Patterns of variation in teaching the colour of light to Primary 3 students LO MUN LING 1, *, PAKEY CHIK 1 & MING FAI PANG 2 1 Hong Kong Institute of Education, 10 Lo Ping Road, Tai Po, New Territories, Hong Kong SAR, China; 2 Faculty of Education University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong SAR, China (*Author for correspondence, e-mail: mllo@ied.edu.hk) Received: 24 September 2003; accepted: 21 September 2005 Abstract. This paper shows how the patterns of variation created in the teaching were critical in helping a class of Primary 3 students in Hong Kong to learn about the colour of light, so that the students attained conceptual rather than procedural knowledge. A ‘Learning Study’ approach was adopted, which is a Lesson Study grounded in a partic- ular learning theory to improve teaching and learning. This study, based on the learning theory of Variation advanced by Marton and Booth, was premised on three types of variation: variation in students’ ways of experiencing what is to be taught/learnt (V1), variation in teachers’ ways of dealing with the ‘object of learning’ (V2), and the use of ‘pattern of variation’ as a guiding principle of pedagogical design to enhance students’ learning (V3). In planning the lesson, a conscious effort was made to create relevant patterns of variation, i.e. varying certain critical aspect(s) while keeping other aspects of the object of learning invariant in order to help students to discern those aspects. Com- parison between the results of the pre- and post-test shows that there was significant gain in the students’ learning outcomes with respect to the intended object of learning. The findings contribute knowledge to how the Theory of Variation can be used in practice. It also illustrates how teachers can make use of this theoretical framework to analyze their own teaching and thereby, develop an analytical awareness of teaching and learning. Keywords: the teaching of the colour of light, lesson study, learning study, patterns of variation, improving teaching and learning Introduction Current research indicates that what teachers know and do has a direct impact on the quality of student learning (Ferguson & Ladd, 1996; Darling-Hammond, 2000; Muijs & Reynolds, 2000; Wenglinsky, 2000). Summarizing the conclusions of a number of meta-analyses on the ef- fects of curriculum reforms on student achievements, Pong and Morris (2002) argue that innovations in general aspects, e.g. those focusing on teaching styles or strategies, are of peripheral significance in exerting influence on student learning, and the crux actually lies in how teachers Instructional Science (2006) 34: 1–19 Ó Springer 2006 DOI 10.1007/s11251-005-3348-y