Conclusion
Teaching science effectively is difficult but rewarding work. The difficulty stems from two sources. First, students in most science classes bring a wide range of prior knowledge, experiences, reasoning, and interests. Second, teachers must integrate the core body of
scientific knowledge and scientific inquiry in a way that does justice to both the aspects of science and their integration. Teachers’ rewards are rooted in knowing that students have learned as a result of their effectiveness as teachers. The key is principle #1: Teaching is a
purposeful means to help students learn. When students work hard but fail to learn, the teacher must accept a large part of the responsibility. Teachers must embrace the view that effective teaching means constantly being aware of and attending to students’ struggles
to learn science and continually adjusting their teaching strategies and techniques to help students work through difficulties. In doing so, teachers should set high learning expectations, focus on core scientific ideas, and aim for deep, integrated understanding of scientific inquiry
and the core body of scientific knowledge. To help students reach teachers’ aims and expectations, teachers must understand how learners actively construct new knowledge, as well as the complexity of the learning process, the importance of students’ interests, and
students’ potential anxieties and conflicts with science concepts. Another reward for teachers is knowing that their students are experiencing a sound education in science, one that prepares them for advanced studies and for their occupations and careers, and that also
helps students recognize the importance, usefulness, and value of science in their personal lives. An old proverb says that given a fish, one can eat for a day; taught to fish, one can eat for a lifetime. Think of effective science teaching as teaching learners to fish. Once learners come to understand and use scientific thinking to learn more about the world around them, they have become fishers with a lifetime thirst for knowledge and the skills
to seek and learn on their own.