Connectivity Theory at Work: The Referrals between Science and Mathematics in a Science Unit

Abstract

Researches carried out all around the world showed that students learn more effectively if they are able to make connections between subjects. This case reports based on an investigation of how mathematics concepts were connected to science concepts by a science teacher in an elementary science classroom, and on the science teacherâs views about connectivity. The progress of the instruction of a unit on the structure and properties of matter was observed in a class of forty eight students in a public school in Ankara. The science teacher was interviewed and her views were compared to her practice. The researchers undertook eight hours of observation, and data was collected through field notes and video-recordings. The findings showed that the teacher made connections between the topic and the mathematical components, such as the symbolic representations, arithmetic, counting, equations, the least common multiplier, and the distributive property of multiplication over addition. Although she thought that physics is more available for more connection when it compared to mathematics, we observed that many connections are possible in other areas of science as well.