Bachelor of Education, Primary Education (EPR) EPC3903
Table 4: An interview with a Primary School science coordinator
Sample interview questions for the Principal and/or
science coordinator/teacher re: science provision in
the setting.
Is there a science coordinator and/or how many
1 specified science teachers are there in the school?
 What are the duties/responsibilities of the
science teacher/coordinator?
 Does she teach any, all students or just specific
year groups?
 Obtain a teaching schedule and any schemes of
work, lesson plans, software used etc. from the
science coordinator/teacher.
2 Who is responsible for science policy and provision
within the setting?
(Can we obtain a copy of the policy?)
3 Online/Blended Learning:
 Does the setting have its own website? If so,
what is the URL, who created it and who is
responsible for managing and updating it?
 Is there any online/blended learning taking place
related to science? If so, how is this delivered?
 What ICT resources are used specifically for
teaching science?
Responses from the Principal and/or science
coordinator/teacher re: science provision in
the setting.
- There is team leader for grade 1 and 2
which is responsible of both science and
math. And there is science HOD who's
responsible of the rest of the grades. There
are 10 science teachers and 1 lab technical.
-There duties of the science HOD and the
science leader team are the same, for
instance, they plan for weekly meeting with
science teachers to discuss with them about
the students progress and listen to the
teachers comments and recommendations ,
they provide for the science teachers the
needed materials or anything is needed, they
record the students performance in science
subject to analyze the data that they collect.
The science teacher duties are the same as
other subjects teachers.
- The science teachers are divided into biology
teachers, chemistry teachers and physics
teachers and they can teach any grade not
just specific grade.
The science policy and provision is in progress and they still working
on it and it will be aliened to school vision. But at this time all the
science work and activities are created based on the school vision
and mission.
-Until now the school didn't provide a website for
the science subject. But the school has a website
and accounts in the social media.
- yes there is, from grade 1 to 8 they have the
online resources and the think central, while the
grades from 9 to 12 they have the HRW resources.
Moreover, they use a verity of online tools and
websites to develop the learning process such as
lekert, prezi and kahoot.
-They have basic ICT resources such as, laptops,
computers, projector, speakers and smart boards.
They don't have special science it resources.
4 What science equipment/manipulatives/resources can
be found the setting? (Is there a list? Differentiate between the
classroom; the science lab and other areas in the setting e.g. library)
 Is there a budget for materials?
 Who trains teachers and staff in the use the
equipment?
 Who manages the equipment and materials?
5 Is/Are there dedicated science labs in this setting?
 If yes, how is it used and by whom? How is it
organised? What equipment can be found here?
 If no, why not? e.g. lack of funds? No need?
Enough science equipment and expertise in each
classroom?
 Does the setting feel it has enough specialist
science teachers, technicians and dedicated
science rooms?
6 Which science resources does the setting feel it needs or
would like to have to achieve its vision or better science
teaching and learning?
 e.g. Science Kits, books, wifi,
manipulatives/models, digital
cameras/camcorders, lab equipment OR soft
materials (consumables- colored paper, glue,
popsicle sticks etc.).
7 What are the safety rules?
 Are the safety rules posted in the science setting?
 Who developed these and are they
mandatory/enforced?
8 What safety equipment is available and when is it used
commonly?
 Is safety equipment available for all students in
the classrooms?
 Is equipment cleaned, if so by whom? Who
manages this duty?
9 Planning for learning- how are the science lessons
planned for in the setting?
 Does the MOE/Zone/KHDA provide unit
plans/lesson plans? (can we obtain a copy of
- They have a budget for the science
department to provide the materials.
- The HOD snd the lab technical teach and
practice the teacher using the new
equipments.
- The HOD snd the lab technical manages
the equipment and materials.
-There are three science labs
- there are two labs for the grades 1 to 6 and
in each one of these labs we can find the
materials of chemistry or physics. While the
third lab is for grade 7 to 11 and you can find
materials of biology.
- Yes the setting is fine and has enough
science teachers, technicians and labs.
-Yes they need science kits such as STEM kits
but with more detailed instructions and
guidelines so the student can understand it
and work on it independently.
- She think that this question has no limit
because even if she have all the materials but
also she want to bring more and more in
order to develop and provide many learning
sources.
- yes they have the rules on posters in the
laps.as well as they have books about the
safety rules.
- yes there is safety equipments in the
classroom and the labs as well.
-yes, the school cleaners clean these
equipments.
- They follow the science standards and they have
form which is related to the school policy.
- The have weekly meeting every Thursday in the
6th period. In the meeting she do three main things
which are, deliver all the informations that are
from the admin, give them regular instructions
 this?)
 Are there weekly planning meetings? What is
usually done in the planning meetings?
 Who attends the planning meetings?
 Does the school have specific goals related to
science (TIMMS scores etc.)?
1 How is learning assessed in the science classroom?
0 saved from previous years in order to get the
 Is there an assessment plan for the semester?
What does it include?
 Do teachers collect student data? What data,
when, and what is it used for?
 How do students get feedback so that they can
make improvements?
1 What science professional development / training do
1 teachers currently receive or have recently had?
 How frequently and from whom did they /are
they receiving this?
 Do they have a document that outlines this PD?
 What PD do they think teachers in the setting still
need?
like what they have to do or what she expect from
them or discussing the deadlines of specific things
and the third thing, is if there is any issue or
concern they can discuss it.
- All the science teachers are required to attend the
meeting.
-yes they have action plans.
-The data is a huge world, the data must be
advantage of it. Taking data start when the
student enter the school and take the
diagnostic test, then the grade is taken and
transferred to percentage. So in the begging
of the year she know the students level and
abilities and then at the end of the semester
the midterm grade will be as percentage and
they will compare the diagnostic test
percentage with the midterm percentage
which will help to determine the progress and
compare between the students performance
as well as it help to plan for next steps
according the students needs.
- The students and their parents can take
feedbacks from the reports. As well as the
parents may get feedbacks about their
children's in the parents night or meeting.
-At the begging of the year they give the new
teachers the PD form and see if she need to
develop her skills as a teacher. At the
beginning of the year there are many teacher
with PD because they are new teachers.
T- Yes the school has a PD plan.
-They need to improve their technology skills,
because we want to involve the students in
using technology in the classroom.
 Bachelor of Education, Primary Education (EPR) EPC3903

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TP Guide for EPC3903 (EPR) Practicum 3bYear Three, Semester Two / 2017-18 /