Singapore University of Social Sciences

Scientific Enquiry and Social Studies in an Integrated Curriculum

Scientific Enquiry and Social Studies in an Integrated Curriculum (ECE300)

Synopsis

There are three interconnected strands of knowledge introduced in ECE300: (a) creating an integrated and/or emergent curriculum for infants, toddlers and pre-schoolers; (b) enhancing children’s enquiring mind through meaningful science and social studies topics; and (c) exploring interactive strategies to engage children and scaffold their learning as independent learners and thinkers. In line with the sociocultural framework, this course also emphasises children’s investigative learning process, inclusivity, diversity and collaborative relationships.

Level: 3
Credit Units: 5
Presentation Pattern: Every semester

Topics

  • Creating an integrated curriculum and emergent curriculum
  • Balancing adult-initiated ideas and child-initiated ideas
  • Enquiring with infants, toddlers and pre-schoolers
  • Exploring strategies such as those found in the Project Approach and the Reggio Emilia approach
  • Selecting materials and setting up time and space for enquiry-based curriculum
  • Building a curious and collaborative classroom community
  • Selecting science and social studies concepts and materials relevant for different age groups
  • Working with children’s diverse interests and abilities
  • Working with families and communities
  • Assessing and documenting progress in enquiry-based projects
  • Integrating multimodal literacy and whole language learning
  • Encouraging children to use visual representations

Learning Outcome

  • Examine the challenges and benefits of putting into practice integrated curricula and/or emergent curricula in the Singapore context
  • Compare various approaches to creating integrated curricula and/or emergent curricula, including curricula developed based on the Project Approach and on the work in Reggio Emilia
  • Discuss the importance of promoting enquiry-based learning across age groups in the curriculum areas of science and social studies
  • Design, try out and assess the success of an enquiry-based learning experience with children
  • Plan science and social studies topics that would be relevant to Singaporean children across age groups
  • Illustrate how you could integrate science and social studies topics that would be relevant to Singaporean children across age groups
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