUS
TypeDescriptionValue
AssignmentWriting a planning sequence40%
PresentationMaking and using a planning tool20%
ExaminationExam40%
ONLINE
TypeDescriptionValue
AssignmentWriting a planning sequence40%
PresentationMaking and using a planning tool20%
ExaminationExam40%

Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005)

For the purposes of considering a request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005), inherent requirements for this subject are articulated in the Unit Description, Learning Outcomes and Assessment Requirements of this entry. The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the support for students with disabilities or medical conditions can be found at the Access and Inclusion website.

Assessment

Students please note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further moderation. Informal vivas may be conducted as part of an assessment task, where staff require further information to confirm the learning outcomes have been met. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant School Progression Panel.

Academic Integrity

Integrity is a core value at Edith Cowan University, and it is expected that ECU students complete their assessment tasks honestly and with acknowledgement of other people's work as well as any generative artificial intelligence tools that may have been used. This means that assessment tasks must be completed individually (unless it is an authorised group assessment task) and any sources used must be referenced.

Breaches of academic integrity can include:

Plagiarism

Copying the words, ideas or creative works of other people or generative artificial intelligence tools, without referencing in accordance with stated University requirements. Students need to seek approval from the Unit Coordinator within the first week of study if they intend to use some of their previous work in an assessment task (self-plagiarism).

Unauthorised collaboration (collusion)

Working with other students and submitting the same or substantially similar work or portions of work when an individual submission was required. This includes students knowingly providing others with copies of their own work to use in the same or similar assessment task(s).

Contract cheating

Organising a friend, a family member, another student or an external person or organisation (e.g. through an online website) to complete or substantially edit or refine part or all of an assessment task(s) on their behalf.

Cheating in an exam

Using or having access to unauthorised materials in an exam or test.

Serious outcomes may be imposed if a student is found to have committed one of these breaches, up to and including expulsion from the University for repeated or serious acts.

ECU's policies and more information about academic integrity can be found on the student academic integrity website.

All commencing ECU students are required to complete the Academic Integrity Module.

Assessment Extension

In some circumstances, Students may apply to their Unit Coordinator to extend the due date of their Assessment Task(s) in accordance with ECU's Assessment, Examination and Moderation Procedures - for more information visit https://askus2.ecu.edu.au/s/article/000001386.

Special Consideration

Students may apply for Special Consideration in respect of a final unit grade, where their achievement was affected by Exceptional Circumstances as set out in the Assessment, Examination and Moderation Procedures - for more information visit https://askus2.ecu.edu.au/s/article/000003318.

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