\nTwelve
\nyears ago, the non-governmental association the Centre for
\nEducational Evaluation and Analysis initiated a project entitled
\nPhysics differently aimed at changing the way in which this
\nsubject is taught in secondary school. The goal was to no longer
\nteach theory followed by its application in various areas but to
\nfocus instead on encouraging pupils to experiment directly. Cristian
\nHatu, the president of the NGO, explains why this new approach was
\nnecessary:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\nThis
\nwas in response to trends we saw in other countries with
\nhigh-performing educational systems. As to why these countries
\nadopted this approach, this is a more complex issue, but I’ll
\nmention a few examples I find more relevant. Compared with 30 or 40
\nyears ago, when many jobs implied repetitive and routine activities,
\nwith time and the introduction of automation, the percentage of these
\njobs has decreased. Instead, we’ve seen an increase in jobs where
\nemployees are required to put their mind to work in order to solve
\nnew and problematic situations. And then the question arose as to
\nwhat extent does school need to focus on memorisation and
\nreproduction and whether it shouldn’t in fact need to develop
\npupils’ logical thinking to a greater extent. So these countries
\nbegan to rethink the way in which certain subjects are taught in
\nschool in order to develop critical thinking and problem-solving
\nskills in pupils. So, for example, science teachers no longer simply
\nstand before pupils and teach them Ohm’s law, the formula and then
\nimmediately start solving problems. On the contrary, they let pupils
\nsolve and find a solution to the problem themselves. Teachers take a
\nstep back and let pupils have direct contact with reality. So, in a
\nway, pupils retrace the steps of the scientist who first made the
\ndiscovery.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\nMoreover,
\nthe method of applied investigation proposed under the Physics
\ndifferently project can help reduce functional scientific
\nilliteracy, as pupils will acquire a direct understanding of how the
\nlaws of physics work and to identify them in daily life, through
\nexperimentation and stimulating their own thinking. But how did
\npupils react when first faced with this method? Cristian Hatu tells
\nus more:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\nWe
\nmade them curious and they began to realise their own potential.
\nTeachers say that at first pupils ask why should they answer the
\nquestions, they couldn’t possibly, it’s the teacher who should give
\nthem the answers. It takes a few weeks until they overcome this
\nreflex, which is only normal after all these years of learning
\nthrough the conventional method.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\nTwelve
\nyears since this project was first implemented, Physics
\ndifferently is a success. Almost 3,000 teachers have been trained
\nto teach based on this investigative method. While the project
\ninitially targeted secondary school pupils from years 6 to 8, it has
\nin time also been extended to high school. Cristian Hatu, the
\npresident of the Centre for Educational Evaluation and Analysis
\nexplains:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\nChanges
\nwere made to secondary school curriculum for this end. Inspectors now
\ncheck to what extent teachers apply this method of investigation in
\nclass. In high school, despite the problems with the adoption of a
\nnew curriculum, an intermediary solution was found and methodological
\nrecommendations were included for year 9 and 10 teachers, as they
\nwere faced with pupils who had studied after this method in secondary
\nschool. So teachers were trained to continue the approach used in
\nsecondary school with this first generation of pupils, who are now in
\nyear 10.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nThe
\nsuccess of the project led the Centre for Educational Evaluation and
\nAnalysis to initiate, a few years ago, a similar project for
\nchemistry, also based on the investigative method. In the future, the
\nNGO plans to develop yet another project for teaching mathematics.
\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A look at an experimentation-based method of teaching science initiated in Romania twelve years ago.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":144524,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42997],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-144523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-society-today"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n