RMPS – IDL Central

S2 pupils at Braes High School are coming close to the end of their Braes Anatomy interdisciplinary experience. This experience links science, social studies and RMPS through the context of vaccination – click here for more information about the whole project. On Monday 23rd March 2015, Yvonne McBlain joined S2.5 for their RMPS lesson with Mrs Menzies to see how things were progressing. Mrs Menzies gave a lesson entitled “Playing God or Doing Good?” where pupils developed their understanding of religious concerns regarding medical ethics.

During this lesson, the young people explored their thinking about a number of medical moral dilemmas such as: stem cell research, designer babies and “saviour siblings”. They began by considering their own views about these dilemmas, then created a table showing how these were viewed by major world religions.

Mrs Menzies highlighted the links between the subjects involved for her pupils and outlined their final essay task and homework. Yvonne was able to collect feedback from the young people about how this interdisciplinary work has/is making a difference to their learning:

“It’s good. It helps me understand it so you don’t forget about it so easily and understand it more.” TJ

“It’s alright. It feels like it’s carrying on a bit towards the end – the science bit and history.” Hannah

“I think it’s quite good that instead of doing separate topics for each subject, they’re getting a bit linked up. The science bit was the best because it was more interesting” Ellie

“It’s alright. Simple really.” Omar

“I really like it because you can take what you learn from RMPS and use it in science.” Alix

“It’s quite interesting and helpful when all of the subjects tie in together. It gives you a different understanding on each subject.” Elly

“It’s quite good because it links them all together and helps us gather information and use it different ways. It could be useful even if we don’t take these subjects – like, we can use it in other subjects.” Alana

These comments suggest that the young people value being taught in a connected way and can clearly say how this benefits their learning. Some of them are able to recognise the value and necessity of transferring knowledge and skills across learning.

Fiona Malcolm, Faculty Head of Social Subjects and RMPS at Braes HS worked with a range of colleagues to create an interdisciplinary unit of work entitled Braes Anatomy. Over the course of last session, all S2 pupils experienced connected learning across science, history and religious, moral and philosophical education. The theme which connected this learning was vaccination and its impact on society past and present. In science, pupils discovered how vaccination works with the body’s immune system, and in RMPS they explored the ethics of the ways in which vaccines are produced and used. During history lessons, pupils explored the pioneering role of Edward Jenner and his discovery of the first “vaccinations” as the cure for smallpox.

The overarching learning intentions for this connected learning were:

By the end of these courses, I will:

Be able to develop an understanding of medical knowledge and innovation in the past and present

Be able to develop an understanding of social, moral and ethical views on medical discoveries, past and present.

The project was launched during a history lesson, then each teacher taught their subject content discretely. Click here to see the introductory teaching presentation and here to see the final one for pupils. Pupils then used the 2 weeks leading up to their Easter holiday in their RMPS lessons to begin the task below – they completed this as a homework task. Click here to see the overall IDL homework task.

You are part of the original scientific team that discovered HPV. This is the most important scientific discovery on cancer research in the past 5 years. As such, your evidence is in demand. To keep your funding, you have to produce an article for Medical News Today sharing your findings on HPV.

You must consider the social, moral and ethical implications of your research, including the historical background.

One challenging element of the collaboration for staff was their shared responsibility for marking the pupils’ work. To help with this, each department prepared assessment guidance on their subject content – click here for science, here for history, and here for RMPS key learning points. Fiona and colleagues are still working on how best to manage the joint assessment and maintain their focus on teaching for deep understanding and higher order thinking in line with Curriculum for Excellence ideals.

Staff involved in the project are keen to develop it further this session because it obviously engaged pupils’ interest in all 3 subjects. By making the overlap between subjects evident to the pupils, staff increased the coherence and relevance of learning. Pupils have responded positively and enthusiastically, and can better appreciate how curricular learning in school is actually used and applied in an interconnected way in the workplace and by society. Despite the challenges of finding time to communicate and co-ordinate their work, Fiona and her colleagues have designed connected learning which uses an interesting theme to integrate effective assessment, and develop a shared set of skills, knowledge and understanding for their pupils.