EPR 2203 Assessment 2 - Essay

5ES instructional model

5ES model is a "constructivist model which provides learning a new concept or

comprehension deeply a known concept" (Tuna, 2013). That means students will use
their prior knowledge to make sense of the new information and connect them with
their previous experiences. The 5Es describe five stages for teaching and learning
which are Engage, Explore, Explain, Extend (or Elaborate), and Evaluate those
sequences are used to ensure that students depend on themselves to collect
information and set explanations. The first one who used this method was Roger
Bybee then it's developed by the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study. The 5E
model has been used since the 1980s for all ages and levels in the United States.
(Bybee, 2006)

In this essay, I will identify the 5E Instructional Model briefly by including

information about the history of this model. Furthermore, I will describe the method,
how it works, the teacher and the student roles, the techniques and examples from my
teaching practice. Also, I will discuss the benefits and limitations of the 5ES. Finally,
I will give my opinion about the use of this method in UAE schools.

Before you begin learning new things, you must be aware of what you already know.
Therefore, the first thing a teacher should do is to help students identify what they
know about the subject. Students should be led to think about particular problems and
should be encouraged to brainstorm by sharing their ideas. All these steps occur in the
first phase which is Engagement stage, "The purpose for the engage stage is to
pique student interest and get them personally involved in the lesson, while pre-
assessing prior understanding" (The 5E Instructional Model, 2017). Students are not
judged even if their answers were wrong. Students are encouraged to leave question
marks in their minds. Moreover, the teacher can motivate students to investigate their
ideas through question marks left in their minds. (Primary connections, 2017) At the
same time, the teacher can monitor students' readiness and can increase the motivation
of students to learn. Therefore, by exciting student interest, the teacher prepares them
for the next stage. The teacher shows the following picture of the students on the
screen and asks the prepared questions. The objectives of these questions are to
determine whether the students know the subject of the lesson or not. In my teaching
practice, I taught them science lesson about survival, which is how animals adapt to
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different environments whether animals can find their diet, how animals can protect
themselves and defend their children. I asked them some of the questions that relate to
them like how you can protect yourself from the sun's lights. The answers were as
follows (wearing sunglasses, wearing shoes to protect our feet, and carrying the
umbrella). Then to find more so they can link the previous answers with current
answers. I asked them why we protect ourselves from the sun. The answers were it
dangerous, and it can burn our skin. After we were done the discussion, I give each
group lion, hedgehog, chameleon picture, here where the lesson started.

Second phase is Exploration phase, at this stage, the teacher provides an environment
where students discuss between them and try to find answers to questions in their
minds formed in the previous step. The aim of exploration stage is "to establish
experiences that teachers and students can use later to formally introduce and
discuss concepts, processes, or skills."(Bybee, 2006). The teacher walks among
students, observing them and asking if they have questions. Students are provided
with some opportunities to build themselves knowledge in question. At this stage,
using the intended materials, students try to reach the target knowledge. Students are
required to work in a group and are given enough time to complete activities. Students
create ideas and take notes on worksheets. (The 5E Instructional Model, 2017). After I
distributed the bowels, sand, animals pictures, rocks, and artificial plants. I asked
them to create an environment for one animal. For example group one chose the lion
so that they will have to pour the sand in the bowel, they will place the plants and the
picture of the lion. While they were working I was walking around them to guide and
help them.

Third phase is Explanation stage means an act or process where the concepts,
methods, or skills become clear and understandable. The explanation process
provided students and teachers with the common use of terms for the learning
experience. At this stage, the teacher draws the student's attention to specific aspects
of participation and exploratory experiments. Explanations are ways to request and
give a supporter language for examining experiments, for example, particular skills
that teacher would like to confirm. The teacher must take the first part of this stage on
explanations of student's link explanations to experiences in and stages of
participation and exploration in the educational model. The key to this phase is
concepts and current skills briefly, simply, directly, and then continue to the next
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stage. (Bybee, 2006). During my teaching practice, I asked for evidence and
clarification from the student like why do you think the lion can use his teeth to
protect himself and why it's essential for the other animals to protect themselves from
the lion. Then I use students previous experiences as a basis for explaining concepts.
Also, l encouraged the students to explain concepts and definitions in their own
words.

The fourth phase is Elaboration, stage "In this phase, students can practice their new
knowledge, suggest solutions, create new problems and make decisions and/or
introduce logical implications" (Tuna, 2013). Once students have an explanation, it is
essential to be involved in other experiments that apply or expand or develop concepts
or skills. The activities provide more time and expertise that contribute to learning.
The students present and defend their approaches to the instructional task. The
purpose of this discussion is to complete the missing information. (Bybee,
2009).Students get information from each other. Note that interactions within student
groups are used as part of a mode processor. Group discussions and collaborative
learning situations provide opportunities for students to express their understanding of
the subject and receive feedback from others who are very close to their level of
knowledge. (Balci, Cakiroglu and Tekkaya, 2006). During the activity, I expect from
the student to apply the concepts, skills and the vocabulary to the new situations. For
example, when they are creating the animal's environment they should know where
they will hide the chameleon according to the word (camouflage).

The final stage is Evaluation it's encourage the students to assess their understanding
and capacity stage and provides opportunities for teachers to assess students' progress
towards achieving educational goals. In the evaluation phase, you can assess students'
understanding of concepts and competence with different skills. You can use a variety
of formal and informal procedures to assess conceptual understanding and progress
towards learning outcomes. Evaluation stage also provides an opportunity for students
to test their understanding and skills. Although the fifth stage is dedicated to
evaluation, a skillful teacher evaluates throughout the 5E model, constantly checking
to see if students need time or instruction to learn key points in the lesson. (Bybee,
2014).Methods of doing so includes open questioning, teachers' checkpoints, and
class discussions. Each lesson in a perfect image of science also includes formal
assessment lessons such as a written contest or a poster session. (The 5E Instructional
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Model, 2017). To finish the activity I observed and assessed the students as they apply
new concepts and skills. Also, I asked them open-ended questions, for example, how
can the lion find foods in the forest?

The advantages of this model are this method can be applied to all grades level with
different subjects. It's very different from the traditional form of lectures or teaching
way. Another advantage it is a hands-on, minds-on teaching method based on Piaget's
developmental model of intelligence that makes the students reflect on their own
reasoning. "The students in the learning cycle group have the opportunity to
explain, to argue, and to debate their ideas, which allows them to accommodate the
concept". (Balci, Cakiroglu, and Tekkaya, 2006). On the other hands, the disadvantages
would be. First, the traditional roles of teacher and student are almost invariably
reflected in model 5E. The student takes on a lot of responsibilities such as building
knowledge through discovery. In traditional forms the teacher is responsible for the
information that students learn. Second, the teacher acts as a guide she asks questions,
provides opportunities for exploration, and request evidence to support the student,
and these steps take a lot of time. (Bybee, 2006)

In conclusion, the 5E model aims to simplify the process of conceptual change. Using
this model will brings flexibility to different teaching strategies, provides links
between educational activities and experiments, and helps science teachers especially
to make decisions about interacting with students. The 5ES model can be a useful
method for teachers to use in UAE's schools. It gives the students opportunity to
reflect themselves. It has a growing base of research and it has an impact on
independent learning. I think this method would be a great solution for the teachers to
use. It will help me to organize my lesson step by step and it will change the
traditional way on teaching. Student really enjoy with hands on activity and using
different materials instead of books and worksheet. As a future teacher I will always
apply this method in my lessons.

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References

Bybee, R., Taylor, J., Gardner, A., Scotter, P., Powell, J., Westbrook, A. and Landes, N.
(2006). The BSCS 5E Instructional Model: Origins and Effectiveness. [online]
uteach.wiki.uml.edu. Available at:
https://uteach.wiki.uml.edu/file/view/UTeach_5Es.pdf/355111234/UTeach_5Es.pdf.

Balci, S., Cakiroglu, J. and Tekkaya, C. (2006). Engagement, exploration, explanation,

extension, and evaluation (5E) learning cycle and conceptual change text as learning
tools. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education, [online] 34(3), pp.199-203. Available
at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/bmb.2006.49403403199/full

Nasaeclips.arc.nasa.gov. (2017). The 5E Instructional Model | NASA eClips. [online]

Available at: https://nasaeclips.arc.nasa.gov/teachertoolbox/the5e.

Tuna, A. (2013). The effect of learning cycle model in teaching trigonomerty on student's
academic achievement and the permanence of their knowledge. International Journal on New
Trends in Education and Their Implications , 73-80.avaliable at:
http://www.ijonte.org/FileUpload/ks63207/File/07.tuna.pdf

Tural, G., Akdeniz, A. and Alev, N. (2010). Effect of 5E Teaching Model on Student
Teachers Understanding of Weightlessness. Journal of Science Education and Technology,
[online] 19(5), pp.470-488. Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/40864057.pdf.

Primaryconnections.org.au. (2017). 5Es Teaching and Learning Model -

PrimaryConnections: Linking science with literacy. [online] Available at:
https://primaryconnections.org.au/about/teaching.

Bybee, R. (2009). The BSCS 5E Instructional Model and 21st Century Skills. [online]
pp.5-8.Avaliable at:
https://sites.nationalacademies.org/cs/groups/dbassesite/documents/webpage/dbasse_0
73327.pdf.

Bybee, R. (2014). Guest Editorial: The BSCS 5E Instructional Model: Personal

Reflections and Contemporary Implications. Science and Children, [online] 051(08).
Available at:
http://schd.ws/hosted_files/cabe2017/da/5E%20instructional%20Model%20R.%20By
bee%20NOTES.pdf.

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