An aid for teachers to teach science and technology concepts: two studies to test the three-domain model

Helping teachers to move away from a linear approach to teaching, encouraging them to collect knowledge together with their students as well as providing them support to do this are the fundamental issues that this paper wants to explore. In this paper a pilot test of a model designed to help teachers’ plan and teach concepts in science and technology education is presented. The three-domain model (Koski et al. in Des Technol Educ Int J 16:50–61, 2011) suggests that while teaching science and technology lessons, teachers might benefit from paying more attention to three domains; social context, concrete object and abstract knowledge, and furthermore, constantly moving between these. Although the development of the three-domain model is based on real teaching situations, it is not self-evident that the model can be used as such in practice. Two teachers tested the model in their classrooms in order to see if the model helps them in planning a lesson, and if the teachers (and their students) benefit from the approach. The analysis is based on the pre- and post-lesson discussions with the teachers, lesson plans made by the teachers and observations made during the lesson. Analysis revealed that the teachers kept on looking for appropriate moments to bring more insights to the topic and they would have missed those moments without thinking in terms of the model. The model helped the teachers to seek for opportunities for the students to communicate their understanding. The use of the model also introduced them to a non-linear teaching method and to the profits of applying such. The study concludes that both teachers benefited from using the model; in their preparation of the lesson as well as during the lesson.