The 5E Model
Pre-service science teachers are currently taught to use the 5E model for teaching. The 5Es are 1) Engagement, 2) Exploration, 3) Explanation, 4) Elaboration, and 5) Evaluation. The first two of these, engagement and exploration, are closely related to Dewey's philosophy. For engagement, the teacher should introduce the subject in a manner that gets the students to think, "Wow, I need to hear more about this." This relates to Dewey's ideas that learning should be meaningful and purposeful to students. For exploration, the classroom is divided into groups for the students to "cooperatively" learn. Although many people think that scientists sit in a lab all day by themselves, they also have to collaborate with colleagues for grant proposals, presentations, and ideas. This is closely related to Dewey's philosophy. He states: "the language instead is the simplest form of social expression of the child. Hence it is a great, perhaps the greatest of all, education resource" (p. 43). Explanation and elaboration do not fit into his philosophy because he wants the teachers to be facilitators and directors of instruction but content should not be "poured in". Evaluation, however, could be included in Dewey's idea of direction. He advises, "…let the child first express his impulse, and then through criticism, question, and suggestion bring him to consciousness of what he has done, and what he needs to do…" (p. 40).
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