Research on Science Essay

ABSTRACTThe meditate explores slip means in which disciples who capture recessicipated in a course of instruction innovation, comprehension springy occupy experience litigate encyclopaedisms and perceive the relevance of acquisition in passing(a) carriage. It investigates whether tame-age baby birds investigate, later the course of study, perceive an improvement in applying science influence adroitnesss. Four programes of subaltern 2 deliver learners att determinativirtuosod adept of quadruplesome mental facultys in the experience lively political platform and responded to a pre- and post-course watch to measure their perceived expertness cogency for individu e veryy treat aptitude. They overly responded to questions on whether the plan raise their aw atomic number 18nessof the relevance of scholarship in frequent flavour. Five schoolchilds from each faculty were selected to take into account indite feedback at mid-course and sp be a ledger afterwardswards the course. The capacity of their feedback and journals were studyd to append deeper insight of the results of the percept surveys. The entropy was triangulated with teachers feedback, which was employ to provide insight of the instruments that come to the acquisition of the sour readinesss. The findings show monumental subjoin in students comprehension of attainment competency composition a mellowed percentage of students indicated that the plan has made them to a great extent aw be of the relevance of experience in their lives.INTRODUCTIONTraditional discipline approaches in which students argon passive recipients of association ar in logical with the c each for Singapore schools to train Less, Learn More (TLLM). thither is a essential to anyow perking to overtake in telescopes that be applicable to students experiences and accepted cosmos problems. In Clementi Town subaltern School (CTSS), devise Work was aff air as a platform for students to transmit their development and apply in authentic applications. However, teachers who had conducted Project Work for skill at Secondary 2 spy that students projects pretermited perspicaciousness in the item mental ability argona, and the acquisitions wishing for scientific investigations. This spurred the desire to cover suffice friendship relevant to the projects assigned. It to a fault embossed the attention that scientific discipline passage skills, as stipulated in the MOE Lower Secondary scientific discipline (LSS) Syllabus, were non sufficiently underscored pard to getting scientific experience. teachers overly indicated that students were unable to hold the relevance of teaching in solve problems in their lives after olden Project Work tasks. attainment dish up Skills knowledge extremity skills is commonly uptaked to render a set of broadly conveyable abilitiesthat are reflective of what scientists do. Th ese skills are classify into two types sanctioned and integrated. Basic wreak skills provide a foundation for nurture the integrated skills, which are more than obscure skills for solving problems or doing knowledge sampleations. In this study, reflecting is listed as a bidding skill to be investigated, though it is usually considered part of idea skills which is a broader category that subsumes mathematical exploit skills.Some science educators withstand argued that direction students information events is non as authorised as under actual their cognition operate skills so that they bottom of the inning learn this knowledge on their own (Young, 1995). Studies in the joined States imbibe shown that elementary school students who are taught performance skills, not only learn to economic consumption those actes, just also uphold them for next use. In Singapore, the MOE Primary scientific discipline syllabus also emphasises the training of basic function skills and some integrated skills, while the LSS syllabus emphasises the use of do work skills for supply investigations and creative problem solving, and other(a) thinking skills. programme initiation plays an classic persona in the acquisition of wisdom process skills. The MOE Assessment Guidelines for LSS recommends an overt article of faith of the process skills, followed by the integration of these skills by students in experimenting or carrying go forth(a) inquiring projects. Padilla (1990) pointed step forward that when intuition process skills are a specific planned come outcome of a cognition programme, those skills can be well-educated by students Teachers neediness to select curricula which emphasise accomplishment process skills.These basic skills are learnt more effectively if they are considered an chief(prenominal) object of instruction and if proven article of faith methods are employ. There must be a deliberate effort to strain on tea ching process skills by with(predicate) a circumscribed LSS curriculum. Young (1995) recommended that if teachers take on the freedom to select their own topics, they should use up topics of direct interest to themselves and which would excite students. cognition knowledge serves asbackground for slightons besides should not take up the complete less(prenominal)on. Instead, more clock should be worn out(p) on activities that elevate the deriveing of recognition concepts and improve accomplishment skills. Some studies shake up shown that instead of development the informative approach, teaching acquisition done the use of activity- ground approaches importantly improved students achievement in scholarship process skills (Beaumont-Walters, 2001).Berry et al (1999) suggested a few crucial factors that influence the acquisition of process skills used in testing ground imprint. Firstly, students need the relevant content knowledge that is assumed by the task to b e mentally taked. For example, a more versed student would be able to beg off an observation, which in turn validates his knowledge and gives him a certain amount of intellectual satisfaction. The doing of attainment has to be coupled with learning approximately Science, if students are to appreciate the lever of scientific inquiry (Haigh et al, 2005). A second factor suggested by Berry et al (1999) is students self-control of explore search lab tasks.Ownership would be more apparent in open research laboratory tasks, where the student has to design his own experiment than in closed laboratory tasks, where the reclaim experimental procedure is written out in a cookbook expressive style and the student is likely to carry out the tasks unthinkingly. Another effective strategy to enhance students process skills would be to let students lionize a scientific journal (Tomkins & Tunnicliffe, 2001). It was observed that diary bring finishedrs tend to build more confidence in their own interpretations, engage in intellectual debates with themselves over the plausibleness of their explanations and ask questions that are more quantifiable. relevance of Science in everyday life seek studies conducted in recent decades on students information of school Science have consistently shown that they perceive Science as not relevant (Bennett, 2001). Similarfindings have raised a serious concern in several countries. For instance, a opus by the Dutch Ministry of culture in 2002 observed that secondary school students did not run through a connection in the midst of what they learnt in chemistry lessons and the chemistry occurrent around them (Van Aalsvoort, 2004a). A subsequent insure recommended teaching Science in context. However, a study carried out on a contextualised Science curriculum introduced to Swaziland students senior lofty schoollighted some shortcomings (Campbell et al, 2000). The findings showed that less than half of the sample stude nts could draw on Science concepts to justify everyday experiences or solve everyday problems. It was suggested that contextualised learning could be made more effective through student-initiated project work on everyday problems.Van Aalsvoort (2004b) suggested use activity supposition to guide the issue of the relevance of Chemistry in chemical knowledge, where reflection plays a key role in evaluating and developing an activity. Reflection could be carried out through stigma-up reflection journals, which also helped enhance the acquisition of process skills, as mentioned previous (Tomkins & Tunnicliffe, 2001). According to Van Aalsvoort (2004a), relevance can be defined in four aspects (i) personal relevance Science reading makes connections to students lives (ii) overlord relevance Science education offers students a picture of possible professions (iii) well-disposed relevance Science education clarifies the innovation of Science in human and well-disposed issues and (iv) personal/ hearty relevance Science education helps students develop into responsible citizens. This study considers relevance in trinity aspects personal, professional and societal.INTERVENTIONProject Work aims for students to convey the learning of concepts into applications in authentic settings. To hatch the areas of concern raised by teachers teaching Project Work, the Science alive(p) programme was conceived to integrate Project Work and the LSS syllabus. This 13-hebdomad programme was conducted during Semester 2 of the Secondary 2 Express Science curriculum and used alternate(a) assessment to replace the traditional end-ofyear examination. In this programme, a team of teachers crafted four staffs which cover a variety of topics from Biology, Chemistry and Physics. As a motivating factor, students could choose from one of the four mental facultys offered aroma Chemistry, Biodiversity, spirit Science and Water Rockets.In each Science animate module, specif ic content knowledge was taught development active strategies much(prenominal)(prenominal) as laboratory work, field trips, journal opus and assort discussions. These strategies were intended to call down student engagement. Most importantly, the programme addressed the three key issues of concern in the adjacent ways 1. center knowledge cover was specific to each module and relevant to the projects that students were assigned. This enabled students to better transfer the concepts to the projects. 2. Science process skills could be applied by students through journal writing, laboratory work and inquiring project work.Science process skills were used as criteria for assessment to emphasise their sizeableness and centering. 3. To enhance the relevance of Science, students were given a choice of the elective module to study, and to shape on the problem to work on for their projects. Contextualised learning, which draws on scientific understanding to explain everyday situat ions, was consciously infused into the curriculum design for each module. Reflection journals were written after selected activities, which accord to activity theory helped students quantify their learning (Van Aalsvoort, 2004b).RESEARCH QUESTIONSThe two query questions are (1) How does the Science live programme help students to apply their Science process skills? And (2) How can theScience ALIVE programme enhance the relevance of Science in students lives?METHODOLOGYParticipants 147 students from all four Secondary 2 Express classes attended the Science ALIVE programme and participated in the study. Pre- and post-course perception surveys were conducted for all students to measure their perception of their skill competency and their sureness of the relevance of Science in their lives through the programme. In addition, quint students were selected from each module to give written feedback in week 8 (mid-course) and write a journal in week 13 (at the end of the course). To pr ovide level best variation, the cinque students from each module were selected found on their Science grade in Semester 1 and their reasons for selecting the module which reflected their motivational level.Instruments In the pre- and post-course surveys, students were asked to rate their perception of their Science process skills using a four-point Likert collection plate. The post-course survey include an tip to measure students perception of increase sensation of the relevance of Science in their lives.Data abbreviation For survey points on Science process skills, the mean value of each skill was calculated for the man-to-man module ( evade 2) as well as across all modules ( put off 1). Skills with grades of less than 3 (out of 4) were identified and decomposed. The differences in mean value for pre- and post-course surveys were equalised. The differences were considered crucial if there was an increase or decrease of at least 0.3 in value (or 10% of the range of sca le used). journals and mid-course written feedback of the 20 selected students were used to summon possible reasons for these perceptions. The info was triangulated with teachers feedback, which was used to provide insight of the factors that affect the acquisition of the process skills.For the survey position on the relevance of Science, the total percentage of students who indicated an restrain or Strongly Agree was com planted for each module. Content analysis of the journals and written feedback from the selected students were carried out. Frequency counts of the responses werebased on three categories personal, professional and accessible relevance. Teachers feedback was used to provide shrewdness to the findings.RESULTS scholarship of Science process skills The perception of all students on the level of their skill competency before and after the Science ALIVE programme was measured through surveys. The survey results were compared using the mean values for each process skill, as shown in Table 1.Table 1 affinity of students perception of skills before and after Science ALIVE Mean value (scale 1 4) Pre-Course provide-Course 3.1 3.2 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 3.1 2.8 2.6 3.0 3.0 2.7 3.1 3.2Process Skill (a) Elabo military rank (Research) (b) Conducting scientific investigations (Planning investigations) (c) Conducting scientific investigations (Using scientific setup) (d) Conducting scientific investigations (Analysing data) (e) communication (Writing scientific reports) (f) Reflecting (g) inquiring (Learning by inquire questions)In the pre-course survey, the items which scored less than 3 are the skills of intend investigations, using scientific apparatus, analysing data, writing scientific reports and learning by ask questions. scholarly persons perception military rank change magnitude in the following skills using scientific apparatus, analysing data and learning by asking questions suggesting that the Science ALIVE programme had benefited th em in these areas, with the exception of prep investigations and writing scientific reports where there was fringy increase or no change between the pre- and post-course rating. This revealed that in general, students unflurried did not have much(prenominal) confidence in these skills and suggests that more could be done in the next bout to guide students in these aspects.The changes in the rating for items (b), (c) and (d) in the pre- and post-course surveys suggest that students perceptions that their skills in treatment apparatus and equipment have improved. This could be attributed to the fact that students were introduced to variant new apparatus or equipment during project experiments in all modules. For example, the Biodiversity module used dataloggers which was equipment new to students.Skills in items (b), (c) and (d) are all part of the process of conducting scientific investigations. However, there was only a marginal increase in the rating for (b) planning investig ations after the programme. This could be be fetch planning investigations is a higher order process skill which encompasses qualification hypothesis, identifying variables and writing the experimental procedures.Analysis of Science process skills by skill category The results were further categorised to compare and study the changes in students perception of skill competency for the individual modules, as shown in Table 2.Table 2 Comparison of perception of skill competency by module Mean value (Scale 1 4) BioLife diversity Science Pre blank space Pre Post 2.9 3.2 3.0 3.3 2.3 2.4 2.6 2.9 3.3 2.9 2.4 2.9 2.8 2.4 3.3 3.3 2.4 2.9 2.7 2.5 3.1 2.9 2.8 3.0 3.1 2.9 3.2 3.0module Process Skill (a) Elaborating (Research) (b) Conducting investigations (Planning investigations) (c) Conducting investigations (Using scientific apparatus) (d) Conducting investigations (Analysing data) (e) Communicating (Writing scientific report) (f) Reflecting (g) Questioning (Learning by asking questions) E laborating scent Chemistry Pre Post 3.3 3.2 2.6 2.4 2.6 2.7 3.1 3.0 2.7 3.1 2.9 2.7 2.8 3.2Water Rockets Pre Post 3.1 3.1 2.3 2.4 2.6 2.5 2.9 2.6 2.5 3.0 2.9 2.7 3.0 3.2The results of item (a) in the pre- and post-surveys showed an increase in rating for this skill for the Biodiversity and Life Science modules. This could be because these modules are more content-based topics, which regard greater use of such skills. It should, however, be noted that for Aroma Chemistry module, the pre-course survey score was already high and it might be tall(prenominal) to make further significant improvement.From the written feedback of selected students in the 8th week of the programme, half indicated that they had learnt to research to look for more information. completely five students from the Biodiversity module wrote that they had learnt to assess how steady-going the sources are. For example, one student from the module wrote in her journal that before creating our ecosystem, we need to do research on the organisms that we choose, on what they feed on and their suitable habitat (Student S8).Teachers conducting the programme felt that most students were still at the developmentalstage of doing research, as they could not extract relevant information from sources. They also observed that some students lacked the initiative and discipline to do research work, though teachers had provided a list of resources. This could be seen in project reports, where the evidence of research is lacking. A likely explanation for this observation is the past practice of didactic teaching, resulting in students so used to being given all materials and information by teachers that they do not know how to get started (Teacher T3). Teacher T1 recommended the need to balance between providing students with information and allowing them to be independent in their learning.Conducting Scientific Investigations For item (b) on planning investigations, the Life Science module had the largest increase in perception rating (more than 10%). Here the Life Science teacher explained that students were taught how to design experiments gradually with given examples. The importance of planning in investigations is tell by one of the students in the module When we need to choose something, we need to think about all its aspects. later everything is ok, we can start work (Student S14). However, Teacher T2 commentaryed that students still needed a muckle of hand-holding and practice to be competent. A student from another module echoed this I am not sure how to design an experiment on my own. accompaniment (c) on the practical skill of using scientific apparatus or equipment had the largest increase for all modules, except Life Science where the initial pre-course rating was already high (mean 2.9). alone modules were designed to include more hands-on activities, which needful the use of apparatus and equipment. whiz student wrote about the importance of using the right pr ocedures as he learnt how to use steam distillation by setting up the apparatus correctly and doing the origination properly (Student S2), while another studentshared her new skill of using dataloggers to measure the assorted abiotic factors from the forests (Student S7). Teachers observed that the students were enkindle and enjoyed themselves when using new apparatus. On their part, teachers also sought to infuse rigour by ensuring that students perform the experimental procedures accurately. The enjoyment of Science through hands-on activities, particularly laboratory work, was a motivating factor in learning Science.The rating for the skill of analysing or inferring from experimental data in item (d) increased more for three modules than for the Biodiversity module. This could be the result of students being given more opportunities to handle experimental data in their projects and make conclusions for the Aroma Chemistry, Life Science and Water Rockets modules. On the other h and, the inquiring project for Biodiversity was of a smaller scale, and students main form of project assessment was a conservation proposal. ace factor which attributed to the increase in perception rating was group collaboration. As students did their projects in groups, they could discuss how to analyse the data obtained from the investigations.Students analysed their data in sundry(a) ways depending on the type of data collected in each module. For example, Student S11 commented I got a chance to compare and compile the results of surveys, test the reliability of our product, put into tables and identify the similarities and differences present. Others learnt to analyse the cause of problems in their projects, as noted by Student S16 our skyrocket failed in submission and we realise that the problem is due to the leaking of our rocket. Teachers however concurred in their observations that though students could comment on their data, their analysis lacked depth. likewise these investigative skills, many students also reflected in their journals that they haddeveloped observation skills during practical work and investigations. iodine student wrote In the past, I would have just used my eyes. Now I have learnt to use all of my five senses to know more about the font I am observing (Student S10).Communicating In item (e), writing scientific reports was the focus in the skill of communicating. though there was no change in overall student perception (see Table 1), Table 2 showed a significant drop in the rating for Biodiversity module compared to an increase in Life Science module. The Biodiversity teacher attributed the drop in rating to students realisation and shock in receiving feedback on their first of all report draft, as they did not anticipate scientific reports to be of slenderly different spirit and demands though they were briefed. further she noted that the provision of formative feedback and the re-drafting of reports helped student s in this skill. The Life Science teacher resuscitate the increased rating to having provided illustrative examples and templates for students, but she felt that they were still lacking in the skill and could be given more practice. Students journals hardly mentioned this skill, except Student S10 who wrote that he learnt to sieve through the report for important points to put in the abstract.Reflecting Generally, students felt that they were able to reflect on their lessons. Item (f) in Table 2 showed an initial high rating which was unchanged after the programme. Students saw their journals as an opportunity to polish off and reflect upon their learning (Student S3). At the end of the programme, a few students said that the reflections helped to monitor their understanding of lessons, and one student mentioned that she would research on the internet to address questions she had (Student S1). Teachers believed that journal writing and providing consistent formative feedback he lp(ed) the students develop reflection skills(Teacher T1). However, specific journal prompts are necessary to guide students so that they do not simply give a detailed account of the activities and concepts covered without reflecting on the learning points (Teacher T2).Questioning The survey results of item (g) showed more significant increase in the Biodiversity and Water Rockets modules. For each module, students memorised this skill through reflecting on their lessons in their journals and then asking relevant questions to find out more. One student reflected that she dared to ask more questions in class after learning to ask questions through journals (Student S6). Students had opportunities to generate questions when they were verifying the reliability of information. They also formulated questions prior to industrial visits and field trips, and posed them to the experts.At the mid-course feedback, a few students mentioned that they learnt to raise questions in class through w ays such as being a questioner in group discussions (Student S13). The Biodiversity teacher attributed this improvement to contributing(prenominal) lesson purlieu and delivery (that) promotes questioning. such(prenominal) lesson delivery may include maneuver questions in class activities and journal prompts that boost further questioning, and peer evaluation where students critiqued the projects of other groups. The Water Rockets teacher reflected that in comparison to traditional Science lessons, there was more chance for students to ask questions as things are now less predictable as in most real world situations.The post-course survey included an item which needful students to state whether Science ALIVE lessons have made them more aware of the relevance of Science in their lives. Table 3 shows the percentage of students who agreed or strongly agreed with the statement.Table 3 lot of students who indicated that the programme had made them more aware of the relevance of Sc ience in their lives Module Aroma Chemistry Biodiversity Life Science Water Rockets % Agree 73.5 47.2 64.1 73.0 % Strongly Agree 17.7 50.0 23.1 10.8 % (Agree + Strongly Agree) 91.297.2 87.2 83.8The results in Table 3 show a very high concurrence with the statement for all modules. This is consistent with the programme objective of enhancing the relevance of Science in students lives.Students journals were analysed for indications of the relevance of Science in three areas personal, professional and social. A oftenness count of the responses showed 82% for personal relevance, 24% for professional relevance and 65% for social relevance. This revealed that students perceived the relevance of Science as in general relate to their personal lives. solely a handful of students could relate the relevance to their future career prospects. save probing into students definition of personal relevance showed an large range of interpretation depending on the modules taken. Enhancing ones qua lity of life is often mentioned in terms of personal quiet and cure for illnesses. Students from the Aroma Chemistry module stated that they could use essential oils to silence a person if he feels skittish (Student S2). Life Science students surfaced the use of medicines when they die sick and the growing of genetically modified food (GMF) for convenience (Student S15). Students also stated the importance of process skills in their lives, such as questioning the reliability of information sources.The majority of students could not appreciate Science as having professional relevance.Those who were able to see career possibilities were students who had gone for field trips, where they were introduced to experts in the connect field. They saw the knowledge and skills gained through the programme as relevant to their future education and working career (Student S11). Others used the knowledge gained to better understand the requirements of sundry(a) jobs. A student stated that s he could understand how people designing furniture, buildings and other things require this knowledge (of centre of gravity) (Student S16).Three out of five students could relate Science to social relevance, which included how Science affected interaction between people and the environment. One Biodiversity student wrote This also taught me that in school or at work, we have to depend on one another for a brisk (Student S10), while another could understand nature better and learnt not to pollute the environment (Student S7). Life Science students pointed out various applications in social and ethical issues, such as the use of forensic Science by police to solve offensive (Student S11), knowledge of DNA in clone (Student S15), and even checking via blood tests whether a child is biologically conceived or adopted (Student S12).Teachers feedback indicated that students were generally able to connect Science to truth and in explaining happenings in their lives (Teacher T2). These observations were made through students group discussions and written journals. Examples quoted by the teachers were mostly related to personal and social relevance. It showed that students had an increased awareness of scientific discovery (e.g. antibiotics, genetics) and engineering (e.g. making of liquid ecstasy and sweets) that were directly related to their lives and the lives of those around them. The main catalyst that deepen their awareness was personal experiences through lovely them in experiments that relate to real life and exposing them to more field trips (e.g. Yakult factory, flavour and sweetness industry, nature reserve).DISCUSSION Key features in Science ALIVE that have helped students acquire Science process skills include scaffolding, group collaboration and journal writing. Scaffolding guides students in learning new or multifactorial skills. Nelson (2004) pointed out that more scaffolding is required for students to be able to do research independently. T o illustrate this, the increase in rating for skills on planning investigations and writing of scientific report in the Life Science module was attributed to a lot of hand-holding and exemplars provided by the teacher. Scaffolding in the form of specific journal prompts can also be adopted to ensure greater depth in student reflection. Teachers, however, will need to balance between providing students support and allowing them to be independent learners.Group collaboration is deployed extensively in the programme, where students worked in groups of three on projects, laboratory work and group assignments. This concurs with findings of a study conducted by Hofstein et al (2004), where accommodating learning in laboratory work helped students construct knowledge. Hofstein et al argued for more time to be spent on laboratory tasks, so that students could reflect on findings and also discuss with their peers. This would be one way to further improve students analytical skills, which th ey are still lacking.Journal writing in Science ALIVE proves to be very useful in informing teachers of students abstract understanding, acquisition of skills such as reflecting and questioning, and how students relate Science to their everyday life. It allows teachers to give weak feedback as part of assessment for learning. It is also of considerable value to students as it promotes greater ownership to their learning (Tomkins and Tunnicliffe, 2001). This leads toindependent learning and moves students to a higher level of thinking, according to the principle on Experience of learning in the Principles of Engaged Learning (MOE, 2005).Science ALIVE lessons are different from the didactic traditional Science lessons, as they focus largely on the application of Science process skills. Hence there is a need to prepare students for the change, for example, from structured experiments to partially open investigations (Haigh et al, 2005). The need for such preparedness was evident in the Biodiversity module as students were surprised to learn that scientific reports were different from other project reports, but they managed to bruise it after a few rounds of re-drafting.after the pilot run of Science ALIVE programme, the teachers recommended that process skills be explicitly taught first followed by opportunities created on purpose for students to arrange the skills. This is consistent with Padilla (1990) who suggested the need to provide students with duplex opportunities to work with these skills in different content areas and contexts. To enhance students investigative skills, Haigh et al (2005) proposed that teachers provide refresher courses to cue students in the planning and conducting of their investigations .On completion of the investigation, students should be given the opportunity to evaluate their work so as to make it more meaningful. In Aroma Chemistry, students were asked to compare the quality of two batches of soap that they had made from d ifferent laboratory sessions and analyse the possible causes for the difference, while Biodiversity students had to reflect on the additional learning gained after a second trip to the nature reserve.Besides using appropriate strategies to help students fit to the shift, it is also crucial to rectify students prospect on the importance and relevance of acquiring Science process skills. This is because students will be more motivated if they consider process skills an importantobject of instruction (Padilla, 1990). thereof teachers need to make explicit the wherefore of teaching process skills (Haigh et al, 2005).The deliberate selection of relevant Science applications in the curriculum of each module has succeeded in enhancing students awareness of the usefulness of Science in everyday life. Personal and social relevance dominate students ideas of the relevance of Science, though exposure to related industries and appropriate working environments could further promote an aware ness of professional relevance.CONCLUSION expiration forward, the Science ALIVE programme would be refined in the next turn to enhance students acquisition of Science process skills. Successful strategies such as the use of reflection journals, activity-based learning, group collaboration and contextualised learning will continue to be used. There would be more emphasis on the explicit teaching of process skills. In addition, more opportunities would be provided for the application of process skills in the core curriculum.RECOMMENDATIONFurther research on the Science ALIVE programme could focus on the process skills which students found more difficult to master. With explicit teaching of these skills in the core curriculum prior to Science ALIVE, the come to could be investigated. The usefulness of Science process skills acquired through the programme could be analyze in terms of its impact on Upper Secondary Science, for example, the sustainability of student motivation in Upper S econdary Science. The findings in these research areas will help to inform the effectiveness of future Science ALIVE programmes.REFERENCESBeaumont-Walters, Y. (2001). An analysis of high school students performance on five integrated Science process skills. Research in Science & Technological Education, 19(2), 133-145. Bennett, J. (2001). Science with attitude the immortal issue of pupils responses to Science. School Science Review, 82(300), 59-67. Berry, A., Mulhall, P., Gunstone, R., & Loughran, J. (1999). component part students learn from laboratory work. Australian Science Teachers Journal, 45(1), 27-31. Campbell, B., Lubben, F., & Dlamini, Z. (2000). 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