What ‘depth studies’ mean for student learning.

<h2 class&equals;"m&lowbar;-8497010433311979164MsoNormalCxSpFirst"><a name&equals;"m&lowbar;-8497010433311979164&lowbar;OLE&lowbar;LINK3"><&sol;a><i><span lang&equals;"EN-GB">Recent changes to the NSW Curriculum now require schools to include &OpenCurlyQuote;depth studies’ in science instruction for students&period; A depth study is any type of investigation&sol;activity that a student completes&comma; individually or collaboratively&comma; that allows the further development of one or more concepts found within or inspired by the syllabus&period;<&sol;span><&sol;i><&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"m&lowbar;-8497010433311979164MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><i><span lang&equals;"EN-GB">Jenny Murphy of Latitude Group Travel has been designing experiential learning programs for many years&period; School News contacted her to investigate what depth studies mean for student learning and engagement&period;<&sol;span><&sol;i><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"m&lowbar;-8497010433311979164MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><b><i><span lang&equals;"EN-GB"> <&sol;span><&sol;i><&sol;b><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"m&lowbar;-8497010433311979164MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><b><i><span lang&equals;"EN-GB">Industry view<&sol;span><&sol;i><&sol;b><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"m&lowbar;-8497010433311979164MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><b><span lang&equals;"EN-GB">Suzy Barry&colon; What is your view on the changes to the NSW Curriculum to include depth studies&quest;<&sol;span><&sol;b><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"m&lowbar;-8497010433311979164MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><b><span lang&equals;"EN-GB">Jenny Murphy&colon; <&sol;span><&sol;b><span lang&equals;"EN-GB">We have a strongly positive view of the inclusion of depth studies because they have a focus on learning scientific principles&comma; theories and laws&comma; and then applying them practically&period; We love the idea that instead of passively absorbing knowledge and learning about discoveries&comma; students will hopefully make discoveries of their own&period;  This will require a lot of adaptation for teachers&comma; but at the same time it will be exciting for them to see their students thrive and enjoy this different type of learning&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"m&lowbar;-8497010433311979164MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><b><span lang&equals;"EN-GB"> <&sol;span><&sol;b><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"m&lowbar;-8497010433311979164MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><b><span lang&equals;"EN-GB">SB&colon; Why is this type of learning important&quest;<&sol;span><&sol;b><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"m&lowbar;-8497010433311979164MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><b><span lang&equals;"EN-GB">JM&colon; <&sol;span><&sol;b><span lang&equals;"EN-GB">If the teacher chooses an experiential learning option such as fieldwork&comma; this will be a wonderful opportunity for students to really engage in an in-depth science study&comma; where they will learn all aspects of how to formulate a question&comma; collect data&semi; and prove or disprove their hypothesis&period;  These are the building blocks of science in the real world&period; Also&comma; instead of just learning scientific facts&comma; students learn the &OpenCurlyQuote;how’ and &OpenCurlyQuote;why’ about scientific investigations&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"m&lowbar;-8497010433311979164MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><b><span lang&equals;"EN-GB"> <&sol;span><&sol;b><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"m&lowbar;-8497010433311979164MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><b><span lang&equals;"EN-GB"> <&sol;span><&sol;b><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"m&lowbar;-8497010433311979164MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><b><span lang&equals;"EN-GB">SB&colon; What are some ways that students can be exposed to this sort of learning&quest;<&sol;span><&sol;b><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"m&lowbar;-8497010433311979164MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><b><span lang&equals;"EN-GB">JM&colon; <&sol;span><&sol;b><span lang&equals;"EN-GB">One of the best ways&comma; we believe&comma; is to undertake fieldwork &lpar;experiential learning&rpar;&comma; exposing them to real world investigations- and to then give them an understanding of how to formulate a hypothesis&comma; which they can use for their assessment task&period;  During the extra fieldwork time&comma; they can also collect data to use for their own depth study&comma; so the training and the opportunity to start their assessment task is available in the same exercise&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"m&lowbar;-8497010433311979164MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><b><span lang&equals;"EN-GB"> <&sol;span><&sol;b><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"m&lowbar;-8497010433311979164MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><b><span lang&equals;"EN-GB">SB&colon; What are the benefits of experiential learning&quest; What does the research say&quest;<&sol;span><&sol;b><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"m&lowbar;-8497010433311979164MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><b><span lang&equals;"EN-GB">JM&colon; <&sol;span><&sol;b><span lang&equals;"EN-GB">There is no doubt that the benefits of experiential learning are enormous&period;  It engages students much more than book learning as they are involved hands-on activities and&comma; planned well&comma; it engenders real educational outcomes that meet the needs of the curriculum&period; Equally&comma; it can expose students to experts in their field who can further inspire them to consider Science&sol;STEM careers in the future&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"m&lowbar;-8497010433311979164MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><b><span lang&equals;"EN-GB"> <&sol;span><&sol;b><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"m&lowbar;-8497010433311979164MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><b><span lang&equals;"EN-GB">SB&colon; How does the concept of depth studies prepare today’s students for the probability of a future their parents won’t recognise&quest;<&sol;span><&sol;b><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"m&lowbar;-8497010433311979164MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><b><span lang&equals;"EN-GB">JM&colon; <&sol;span><&sol;b><span lang&equals;"EN-GB">While in-depth studies have always existed&comma; the techniques and equipment being utilised in today’s real world are far more advanced&period;  By exposing students to what is being used in the real world&comma; we allow them to see what possible careers now exist that did not exist in the past&period;  What was once simple now requires complex investigations to reach the next level of scientific understanding and knowledge&period;<b><&sol;b><&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"m&lowbar;-8497010433311979164MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><b><span lang&equals;"EN-GB"> <&sol;span><&sol;b><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"m&lowbar;-8497010433311979164MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><b><span lang&equals;"EN-GB">SB&colon; Why do you believe that fieldwork is one of the best ways to undertake a depth study&quest;<&sol;span><&sol;b><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"m&lowbar;-8497010433311979164MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><b><span lang&equals;"EN-GB">JM&colon; <&sol;span><&sol;b><span lang&equals;"EN-GB">Research shows that getting students out of the classroom is key to getting them excited about what they are learning&comma; leading to greater absorption of knowledge and experiences&period; There is also a big push to increase the number of students going into STEM careers &&num;8211&semi; so what a great opportunity to open their eyes to what’s possible for their future&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"m&lowbar;-8497010433311979164MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span lang&equals;"EN-GB"> <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;