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Hi all
My daughter is in Year 10 and is struggling with the science subjects - physics, chemistry and biology. Sadly, she seems to have inherited a large part of her Dad's incomprehension when it comes to the life scientific!
She's just done her mocks and clearly needs some specialist support & guidance which I'm just not knowledgeable enough to give her. I'd really appreciate people's thoughts on how best to help her.
Needless to say, my first port of call has been her school who, to their credit, are doing what they can in terms of one-to-one support & catch-up sessions etc.
She has actually asked me to get her a tutor who can cover all the various sciences which her school also suggested.
My gut says that what she needs is someone or a mechanism that can make the subjects intelligible to her in a way that makes sense to her. But, as I say, I'm the last person who understands how science subjects are best relayed, comprehended and learnt!
Any science people/teachers out there who can give me some insight and/or guidance?
All thoughts & ideas gratefully received!
Find out if she's a reader, a listener or a doer - Visual, Auditory on Kinesthetic learning preference.
That will help the tutor structure her learning into the one or two styles that "go in" the most.
Not a clue about Combined Science. I did mine 25 years ago when it was possible to get AA without really knowing anything...
I still don't understand what a Mole is.
The 'new' science gcse has a huge amount of content - too much to 'learn by rote'.
Understanding 'how science works'; being able to offer a balance argument; 'basic' numeracy and data handling are more important than just 'remembering important facts'
I would spend 3gpb on some old 'physics for you' 'chemistry for you'
Get a copy of the curriculum map and mix that in with "Freesciencelessons" on youtube - ('robot delivery' guy)
IMHO (gcse science teacher for many years) https://www.masteryscience.com/author/tony-sherborne/ has some of the best guidance for science education.
Please try some of 'that' before throwing monies a private tutors.
<edit - just saw Jim's reply - sorry but 'learning styles' has been largely discredited https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/mar/13/teachers-neuromyth-learning-styles-scientists-neuroscience-education - better off finding where a pupils 'at' and building on it - rather than going all out VAK> 😉
There are masses of very good revision tools on line.
Find out if she’s a reader, a listener or a doer – Visual, Auditory on Kinesthetic learning preference.
That will help the tutor structure her learning into the one or two styles that “go in” the most.
Learning styles is nonsense. Do not waste money on tuition based on quackery like this.
Science is simple when you understand the concepts, incomprehensible when you don't. For example, if you understand the concepts of force, mass, and acceleration, then the equation F = ma is obvious and it's also obvious why a =F/m. If that's not obvious, then you aren't understanding it at a conceptual level.
You have to master the foundational concepts before you can understand the higher level stuff. If you fall behind, the only way to catch up is to make sure you understand the foundational concepts and build upwards from there.
I would get a tutor in early doors - that way she stands a better chance of getting something useful out of school lessons. If somebody comes and seems poor then keep looking until you find a good fit.
Understanding ‘how science works’; being able to offer a balance argument; ‘basic’ numeracy and data handling are more important than just ‘remembering important facts’
Dont agree with this at all. Some very important maths skills and a bit of HSW is helpful but with the new GCSE's you just have to learn the stuff. Its a bullshit system but it is what it is. If you havent the knowledge you cannot hope to apply it.
I would also add that this year is the first time through the new 1-9 GCSE in science. We have no ****ing idea what any particular grade will look like. The new gcse is a lot harder, but I expect the grade boundaries will be a lot lower. What this means is your daughter school just like all the others have no real clue what grade she's on, its likely she is higher than they currently are predicting as all they can see is her finding it hard but thats because it is hard.
I think aqa maths last year, there first year 1-9, you needed 19% for a 4..which is equivalent to a low C.
There is a huge amount of stuff on the internet, some really good in explaining the principles and with tests so they can test themselves, see what they know and where they need to focus their attention. I confess to using sometimes to help my daughter with her science and maths as I've forgotten half of it!
Thank you very much for the responses so far - incredibly helpful.
A no. of you have pointed to online resources eg
There is a huge amount of stuff on the internet, some really good in explaining the principles and with tests so they can test themselves, see what they know and where they need to focus their attention.
and
There are masses of very good revision tools on line.
I'd be grateful for some links to stuff that the experts/practicioners in this field are actually use or think are good, relevant and helpful to someone who needs their basic 'foundation' skills & knowledge building and developing.
Thanks again for the advice & insight.
Get the full curriculum and go through point by point to see where you can find matches below. Nice explanations that both out of practice adults and children can use:
There is another example above too, in addition to a few other U.K. teachers on YouTube. Just pick the style you like and go for it.
http://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/science/steps-to-success-in-science/exam-techniques
Their 'place mats' cover key ideas and facts
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqbOeHaAUXw9Il7sBVG3_bw
a_a is correct about predicted grades and learning 'some' content but if you're going for higher than a L4 I still suggest other skills are more important than "just ‘remembering important facts’" see carrotgate 😉
http://filestore.aqa.org.uk/resources/science/AQA-GCSE-SCIENCE-EXAMS-EXPLAINED.PDF
Is she going on to do her A-Levels and uni?
If so then I'm guessing her subjects won't be science related therefore long term who gives a s**t?
I'm a teacher btw...!
I am in the middle of GCSE with my twins.
They found these useful
Video Lessons
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqbOeHaAUXw9Il7sBVG3_bw
/a>
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBgvmal8AR4QIK2e0EfJwaA
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMdb23cYgONtCG-zPaWigog
https://www.youtube.com/user/virtualschooluk
and for questions and past papers
http://www.physicsandmathstutor.com/
Hope it helps
we finish is 9 days ya
To everyone who's offered their views & advice and to those who've suggested online links & resources so far as well as your views & advice - a huge thank you.
As someone who has little idea how to differentiate good from average to unhelpful anything when it comes to science stuff, it's incredibly useful to have views and links from people who are in this arena.
Do people have a view about the worth or otherwise of using a science tutor? I'm agnostic but again, have no experience to go on. Some of my daughter's peers have private tutors in various subjects but, as has been pointed out, it's probably as much about 'fit' with my daughter's personality, learning approach and actually finding someone suitable if we go down that route. I have little idea where to start.
Any thoughts, personal experiences or advice?
We did Double Science and i was struggling a bit with a few things. My parents bought me some GCSE study guides and i went through them with the help of a bright mate (1996). I can't remember if i paid him or just bought him some bike parts/ beer later on. It must of worked as i ended up with two A's instead of C's as predicted.
It's been discussed above, but I'm definitely in the camp of understanding from the basics, not rote learning. The great thing about science and engineering is that there is a clear logical basis for everything, unlike (for example) languages. I'm not familiar with the GCSE syllabus, but basic understanding will always help, eg, Newton's Laws, conservation of energy and momentum, laws of thermodynamics, structure of the periodic table, etc. Anything that is difficult to understand, strip it back to principles and work out "why does it work like that?". The advantage of this is it's much less boring than rote learning. When you get into it, it's even possible to use the approach to work out the answer a question that was new to you.
Science is like maths. If you miss something out about the fundamentals, all your subsequent understanding is based on a wobbly foundation.
I find the internet a fantastic tool to help my kids. Sometimes, all it takes is a YouTube video of someone explaining the same topic in a different way from their teacher and the lightbulb comes on.
Does she want a career that needs the sciences? And when you say struggling do you mean not going to get a level 8 or 9, or won't even scrape a pass?
My daughter (also year 10) doesn't get science either, and like you I'm no use as I was rubbish at them as well (sort of did OK at biology). She is heading towards a grade 5 in combined science.
Our opinion is that we could push her massively to try and improve, but to what detriment to her other subjects? She may take extra tuition and get a grade higher, but she'll never be a grade 9.
Focus on what she is good at - with my daughter her English, French, Art, History, Food Science are her top subjects. Maths is to a good standard (lvl 6 or 7 on a good day).