- Teacher Interactions with a Vigyan Pratibha Learning Unit
Chaitanya Ursekar
Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, TIFR, Mumbai, India*
chaitanya@hbcse.tifr.res.inThe Vigyan Pratibha programme at HBCSE seeks to nurture students’ interest in science and mathematics. The programme revolves around modular, activity-based instructional plans, called learning units (LUs). Teachers from participating central government schools are familiarized with the LUs at workshops at HBCSE, after which they voluntarily conduct them with their students. It is also expected that this may lead to teachers’ professional development through the experience of transacting new teaching-learning materials. However, the literature suggests that teachers’ use of teaching-learning materials is not a straightforward matter. Teachers may face challenges in effectively using new teaching-learning materials that may affect learning outcomes (Davis, Janssen & Van Driel, 2016).
In the context of this larger problem, I characterize a teacher’s enactment of a Vigyan Pratibha LU called “Is there protein in those grains?”. My data includes a pre-enactment interview with the teacher, observations of enactment, and a post-enactment reflective interview with the teacher. I analyze this data using the curriculum strategy framework put forth by Sherin and Drake (2009). The framework suggests three kinds of teacher-curriculum material interactions – reading, evaluation, and adaptation. I highlight instances of these three in the teacher’s use of the learning unit. In particular I describe the challenges faced by the teacher as a result of adaptations (both intended and unintended) that were made to the unit. I also identify provide an account of the teacher’s reflections on and learning from having enacted the unit.
Lastly, as a designer of the learning unit, I also highlight opportunities for student learning that emerge due to the teacher’s modifications.
References:
Davis, EA, Janssen, FJJM, & Van Driel, JH. (2016). Teachers and science curriculum materials: Where we are and where we need to go. Studies in Science Education, 52(2), 127–160.
Sherin, MG, & Drake, C. (2009). Curriculum strategy framework: Investigating patterns in teachers’ use of a reform‐based elementary mathematics curriculum. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 41(4), 467–500. - Undergraduate Biology Students Illustration of Experimental Design of Simple Model Systems
Meena Kharatmal1, Mayur Gaikwad2, Aashutosh Mule3
1Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education
2Elphinstone College
3Centre for Excellence in Basic Sciences
meena@hbcse.tifr.res.in 1; mayur2604@gmail.com 2; aashutosh.mule@gmail.com 3Experimental competencies such as asking questions, designing experiments, observing, disseminating results, forms a crucial part of learning for biology students. The objective of this preliminary study is to explore undergraduate students’ formulating of experimental design of simple model systems during experimentation. Students worked in groups on three assays of fruit fly, earthworm, snail. We sought their illustration of experimental design through written and drawn responses. Further, they were specifically asked to list the parameters such as control, treatment, independent and dependent variables in their experiments. It is observed that students have illustrated experimental design quite well, though there were confusions about assigning variables explicitly. The study highlights that although students are performing experiments, there is a disconnect with the research methodology context at the undergraduate level. This preliminary study discusses aspects of experimentation along with implications.
Keywords. Experimentation, experimental design, variables, scientific method, model organisms, undergraduate biology
- Using the TSPCK framework to improve the content knowledge of pre-service teachers
Narendra D. Deshmukh
Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, TIFR, Mumbai, India
ndd@hbcse.tifr.res.inExperimental competencies such as asking questions, designing experiments, observing, disseminating results, forms a crucial part of learning for biology students. The objective of this preliminary study is to explore undergraduate students’ formulating of experimental design of simple model systems during experimentation. Students worked in groups on three assays of fruit fly, earthworm, snail. We sought their illustration of experimental design through written and drawn responses. Further, they were specifically asked to list the parameters such as control, treatment, independent and dependent variables in their experiments. It is observed that students have illustrated experimental design quite well, though there were confusions about assigning variables explicitly. The study highlights that although students are performing experiments, there is a disconnect with the research methodology context at the undergraduate level. This preliminary study discusses aspects of experimentation along with implications.
Keywords. Experimentation, experimental design, variables, scientific method, model organisms, undergraduate biology
- Exploring small-group learning in a PBL undergraduate chemistry laboratory
Sujatha Varadarajan
Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, TIFR, Mumbai, India
sujsvarada@gmail.comWe designed and implemented a PBL task on indigo dyeing wastewater treatment. PBL advocates self-directed and collaborative learning wherein students work in small groups to find a solution to the given problem. In our present work, we tried to understand – a) learning in a small-group, and b) students’ perceptions about small-group learning.
To understand the learning in a small group, we closely monitored the interactions of three students of one small-group. The data collected for this purpose included field-observation, feed-back questionnaire, and the semi-structured interview. Further, we tried to understand the students’ perception of the small-group learning through a questionnaire. We implemented the PBL task in a college in Pune, and a group of 20 students participated in the study.
The data from our first study suggests that the disagreements between the group members and the subsequent discussion as one of the important ways of knowledge construction within the small-group. Besides, the data also indicates that the small-group interactions during the laboratory work led to students’ engagement with the cognitive dimensions of evaluation and analysis of their planning and execution of the task.
The analysis of the questionnaire suggests that students recognize the contributions of group members in problem-solving during all the three phases of the implementation of the PBL task i.e. the pre-lab work, lab-work, and post-lab work. Students acknowledge the importance of heterogeneity in terms of academic skills within a small group. However, they believe the similarity of ideas that students want to explore should be the basis for the formation of groups.
The presentation would include the interpretive description of the case study of the small-group and the results from the perception study.
ARM