Making Learning Stick - Science

Mrs Baghdasarian wanted to share the success of involving older students to demonstrate to the younger years and how it in turn made the Year 10’s learning stick.

“I am teaching them the Organ Systems, they are a new class.  In the past I have used a sheep’s pluck (actual internal organs of a sheep from the local abattoir) and it has always worked very well.  This time, I invited Amirah as our “Subject Expert” to come and demonstrate the dissection.  WOW, not only was I super impressed with Amirah’s knowledge and explanation but the response from the y10s was outstanding.  Amirah and I were super impressed with the questions they were asking and taking note of everything Amirah was saying.  They even asked Amirah tips on how to remember the content and how to answer application questions in the exam.  Having a “Subject Expert”, especially a grade 9 student who has recently completed her GCSEs and is applying to study Medicine, really made the learning stick.  Just wish we had recorded it!” – Mrs Baghdasarian.
“Having the opportunity to lead a dissection for a year 10 lesson was amazing; I was able to help students consolidate their understanding of biology as well as my own. Everyone was so engaged and asked any questions that they had, including ones regarding anatomy and revision methods to memorise physiology. Even people who may have not enjoyed seeing the dissection itself were involved in discussing the functions of organs and did their best to understand the importance of the lesson. It was such a fantastic experience, and I hope to participate similarly in other lessons again.” – Amirah, Year 13, Head Student.