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Vol. 14 N° 2, 2013
Revisiting The Chemical History of
a Candle p. 60
Translating science education research into
science teaching and learning p. 56
JOURNAL OF SCIENCE EDUCATION - Nº 2, Vol. 14, p. 53, 2013, ISSN 0124-5481,
www.accefyn.org.co/rec
53
Director of the
Journal
Yuri Orlik
Editorial Board
Alan Goodwin
Education of Science
Jace Hargis
Education of Science
Luz C. Hernandez
Education of Science
Charles Hollenbeck
Education of Physics
Yuri Orlik
Education of Chemistry
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JOURNAL OF SCIENCE EDUCATION
REVISTA DE EDUCACIÓN EN CIENCIAS
COMMITTEE OF SUPPORT
UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DA INTEGRAÇÃO LATINO-AMERICANA, UNILA
Brasil
GRUPO DE INOVAÇÕES EDUCACIONAIS EM CIÊNCIAS NATURAIS
CNPq, UNILA, Brasil
UNIVERSIDAD AUTONOMA DE COLOMBIA
Clemencia Bonilla Olano
Aurelio Uson
UNIVERSIDAD DE LA AMAZONÍA
Leonidas Rico Martínez
Alberto Fajardo Olivero
HIGHER COLLEGES OF TECHNOLOGY, UAE
Jace Hargis
LATVIAN UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE
Juris Skujans
Baiba Briede
Anda Zeidmane
UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW
CENTRE OF SCIENCE EDUCATION
Norman Reid
UNIVERSIDAD DE LA REPÚBLICA, Montevideo
Unidad de Enseñanza, Facultad de Ingeniería
COMMITTEE OF ADVISERS
Agustin Adúriz-Bravo, U. de Buenos Aires, Argentina
Colin Bielby, Manchester M. University, UK
Martin Bilek, Univerzity of Hradec Králové, Czech Republic
John Bradley, University of the Witwatersrand, S. Africa
Baiba Briede, Latvian University of Agriculture
Antonio Cachapuz, University of Aveiro, Portugal
Liberato Cardellini, University of Ancona, Italy
Peter Childs, University of Limerick, Ireland
Malcolm Cleal-Hill, Manchester M. University, UK
Mei-Hung Chiu, National Taiwan Normal University
Carlos Corredor, U. Simon Bolivar, Colombia
Murilo Cruz Leal, Universidade Federal de São João Del-Rei, Brasil
Hana Ctrnactova, Charles University, Czech Republic
Onno De Jong, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
Agustina Echeverria, UFG, Brasil
Salman Elyian, Arab Academy College for Education in Israel
Marcela Fejes, Universidade de São Paulo, Brasil
Carlos Furió, U. de Valencia, España
Valentín Gavidia, U. de Valencia, España
Wilson Gonzáles-Espada, Morehead State University, USA
Jenaro Guisasola, U. del País Vasco, España
Muhamad Hagerat, Arab Academy College for Education in Israel
Jace Hargis, Higher Colleges of Technology, UAE
Maria Elena Infante-Malachias, Universidade de São Paulo, Brasil
Ryszard M. Janiuk, U. Marie Curie-Sklodowska, Poland
Alex Johnstone, University of Glasgow, UK
Rosária Justi, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brasil
Ram Lamba, University of Puerto Rico
José Lozano, Academia Colombiana de Ciencias
Iwona Maciejowska, Jagiellonian University, Poland
Ilia Mikhailov, UIS, Colombia
Marina Míguez, U. de la República, Uruguay
Mansoor Niaz, U. de Oriente, Venezuela
Tina Overton, Physical Science Center, University of Hull, UK
Stelios Piperakis, University of Thessaly, Greece
Sarantos Psicharis, Greek Pedagogical Institute, Greece
Mario Quintanilla, Ponticia Universidad Católica de Chile
Christofer Randler, University of Education, Heidelberg, Germany
Andrés Raviolo, U. Nacional de Comahue, Argentina
Charly Ryan, University of Winchester, UK
Eric Scerri, UCLA, USA
Peter Schwarz, Kassel University, Germany
Carlos Soto, U. de Antioquia, Colombia
Aarne Toldsepp, University of Tartu, Estonia
Zoltan Toth, University of Debrecen, Hungary
Nora Valeiras, U. Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina
Uri Zoller, University of Haifa, Israel
© Fundación Revista de Educación de las Ciencias
UNIVERSIDAD ANTONIO NARIÑO
María Falk de Losada
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Jaime Rodríguez Lara
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54
JOURNAL OF SCIENCE EDUCATION - Nº 2, Vol. 14, p. 54, 2013, ISSN 0124-5481,
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COORDINADORA EDITORIAL
Luz C. Hernández
Asesor contable
Sonia Judith Guevara
ISSN 0124-5481
La Journal of Science Education
(Revista de Educación
en Ciencias) no se responsabiliza
por las ideas emitidas por
los autores
Los artículos de esta revista pueden
ser reproducidos citando la fuente
Bien excluido de IVA
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Virtual:
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Address of the Journal:
E-mail : oen85@yahoo.com
JOURNAL OF SCIENCE EDUCATION, N° 2, vol 14, 2013
CONTENTS
CHALLENGES IN SCIENCE EDUCATION ....................................................................................................55
FROM SER TO STL: TRANSLATING SCIENCE EDUCATION RESEARCH INTO SCIENCE
TEACHING AND LEARNING
De la investigación hacia la enseñanza y aprendizaje: transferir la investigación en educación científica a
la enseñanza y aprendizaje de ciencias
Childs P. (Ireland) ...............................................................................................................................................56
REVISITING THE CHEMICAL HISTORY OF A CANDLE: SOME REFLECTIONS FOR CHEMISTRY
TEACHERS BASED ON A CASE STUDY
Revisitando La historia química de una vela: algunas reflexiones para profesores de química respaldadas
por un estudio de caso
Baldinato J., Nagy J., Alves Porto P. (Brazil) ...................................................................................................60
E-LEARNING THROUGH THE EYES OF THE CZECH STUDENTS
Aprendizaje electrónico desde el punto de vista de los estudiantes universitarios
Klement M. (Czech Republic) .............................................................................................................................66
PROBLEM BASED LEARNING ENVIRONMENTAL SCENARIOS: AN ANALYSIS OF SCIENCE
STUDENTS AND TEACHERS QUESTIONING
Aprendizaje basado en problemas en escenarios ambientales: un análisis de interrogación de estudiantes
de ciencias y profesores
Torres, J., Preto, C., Vasconcelos, C (Portugal) ...................................................................................................71
INDÍCIOS DO MODELO INTEGRATIVO NO DESENVOLVIMENTO DO PCK EM LICENCIANDOS
EM QUÍMICA DURANTE O ESTÁGIO SUPERVISIONADO
Evidence for integrative model during PCK development in chemistry student teachers during pre-service
training
Gomes Elias Mariano Pereira P., Fernandez C. (Brasil) ....................................................................................74
ASSESSMENT OF A VISIT TO AN OPTICS LABORATORY DURING UNIVERSITY SCIENCE WEEK.
Evaluación de la visita a un laboratorio de óptica en la semana de la ciencia
García J.A., Perales F. J., Gómez-Robledo L., Romero J. (Spain) ....................................................................78
INVESTIGAR LA EXPLICACIÓN DE LOS EDUCANDOS EN CLASES DE CIENCIAS: LAS BASES
CULTURALES Y BIOLÓGICAS.
Research the explanation of students in science classes: the biological and cultural basis.
Gomes da Silva H., Infante-Malachias M.E. ( Brasil) .......................................................................................82
DISEASE DETECTIVES AT WORK: A LESSON ON DISEASE TRANSMISSION FOR SECONDARY
SCHOOL STUDENTS
Detectives de enfermedades en el trabajo: una clase sobre la transmisión de la enfermedad para los estudiantes
de escuela secundaria
Dawson M., (USA) ..............................................................................................................................................85
DRAWINGS, WORDS AND BUTTERFLIES IN CHILDHOOD EDUCATION: PLAYING WITH IDEAS
IN THE PROCESS OF SIGNIFICATION OF LIVING BEINGS
Diseños, palabras y mariposas en la educación infantil: juego con las ideas en el proceso de significados sobre
los seres vivos
Rodrigues Chaves Dominguez C., Frateschi Trivelato S.L. (Brazil) ...................................................................88
DESIGNING A CHEMISTRY EDUCATIONAL GAME AND EXAMINING REFLECTIONS ABOUT IT
El diseño de un juego educacional de química y su análisis
Bayir E., Deniz C. (Turkey) .................................................................................................................................92
JUEGOS EDUCATIVOS Y APRENDIZAJE DE LA TABLA PERIÓDICA: ESTUDIO DE CASOS
Educational games and learning about the Periodic Table: case studies
Franco Mariscal A.J., Oliva Martínez J.M. (España) .........................................................................................93
INSTRUCTIONAL RELATIONSHIP OF SOCIOSCIENTIFIC ISSUES-BASED INSTRUCTION AND
PEER-ASSISTED LEARNING STRATEGY: AN IMPLICATION FOR SCIENCE INSTRUCTION
Relación educativa de asuntos socio-cientificos de ensenanaza y las estrategias asistidas de aprendizaje:
las implicaciones para la enseñanza de ciencias
Mikhail Yahaya J., Nurulazam MD Zain A., A/P Karpudewan M.(Malaysia) ....................................................98
BOOK REVIEWS .............................................................................................................................................101
2DO FORO MUNDIAL DE DESARROLLO ECONÓMICO LOCAL
II Fórum Mundial de Desenvolvimento Econômico Local ................................................................................103
Index vol. 14, 2013 ............................................................................................................................................104
55
JOURNAL OF SCIENCE EDUCATION - Nº 2, Vol. 14, p. 55, 2013, ISSN 0124-5481,
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Editorial
CHALLENGES IN SCIENCE EDUCATION
One of the continuing challenges in science education is not the lack of science education research (SER), or
the lack of funding for research and development (which are well supported by the EU in Europe and by the NSF
in America), but the lack of impact of the research and development activities on science teaching and learning
(STL). We know a lot more today about the problems and issues in the teaching and learning of science than we
did 20 or 30 years ago. Much time, effort and money has gone into curriculum development, new courses and
textbooks, and a plethora of EU-funded projects (see
www.scientix.eu
) , mostly in the area of inquiry-based
science education (IBSE). We know a lot about the difficulties students face in learning science subjects and we
know that the problems are universal. However, we know far more about the problems at second-level than we
do at third-level, because most SER is done in primary and post-primary schools, and an interest in third-level
SER is relatively recent. We also know more about the students than we do about their teachers and lecturers,
as most studies are done on the students. My article in this issue ‘From SER to STL’ looks at the challenge of
translating SER into STL. There are major problems of dissemination and communication to overcome between
the research community and the practitioners in the classroom or lecture hall. Teachers are the key to success
in education, in any subject and at any level, and in any country, and so we must focus on equipping teachers
with the best intellectual and practical tools to do their job well. If we don’t do the job properly in initial teacher
training (ITT) then the new science teachers entering the profession will usually perpetuate the status quo: they
will teach as they were taught themselves. But we also need to target serving teachers, who may spend up to 40
years post ITT, by providing relevant and informed continuing professional development (CPD). There is massive
inertia in all educational systems and change takes a long time to effect. Unless we tackle all parts of the system
then we will not break the vicious cycle, where traditional views and practices outweigh newer, evidence-based
approaches. We need to ensure that the curriculum (what is taught), the pedagogy (how it is taught) and the
examinations (how it is assessed) are all informed by the findings of SER and best practice. We want to move
towards evidence-based science teaching and learning. We still have a long way to go, especially at third level, and
the effective translation of SER into STL remains a major challenge for all those involved in science education
research and the initial training and CPD of science teachers.
The articles in this issue of JSE remind us that science education is an international activity, which includes many
separate science disciplines, and cuts across all levels of education. After we visit the challenge of turning SER
into STL we then revisit Michael Faraday’s A Chemical History of a Candle with Brazilian chemistry teachers,
and then look at e-learning through the eyes of Czech students. The next article looks at the assessment of the
value of a visit to an optics laboratory in a Spanish university during Science Week, an example of non-formal
learning. Turning to biology we look at a lesson on disease transmission for secondary students, and staying in
the science classroom, an article from Portugal looks at problem-based learning in environmental science. The
next article looks at early science education in Brazil in relation to ideas about living things. A paper from Turkey
looks at designing and reflecting upon a chemistry-based educational game, reminding us of the value of games
in teaching science. The learning triangle and the relationship between macroscopic and symbolic imagery is
explored in the next paper in the context of chemistry demonstrations. Finally from Malaysia we have an article
looking at the implications for science instruction of socio-scientific issues-based instruction (SSIBI) and peer-
assisted learning, followed by one from Brazil on the development of PCK in student chemistry teachers during
their pre-service training. This is a rich smorgasbord of science education papers, both research and practice, and
there should be something for everyone in this issue. We wish you happy and fruitful reading!
P
ETER E. CHILDS
University of Limerick, Ireland
Peter.childs@ul.ie
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From SER to STL: translating science education research into science teaching and learning
From SER to STL: translating science education research into science teaching
and learning
De la investigación hacia la enseñanza y aprendizaje: transferir la investigación en
educación científica a la enseñanza y aprendizaje de ciencias
PETER E. CHILDS
Chemistry Education Research Group, Dept. of Chemical & Environmental Sciences and National Centre for Excellence in Mathematics
and Science Teaching and Learning, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland
peter.childs@ul.ie
Abstract
Despite many decades of Science Education Research (SER) there seems to have
been little transfer into the classroom or lecture theatre. This work identifies several
factors that contribute to this and suggests ways they might be addressed: the academic
rat-race; the shortness of initial teacher training (ITT); the communication gap with
teachers; the relevance of much SER; the lack of involvement in SER by teachers.
Key words: science education research; action research; initial teacher training;
pedagogical content knowledge; communicating science education research
Resumen
A pesar de varias décadas de investigaciones en educación en ciencias (SER) parece
hay poca transferencia de estos resultados al aula o sala de conferencias. En este
trabajo se identifican varios factores que contribuyen a esta situación y sugiere
formas en que podrían abordarse: lucha por la supervivencia académica, la falta de
formación inicial del profesorado , la falta de comunicación con los profesores, la
relevancia de muchas proyectos de investigación, poca participación de los profesores
en estas investigaciones.
Palabras clave: investigación, educación científica, investigación-acción, formación
inicial del profesorado, comunicaciones en la investigación en educación
INTRODUCTION
1
Has several decades of science education research (SER) had any effect
on the way science is taught and learnt in school and university? The answer
would have to be - yes, to some extent, but very little compared to the effort,
money and time put into science education research (SER) over many years.
SER has become a large enterprise: many research groups around the world,
several dedicated journals, large numbers of research publications. In many
ways it is a field of academic study that has come of age. However, its
impact on science teaching and learning is still in question. Bucat (2004)
said: “Research has not had the impact on science teaching that we would
have hoped. Furthermore, science education research seems to be looking for
direction. Much of chemical education research has used subject matter simply
as a vehicle to develop domain-independent pedagogical theory.” He went on
to say: “The advances have not in general been translated to the classroom,
and Chemistry education seems unsure of its direction.”
John Hattie (2008) in his book Visible Learning says this: “How can there
be so many published articles, so many reports providing directions. So many
professional development sessions advocating this or that method, so many
parents and politicians inventing new and better answers, while classrooms
are hardly different from 200 years ago? Why does this bounty of research
have so little impact?”
This lack of impact raises the question as to the primary purpose of science
education research (SER). Is its goal to understand better the problems of
teaching so as to improve things or is it an academic pursuit, important for
academic careers, and largely divorced from what goes on in the classroom
and lecture theatre? We could contrast these two approaches as the pragmatic
and applied versus the theoretical and pure. There is always a tension between
applied and pure research in any subject. The emphasis on pure/theoretical
versus applied/pragmatic varies from one country and one research group to
another. I am in the applied/pragmatic camp, as I believe that the purpose of
1 This a shortened version of a plenary lecture given atDIDSCI 2012, Krakow,
PolandandthefullversionwaspublishedintheProceedings.
SER should be primarily to understand the teaching and learning science, with
a view to changing and improving our practice. One could argue that research
that does not change teaching in the long run is pointless, both from the point
of view of the practitioner and also from the perspective of the paymasters,
who both want to see tangible results. However, this does not mean that pure
research is not important or may not end up being applied to practice. Likewise
applied research must have some theoretical basis even if its main focus is on
practice. I have previously discussed this topic in general (Childs, 2007) and
in relation to improving chemical education (Childs, 2009).
THE GAP BETWEEN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH AND
PRACTICE
MacIntyre (2005) discussed the different types of knowledge produced by
research and that used by teachers and suggested “that there is a very large
gap between the kind of knowledge that good scholarly educational research
can at best provide and the kind of knowledge that teachers most use in good
classroom teaching.” Many other people over the last 100 years or so have
talked about this gap between research and practice. In 1996 Hargreaves
complained that “teaching is not, at present, a research-based profession.
I have no doubt that if it were, teaching would be more effective and more
satisfying.” (Hargreaves, 1996)
Greenwood and Abbot (2001) identified four factors responsible for
this gap:
the separateness of the research and practice communities;
the limited relevance of educational research as perceived by practitioners;
the failure of researchers to produce usable interventions; and
the limited opportunities for meaningful professional development by
practitioners.
MacIntyre (2005) pointed out the contrast between the type of knowledge
research provides and the type of knowledge which teachers use:
propositional (knowledge that) versus pedagogical knowledge (knowledge
how);
a focus on coherence and truth rather than practicality;
a focus on the theoretical and general rather than the pragmatic and the
local; and
an impersonal versus a personal view of knowledge.
To summarise, teachers and researchers are divided by the language they
speak and the knowledge they value.
In his commentary on ‘Making use of evidence. Bridging the gap between
research and practice’, Morris (2011) summarises the problem: “Vital though
this connection between research and practice may be, in the field of education
it still remains relatively weak – a few references in initial training, occasional
links in CPD, perhaps an isolated case of action research. Research may find
its way into academic journals and government guidance but rarely into the
hands of school and college practitioners.”
More recently John Oversby has dealt with this topic in his RSC Science
Education Award lecture, ‘Mind the gap’ (Oversby, 2012a) and in the ASE
Guide to Research in Science Education (Oversby, 2012b). The divide between
educational research and practice is clearly still a live issue and the gap still
remains to be bridged.
The dangers of fads and fashions in education research
The view that educational research is of no use to the teacher is a view
with a long pedigree. There has long been a complaint about education that
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From SER to STL: translating science education research into science teaching and learning
it is driven by the latest fashion. In an article in Newsweek (Begley, 2010),
the author attacks the record of educational research and cites research by
Cobern et al, 2010, who compared direct instruction versus inquiry-based
and concluded: “Some claims for inquiry methods regarding understanding
the nature of science are not sufficiently well supported by evidence.” Such
studies are salutary lessons that some strategies, which are adopted as the latest
educational ‘silver bullet’, are not in fact always useful. We should always
check out the evidence for a particular strategy, before rushing to implement
it, or we will be driven here and there by the latest wind of educational fashion
(Chaddock, 1998).
The individual teacher usually has no means of evaluating the effectiveness
of a particular strategy. Hattie (2009) has evaluated the research on 138
strategies, with over 50,000 individual studies and 800 meta-analyses
measuring achievement. He uses the size effect value (SE) to compare studies
and those with a SE > 0.4 are in the zone of desired effect. A value of +1.0 (or
-1.0) corresponds to 1 SD gain (or loss). His top 20 strategies do not include
inquiry-based teaching (which has a SE of 0.31 and is 86
th
out of 138.) The
importance of this study is that it provides a measure of the effectiveness of
various strategies, independent of their publicity or fan-base, enabling us
to choose which strategies to use and which to avoid. This evaluation was
not subject-specific i.e. it is about the general use of the various strategies,
at various levels of education, and not specifically about science education.
Why does so much SER fail to change STL?
Why the findings of SER, whether pure or applied, often fail to make any
impact in the classroom, the places they are meant to illuminate, affect and
change? There are many reasons for this and I would like to discuss some
of them now.
a) The academic rat-race: Most research is done by third-level academics,
whose careers and promotion are determined by the number and quality
of the papers they produce. What matters most in academia are the
Impact Factors of the journals they publish in, rather than the impact
in the classroom. Research with no possible application is valued as
much as research which actually changes and improves teaching and
learning. Also academics at third-level may be far removed from the
reality of subject teaching, particularly in education departments: they
are thus doubly–distanced from the reality they are researching. There
is increasingly a culture of publish or perish in universities, driven by
short-term targets, and more concerned with research income than
scholarship or application. Even “Funded projects have been driven
mainly by goals of contributing to the accumulation of scholarly
knowledge; disseminating this knowledge to practitioners as materials,
directives, or rules had been see as a secondary responsibility of the
investigators.” (Sabelli and Dede, 2001) The goals and pressures of
academics are often very different from those of the harassed teacher in
the classroom, where survival is the name of the game.
b) The shortness of initial teacher training (ITT): whether ITT for
science teachers is based on a concurrent model (teaching subjects,
education, pedagogy and teaching practice combined in a 3-4 year
bachelor degree) or a consecutive model (education, pedagogy and
teaching practice covered in 1-2 years after completing a subject-
based bachelor degree), there is relatively little time for SER and
relating it to the classroom. In addition to general education, such ITT
courses have varying amounts of Pedagogical Content Knowledge
(PCK), where SER interfaces with subject matter knowledge (SMK)
in relation to the pedagogical knowledge (PK) needed for specific
teaching situations. Given little exposure to SER before entering
ITT, students are likely only to get a superficial and limited treatment
during it. There is always more PCK to be covered than time allows.
Trying to fit in all that the trainee science teachers need to know in the
time available, is like trying to fit a litre of beer into a half-litre mug,
whether they are on concurrent or consecutive courses.
c) The communication gap with teachers: There are several aspects
to the problem of communicating SER to teachers, which reduce the
transfer.
i) The language used in academic papers is often riddled with jargon and
statistics, and is impenetrable to non-specialists;
ii) Journals are expensive and often inaccessible to teachers, unless they
are open access internet journals like Chemistry Education Research
and Practice (CERP);
iii) In academic research much of the communication and networking
is done in conferences, and teachers do not often attend such
conferences;
iv) Conferences for teachers, on the other hand, often focus on practical
matters or subject content with less emphasis on SER.
d) The (ir)relevance of much SER: Research articles are often unrelated
to the situation and problems faced in the classroom and seem
irrelevant to practising teachers. Teachers are busy people and their
main concern is with their students and what they have to teach. They
look for information and materials that can easily be adapted to their
own teaching situation. Much SER is not seen to be directly relevant
to teaching or requires too much translation or adaptation before use.
As a result teachers do not find it useful or worth the effort and time
to see whether it is useful. The gap between much academic SER and
its application in the classroom is too large for many practitioners to
bridge. In fact, they may view much educational research as not worth
reading, as it is irrelevant to the real world they work in.
e) The lack of involvement in SER by teachers: Most research is
done by university-based academics and their postgraduate students,
or by teacher educators, and with only a few practising teachers.
Researchers and teacher educators are most commonly based in
education departments, not science departments (although Germany
is an exception) and this weakens their connection with subject
teachers and with science. The lack of involvement by teachers
in SER means that they have no stake in it and are detached from
it. SER is seen as something other people do to them, rather than
something they participate in themselves. Research (or scholarship) is
seen as research on practice rather than research of (or with) practice.
If teachers are the subjects of, rather than participants in, research,
then they are less likely to be committed or consider themselves as
stakeholders or partners.
f) The lack of time and expertise by teachers: Teachers are busy
people with full timetables and do not have the energy, the time, the
access or the expertise to make themselves familiar with SER and
judge what is relevant to the classroom. Their main concern is survival
in the classroom and professional development comes second to the
pressures of the job. By comparison, academic life is less demanding
than school and there is less understanding of the pressures on teachers.
Teachers do not have funds to attend science education conferences,
often held at times to suit third level academics not school teachers.
g) The failure to influence policy makers: The education system in
most countries is centrally controlled by the Ministry of Education.
Government policy thus determines the curriculum and assessment, as
well as monitoring teaching quality. Teachers are required to teach the
prescribed curriculum and prepare students for external assessment,
and these constraints determine their pedagogy. If the curriculum
and the assessment are not research-informed by but subject to other
influences e.g. political pressure or the influence of higher education,
then they will be deficient. Also teaching materials, such as textbooks,
are prepared to fit the curriculum and the assessment and may not
reflect the findings of SER. If the science curriculum, assessment
and text-books are not research-informed then SER will have no real
influence on teaching and learning.
h) Lack of subject-teaching experience by researchers: Sometimes
researchers may not have had experience actually teaching a science
subject, either currently or in the past and may be coming from a
general educational background. This lack of first-hand experience
of teaching science, necessarily means poor understanding of the
problems in teaching the subject. PCK, where pedagogy meets the
subject, requires good knowledge of the subject to be effective.
Science education researchers who lack experience in teaching a
subject will be less equipped to communicate with practising teachers
and will lack credibility and that first-hand knowledge necessary to
understand the problems of teaching a subject.
Dealing with these issues
In this section I will consider each of the issues raised above and suggest
ways they can be dealt with or alleviated.
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From SER to STL: translating science education research into science teaching and learning
a) The academic rat-race: publish or perish
Much academic research is done to fulfil research quotas and meet the
demands of a ‘publish or perish’ culture in universities. The research
may be irrelevant to the classroom and to the needs of teachers, and
most of it will never be read, but it is essential for one’s CV and
for academic promotion. Writing general articles or even books for
teachers is not as valued as research papers. The needs of the teaching
profession are thus prostituted on the altar of academic respectability.
It is as if the value of a GP were measured by his research output
rather the number of patients successfully treated. The balance must
be redressed so that science education researchers are encouraged and
rewarded for working with and communicating with teachers, rather
than just with their academic peers. Academics should be encouraged
to write for and speak to teachers directly.
b) The shortness of initial teacher training (ITT):
‘No time, no time’ might describe most ITT courses, whether they
be 1-2 year consecutive courses or 3-4 years concurrent courses. The
time available in either type of ITT course for PCK is usually limited,
squeezed between education (general pedagogy) and teaching practice,
and in concurrent courses also by science courses. Learning how to
teach science often takes up very little time in ITT courses, so that
students have limited exposure to the wealth of SER that is available
and its relevance to the teaching of science. Even if they have heard of
a topic, there is usually inadequate time to explore its application to
science teaching. Consequently new teachers go back into the school
system with an inadequate knowledge of PCK and consequently tend
to revert to traditional methods, as in the old maxim – ‘teachers teach
not how they were taught to teach but how they were taught’. Given
the time constraints, the aim of ITT should be to help new teachers
become flexible and adaptable and to help them think and improvise,
rather than covering everything (Hayes and Childs, 2010) Rather than
giving them solutions to today’s problems, we should be giving them
the tools to solve both today’s and tomorrow’s problems. If student
teachers can see something of the value of SER, if they can find their
way around the literature and see a few examples of how SER can be
used, then they will be more likely to use it themselves in the future.
A better strategy would be to increase the length of ITT courses by one
year, allowing more time to develop PCK and explore SER. However,
length alone is not sufficient and a Master’s level programme,
including research, would provide both the necessary length and
depth. The McKinsey Report (Barber and Nourshed, 2007) identified
the quality of teachers as the main determinant of the quality of
school systems. The top performing systems were very selective in
choosing the best trainee teachers, and often educated the teachers
to Master’s level. Making teaching an all Master’s level profession
would raise the quality, improve the depth of pre-service training, and
also increase the application of SER in STL. “While initial teacher
training provides teachers with the critical skills to succeed in the
classroom, a master’s degree builds on those by encouraging teachers
to follow critical, reflective, inspirational and innovative approaches
to education and to take risks.” (Noble-Rogers, J., 2011) The main
recommendation of the ETUCE report on Teacher Education in
Europe was it should be an all Master’s level profession.
ETUCE advocates an initial teacher education at Master’s level that:
Provides in-depth qualifications in all relevant subjects, including in
pedagogical practice and in teaching transversal competences
• Is research-based, has high academic standards and at the same
time is rooted in the everyday reality of schools
• Includes a significant research component and produces reflective
practitioners
• Gives teachers the skills needed to exert a high degree of
professional autonomy and judgment in order to enable them
to adapt their teaching to the needs of the individual group of
learners and the individual child or young person
• Offers the right combination between theory and pedagogical
practice and benefits from partnerships between teacher education
institutes and schools
• Encourages mobility of teachers within the different levels and
sectors of the education system, provided that adequate re-
qualification is acquired. (ETUCE, 2008)
c) The communication gap with teachers:
A major problem is the communication of SER to teachers. An effort
needs to be made to digest and translate appropriate SER into a language
teachers can easily understand, in journals or websites they have easy
access to. The National Centre for Excellence in Mathematics and
Science Teaching and Learning at the University of Limerick (www.
nce-mstl.ie) is to doing this by publishing 4-page Resource and
Research Guides in science and mathematics. The Association for
Science Education in the UK has a regular Research Focus feature
in its magazine, Education in Science, dealing with SER. (http://
www.ase.org.uk/journals/education-in-science/ ) The accessibility of
SER is also being addressed by online, free-access journals, such as
Chemistry Education Research and Practice, published by the RSC
(http://pubs.rsc.org/en/journals/journalissues/rp). John Oversby has
developed an effective teacher’s focus group PALAVA in Reading in
the UK, which meets regularly to discuss research and to encourage
teachers to apply research and conduct research in their classrooms.
(Oversby, 2012a) Similar groups involving local chemistry teachers
and university academics working in chemistry didactics have been
run for several years from the universities of Dortmund and Bremen
in Germany (Eilks & Ralle, 2002).
d) The (ir)relevance of much SER:
Teachers don’t want to read about irrelevant research, which does
not meet their immediate needs. Teachers are often narrowly
focused: does this relate to my subject, is it relevant to my students
(age, level, curriculum) and is it likely to be useful? If not, then
the teacher is likely to ignore the work. It is thus important for
researchers to work with teachers to identify problems and issues of
relevance to teaching. Often teachers would like a specific solution
to a particular problem e.g. how to teach X better, or how to deal
with some classroom problem i.e. they have a very applied, local
and pragmatic view of relevance. Researchers must strive to show
the relevance of SER to actual practice, even if the original research
is theoretical and non-specific.
e) The lack of involvement in SER by teachers:
Often teachers do not feel that they have any ownership of much
SER: it is something done to them rather than for them. They may
be bombarded by questionnaires or requests for information from
outside, without any personal involvement in the aims, design or
implementation of the research. No-one likes to be a guinea pig, even
with informed consent, and there is a need to change the model so
that teachers are involved at all stages of the research. If teachers have
a say in what problems are worth studying and how to go about the
investigation, then they will be more committed and more involved
in both the conduct of the research and in the use of the findings.
The welcome shift towards classroom-based Action Research is an
example of this approach. This can be started during ITT by having
student teachers involved in action research. SER needs to be seen as
a partnership between researchers and practitioners, what Sabelli and
Dede (2001) have termed ‘integrated co-development’. They make
the valuable point that the reflective interplay between research and
practice must be bi-directional, not uni-directional (from researcher to
teacher), as it often is at present. A co-development approach requires
cooperation and collaboration between researchers and teachers to
identify problems and research strategies, giving practitioners a real
stake in the conduct and outcomes of research.
f) The lack of time and expertise by teachers:
Unless teachers are given the time for professional development
during their career, or even during the working week, they will be
not able to keep up with the latest SER. Time should be allocated for
this in the teaching week, as well as in a structured, life-long CPD
programme. Teachers need to be equipped with the tools and expertise
to use and become involved in SER and this must be done mainly after
initial qualification. Resources and time need to be allocated to this
aspect of the teacher’s professional development.
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From SER to STL: translating science education research into science teaching and learning
g) The failure to influence policy makers:
Too often the voice and expertise of the SER community has not been
heard or utilised by policy makers. The science teacher training and
the science education research communities, which are not always
identical, should be represented on policy committees, task forces
and syllabus committees dealing with issues of science education, and
thus contribute to government policy.
h) Lack of subject-teaching experiences by researchers:
It should be a sine qua non that science education researchers have
themselves had experience of teaching science, whether at second or
third-level, either currently or in the recent past. Ideally they should
retain a stake in teaching science as well as researching the teaching
and learning of science. There is a lot to be said for the science didactics
(or pedagogy) groups to be located in science departments as in many
German universities, rather than in education departments, as is the
case in the U.K. and Ireland. There can often be a lack of sympathy
for the particular problems of teaching a specific subject within an
education department, just as there can be a lack of understanding of
education in a science department.
CONCLUSION: TEACHING MUST BE RESEARCH-
INFORMED
Teaching involves a dynamic interplay between the curriculum (often
defined externally by governments), the pedagogy (how teachers teach
and the resources they use) and assessment (how the curriculum objectives
are assessed). Although this should represent an integrated system, this is
not always the case and often assessment is the tail that wags the dog and
determines how the curriculum is interpreted and taught. There should be
coherence between the learning outcomes defined by the curriculum, the
teaching and learning strategies employed to deliver these outcomes, and
the design of the assessment instruments. This paper seeks to make the case
that each of these dimensions of teaching and learning should be research-
informed (Figure 1).
Figure 1 Research-informed teaching and learning
There is strong pressure from the EU following the Rocard Report of 2007,
A Renewed Pedagogy for the Future of Europe (Rocard, 2007), through its
FP-7 Science and Society projects. The International Association of Science
Academies (IAP, 2010) and by the All European Academies (ALLEA, 2012)
also promote IBSE as the panacea for all science teaching ills. Consequently
a plethora of IBSE projects has been launched in Europe, with several
similar projects running in the same countries. There seems little effort to
assess how these projects relate to each other and how the findings can be
disseminated more widely. There is surely a need for a research project
to do a meta-analysis of all these projects and come to some assessment
of their value. The ALLEA Report, although promoting IBSE, recognises
that it “..seems appropriate to devote some research time on developing
methodologies that are better suited to measure and compare the success,
or otherwise, of IBSE approaches.” (ALLEA, 2012) It would seem unwise
to put all our pedagogical eggs in one IBSE basket, when experience has
shown that no single approach works for all pupils in and that a variety of
pedagogical strategies should be employed.
The TLRP EBSE Research Network project in the UK identified that the
“Widespread use of research evidence in the classroom seems to depend
on at least two factors:
tangible and useful outcomes, such as curriculum materials and
teaching approaches, resulting from transformation of research
findings into practical strategies;
the presence of a professional culture which encourages both
exploration of research and changes to practice.” (Bartholomew et
al, 2003)
In other words, SER must be clearly seen by teachers to be of practical use
in the classroom, and it must be supported by a professional culture which
favours the transfer of SER into STL: this must start in the teacher’s initial
training and continue throughout their career.
If we are to allow SER to inform STL there must be good communication
between teachers and researchers, and the formation of a collaborative
partnership. There must be an integration of ideas and approaches supported
by SER into teacher training and CPD; into curriculum design; into teaching
materials and textbooks; in pedagogy and especially in assessment. All these
aspects of teacher preparation and practice should be research-informed in
order to bring about systemic change in the way science is taught. In almost
every country, science teaching is driven by assessment, particularly if this is a
high-stakes, terminal state examination. Unless the final assessment is aligned
with learning outcomes, which in turn are informed by SER, then the insights
from SER will never be fully implemented. The onus is on science education
researchers to communicate their findings to teachers, to work closely with
teachers and involve teachers in their research. Systemic change takes place
from the roots upwards and not by tinkering with the branches. Too much
SER to date has been small-scale, short-term and limited in scope and it is
doubtful whether this approach is able to bring about real change in STL. It is
also not enough to convince science teachers of the value of SER – in the real
world, we also have to convince politicians and educational administrators.
Some specific recommendations:
1. Every aspect of science teaching and learning (STL) needs to
be informed by science education research (SER) – curriculum,
pedagogy and assessment.
2. We need to evaluate the effectiveness of new teaching and learning
strategies by reviewing the available research rather than jumping on
the latest bandwagon.
3. Science teaching and learning is complex and multidimensional and
there is no ‘silver bullet’ to solve our problems – we need a mix of
strategies, tailored by the teacher to suit his/her specific situation.
4. We need to develop partnerships between researchers and teachers in
order to transfer SER into STL effectively and bridge the gap.
5. Teaching should become a Master’s level profession across Europe.
Trainee teachers should be exposed more to SER and be involved in
research themselves.
CPD should be life-long and introduce and involve teachers in SER.
6. Science education researchers should have current or past experience in
teaching science at either 2
nd
or 3
rd
level, in order to understand first-hand
the problems of teaching science.
I will leave the last word to Jean Piaget:
The principal goal of education is to create [people] who are capable
of doing new things, not simply of repeating what other generations have
done—[people] who are creative, inventive, and discovers. The second goal
of education is to form minds which can be critical, can verify, and not accept
everything they are offered. (Piaget, 1964)
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)
Received 17-07- 2012/ Approved 29-04-2013
Abstract
Michael Faraday (1791-1867) was one of the most outstanding scientists of the
nineteenth century, and also a popularizer of science. One of his series of lectures
was published in book form in 1861, under the title The chemical history of a
candle. The aim of this work is to revisit Faraday’s text, fostering reflections on
relevant aspects of present-day chemistry teaching. We chose a few experiments
performed by Faraday and suggest an overview of his course with the intention to
make explicit some inherent difficulties related to the chemical knowledge brought
up by the speech. Among these features are: the problem of handling invisible agents
(such as oxygen being necessary for combustion); the establishment of essential
properties which could allow one to positively characterize an unknown substance;
recognizing analog results or conditions in chemical processes; and the notions
of synthesis and analysis recurrent in the text. We believe a closer examination
of these aspects could help teachers to reconsider their own language, as well as
their didactic sequences. Though it all may go unnoticed in the context of science
popularization, teachers should be aware of learning difficulties related to particular
approaches to chemistry.
Key words: Michael Faraday, candle, popularization, discourse, learning
difficulties.
Resumen
Michael Faraday (1791-1867) fue uno de los científicos más destacados del siglo XIX
y también actuó como divulgador de la ciencia. Una de sus series de conferencias se
publicó en forma de libro en 1861, y se llamaba La historia química de una vela. El
objetivo de este trabajo es revisar el texto de Faraday, fomentando la reflexión sobre
aspectos relevantes de la enseñanza de la química. Elegimos algunos experimentos
realizados por Faraday y pormenorizamos su discurso con la intención de explicitar
algunas dificultades inherentes al conocimiento químico abordado. Entre estas
características están: el problema de la manipulación de agentes invisibles (como
el oxígeno necesario para la combustión); el establecimiento de las propiedades
esenciales que permitirían la caracterización positiva de una sustancia desconocida;
el reconocimiento de resultados o condiciones analógicas en los procesos químicos;
y las nociones de síntesis y análisis recurrentes en el texto. Creemos que un análisis
más detallado de estos aspectos puede ayudar a los profesores a reconsiderar su
propio discurso, así como sus actividades didácticas. Aunque todo esto puede pasar
desapercibido en el contexto de la popularización de la ciencia, los profesores
deben ser conscientes de las dificultades de aprendizaje relacionadas con enfoques
específicos a la química.
Palabras clave: Michael Faraday, vela, divulgación, discurso, dificultades de
aprendizaje.
Revisiting The Chemical History of a Candle: some reflections for chemistry teachers
based on a case study
Revisitando La historia química de una vela: algunas reflexiones para profesores
de química respaldadas por un estudio de caso
JOSÉ OTAVIO BALDINATO, JENNIFER A. Z. NAGY, PAULO ALVES PORTO
Grupo de Pesquisa em História da Ciência e Ensino de Química (GHQ)
Programa de Pós-Graduação Interunidades em Ensino de Ciências / Instituto de Química – Universidade de São Paulo (São Paulo, Brasil).
palporto@iq.usp.br
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Revisiting The Chemical History of a Candle: some reflections for chemistry teachers based on a case study.
INTRODUCTION
Michael Faraday (1791-1867) was one of the most outstanding scientists
of the nineteenth century, and also a popularizer of science. One of his series
of lectures was published in book form in 1861, under the title The chemical
history of a candle. The aim of this work is to revisit Faraday’s text, fostering
reflections on relevant aspects of present-day chemistry teaching.
In recent years, the possibilities for introducing the history of science
into science education have been discussed by many authors (Höttecke,
Silva, 2010; Gooday et al., 2008; Wandersee, 2002). We agree with Allchin
(2004) when he suggests that science educators should be familiar with
historical case studies, instead of resorting to brief vignettes or tangential
sidebars, which do not allow a more complete picture of the process of
science. Allchin also claims that teachers have to adapt the case study for
their students – and we take this as a fundamental point. In this sense, our
research group in Brazil has been engaged in developing historical case
studies aimed for chemistry teachers (Souza, Porto, 2012; Vidal, Porto,
2011; Viana, Porto, 2010).
Here, we present a case study for teachers’ appreciation. How (and if) it
may be discussed with a particular group of pupils is a decision to be made
by their teacher, considering the characteristics and the context of the group.
As Stinner and his group (2003) have shown, there are many ways of working
with case studies in science education, but they depend on teachers that “have
more than a cursory acquaintance with the history and philosophy of science,
and have good content and pedagogical content knowledge in science” (p.
624). So, we believe that the material presented in this work could be used in
courses designed for chemistry teaching training, for it motivates reflections
both about the nature and the complexity of scientific knowledge itself and
about the way chemical ideas are presented for pupils. Moreover, we agree
with Abd-El-Khalick and Lederman (2000), when they claim that teachers
cannot teach about the nature of science unless they have been adequately
prepared to do so. They argue that teacher training must include an explicit
approach to history and philosophy of science issues, in order to provide
teachers with an updated conceptual framework on these subjects (Abd-El-
Khalick, Lederman, 2000; Porto, 2010).
D. Höttecke (2000) presented a suggestion for working with historical
experiments, by replicating them. He argued that this kind of activity shows
that science is a multi-layered human activity, including intellectual and
technical-manipulative skills, and presented the replication of an electrical
experiment by Michael Faraday. In the present work, we revisit another set of
Faraday’s experiments, but our focus is on the intellectual dimension, since
we understand that the very selection and organization of experiments made
by Faraday for his public may raise challenging questions for present-day
chemical educators.
The value of Faraday’s ideas to present-day science educators has already
been shown, via a quite different approach, by E. Crawford in her analysis
of the text of the 1854 lecture entitled “Observations on Mental Education”
(Crawford, 1998). A case study designed for physics teachers was recently
published in Portuguese, on Faraday’s discovery of electromagnetic induction
(Dias, Martins, 2004). The study of Faraday’s investigations of water patterns
produced under vibrations motivated E. Cavicchi to establish an interesting
parallel between the experimental process in which Faraday was involved,
and the one held by the Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget when studying
children’s learning. From this parallel, Cavicchi draws implications that help
to understand science learning among present-day students (Cavicchi, 2006).
These few examples show that the study of Faraday’s work is still a rich source
of inspiration for educators in science.
The chemical history of a candle is a text that continues to be a favorite
among chemistry teachers, and an object of analysis for chemical education
researchers. Walker, Gröger and Schlüter (2008) have recently suggested
how Faraday’s appeal for approaching science from the well-known
phenomenon of a burning candle may be used in student-centered, open-
teaching activities. The authors suggest that the activities could be adapted
for a wide range of students, from primary school to university levels.
Although the authors depict a classroom storyline in which the teacher
sometimes overestimates experimental results as capable of changing
students’ ideas, the initiative is particularly interesting for switching
the protagonist character from the lecturer to the pupils as well as for
presenting a balanced set of questions and demands for the students to
express what on Zoller’s reference (1993) could be categorized as low-
order and high-order cognitive skills. In another paper, we also analyzed
some of the didactic strategies used by Faraday in his series of lectures,
showing that they comprise features that could be considered sound advices
to current-day teachers (for instance, the appeal to everyday facts, the
display of fascination towards the subject or the adequacy of the discourse
according to the public) (Baldinato, Porto, 2008). The whole text is public
domain. Some modern abridged versions to the course may be found and
even complete transcriptions are available on the internet.
1
This work focuses on some of the experiments described in The chemical
history of a candle. Our choice for the experiments was based on the particular
reasoning followed by Faraday throughout the whole course, which takes
chemical knowledge as something built by means of materials’ synthesis and
analysis processes (Baldinato, 2009). Meanwhile several experiments serve
the lecturer only for illustrating some physical processes such as capillarity
or density relations, there are other experiments which play a more privileged
role in formulating conclusions as well as by pointing the next questions to
be explored in the course. Inside the narrative, this last type of experiment
is often found when the lecturer approaches specific properties of a material
(water, air or wax), and also when he mentions their decomposition into simpler
bodies (carbon, hydrogen gas, oxygen, etc.) which deserve further investigation
aiming at a real understanding of the nature of those starting materials.
We intended to choose a few amongst the experiments performed with
great care by Faraday and the selected ones are presented below in the same
order as they were in the original text. This was done to retain the sequence
of ideas followed by Faraday. Our aim is not just to redo the sequence of
experimental demonstration designed by Faraday but, by doing so, we intend
to make explicit some inherent difficulties related to the chemical knowledge
brought up by the speech. Among these features are included: the problem
of handling invisible agents (such as the oxygen necessary for combustion);
the establishment of essential properties which could allow one to positively
characterize an unknown substance; recognizing analog results or conditions
in chemical processes; and the notions of synthesis and analysis recurrent in
the text. We believe a closer examination of these aspects that are only implicit
in Faraday’s lectures could help teachers to reconsider their own speech, as
well as their didactic sequences, though it all may go unnoticed in the context
of science popularization – putting some obstacles to the real understanding
of chemical concepts and methods.
As we have mentioned above, some initiatives for adapting Faraday’s
lectures in form of didactic units have already been provided by specialists
and might be of great help for teachers (Walker et al., 2008; Manrique et
al., 2010). In this sense, it is noteworthy that most of Faraday’s experiments
involve only simple materials such as candles, matches and glass tubes, and
those may be easily adapted to be performed with today’s apparatus while
some other tests might be incompatible with our modern laboratory safety
requirements, such as the use of solid potassium both to decompose carbon
dioxide and to characterize water as we’ll describe ahead. However, the present
work intends only to suggest some reflections on the complexity of chemical
reasoning illustrated by Faraday’s experiments and these may be raised among
teachers just by considering the experiments’ description, without actually
performing them. We believe the selected features are representative of inherent
difficulties associated with chemistry teaching. Moreover, we do not mean that
chemistry classes should be like a lecture, with passive students. However,
we do believe that the following analysis may help chemistry teachers to
reflect on the nature of scientific knowledge, on the way chemical concepts
are introduced to students, and on students’ difficulties and misconceptions
when dealing with chemical ideas.
In the first section we bring a brief contextualization of Faraday’s work as
a popularizer of science and next we present the selected experiments from
the series on the chemical history of a candle pointing out the reflections we
would like to suggest for teachers.
1. Faraday and science popularization in the early 19
th
century
In the nineteenth century chemistry used to interest various spheres of
society. Chemists found their way of obtaining social support that facilitated
their own development within a broad context that took science both as a source
of pleasure for the aristocracy and as a standard for the ideal of industrial
and social progress, directly connected to advent of the steam engine and the
application of new technologies at work.
Chemistry proved itself capable of contributing to society in several aspects,
not only as a means for developing useful knowledge to be applied in the
improvement of tools, materials and processes, but also as entertainment. In
both these fronts, its participation in the studies of electrical phenomena was
noteworthy. Chemistry was the science of the secondary qualities, with colors,
1 Ian Russell performed some of Faraday’s experiments with candles in a 2005
edition of the Royal Institution Friday Evening Discourses (available on You
Tube). Russell’s website provides a summary of Faraday’s Chemical History of
a Candle (http://www.interactives.co.uk/candle.htm). The full transcription of
Faraday’s lectures may be easily found on Google Books (
http://books.google.
com/
) or Project Gutemberg (
http://www.gutenberg.org
) and there is a free
audiobook on LibriVox (
http://librivox.org/
).
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Revisiting The Chemical History of a Candle: some reflections for chemistry teachers based on a case study.
smells and tastes. Its practical and laboratorial approach could be presented
in striking performances which guaranteed full audiences in London and
Paris, where Humphry Davy and Antoine Fourcroy gave their lectures with
explosive experiments and exciting performances. The historian David Knight
describes this period with a certain dose of nostalgia, making reference to a
time when approaching to chemistry was something vibrant, albeit it happened
in a way that may not match our “days of ‘health and safety’ legislation”
(Knight, 2007, p. 125).
Some institutions were highlighted by undertaking popularization
as part of their researchers’ routine. That was the case of the Royal
Institution of London, founded in 1799, which is associated with the
establishment of “a milestone on science popularization activities”
(Massarani, Moreira, 2004, p. 76). The Institution stated clearly on its
foundation records the aims of diffusing the Knowledge, and facilitating
the general Introduction, of Useful Mechanical Inventions and Improvements;
and for teaching, by Courses of Philosophical Lectures and Experiments, the
application of Science to the common Purposes of Life (quoted by James,
2007, p. 141).
The Royal Institution offered several types of courses and lectures to
different audiences, and its most notable researchers/lecturers during the
nineteenth century were Humphry Davy and Michael Faraday, whose
biographies attest completely different personal lifestyles, in contrast with
two characteristics they had in common: the skills in research and in science
communication.
The chemical history of a candle was one of the two series of lectures to be
transcribed and published by contemporaries with Faraday’s consent. These
sets compose a primary source that brings us a close approximation to the
context of chemistry popularization in the nineteenth century.
2. Revisiting the chemical history of a candle
As it was usual, from the last weeks of 1860 to the beginning of the
following year, the Royal Institution main auditorium had all of its seats
occupied by a very diverse audience. This seems to be despite the small
course pamphlets indicate that the cycle of Christmas lectures was specifically
tailored for the youth.
The candle was selected by Faraday as a starting point for his lectures
primarily because it was a common and extremely well known object (in a
time when there was no electric light). Faraday remarked that a candle has
interesting properties: it is preserved for a long time even under adverse
conditions (as in contact with sea water for years); even if broken, it burns
regularly, maintaining its function. The candle, when properly burned,
disappears without a trace of dirt on the candlestick, which may seem a very
curious circumstance to an observer. More than that, however, Faraday used
the candle in his course because he believed that:
There is not a law under which any part of this universe is governed which
does not come into play and is touched upon in these phenomena. There is no
better, there is no more open door by which you can enter into the study of
natural philosophy than by considering the physical phenomena of a candle.
(Faraday, 1861, p. 9-10)
The first of Faraday’s six lectures is entirely dedicated to general aspects of
candles, such as their manufacture, types and shapes. Moreover, he introduces
his first explanations about the role of fuel substances and the basic mechanism
for a candle’s burning.
Experiment 1 – analyzing to investigate
To start the tests with the flame, and proceed with investigations about
Nature, Faraday put one end of a glass tube in the middle of the flame, and
the other in a bottle. The deposit of a heavy substance could be seen at the
bottom of the bottle: it was wax that constituted the candle, turned into
vapor and then condensed again inside the bottle. Faraday then proceeded
to test this wax. He heated it until liquefaction and burned the vapor then
formed by approaching a flame.
That vapor was at the center of
the candle, and was formed by
the heat of the flame. The final
test consisted in, once again,
installing one end of the tube in
the center of the candle flame,
where the vapor was formed: the
vapor thus captured could then
be burned by bringing a flame
to the opposite end of the tube
(Figure 1).
Figure 1 – Faraday’s test with wax vapor.
(Faraday, 2002, p. 43)
Faraday identifies two fundamental phenomena here: the combustion and
the production of wax vapor in the central region of the flame. Combustion
occurred only in the external areas of the flame, where the wax vapor reached
the air needed for the process.
At this point, Faraday exemplifies a widely used scientific procedure: the
analysis of complex phenomena, or – in other words – the division of a complex
phenomenon into simpler parts, to get a better understanding of how these
parts fit together. By “separating” the wax vapor from the flame, Faraday is
trying to demonstrate that it is first necessary to vaporize the wax in order
to burn it. By doing so, Faraday contradicts a common misconception, that
what burns is the candle wick, while the wax would be just a support. Faraday
also introduces the idea that an invisible entity, present in the air, takes part in
combustion. This last topic will be further analyzed in the sequel.
Experiment 2 – investigating the invisible
Faraday then discussed the necessity of air for combustion. He covered
the burning candle with a glass flask: after a while, the flame began to dim
and finally went out. Faraday noted that this did not occur because of the lack
of air, for the bottle was still full of it. Another explanation was needed, and
he suggested investigating the composition of the candle by analyzing the
products of combustion.
The problem was that it was necessary to investigate the role of an invisible
entity in the phenomenon. This is very usual for a chemist – but teachers are
not always aware of the difficulty that students have to follow their reasoning in
this regard. In a short but elucidating paper, Braathen (2000) presents a review
on how this specific topic which takes the air as a participant in burning candles
has been subject of debate among researchers in chemistry teaching. The issue
presents itself connected to a whole series of usual misunderstandings among
students and teachers.
In the lecture, Faraday made use of his personal credibility to deviate from
the common sense conception that the flame goes out when the air is over. He
does it by calling the public’s attention to some changes that have occurred
in the qualities of the air inside the flask instead of its absence. In fact, the
explanation for the phenomenon depends on a number of concepts which
may require several experimental demonstrations to illustrate. Again, not all
teachers are aware of the web of relationships involved in the explanation of
chemical phenomena and that their students may not be able to grasp all of
it at once.
Experiment 3 – identity and diversity
By the end of the second lecture, Faraday started inferring what sort
of substance could derive from the candle burning. He pointed out some
simple experiments that could indicate the formation of a “condensable”
substance among these products. Water was such thing and the experimental
demonstration of it was used to reestablish the narrative in the third lecture.
To do so, Faraday relied on “a very visible action of water”, which he used
“as a test of the presence of water”. Faraday took a small piece of potassium
and put it in a basin with water, and observed the potassium “lighting up
and floating about, burning with a violet flame” (Faraday, 1861, pp. 65-66).
Then, Faraday applied the same test to the “condensable” part of the
combustion products of the candle.
He first placed a burning candle
under a porcelain bowl containing
a mixture of ice and salt, which
caused a drop of colorless liquid
to condense on the cold bottom of
the container (Figure 2). Faraday
collected that drop and added a
piece of potassium into it. As a
result, the potassium inflamed
and burned the same way as in the
previous test, which was done with
water. Faraday said that the same
could be observed if the liquid were
collected from the combustion of
an oil or gas lamp: that is, all these
fuels produce water when burned.
Figure 2 – Assembly designed to collect a
drop of water produced by the candle’s
combustion. (Faraday, 2002, p. 66)
Here there is an implicit general methodological question: how to establish
the identity (or the diversity) of two similar phenomena or, more specifically,
of two substances. Establishing that two phenomena have a common property
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does not prove that they are similar in nature. One needs to identify the essential
aspects of the phenomenon – those which define its nature – and its accidental
aspects – those that are only “superimposed” over the unchanging core of the
phenomenon, which are variable and subject to external influences (Martins,
1999, p. 833). In this case – about how to identify whether a substance is water
– Faraday implicitly admitted that, in this particular context, the characteristic
chemical reaction in the presence of potassium is an essential property of water.
Furthermore, it is also assumed that no other substance reacts in the same way
with potassium under the same conditions – which may not be true. To test
this hypothesis could be very complicated but, in logical terms, it could not
be ruled out before establishing the identity of the resulting liquid as water.
The fact, however, is that there are many other possible tests, which together
led Faraday to believe that the produced substance was water. The test with
potassium was chosen, probably, because it is simple to make, easy for the
public to understand, and has a dramatic visual effect. Compare it, for example,
to another test, like measuring the liquid’s boiling point: the execution and
explanation to the public would be much more difficult and less attractive.
Discussion of these kinds of issues may help teachers to reflect that there are
many hidden layers of meaning in the discourse of science, which not always
are perceived by them.
Experiment 4 – relating science to everyday life
Faraday then turned to the nature of water. He stated: “Water is one
individual thing; it never changes… either in a solid, liquid or fluid state”,
adding that it is “compounded of two substances, one of which we have
derived from the candle, and the other we shall find elsewhere.” (Faraday,
1861, pp. 67-69.)
Before tackling the question of water composition, Faraday discussed
changes of physical states, arguing that this kind of change did not modify
water essentially. He took some liquid water in a glass flask and heated it to
convert the liquid into steam showing the difference in volume. A watch-glass
supported on the mouth of the flask shook “like a valve chattering” (Faraday,
1861, p. 71). This was an indication that the flask was full of steam which
tended to escape as the volume increased. Furthermore, Faraday pointed to the
fact that the volume of liquid water remaining in the bottom of the flask did
not change significantly – that is, there is a huge difference in volume between
liquid and vapor. Faraday also demonstrated this in reverse. He quickly closed
a tin container filled with water
vapor and poured cold water on
the outside (Figure 3). As soon
as the steam condensed, the
container collapsed – according
to the lecturer, because there was
“a vacuum produced inside by
the condensation of the steam.”
(Faraday, 1861, p. 75.) From
these experiments, Faraday
concluded that one cubic inch of
liquid water could be converted
into one cubic foot of steam, and
vice versa.
Figure 3 – Test for steam and liquid water
properties. (Faraday, 2002, p. 74)
Faraday also aimed at a dramatic effect with the next demonstration. He
completely filled a strong thick iron container with water leaving no space for
air. Then he cooled the container immersing it in a mixture of ice and salt. After
a while (which Faraday used to make other demonstrations) the iron container
broke with a loud noise. Faraday stated that the explanation was the same
as for the fact that ice floats on water: ice has greater volume than the same
mass of water. In this case, Faraday’s explanation relates his demonstration
with a phenomenon seen in everyday life, familiar to his audience, revealing
that both facts have the same cause.
Experiment 5 – following a complex reasoning
Faraday proceeded to show that water is a compound of two simpler
substances. He asked: “How shall we get at this? I myself know plenty of ways,
but I want you to get at it from the association in your own minds of what I
have already told you” (Faraday, 1861, p. 77; italics in original).
His speech followed a reasoning involving metals, water and combustion.
It is interesting to observe Faraday’s declared concern, that he would like
his public to discover the explanation. He did not offer a ready answer, but
the reasoning presented was also neither “natural” nor “obvious” at all – it
demanded a series of previous chemical knowledge as we shall see.
Once again, Faraday showed the action of metallic potassium over water:
“you see it burns beautifully, making a floating lamp, using the water in the
place of air.” (Faraday, 1861, p. 78.) Then, he put some iron filings in water,
and noted that they rust and react with water in the same way as potassium
– although in a different degree of intensity, according to Faraday. He then
placed a small strip of zinc in a flame showing that it also burned, turning
into a white residue. Faraday asked his audience to “put these different facts
together in your minds.” (idem.) In this respect he said: “By degrees we have
learned how to modify the action of these different substances, and to make
them tell us what we want to know.” Faraday added a further demonstration,
throwing iron scraps into a flame, showing that they burn and remarking that
iron filings “burn beautifully in the air.” (Faraday, 1861, p. 79.)
Faraday then said that one can understand what happens when iron reacts
with water. He reproduced an experiment made by Lavoisier, the first chemist
to mention the composition of water in the terms still used today. It consisted
in passing water vapor through a metal pipe containing red hot pieces of iron
inside and placed over a furnace (Figure 4). Faraday observed that after the
steam passed on the heated iron it released a gas on the other end of the pipe,
which was collected under water. This gas could not be water vapor since it
did not condense when cooled. The following test was done: “if I now apply
a light to the mouth of the jar [in which the gas was collected], it ignites with
a slight noise. That tells you that it is not steam; steam puts out a fire: it does
not burn” (Faraday, 1861, p. 82). Faraday added that this substance could be
obtained from any water sample, either produced by a candle flame, or by
any other source.
Proceeding with his reasoning he stated that the action of the water vapor
on iron changed this metal into “a state very similar to that in which these
filings were after they were burnt.” (idem.) The gas could also be produced by
the action of water on other metals. Faraday reported that the contact of water
with zinc does not produce an effect as fast as with potassium because zinc
has a coating which prevents such action. However, if one dissolved zinc’s
protecting coat by means of an acid one would observe that the transformation
is much faster than in the case of zinc with water alone
2
. Faraday pointed
out that this process produced gas in great abundance, which was the same
inflammable substance previously obtained from water. Faraday performed
several experiments with this gas. But first, he stressed that this substance
came from the candle (which consisted of this gas and carbon) since the gas
could be separated from the water that condensed from the flame. Faraday
stated that the gaseous substance here was hydrogen.
F igure 4 – Lavoisier’s experiment presented by
Faraday to decompose water.
(Faraday, 2002, p. 80)
At this point, one can identify some more features of the scientific reasoning
that Faraday is showing his audience. He began reasoning by analogy, showing
the public that the actions of water on potassium, iron or zinc are similar, and
these three substances belong to the class of metals. The methodological issue
already highlighted in the case of Experiment 3 is presented again: the essential
phenomenon is the same (the reaction with water) and the differences (the
reaction rates) would be merely accidental or superficial. Moreover, there is
a much more complex analogy, which relates combustion to the reaction of
metals with water. To follow Faraday’s reasoning one had to admit that the
2 Current-day chemists would disagree with Faraday’s explanation for the behavior
of zinc in water and acid solutions. Instead of a protective coat, current chemical
knowledge points to the relative oxidation potentials of each metal and that of
water at different temperatures to explain different reactivity. As described for
the iron filings, hot zinc would react with steam but not with cold water. At room
temperature the acid plays an essential part in the production of hydrogen by
reacting with the metal.
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“burning” of potassium in water is analogous to the burning of iron filings in
the air. The reasons to establish such a relationship may become clearer as
the demonstrations and explanations succeed, but, again, they are not obvious
and we would not necessarily find these analogies useful nowadays. High
school students who are starting to learn chemistry, for example, may have
problems to reach a significant learning of this sequence of ideas, and their
teacher should be aware of that.
Experiment 6 – more analogies
Faraday presented what was formerly called the “philosopher’s candle”
(Faraday, 1861, p. 86). Pieces of zinc, water and sulfuric acid were put in a
flask with a cork and a glass tube passing through it. The hydrogen produced
was burned at the end of the tube. Faraday described the flame as “foolish,
feeble” (Faraday, 1861, p. 88) but extremely hot. He then proceeded with
the condensation of the substance produced by the gas combustion. Placing
a wide-mouthed glass bottle over the flame, colorless droplets formed inside
the bottle and water started to flow on the inner walls after a while (Figure
5). Faraday noted that the combustion of hydrogen produced water alone,
for no other substance condensed. In the sequel, he demonstrated how light
hydrogen is. By means of a pipe, the hydrogen generator was connected to
a vessel containing water with soap. The soap bubbles flew upwards while
Faraday demonstrated that mouth-blown bubbles tend to go down.
Fi gure 5 – Water condenses after been formed by the combustion of hydrogen
in the “philosophers candle”.
(Faraday, 2002, p. 89)
Faraday acknowledged that he still needed to identify what else, besides
hydrogen, constitutes water. To do this, he presented to his public a voltaic
battery, defined as “an arrangement of chemical force, or power, or energy, so
adjusted as to convey its power to us in these wires.” (Faraday, 1861, p. 94.)
Again, Faraday used analogies to explain. “Let us put together, first of all,
some substances, knowing what they are, and then see what that instrument
does to them.” (Faraday, 1861, p. 95.) Faraday put a piece of copper metal into
nitric acid remarking that the “beautiful red vapour” (idem) produced would be
discarded through the chimney. He waited until the solution became blue and
much of the metal had dissolved (could no longer be viewed). Platinum plates
attached to the voltaic battery were immersed in the resulting mixture. After a
while, Faraday pointed out to a copper deposit on one of the platinum plates.
He concluded that the same copper that was dissolved was again changed into
metal by the voltaic battery.
After demonstrating the power of the voltaic battery, Faraday was to show
its effect upon water. Two electrodes connected to the voltaic battery were
placed within a container full of water (to which a little acid was added), and
the gaseous products were altogether collected elsewhere under water. Faraday
asked if the product could be water vapor, and dismissed this possibility
arguing that this gas did not condense. To verify if it was hydrogen, Faraday
suggested burning it. He then ignited the collected gas, and drew attention
to the different noise produced by this explosion, in comparison with the
noise produced when hydrogen was ignited. Moreover, Faraday pointed out
that the collected gas burned without contact with external air. It was also
observed that the explosion of the gas produced water. Faraday remarked that
the burning of the candle produced water with the help of the atmosphere;
however, now he was producing water regardless of the atmospheric air. He
concluded that water “ought to contain that other substance which the candle
takes from the air, and which, combining with the hydrogen, produces water.”
(Faraday, 1861, p. 105.)
In this series of experiments, Faraday once again aimed to convince his
audience by means of analogies. To explain the action of the voltaic battery
on substances, Faraday prepared a solution (by dissolving copper with nitric
acid) and then retrieved one of the initial components (copper). In other
words, Faraday prepared a “compound” from a known element (copper) and
showed that the voltaic battery was capable of breaking down the “compound”,
regenerating the element he had in the beginning. Faraday then used the same
device on water wishing that the public would understand that the action was of
the same type. He made clear that a little acid was necessary, pointing out that
it was “only for the purpose of facilitating the action; it undergoes no change
in the process.” (Faraday, 1861, p. 100.) However, this was not demonstrated.
The public had to accept that the acid was only superficial or accidental in this
case, and not an essential part of the phenomenon under scrutiny. One of the
hard conclusions one could take from this reasoning is that recognizing what
is essential or accidental depends on the context of the studied phenomena
and might only be stated by the lecturer’s (scientist, teacher, researcher)
previous knowledge but never by the experiment results themselves. This
highlights an inherent tension between theories and experiments in science
making (Chalmers, 1993).
Experiment 7 – more analysis
Faraday repeated the decomposition of water, but this time he collected the
gases produced on each electrode in separate bottles. It could be observed that
one of the bottles became full of gas faster than the other. Both gases were
colorless and similar in all aspects at first sight. Faraday then moved on to
examine them. By testing the gas contained in the bottle that was filled faster
he observed all the qualities already seen for hydrogen. Inside the other bottle
Faraday put a lit splint and saw the enhancement of its combustion. Faraday
pointed out that this bottle contained the other component of water which
“must have been taken from the atmosphere” (Faraday, 1861, p. 108) – and
was called oxygen.
Faraday explained that there were other ways to obtain oxygen. He prepared
a mixture of manganese oxide with potassium chlorate and heated it in a
retort to release oxygen. Faraday remarked that the gas so produced was the
same as the one obtained from the decomposition of water – “transparent,
undissolved by water, and presenting the ordinary visible properties of the
atmosphere.” (Faraday, 1861, pp. 111-112.) By placing a lighted candle in
this gas, its flame became more intense. Faraday remarked: “It is wonderful
how, by means of oxygen, we get combustion accelerated ... all combustions
of the common kind.” (Faraday, 1861, p. 115.) The same was shown to happen
in the combustion of iron, sulfur and phosphorus.
At this point, Faraday seemed to consider that the public was ready for
definitive conclusions from all that was tested so far:
Why does a piece of potassium decompose water? Because it finds oxygen
in the water. What is set free when I put it in the water, as I am about to do
again? It sets free hydrogen, and the hydrogen burns; but the potassium itself
combines with oxygen; and this piece of potassium, in taking the water apart
– the water, you may say, derived from the combustion of the candle – takes
away the oxygen which the candle took from the air, and so sets the hydrogen
free... (Faraday, 1861, pp. 119-120.)
When separately collected the two gases produced in the electrolysis of
water, Faraday once again drew on the analysis of the problem into simpler
parts. By comparing properties considered essential Faraday identified
hydrogen and oxygen. Finally, the lecturer summarized the various findings
and explained them in terms of different and successive combinations of
hydrogen and oxygen with other elements or with one another.
One could notice in this last quotation of Faraday’s narrative a rapid mention
with an anthropomorphous character, as he suggests that potassium somehow
“finds oxygen in the water”. The learning obstacles derived from this approach
to science have been well discussed in the specialized literature and should be
familiar to all chemistry teachers (Taber, Watts, 1996; Lopes, 1992).
Experiment 8 – closing the circle
To complete the reasoning it was necessary to explain why oxygen has
properties similar to those of atmospheric air but more pronounced. In other
words, it was necessary to explain what else exists in the atmosphere, besides
oxygen. That was precisely what Faraday made in the sequel.
The next experiment aimed at investigating the composition of the
atmosphere. In two separate bottles, a sample of pure oxygen and another
of atmospheric air were independently put in contact with nitric oxide
3
. In
the bottle containing pure oxygen an intensely red gas was formed. With
atmospheric air the red gas was also formed but in smaller scale. Keeping the
system isolated from the atmosphere, Faraday dissolved the red gas in water,
added more nitric oxide and repeated these steps until all the oxygen present
in the initial sample of air was consumed. This was suggested by the fact that
new additions of nitric oxide could not produce the reddish gas anymore.
Faraday concluded that the remaining gas was a part of the atmosphere that
3 In current chemical language, this gas corresponds to NO.
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was not oxygen. So the atmosphere consisted of two parts: oxygen, which was
responsible for combustion; and another substance, nitrogen, which did not
take part in combustion but constituted most of the volume of air. The lecturer
also pointed out to the low chemical reactivity of nitrogen.
Faraday then returned to the candle flame in order to extract further
information from it. He had observed earlier that, besides water, the candle
also produces soot – and one other product that would be focused now. Faraday
surrounded a lighted candle with a container whose top was not closed but
extended in a glass tube. He observed that most of the moisture produced
condensed on the walls of the container and the air that left the tube at the top
was able to extinguish another flame put close to it (Figure 6). Faraday then
asked if there was any other gas there, besides the already expected and little
reactive nitrogen. To answer that, he gathered some of the gas that emerged
from the flame, added some freshly prepared limewater and shook the bottle
vigorously. Faraday noted that the water became milky. Repeating the test
with a bottle containing only atmospheric air, Faraday pointed out that neither
oxygen nor nitrogen are capable of causing change in limewater. Therefore,
the property of changing limewater should belong to the other combustion
product of the candle: a gas that Joseph Black called “fixed air”, for it was
present in fixed (i.e., solid) things, such as marble and other rocks. Then
Faraday presented another simple method of obtaining carbon dioxide: by
adding muriatic acid
(i.e., hydrochloric
acid) to pieces of
marble he produced
large amounts of gas
which also presented
the properties of
extinguishing a
flame and clouding
limewater.
Figure 6 – Device assembled to test properties of carbonic acid.
(Faraday, 2002, p. 142)
Faraday also remarked that, when a candle does not burn well, it releases
smoke in the form of black particles. The smoke is carbon soot that, had it been
completely burned, would be released as carbon dioxide. In order to illustrate
this point, Faraday burned carbon – common coal – and showed that it burns
in a characteristic way, producing sparks but not a flame.
Bearing in mind that carbon dioxide is a compound of carbon and oxygen,
Faraday decided to break it down. For this, he used potassium again, the
same substance already used to separate oxygen from hydrogen when put in
contact with water. Faraday carefully warmed a small piece of potassium and
introduced it in a flask containing carbon dioxide. The potassium “burned”
slowly in the presence of this gas, but once more it combined with oxygen. To
investigate the products, Faraday put the residue in water and called attention
to the presence of non-soluble carbon. Another product was potash which
dissolved in water. Faraday concluded by remarking that carbon is the only
known elementary solid substance whose combustion product disperses as
a gas – unlike, for example, iron, which burns into a solid, or phosphorus,
whose ignition gives off an opaque smoke.
In this last series of selected experiments, Faraday concluded a line of
reasoning that started with the observation of a burning candle. The logical
sequence about the composition of the atmosphere was completed, and
the question about the “other component” of the candle, besides hydrogen
(i.e., carbon) was resumed. The use of potassium as a tool to break down
carbon dioxide is important here, since it resorts again to the analogy of the
decomposition of water through the same metal. One may also observe that
Faraday discussed the composition of substances basically by demonstrating
both their synthesis from simple substances and its decomposition into the
same ones. By doing so, Faraday was following the example of Lavoisier,
whose approach to the composition of a compound followed this model.
Taking all of these considerations together, one could say that Faraday’s
narrative expresses something like a chemical reasoning which is intrinsically
difficult to follow. Thus it deserves a more cautious approach, particularly
among teachers. In a recent paper, Bensaude-Vincent (2009) describes
chemistry as a laboratory science, whose practitioner’s style of thinking is
historically related with “knowing through making”, with particular interest
in the manipulation of materials in the laboratory environment (pp. 369-371).
The author describes three main attributes of this style of reasoning, which
are: 1) the knowledge of materials relies on the operation of physical changes
and transformations of them, with great relevance attributed to the processes
of decomposition and synthesis; 2) the work of chemists combines physical
with mental activity, highlighting the operational difficulties in designing
and performing experiments in close relation with the work with theories;
and 3) following recipes of preparations well-established by long processes
of trial and error plays an important role in chemists formation as well as in
their practice (idem).
According to Bensaude-Vincent, one of the main features of chemists’
work is that they tend to deal with individual substances instead of considering
matter in general. For chemists are interested in understanding the specific
properties and the behavior of individual materials (Bensaude-Vincent, 2008).
These properties represent precisely what allow one to distinguish a substance
from others that might eventually group in a class (e.g. acids, salts etc.). The
specificity of such analysis is inherent to chemistry and represents part of what
Bensaude-Vincent concludes to be “the most stable feature of the chemists’
style of reasoning” (idem, p. 374). So the argument that considers essential
and accidental properties in a given context, as well as the criteria which,
combined, allow one to positively state the identity of a given substance is
not a trivial matter, and teachers must be aware of that.
FINAL REMARKS
Faraday’s Chemical history of a candle can be a rich source of activities
for chemistry teaching, at different levels. Faraday starts from an ordinary
phenomenon, well known to his public and then discusses several chemical
concepts. It is interesting to note how fire is not a common subject in chemistry
classes anymore, as noted by Bachelard:
In the course of time the chapters on fire in chemistry textbooks have
become shorter and shorter. There are, indeed, a good many modern books on
chemistry in which it is impossible to find any mention of flame and fire. Fire
is no longer a scientific object. Fire, a relevant immediate object… no longer
offers any perspective for scientific investigation (Bachelard, 1973, pp. 10-11).
That would be another point to be debated with training teachers. Faraday’s
book can help to bring back fire as a theme for the chemistry classroom. The
use of Faraday’s text serves as an example of the use of historical material
in science teaching: one can explore its chemical content, by introducing
topics that are still valid today, and that can be eventually deepened in
further classes. Furthermore, as suggested above, it points to several aspects
of scientific thought.
In addition to several other studies already published, this paper intended
to shed a new and a complementary perspective on Faraday’s series of
lectures on the chemical history of a candle. By revisiting his experiments
and speech we found some implicit aspects that could emerge as potential
topics to be discussed among science teachers, raising questions on how hard
it could be for students to understand: the role played by invisible agents in
chemical processes; the tension between essential and accidental properties in
characterizing a substance; how hard to see might be the points of similarity
between two or more analogous chemical processes; and how the operations
of synthesis and analysis relate to a particular way of reasoning in chemistry.
The use of a famous text, such as Faraday’s, may also show teachers that
there is no “perfect” didactic material. As we have endeavored to show, teachers
have much to learn from Faraday’s didactic strategies; however, even a lecturer
so praised for the clarity of his exposition may face difficulties in making
clear a complex train of reasoning (Cantor, 1991; Lan, Lim, 2001) and some
of his analogies and explanations we may no longer wish to use. Teachers
must deal with the inherent complexity of chemistry teaching, by recurrently
reflecting on their curricular choices and on pupils’ possible misconceptions.
Note
The full content of Michael Faraday’s Chemical History of a Candle is
public domain. The illustrations presented in this article were digitized by the
authors from a Dover publication (Faraday, 2002) under written consent of
their rights & permissions department.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors thank the anonymous reviewer for valuable suggestions. This
research was supported by the Brazilian agencies Conselho Nacional de
Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) and Fundação de Amparo
à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP). JAZN thanks the Dean’s Office
for Undergraduate Studies, Universidade de São Paulo (PRG-USP) for a grant
(Programa Ensinar com Pesquisa).
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Received 15-10- 2012/ Approved 29-04-2013
Abstract0:
The study presents the attitudes of university students towards e-learning, as one
of the up-to-date forms of education, within the framework of their undergraduate
studies. Above all, this regards education realized through e-learning with information,
curriculum, control incentives and communication being transmitted by means of
modern communication technologies and using the World Wide Web, called simply
the Internet. It also illustrates the course of the research investigation, carried out
from the year 2007 to 2011, and submits some of the outputs. The main objective
of the above mentioned investigation having been to determine the preferences
and opinions about the form, the organization of e-learning and about the tools
applied, the present study is conceived as a contribution to the discussion about the
possibilities and limits of the use of a fully electronic learning within the framework
of the undergraduate and lifelong learning, based on the use of modern information
and communication technologies.
Key words: e-learning, electronic study support, pedagogical research, university
students, nonparametric statistical methods.
Resumen:
El estudio presenta las actitudes seleccionadas de los estudiantes universitarios
ante el aprendizaje electrónico, como una de las formas de enseñanza moderna en
la realización de sus estudios. Se trata de una forma de aprendizaje en la que la
distribución y la presentación de la información, materiales, estímulos dirigentes
y de comunicación usamos las tecnologías comunicativas modernas que utilizan la
red informática mundial World Wide Web, simplemente llamada Internet. El estudio
presenta el transcurso y algunos resultados elegidos de la investigación entre los
años 2007 y 2011. El fin principal de esta investigación fue el conocimiento de las
preferencias y actitudes de los estudiantes ante la forma, organización, herramientas
individuales o elementos de aprendizaje electrónico. La investigación presentada es
una aportación a la discusión sobre las posibilidades y límites de la utilización total
del aprendizaje electrónico en la educación pregradual o permanente que está basada
en el uso de las tecnologías informáticas y comunicativas modernas.
Palabras clave: aprendizaje electrónico, apoyo estudiantil electrónico, investigación
pedagógica, estudiantes universitarios, métodos estadísticos no paramétricos.
INTRODUCTION
The perception of e-learning is often ambivalent and inconsistent, the main
reason being an inhomogeneous terminology, to a great extent influenced by
the linguistic impacts and by the diversity of approaches and technologies
used (Saettler, 1990). On both sides of the Atlantic, activities related to the
supporting of the education process by ICT (i.e. e-support) are not defined
as e-learning, in favor of relatively set phrases of Computer-Based Training
(CBT), Internet-Based Training (IBT) or Web-Based Training (WBT)
(Lowenthal & Wilson, 2009). In Europe, a consensus was reached upon the
use of a unified term of e-learning, which, according to the information at
the e-learning portal for Europe Elearningeuropa.info, is understood as the
application of new multimedia technologies and the Internet in education, in
E-learning through the eyes of the Czech students
Aprendizaje electrónico desde el punto de vista de los estudiantes universitarios
MILAN KLEMENT
Faculty of Education of Palackyý University Olomouc, Zizkovo nam. 5, 771 40 Olomouc, Czech Republic, milan.klement@upol.cz
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E-learning through the eyes of the
Czech
students
order to improve its quality by enhancing access to resources, services, the
exchange of information and cooperation (Simonova, 2010).
According to this definition, e-learning covers not only a wide range of tools
that are used for the presentation or the transfer of the educational content and
for the management of studies, but also an entire spectrum of communication
channels. The tools are used via LMS (Learning Management System), which
is a prerequisite for the implementation of a truly effective learning process
through e-learning. LMS thus represents a virtual ´classroom` environment
comprised of tutorials, quizzes, study instructions, exercise plans or discussion
forums (Mauthe & Thomas, 2004).
Apart from LMS, properly structured and didactically adapted educatio-
nal texts, referred to as e-learning supports (Paulsen, 2003) contribute
significantly to the implementation of e-learning. To get a clear and per-
manent definition of the term, it is therefore necessary to focus on the
structure and the arrangement of individual elements that such a teaching
material is composed of. Study materials for distance learning, in both
classical form and the form of e-learning, have gradually evolved from
textbooks. In terms of the text structure, a classical textbook (Möhlen-
brock, 1982) is composed of two basic components, i.e. text components
(´written text`) and extra textual components (graphical components).
It should nevertheless be noted that e-learning supports have their own
unique characteristics as they are intended for a particular form study,
characterized above all by a higher level of independence and indivi-
duality (Bates & Poole, 2003). A characteristic feature of thus structured
electronic study supports designed for e-learning is the fact that their
nuclear structure is enhanced by various interactive and multimedia ele-
ments, i.e. animation, multimedia records, dynamic simulation, sound
recordings, etc., as shown in the figure number 1.
Figure1 – Electronic learning support structure
Having taken into account all the above stated facts, the author of the
present study carried out a long-term investigation focused on monitoring
and evaluating students’ attitudes to e-learning enhanced by sophisticated
electronic and multimedia enriched learning supports (Klement, 2010). These
comprised and made use of tools designed to achieve cognitive, affective,
as well as psychomotor learning objectives, completely in compliance with
modernization trends in this area. Thus each e-learning support contained
not only a static text part, i.e. verbal component of the text, a visual portion
of the text, i.e.visual component of the text (images, diagrams, graphs, etc.),
but also a dynamic part, i.e. dynamic component of the text in the form of
multimedia extension, i.e. animation solutions, or even interactive simulations
of particular steps (Chudy & Candik, 2004), through which students could
acquire the necessary skills.
METHODOLOGY
The main objective of the research investigation was a collection and an
evaluation of the ideas and attitudes of the students to the training carried
out through e-learning. This objective was planned to be achieved through
particular component parts, each of them designed to seek the views and
attitudes of students to the e-learning form of study as a whole as well as
to its individual components and to the very electronic structure of the
learning supports. Every single component part of the research investigation
was formalized into questions, which were then put together to create an
anonymous structured questionnaire (Foddy, 1994), which students filled out
according to the instructions supplied. At that time, the students interrogated
had no pedagogical training, to which fact the terminology was adapted and
their definition was simplified (e.g. instead of the term verbal component of
the text, static text information was used, instead of the term visual component
of the text, static image information was applied, and instead of the term
dynamic element in electronic form dynamic visual information - interactive
simulation and animation were included).
In compliance with the above mentioned, we formulated the research
assumptions that would respect the modernizing trends in the field of education
supported by information and communication technologies. We stemmed from
the following assumptions:
students are satisfied with the education realized through e-learning because
they like the fully electronic learning environment in the form of LMS.
Their interest in the above mentioned is a long-term one,
students gain most knowledge using static elements of electronic learning
supports in the form of text, as they consider them optimal for achieving
cognitive learning objectives,
most real ideas are adopted by students through static elements of electronic
learning supports in the form of pictures, graphs and tables, as the latter allow
them to exploit a wider range of learning strategies based on demonstration,
The investigation sample (Creswel, 2008), selected in order to verify the
assumptions of the research, consisted of 501 first-year students of universities,
who carried out a part of their studies through e-learning. The structure of the
investigation sample is shown in the following table No. 1
Table 1 – Research sample structure
year 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 S S
%
S
women
40 39 46 56 39 220
43,9
S
men
53 63 59 48 58 281
56,1
S
year
93 102 105 104 97 501
S
% year
18,6 20,4 20,9 20,8 19,4 100,0
education implemented
through
e-learning satisfaction level
4,3 7,8 5,7 5,8 5,2 29
5,8
education implemented
through
e-learning dissatisfied level
95,7 92,2 94,3 94,2 94,8 472
94,2
The validation of the research objectives set was carried out by means of
the static nonparametric method of Pearson chi-square (Pearson’s chi-squared
test), which helped us to determine the level of the dependence of the results
on a particular feature significant for a group of respondents, such as gender or
age (Greenwood & Nikulin, 1996). To determine the significance of particular
groups of respondents who answered the same way, basic descriptive statistics
and their visualization through tables was used. For the calculation purposes,
the statistical system Statistica 9.0 (Nisbet et al., 2009) was applied.
RESULTS
The ideas and the attitudes of the students concerning distance education
through e-learning
The main factor examined in this part of the investigation was the level of
satisfaction of the students with the organization of education implemented
through e-learning, the educational content being transmitted not primarily
within the framework of a regular full-time teaching, but via monitored
self-study (Vasutova, 2002), making use of convenient e-learning supports,
incorporated into LMS. A research premise was set up that students are
satisfied with the organization of teaching through e-learning, with the
educational content being primarily mediated via e-learning supports and
the LMS system providing them with the communication, evaluation and
management aspect of study. We verified this assumption by analyzing data
collected throughout the investigation. In addition to the general opinion on
this issue, we monitored the long-term trends in this area and we also analyzed
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E-learning through the eyes of the
Czech
students
the potential dependence of the students’ opinions based on gender. The results
of this verification are given in the Table 2 and the contingency Table 3.
Having analyzed the results obtained, we could state that the students
actually are satisfied with the organization of education through e-learning,
supposing that the educational content is primarily mediated via e-learning
supports and the LMS system provides them with the communication,
evaluation and management aspect of study, as the total of 94.2% of the
respondents gave an affirmative response to the question and only 5.8% of
them answered negatively. It is possible to say that the students’ satisfaction
with the organization of education through e-learning is permanent, as over
the years the investigation was conducted, consistent results were obtained.
The highest level of dissatisfaction with the organization of education through
e-learning was recorded in 2008 and amounted to 7.8% of the respondents,
while the highest level of satisfaction with the arrangement of education
through e-learning appeared in 2007 and amounted to 95.7%. However,
both these values only slightly deviate from the overall outputs (as regards
dissatisfied respondents, the difference is about 2%, with satisfied respondents
the numbers differ just by 1. 5%). It is thus possible to say that the results
obtained in different years do not differ significantly, and therefore we can
state that the development trend in this area, i.e. the opinions and attitudes of
students, is stable and shows neither growth nor decline
The objectivity of the outputs was verified by the implementation of a
further analysis, the aim of which was to determine potential dependence of
the data obtained on the gender of the respondents. To achieve this, we made
use of the chi-squared test, the results being presented in the contingency
table number 2.
Table 2 – Organization of education implemented through e-learning
satisfaction level in % of students (women versus men)
Contingency table, cell frequency > 10 marked in italics
Pearson’s chi square: 4.1202, levels of skewness: 1, level of significance = 0.0424
Respondents’ gender Dissatisfied Satisfied Line sums
Women 18 202
220
Men
11 270
281
All groups 29 472 501
Since the calculated level of significance is 0.04, as shown in Table 2,
we can state that the frequency of responses given by men and women as
regards the level of their satisfaction with the arrangement of teaching through
e-learning are different, and therefore the assessment partly depends on the
gender of the respondents. The interpretation of the result obtained can be
such that dissatisfied women are more numerous than discontented men. It
is also true that the level of the respondents unhappy with the above stated
situation being so low (see the total percentage of the students dissatisfied
where women make up only 3.6% and men even only 2.2%), the dependence
of the outputs on gender was rather surprising and incited further examination.
A possible explanation for the above stated finding could be just another
assumption that in addition to e-learning, as a predominantly non-contact form
of teaching, using primarily self-study and online communications, women
also prefer different forms of the educational process, which can provide them
with other things they value. These might for example be such components or
characteristics of the educational process as a personal contact with colleagues,
a personal contact with the teacher, a more directive way of monitoring the
study, a smaller degree of autonomy in planning studies, and so on. Briefly, it
regards those aspects of the educational process, which clearly belong to the
domain of a regular full-time teaching. Another investigation assumption was
therefore formulated that there exists a group of students who reject distance
learning and unequivocally prefer regular full-time teaching.
As it was necessary to support the assumption by a tangible statistical
output that would confirm the former with the desired degree of accuracy, a
further analysis, based on the comparison of positive and negative answers by
the respondents to the particular investigation questions, regarding the level
of satisfaction among the students with e-learning as an appropriate form of
study (students actually answered the question of whether e-learning was their
preferred form of study) and the level of satisfaction among the students with
the arrangement of teaching through e-learning (students were asked whether
they preferred learning by means of electronic learning supports) was carried
out. We conducted this analysis by comparing the results and by evaluating
them via the chi-squared test. The results are shown by the contingency table
number 3.
Table 3 – E-learning as an appropriate form versus organization of
education implemented through e-learning satisfaction levels
Contingency table, cell frequency > 10 marked in italics
Pearson’s chi square: 155.5761, levels of skewness: 1, level of significance = 0.0001
Dissatisfied with
the organization of
e-learning
Satisfied with the
organization of
e-learning
Line sums
Dissatisfied with the
form of e-learning
21 23
44
satisfied with the form
of e-learning
8 449 457
All groups 29 472 501
The Calculated significance, as shown in Table 3, is 0.001, which clearly
shows a high level of dependence in both areas analyzed. The interpretation of
this output could be that the group of the students who are not satisfied with
e-learning as an appropriate form of education is identical with the group of
the students who are not satisfied with the very structure of e-learning. So there
probably is a group of students, though not numerous at all, i.e. comprised of
21 students, which is 4.2% out of the total of 501 respondents, whose attitude
to educational activities via e-learning is rejection.
The opinions of the students on particular structural elements of electronic
learning supports
Our preparation and implementation of another part of the investigation
mainly drew on Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives, which, as
one of the major pedagogical theories, deals with various aspects that
affect the concept of education planning and curriculum development. Its
contribution is perceived primarily in terms of the indication by it of the way
towards specifying and operationalizing of educational goals. As early as in
1956, the lead author of the theory published a classic study entitled “The
Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, The Classification of Educational
Goals, Handbook I: Cognitive Domain ‘(Bloom, 1956), which was crucial,
particularly because it defined the structure of cognitive training objectives
in relation to various levels of thought processes. According to this model,
the latter are arranged so that they follow each other from the trivial to
more complex and comprehensive ones. In addition to the cognitive circuit,
learning objectives from the other two circuits were gradually identified, i.
e. the affective circuit (simplified as attitudes) designed along with Bloom`s
cooperator D.B. Krathwohl (Krathwohl et al., 1964) and also the sensor
motor or psychomotor circuit (simplified as skills) defined by H. Dave
(Kalhous & Obst, 2002).
The results obtained in the particular component parts of this area of the
investigation research are demonstrated in the following parts of the study.
Each result is supported with a statistical analysis that aims at demonstrating
the dependence or the independence of the results obtained on the gender
of the respondents, at indicating the development trends with regards to the
students’ opinions and attitudes, all this based on an analysis of the answers
of the respondents in each year of the research and on a comparison of the
partial results with the overall ones.
Students’ opinions on the acquisition of theoretical knowledge
In this case, we again applied the above mentioned investigating
method to find out which structural element of electronic learning
supports students prefer in order to gain theoretical knowledge when
studying the subject matter by means of electronic learning supports
designed for e-learning.
Based on the analysis of the results obtained, it can be said that with
respect to gaining knowledge, the total of 54.1% of the respondents
declared the static element in the form of textual information to be their
most favourite structural element of the electronic learning supports,
followed by 32.1% of respondents who preferred dynamic elements in
the form of interactive animations, and 13.8 % of the respondents valuing
static elements in the form of images. It is therefore possible to say that,
with respect to gaining knowledge, the most preferred structural element
of the electronic learning supports are static elements in the form of
textual information.
Furthermore, we focused on whether the views of women and men were
identical in this area. According to the results of the analysis, we concluded
that the views of men and women in this area vary considerably, as evidenced
by the pivot table number 4.
69
JOURNAL OF SCIENCE EDUCATION - Nº 2, Vol. 14, pp. 66-70, 2013, ISSN 0124-5481,
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E-learning through the eyes of the
Czech
students
Table 4 - Students’ opinions on the best structural element of the
electronic learning supports with respect to the acquisition of knowledge
(women versus men)
Contingency table, cell frequency > 10 marked in italics
Pearson’s chi square: 14.4260, levels of skewness: 2, level of significance = 0.0007
Respondents’
gender
Favourite
element- text
Favourite
element –
pictures, images
Favourite
element -
animations
Line sums
Women 135 17 68
220
Men
136 52 93
281
All groups 271 69 161 501
Since the calculated value of significance is 0.0007, as shown in Table 4,
we can conclude that the frequency of the responses given by men and women
as regards their favourite electronic learning supports’ structural element with
respect to the acquisition of knowledge are not the same, and therefore this
assessment is dependent on the gender of the respondents. The observed results
can be interpreted so that in comparison with men, women more often prefer
acquiring knowledge via text.
Students’ opinions on the best structural element of the electronic learning
supports with respect to the acquisition of real ideas
The next step in the research was to analyze the students’ opinions
regarding their favourite structural element of electronic learning supports
with respect to obtaining real ideas. Having analyzed the collected data,
we came to a conclusion that with respect to gaining real ideas within
the framework of the studies using electronic learning supports, students
regard as the most appropriate element static structural elements, in the
form of static visual information (pictures, graphs, tables, etc.). To sum
up, it is possible to state that the most preferred structural element for
the acquisition of real images within the framework of the study realized
through electronic learning supports is the visual static information. It
is also possible to argue that this trend in the students’ opinions is stable
and shows neither growth nor decline, because the partial results observed
in individual years did not differ significantly from the overall results
obtained through the entire period of the investigation research conduct.
The fact is illustrated by table 5.
Table 5 - Students‘ opinions on the best structural element of the
electronic learning supports with respect to the acquisition of real ideas
(percentage)
Students’ opinions on the best structural element of the electronic learning supports with
respect to the acquisition of real ideas (percentage)
year 2007 year 2008 year 2009 year 2010 year 2011
average
Static textual
information (%)
24.7 22.5 21.9 24.0 23.7
23.4
Static visual
information (%)
55.9 52.9 58.1 46.2 56.7
53.9
Dynamic visual
information (%)
19.4 24.5 20.0 29.8 19.6
22.8
We can
also
prove
that the above
stated
result is
independent of the
gender
of the respondents
, which
is shown by the contingency
table
No. 6.
Table 6- Students’ opinions on the best structural element of electronic
learning supports with respect to the acquisition of real ideas (women
versus men)
Contingency table, cell frequency > 10 marked in italics
Pearson’s chi square: 5.1077, levels of skewness: 2, level of significance = 0.0777
Respondents’
gender
Favourite
element- text
Favourite
element –
pictures, images
Favourite
element -
animations
Line sums
Women 41 128 51
220
Men
76 142 63
281
All groups 117 270 114 501
Since the calculated value of significance is 0.08, as shown in Table 6, we
can argue that the frequency of particular male and female responses in terms
of their views on the best structural element of electronic learning supports
aimed at the acquisition of real ideas are identical. This evaluation can thus
be regarded as independent of the gender of the respondents.
DISCUSSION
The idea of a completely natural use of ICT, including e-learning tools
and LMS, by today’s generation of students, is more or less taken as a fact,
based on two major arguments. The first one stems from the fact that today’s
adolescents and even infants deal with and manage the computer technology
with a rather striking spontaneity. The second argument is based on the
statistics demonstrating the level of dependence of the use of ICT on age,
showing that unlike older generations; nearly all adolescents use the Internet
and mobile phones (Lupac, 2011). It is around these arguments that Don
Tapscott American (1998) built his essays claiming that the power model of
the family was disturbed, because, unlike the past, children were taking over
the teaching role and educated their parents with respect to the orientation
in the digital environment. His concepts of N-GEN and that of the digital
generation were soon followed by other concepts, i.e. digital natives (Prensky,
2001a), homo-zappiens (Veen & Vrakking, 2006), digitally birth (Palfrey &
Glasser, 2008) and others. “Digital natives are used to receiving information
very quickly. They like doing more activities at a time (i.e. multitasking).
They prefer the image processing over the processing of the text. They prefer
a random access to information (i.e. hypertext) and they like best working
in a networked environment (online). They expect immediate praise and
frequent evaluation of their work”. (Prensky, 2001a). The ideas of Prensky
and Tapscott were quite influential at the time and have later become subject
to several attempts, more or less successful, by various researchers, to refute
them (Bennett, Maton & Kervin, 2008).
Although the author of the present study is neither a supporter nor the
opponent of the idea of a different approach to the education of ´digital natives`,
he believes that education through e-learning, with the widest possible use of
ICT, may offer a suitable scope for the verification of certain characteristics
of the generation of digital natives. The above stated attitudes of the Czech
university students on e-learning can thus help with the identification or the
determination of the extent of a potentially existing group of students who
do have digital thinking (Prensky, 2009). Since the students involved in the
research implemented fall into this group (all students were born after 1990),
it is possible to verify some selected features, typical for a group of digital
natives, on the results identified.
1.
Firstly, a group
of digital
natives can be characterized
as
„
preferring
random access
to information (
hypertext) and giving
best
performance
in a networked environment
(online)“ (
Prensky,
2001a
).
According
to
the results
achieved,
there is a group
of the students
who
demonstrably
refuse to
study
via
e-learning
,
even with the latter
being implemented
through
hypertext
instructional materials
and
on
line environment.
Although
many other
factors may have impact
on the fact
, the question arises
whether the generation of the students
born
after 1990 (
this corresponds to the
general
implementation of
ICT
in the Czech
Republic)
really do
prefer
only online
educational
activities or not.
1. Secondly,
a group
of digital
natives should be
„preferring processing
visual material prior to the text“ (Prensky, 2001a). In this case, the
results obtained definitely confirmed the characteristic as it is clear that
students absolutely prefer visual information to text.
70
JOURNAL OF SCIENCE EDUCATION - Nº 2, Vol. 14, pp. 66-70, 2013, ISSN 0124-5481,
www.accefyn.org.co/rec
E-learning through the eyes of the
Czech
students
Within the framework of such a rapidly evolving field as this one un-
doubtedly is, it is almost impossible to keep sufficient distance, necessa-
ry for the achievement of an ´unbiased assessment`, which itself is a
prerequisite for a professional discussion supported by facts. It is thus
necessary to perceive the above stated findings rather as stimuli for fur-
ther discussion, resulting in a more responsible and balanced approach
to the needs of the students whose studies are, though only partly, imple-
mented through e-learning.
CONCLUSIONS
Although the above stated results cannot be regarded as significant,
they indicate trends that should be taken into consideration by up-to-date
education making use of electronic distance learning texts and LMS.
The attitudes of the students could provide us with a guideline helping
to find the optimal way towards satisfied, educated and professionally
prepared tertiary education graduates and graduates of lifelong learning
programmes. The investigation research conducted shed some light on
some of the preferences and attitudes of the students related to this field,
which can be regarded as long-term. It can therefore help all those who
want to design e-learning tools to meet the needs of their students or pupils
the best way possible.
The authors recomment the following guidelines for future work involving:
1. design of appropriate e-learning tools; 2.conducting surveys of attitudes
and opinions of students on education via e-learning, and 3. carrying out
investigations focused on the issue of the evaluation of electronic learning
supports. These guidelines are based, in part, on the research results presented
in this paper.
1. It is necessary to accept the fact that the ´classical` concept of distance
learning (from which e-learning is often said to have derived) is focused
on the text, in the form of a distance learning text or electronic learning
supports, as they are often referred to, as the main carrier of information
(knowledge, skills, attitudes, etc.).
2.
It is essential to recognize the fact that e-learning allows the use of
electronic distance learning texts or electronic learning supports, as
they are often referred to, comprising several carriers of the educational
content, which are very often of multimedia character.
3.
Simulation and virtual reality makes for the extension of the field
of achieving psychomotor educational goals through e-learning by
experimental activities in virtual labs and via virtual simulations.
4. When using the above stated education forms, it is necessary to choose
an appropriate teaching strategy, reflecting the possibility of using such
carriers of the educational content, which would match the objectives
to be achieved.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The paper was written within the framework of the no P407/11/1306 project
entitled “Evaluation of study materials designed for distance education and
learning”, supported by GAČR.
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Received 08-02- 2012/ Approved 29-04-2013
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JOURNAL OF SCIENCE EDUCATION - Nº 2, Vol. 14, pp. 71-74, 2013, ISSN 0124-5481,
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Abstract
In a society driven by science and technology, education should facilitate the development
of competences and critical thinking, preparing students to solve problems. Accordingly,
problems can act as a stimulus for students learning and questioning, especially
high order questioning, is a useful tool for the learning process. The purpose of this
study was to: (i) quantify and classify the questions raised by students that arise from
different scenarios (problems); (ii) analyze the motivation of students; (iii) quantify
and classify the issues presented by their teacher as possible questions to be asked;
and (iv) compare the number and type of questions raised by students with those
suggested by their teachers. The study concludes that all scenarios lead to the raising
of almost all types of questions, with a majority of encyclopaedic ones. Most students
considered this approach motivating although some difficulties were pointed out.
Key words: problem based learning, questioning, scenarios, science education,
environmental education.
Resumen
En una sociedad impulsada por la ciencia y la tecnología, la educación debe
facilitar el desarrollo de las competencias y el pensamiento crítico, preparando a
los estudiantes para la resolución de problemas. Por consiguiente, los problemas
pueden actuar como un estímulo al aprendizaje y al cuestionamiento de los alumnos,
en especial las preguntas de orden superior, herramientas fundamentales para el
proceso de aprendizaje. El propósito de este estudio fue: (i) cuantificar y clasificar
las cuestiones planteadas por los estudiantes que derivan de diferentes escenarios
(los problemas), (ii) analizar la motivación de los estudiantes; (iii) cuantificar y
clasificar los problemas presentados por su profesor como preguntas posibles de
plantear; (iv) comparar el número y tipo de preguntas planteadas por los estudiantes
con las sugeridas de sus profesores. El estudio concluye que todos los escenarios
conducen al planteamiento de casi todo tipo de preguntas, con una predominancia de
las enciclopédicas. La mayoría de los estudiantes consideró este enfoque motivador
a pesar de algunas dificultades señaladas.
Palabras clave: aprendizaje basado en problemas, cuestionamiento, escenarios de
problematización; enseñanza de las ciencias, educación ambiental.
INTRODUCTION
Since we live in a world of permanent change, strongly influenced by
scientific and technological progress, there is a strong need to increase the
scientific literacy of students. School plays a major role in the formation of
the individuals’ personalities, making them more responsible, informed and
critical in order to ensure that they will be able to use knowledge adequately.
Studies indicate that it is not possible to ensure scientific literacy using
traditional instructional methods (Hodson, 1998). The learning of science
needs to be more meaningful, relevant and interesting and students have to be
more actively participant. Giordan and Vecchi (1996) consider the creation
of disturbing situations crucial to significant knowledge construction, as
students look for new solutions. Many studies (Chin, 2001; Dahlgren &
Öberg, 2001; Chin & Chia, 2004; Palma & Leite, 2006; Oliveira, 2008;
Loureiro, 2008) advocate questioning as a fundamental and privileged mean
to prompt learning, being a powerful tool to improve the learning quality
(Orlik, 2002). Indeed, it compels students to find solutions to the problem
presented either by their teachers or by themselves. Questions raised by
students unleashes important processes in the construction of scientific
knowledge as it enables students to express their previous knowledge, to
observe, to investigate, to create, to explain, to criticize, to take decisions
and to develop their concepts and attitudes (Schein & Coelho, 2006). In
fact, “through the thinking cognitive skill of questioning, thinking may
have the potential to generate learning (Cuccio-Schirripa & Steiner, 2000,
p. 210). However, students’ questions must prompt inquiry and must be of
a high cognitive level in order to promote a meaningful development of the
apprentice. The quantity and quality (in terms of cognitive level) of questions
varies according to the scenario (Dahlgren & Öberg, 2000; Loureiro, 2008;
Oliveira, 2008), the methodologies, and depending on whether they are
formulated individually or in groups (Palma & Leite, 2007). In spite of the
importance of raising questions, students are reluctant to formulate them in
the classroom possibly because they do not want to attract too much attention,
or because they are not encouraged by teachers to do so (Marbach-Ad &
Sokolove, 2000). It is important to investigate the ways to encourage and to
promote the questioning by students, as well as to analyse the ways teachers
use this learning approach. This study analyses how different scenarios
worked in terms of promoting questioning. Questions raised by students and
anticipated by their teachers were counted and analysed, and the students’
motivation during their task was evaluated.
PROBLEM BASED LEARNING, QUESTIONING AND
SCENARIOS
Problem based earning (PBL) is an inquiry-based learning (IBL) approach
where problems play a major role acting as a stimulus for students’ learning.
This method is based on the principle of using daily-life problems as a point
of departure for the learning process (Lambros, 2004; Vasconcelos & Almeida,
2012). Thus the problem is introduced in the beginning of the unit of study,
hence ensuring that students know why they are learning and what they are
learning, thereby increasing their motivation. In this way, all the information
gathered by the students is learnt with the purpose of solving a problem (Chin
& Chia, 2004). According to this method, the learning process begins with
the identification of the problem itself: students are presented with a scenario
generally related with the real world that will promote debate as well as
the motivation to find something relevant to their personal lives. Moreover,
students formulate questions that help to diagnose their knowledge and their
difficulties. Through this process students learn to identify what they already
know about a subject, what are their learning needs and which is the best way
to solve the problem and achieve a relevant knowledge (Dahlgren & Öberg,
2001; Chin & Chia, 2004). The PBL process follows specific heuristic stages
beginning with the preparation to the perception of the problem, where the
teacher motivates the students. The students work in groups and are presented
with a problematic situation (scenario), which is supposed to create a necessity
to get the solution hence to learn more. Once they have encountered the
problem, they have to identify what they already know, what they need to
know and how they will achieve the information needed. After working in
groups and getting a solution, students will check it in class, by presenting
their arguments (Orlik, 2002; Lambros, 2004). In an IBL approach, students
should be questioning, examining books, and other sources of information,
writing hypothesis, analysing data, writing conclusions and communicating the
results. Indeed, some authors argue that, although students achieve different
autonomy levels within this approach, they are encouraged to develop their
solving problems capabilities, which prepares them to be self-oriented and
concerned citizens (DeBoer, 2004). Questioning is then recognized as a useful
tool that facilitates the learning process, acting as a linkage between thinking
and learning (Oliveira, 2008). Dewey (1933) argues that a question can evoke
and encourage answers as well as may promote researching. Questions are
common in our daily life as well as in classroom (Palma & Leite, 2006),
being frequently applied in different ways and with different purposes.
However, under the scope of PBL, questions should develop critical thinking
and problem solving competences. As Aja and Espinel (2000) stated, good
questions are those that generate processes of logical thought development.
Problem based learning environmental scenarios: an analysis of science students and
teachers questioning
Aprendizaje basado en problemas en escenarios ambientales: un análisis de
interrogación de estudiantes de ciencias y profesores
TORRES, J.,
1
,
PRETO, C.
2
, VASCONCELOS, C.
3
1
Centro de Geologia da Universidade do Porto
2
Escola Secundária,
3
Faculdade de Ciências/Centro de Geologia da Universidade do Porto, Portugal, jmstorres@gmail.com,
carla_preto@hotmail.com,csvascon@fc.up.pt
72
Problem based learning environmental scenarios: an analysis of science students and teachers questioning
JOURNAL OF SCIENCE EDUCATION - Nº 2, Vol. 14, pp. 71-74, 2013, ISSN 0124-5481,
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Several studies indicate that, although teachers pose many questions in
class, students formulate few questions and questions of low cognitive
levels (Cuccio-Schirripa & Steiner, 2000; Oliveira, 2008; Vasconcelos et
al, 2011). As Dillon (1990, p. 7) stated ‘‘children everywhere are schooled
to become masters at answering questions and to remain novices at asking
them’’. Although students rarely raise questions within a classroom context
(Cuccio-Schirripa & Steiner, 2000; Oliveira, 2008; Vasconcelos et al, 2011),
many authors state many reasons that justify the need for students to do so,
such as: the emphasis on students’ questions conveys the message that inquiry
is a natural component of scientific subjects; students reveal their thoughts
and concepts when raising questions; students’ questions help teachers reach
a broader understanding of the subject and might also increase students’
understanding and assimilation of concepts (Marbach-Ad & Sokolove, 2000;
Chin & Kayalvizhi, 2002). In fact, questions raised by students make them
think about their own concerns (Orlik, 2002), activate their prior knowledge,
facilitate their understanding of new concepts and increase their curiosity,
promoting significant knowledge building and solving problems capabilities.
Still, they become more enthusiastic when they search the answer to their own
questions (Chin & Kayalvizhi, 2002). Considering this value of questioning
within the learning process, it is very important that schools endorse the
development of this ability to prepare students to be critical and to face an
ever-changing society (Chin & Kayalvizhi, 2002). Note that both high and
low cognitive level questions are relevant for learning (low cognitive questions
can lead to the raise of questions of high cognitive levels). However, under
the scope of PBL approach, high cognitive level questions are the ones that
promote a more meaningful content insight and learning. This study uses a
taxonomy of students’ formulated questions that follows an adapted pattern
of Dahlgren and Öberg (2001) and Chin and Chia (2004). The taxonomy
includes seven categories as follows: Encyclopaedic Questions, that demand
an unambiguous and not complex answer, such as a definition (e.g. What is
QUERCUS?); Meaning-Oriented Questions, that do not have a direct answer,
oriented towards finding a phenomenological meaning of certain terms or
concepts (e.g., How does acid rain gets formed?); Relational Questions, that
focus on relationship between features or cause/effects relations (e.g., Which
diseases might be related with pollution?); Value-Orientated Questions, that
demand for a judgment based on some criteria (e.g., What is the difference
between pollution and contamination?); Solution-Oriented Questions, that
focus on looking for solution(s) for a problem (e.g., What can citizens do
to improve the situation?); Prediction Questions, that lead with imaginary
situations and hypothesis (e.g., Can human population be extinct due to the
excess of chemical and toxic residue?) and Debate Questions, that stimulate
the discussion and understanding of society values, with non objective
answer (e.g., Is it ethical to destroy what keeps us alive?). These categories
can be split into two other: questions of a high cognitive level and questions
of a low cognitive level (Hofstein et al., 2005; Carvalho & Dourado, 2009).
The encyclopaedic questions are of a low cognitive level and the remaining
questions are of a high cognitive level. In fact, the answers to the latter
are complex; they require thought and
interconnection
between different
concepts. The scenarios presented to students are very relevant when it comes
to motivation and the quality of the questions raised. Thus, these scenarios
should captivate, intrigue, defy, and encourage the formulation of questions
(Leite et al., 2008) while being suitable for the age group of the students
(Lambros, 2004). They should also emotionally involve the students. Rather
than leading them instantly to the solution, they should promote the association
of different subjects/topics. An inadequate scenario will harm the process
of raising questions. Some studies indicate that the use of concept cartoons
generates high levels of motivation and the fact of integrating written text in
dialogue stimulates students to learn more easily (Keogh & Naylor, 1999).
On the other hand, some authors refer that the quantity of information could
influence students’ problematization (Dahlgren & Öberg, 2001).
METHODOLOGY
To attain the objective of this study, three different scenarios (news, concept
cartoon and drawing) in environmental science were developed and applied
to three teachers and their 95 science students of an urban school in Oporto,
Portugal. The teachers were all female, with ages ranging from 41 to 54 years.
Teacher one (54 years old) and teacher two (41 years old) have a degree in
Biology, while teacher three (48 years old) has a degree in Geology and a
graduate degree in Geoscience. The students, with ages ranging from 16 to
20, attended five different classes of high school’s final year. Students of
classes one and two were familiar with this strategy. In fact, they had already
worked with PBL scenarios in previous years, as well as in the year of this
study. Thus, they had already analysed PBL scenarios, raised questions and
collaborated to achieve a solution. Students of classes three, four and five
had never worked with these scenarios, having been taught in more traditional
ways. As we wanted to analyse the questions that arise from the analysis of
the problematic situation (scenario), our focus relies only in this stage of
the PBL process. The scenarios were firstly given to the teachers, who were
asked to anticipate the questions that would be raised by their students. The
scenarios were then given to the students, during a 90 minutes class. Students
were asked to work in small groups, with four or five elements each, and to
raise questions related to the three scenarios. Moreover, they were asked to
answer a snapshot stating their opinion on the used approach. During the
class, the researchers filled in an observation grid in order to evaluate the
students’ participation and interest. Questions anticipated by teachers and
raised by students were counted and analysed, based on a checklist adapted
from Dahlgren and Öberg (2001) and Chin and Chia (2004) and the results
were subsequently compared. An analysis of the snapshot and the observation
grid was also conducted.
RESULTS
Analysis of questions raised by teachers and students
In this study, the three teachers anticipated 65 questions and the five
classes raised a total of 350 questions, based on the analysis of three
different scenarios. The number of questions formulated by each class varies
substantially, from 49 to 114. The two classes that raised more questions (1
and 2) were those familiar with this strategy (Table 1).
Table 1. Number of questions raised by each class, according to
each scenario
S
C
News
Concept
Cartoon
Drawing Tl
NQ % NQ % NQ % NQ %
1 36 29,8 41 34,7 37 33,3 114 32,6
2 27 22,3 24 20,3 28 25,2 79 22,6
3 20 16,5 20 16,9 14 12,6 54 15,4
4 19 15,7 18 15,2 17 15,3 54 15,4
5 19 15,7 15 12,7 15 13,5 49 14,0
Tl 121 100 118 100 111 100 350 100
Legend: S-scenario; C- class; NQ- number of questions posed; %-percentage;
Tl- total.
The number of questions anticipated by each teacher also varies, from 10 to
36. The teacher that anticipated more questions was the teacher of classes one
and two – teacher two (Table 2). The number of questions raised by students
in relation to each scenario was very similar. The scenario that prompted more
questions was the News -121; the Drawing scenario prompted the least number
of questions -111 (table 1). Similarly, the number of questions anticipated by
teachers was very similar in the different scenarios; again the Drawing scenario
prompts the least number of questions (table 2). Considering the type of
questions raised by students, all scenarios led to almost any kind of questions,
although with a higher rate of encyclopaedic questions, i.e., questions of a
low cognitive level. Value-oriented questions and solution-oriented ones are
those with a lower rate. Classes 1 and 2 formulated a higher number of high
cognitive level questions when compared with the other 3 classes.
Table 2. Number of questions raised by each teacher, according to
each scenario.
S
T
News Concept Cartoon Drawing Tl
NQ % NQ % NQ % NQ %
1 6 30,0 9 34,6 4 21,0 19 29,2
2 11 55,0 14 53,8 11 57,9 36 55,4
3 3 15,0 3 11,5 4 21,0 10 15,4
Tl 20 100 26 100 19 100 65 100
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Legend: S-scenario; T-teacher; NQ- number of questions posed; %-percentage;
T1- total.
Some of questions raised by students are presented in table 3
Table 3: Examples of questions posed by students.
Type of Questions Examples of questions
Encyclopedic “What is toxicity level?”
Meaning-oriented “How does acid rain gets formed?”
Relational “What is the effect of acid rain on agriculture?”
Value-oriented “What are the main
pollutants
?”
Solution-oriented “What can we do to attenuate earth’s environmental problems?”
Prediction
“Can human population be extinct due to the excess of chemical
and toxic residue?”
Debate “Is it ethically correct to destroy what keeps us alive?”
Regarding the type of questions anticipated by teachers, there is also a
higher rate of encyclopaedic questions (low cognitive level questions) and a
lower rate of prediction and debate questions. Although teacher three raised
a very low number of questions, she formulated a higher number of high
cognitive level questions. Considering the scenario used, one can find small
differences in the kind of questions raised by students according to each
scenario. The questions that arose from the News and the Concept Cartoon
scenarios are mainly encyclopaedic whereas the main questions that arose
from the Drawing are debate and prediction questions (Table 4).
Table 4: Type of questions raised by students, according to each scenario.
S
Tq
News Concept Cartoon Drawing Tl
NQ % NQ % NQ % NQ %
E 54 44,6 45 38,1 19 17,1 118 33,7
Mo 22 18,2 28 23,7 14 12,6 64 18,3
Vo 0 --- 9 7,6 3 2,7 12 3,4
R 12 9,9 25 21,2 19 17,1 56 16,0
So 10 8,3 1 0,8 15 13,5 26 7,4
P 6 5,0 5 4,2 20 18,0 31 8,9
D 17 14,0 5 4,2 21 18,9 43 12,3
Legend: S-scenario; Tq-Type of questions posed; NQ- number of questions
posed; %-percentage; Tl- total; E- Encyclopaedic; Mo- Meaning-oriented; Vo-
Value-oriented; R- Relational; So-Solution-oriented; P-Prediction; D-Debate.
The type of questions anticipated by teachers also differs in relation to each
scenario. All scenarios led to a high rate of encyclopaedic questions, especially
the Concept Cartoon (42,3%). When it comes to high cognitive level questions,
there is also a considerable number of meaning oriented questions related to
the News scenario (30%) and of relational questions related to the Drawing
scenario (26,3%) and Concept Cartoon (34,6%) – table 5.
Table 5: Type of questions raised by teachers, according to each scenario.
S
Tq
News Concept Cartoon Drawing Tl
NQ % NQ % NQ % NQ %
E 6 30,0 11 42,3 5 26,3 22 33,8
Mo 6 30,0 4 15,4 0 --- 10 15,4
Vo 0 --- 1 3,8 4 21,0 5 7,7
R 4 20,0 9 34,6 5 26,3 18 27,7
So 3 15,0 1 3,8 4 21,0 8 12,3
P 0 --- 0 --- 1 5,2 1 1,5
D 1 5,0 0 --- 0 --- 1 1,5
Legend: S-scenario; Tq-Type of questions posed; NQ- number of questions
posed; %-percentage; Tl- total; E- Encyclopaedic; Mo- Meaning-oriented; Vo-
Value-oriented; R- Relational; So-Solution-oriented; P-Prediction; D-Debate.
All the scenarios led to encyclopaedic questions. However, the scenario
that led to a lower percentage of this type of questions was the Draw-
ing, for both students and teachers. This may be related with the smaller
amount of informative and textual content of the Drawing when com-
pared with the News and the Concept Cartoon.
Analysis of students’ motivation
In relation to the answers given in the snapshot, almost all the students
(94,6%) considered this approach motivating and positive. The three
main aspects that were pointed out as more interesting were: the materi-
als were attractive/motivating (30,1%); allowed thinking about various
thematics (17,2%); and was innovative (14,0%). The least interesting as-
pects that were pointed out were: the thematic had already been studied
in previous years (19,2%); the news (15,4%); the lack of preparation
of the students on the subject (12,8%). In spite of the fact that almost
all students considered this approach relevant, 41,1% indicated to have
some difficulties in raising questions, especially those students of classes
three, four and five. In general students showed great interest and partici-
pated in an enthusiastic way.
DISCUSSION AND EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS
Generally speaking, final high school students are capable of formulat-
ing a substantial number of questions when confronted with different
problematic scenarios. Although the number of questions raised was
very similar in the different scenarios, the News prompted a higher
number of questions. The scenarios prompted almost all kinds of ques-
tions, with a high rate of encyclopaedic questions. Different scenarios
prompt slightly different type of questions. In relation to the questions
anticipated by teachers, the number of questions was also very simi-
lar in the different scenarios. Moreover, there was also a difference in
the type of questions formulated according to each scenario. Teachers
also anticipated a higher number of encyclopaedic questions within the
three scenarios. When comparing the questions raised by students with
those anticipated by their teachers, one concludes that the students that
raised a higher number of questions (class one and two) are taught by
the teacher that also anticipated the higher number of questions (teach-
er two). Whereas the teacher that anticipated a higher number of high
cognitive level questions was teacher three (teacher of class three), the
students that raised a higher number of high cognitive level questions
of (class one and two) were taught by teacher two. The majority of
students considered this approach relevant, showing interest and par-
ticipating actively. The students familiarized with this strategy raised
a higher number of questions, as well as a higher number of questions
of high cognitive level, showing fewer difficulties. These results are
congruent with Oliveira (2008) findings, as she stated that if students
had the opportunity of developing questions’ formulating competences,
students will raise a higher number of high cognitive level questions.
According with these results, the authors consider that it will be impor-
tant to use scenarios as a starting point of the learning process, thereby
creating conditions for students to feel at ease in the process of rais-
ing questions. Bearing in mind the high number of questions of low
cognitive level, both raised by students and anticipated by teachers, it
is important to ponder on the role of the school in the development of
competences and critical thinking of the students, thereby preparing
them to solve problems in their daily life. The authors also consider
that in the study of a given subject the use of different scenarios is
useful to the process of raising of questions. In fact, students react dif-
ferently to distinct scenarios, according to their knowledge, criticism,
imagination and experiences. Wider research is needed to find out how
students deal with this approach in the study of different topics, as well
as how they may benefit from the use of scenarios different from the
ones used in this study.
CONCLUSIONS
With this study we may conclude that the use of different PBL scenarios
motivate students to work actively in science classes, as well as it leads to
the formulation of different type of questions. Although the considerable
number of questions raised either by students or by teachers, the results
show that they still formulated a high number of low cognitive level
questions. This type of questions is far from what is considered a question
of a higher cognitive level within a PBL approach, which is intended to
74
JOURNAL OF SCIENCE EDUCATION - Nº 2, Vol. 14, pp. 74-78, 2013, ISSN 0124-5481,
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Indicios do modelo integrativo no desenvolvimento do PCK em licenciandos em química durante o estágio supervisionado
foster the development of problem- solving competences, critical thinking
and intellectual autonomy.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This research was carried out within the scope of the Research Project
“Science Education for Citizenship Through Problem-Based Learning”
(PTDC/CPE-CED/108197/2008), financed by FCT within the scope of the
Thematic Operational Programme Competitivity Factors (COMPETE) of
the European Union Community Support Framework III co-financed by the
European Regional Development Fund (ERDF/FEDER).
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Received 15-05- 2012/ Approved 29-04-2013
Resumo
O conhecimento pedagógico do conteúdo (PCK, do inglês pedagogical content
knowledge) é o conhecimento usado pelos professores no processo de ensino, que
o distingue de um especialista da matéria e é desenvolvido pelos professores ainda
durante a formação inicial. Neste trabalho investigaram-se sete licenciandos em
química durante o estágio supervisionado. Os dados foram coletados a partir do
instrumento CoRe (representação de conteúdo), planos de aulas, registros audiovisuais
das regências e diários de bordo. A análise considerou categorias pré estabelecidas
na literatura de estágios de desenvolvimento do professor. O grupo 1 de licenciandos
encontra-se no primeiro estágio (Iniciante) enquanto o grupo 2 foi caracterizado
no segundo estágio (Iniciante avançado). Apresentam-se algumas evidências de
que o desenvolvimento do PCK de professores iniciantes ocorre por integração dos
conhecimentos base. No caso deste estudo, os licenciandos estão ainda em fase de
amadurecer seu conhecimento de conteúdo, muito embora apresentem alguns flashes
dos demais conhecimentos componentes do PCK.
Palavras-chave: conhecimento pedagógico do conteúdo, formação de professores,
ensino de química, estágio supervisionado.
Abstract
The pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is the knowledge used by teachers during
the teaching process. It is the knowledge which distinguishes the teacher of a discipline
Indícios do modelo integrativo no desenvolvimento do PCK em licenciandos em
química durante o estágio supervisionado
Evidence for integrative model during PCK development in chemistry student
teachers during pre-service training
PERCELI GOMES ELIAS MARIANO PEREIRA
1
, CARMEN FERNANDEZ
2
1
Faculdades Integradas do Vale do Ribeira, Registro, SP,
2
Instituto de Química da Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brasil,
perceligomes@yahoo.com.br, carmen@iq.usp.br
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Indícios do modelo integrativo no desenvolvimento do PCK em licenciandos em química durante o estágio supervisionado
from the specialist and this knowledge can be built during training program. In this
paper we investigate seven pre-service chemistry teachers during pre-service training.
Data were collected from CoRe (content representation), lesson plans, audiovisual
record of chemistry classes and reflections. For data analysis we used categories pre
developed in the literature and the teacher development stages. Group 1 is in the first
stage (beginners) while group 2 is in the second stage (advanced beginners). Our
research presents some evidence that beginner teachers develop their PCK based on
an integrative model. In this study the pre-service teachers are still developing their
content knowledge, even though we could see some flashes from the PCK components.
Key words: pedagogical content knowledge, teacher education, chemical education,
pre-service training.
INTRODUÇÃO
O conhecimento pedagógico do conteúdo (PCK) é considerado o
conhecimento dos professores necessário à sua profissão (Kind, 2009).
Shulman (1986) propôs inicialmente três categorias para o conhecimento de
professores: (a) o conhecimento do conteúdo específico; (b) o conhecimento
pedagógico do conteúdo; (c) o conhecimento curricular. Grossman (1990), uma
colaboradora de Shulman resume o conhecimento dos professores em quatro
categorias: a) conhecimento pedagógico geral; b) conhecimento do conteúdo;
c) conhecimento pedagógico do conteúdo; d) conhecimento do contexto. Entre
esses, o PCK se destaca por ser o conhecimento que distingue um professor
(Marcelo, 2001; Mulholl, Wallace, 2005). No modelo de Grossman (1990)
o PCK depende primordialmente da concepção do professor a respeito dos
propósitos para ensinar um conteúdo específico e tal concepção perpassa os
demais constituintes do PCK, a saber, o conhecimento da compreensão dos
estudantes, o conhecimento do currículo e o conhecimento das estratégias
instrucionais. Para a autora, o PCK ocupa uma posição central dentre os
conhecimentos de professores, sendo influenciado e influenciando os
demais conhecimentos necessários ao professor: conhecimento do conteúdo
específico; conhecimento pedagógico geral e conhecimento do contexto.
Para Magnusson et al. (1999) o PCK
consiste em cinco componentes: a)
Orientações para o ensino de ciências; b) Conhecimentos e crenças sobre
o currículo de ciências; c) Conhecimento e crenças sobre a compreensão
dos alunos sobre temas específicos de ciência; d) Conhecimentos e
crenças sobre a avaliação em ciências; e) Conhecimentos e crenças
sobre estratégias instrucionais para o ensino de ciências.
Neste trabalho,
adotou-se a conceituação do PCK dada por Grossman (1990) e revisitada por
Gess-Newsome (1999).
Os estágios de desenvolvimento dos professores de química e o PCK
Independente do modelo escolhido, os componentes do PCK precisam
estar em sintonia para que o processo de ensino-aprendizagem seja efetivo.
Assim, as concepções dos propósitos para ensinar um conteúdo específico
no modelo de Grossman ou as orientações para o ensino de ciências no
modelo de Magnusson et al., devem dialogar com as estratégias instrucionais
adotadas pelos professores e esse diálogo deveria ser intencional por parte do
professor. As estratégias instrucionais compõem “um conjunto de atividades
do professor e dos estudantes para atingir as metas e objetivos do processo de
ensino e aprendizagem” (Orlik, 2002). Nesse sentido, o autor destaca ainda:
Os objetivos gerais do processo de ensino e aprendizagem são: a.) aprender os
novos conhecimentos e hábitos da Química e, b.) desenvolver as capacidades
e o pensamento químico. A metodologia de ensino engloba a cooperação
organizada entre o professor e os estudantes, o que permite atingir os
objetivos educacionais. A metodologia leva os estudantes a um certo nível
de manuseio do conteúdo de uma certa disciplina (tradução nossa).
Baseados em um estudo com professores em formação, Dreyfus (2004)
definiu cinco estágios do desenvolvimento do professor em formação inicial
que distinguem como um professor monitora os acontecimentos em sala de
aula e o grau de consciência envolvido no ensino (tabela 1).
Abell et al. (2009) afirmam que formadores de professores deveriam
dar atenção explícita aos componentes individuais do PCK. Assim, tais
professores teriam parâmetros para a construção do PCK, aquele encontrado
em professores experientes. O PCK de professores em formação deriva de
sua própria prática, através das atividades escolares, desenvolvido através de
um processo de integração da prática em sala de aula (Marcon et al., 2011;
Jang, 2011; Nakiboglu, Karakoc e De Jong, 2010).
Gess-Newsome (1999) propõe dois modelos teóricos extremos para
tentar explicar o desenvolvimento do PCK (Figura 1). O modelo integrativo
considera o PCK como a intersecção entre os conhecimentos pedagógico,
disciplinar e de contexto. O modelo transformativo coloca o PCK como
resultado de uma transformação do conhecimento pedagógico, do conteúdo
da matéria e do contexto.
Figura 1. Modelos do conhecimento docente propostos por Gess-Newsome (1999).
No modelo integrativo, o PCK não existe como um domínio de
conhecimento e o conhecimento de professores seria explicado pela intersecção
de três conhecimentos - o conteúdo, a pedagogia e o contexto. Ensinar segundo
essa visão seria o ato de integrar esses três domínios. No outro extremo
(modelo transformativo) o PCK seria a síntese de todos os conhecimentos
necessários para a formação de um professor efetivo. Nesse caso, o PCK seria
a transformação do conhecimento do conteúdo, da pedagogia e do contexto
até uma forma distinta – a única forma de conhecimento que traria impacto na
prática dos professores. Na literatura há dados empíricos embasando ambos
os modelos (Kind, 2009).
Loughran et al. (2000), consideram o PCK como uma mistura de elementos
em interação e que, quando combinados, ajudam a dar indícios do PCK dos
professores. São doze os elementos propostos por esses autores (Figura 2).
O modelo de interação dos elementos do PCK representa a sobreposição de
cada um, influenciando o PCK diretamente e os elementos mutuamente. O
PCK, portanto, é um amálgama de todos esses elementos.
Esses modelos de construção do PCK podem ajudar os formadores de
professores a preparar um currículo voltado para essa formação plena.
Figura 2. Modelo de interação dos elementos do PCK, segundo
Loughran et al. (2000).
(1- Visão de aprendizagem; 2- Visão de ensino; 3- Compreensão do
conteúdo; 4- Conhecimento e prática das concepções alternativas; 5- Tempo
Tabela 1 Estágios do desenvolvimento do professor em formação por
Dreyfus (2004).
Estágio Especificações
Iniciante É racional e relativamente inflexível em sala de aula.
Iniciante
avançado
O professor desenvolve o conhecimento estratégico e experiências
em sala de aula e os problemas contextuais começam a orientar o
comportamento dele.
Competente O professor faz escolhas conscientes sobre as ações, conhece a natureza
do tempo e do que é e não é importante.
Proficiente Intuição e prática começam a orientar o desempenho e o reconhecimento
holístico entre os contextos é adquirido. O professor pode prever eventos.
Perito/
experiente
Compreensão intuitiva das situações. O desempenho no ensino é fluído.
O professor não escolhe conscientemente seu foco de atenção.
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Indícios do modelo integrativo no desenvolvimento do PCK em licenciandos em química durante o estágio supervisionado
de ensino/unidade de trabalho; 6- Contexto – escola, sala de aula, série; 7-
Compreensão dos estudantes; 8- Visão do conhecimento científico; 9- Prática
pedagógica; 10- Tomada de decisão; 11- Reflexão; 12- Elementos explícitos
vs. elementos tácitos das práticas/crenças/ideais.
Os procedimentos e as ferramentas de acesso ao PCK.
Identificar o PCK de um professor é um processo complexo, pois se trata de
um conjunto de conhecimentos implícitos e que precisam se fazer explícitos
para serem analisados (Baxter, Lederman, 1999). Além das entrevistas,
outros procedimentos são adotados como a observação em sala de aula,
análise de currículos e dos planos de aulas, verificação dos resumos mensais
e dos projetos dos professores (Lee e Luft, 2008; Van Driel e De Jong, 2001;
Nakiboglu, Karakoc e De Jong, 2010; Loughran et al., 2000). Os diários de
bordo também são instrumentos que auxiliam a acessar o PCK, permitindo
uma reflexão sobre a aula.
Um instrumento bastante utilizado para acessar o PCK é o CoRe -
Representação do Conteúdo (Loughran et al., 2000, 2004; Garritz et al., 2007).
Trata-se de um instrumento formado por perguntas que o professor responde
depois de definir as ideias principais de um conteúdo específico. No CoRe,
um grupo de professores pensam sobre um dado conteúdo que costumam
ensinar e refletem quais as principais ideias que devem ser ensinadas aos
alunos. Depois respondem a um questionário para cada uma dessas ideias.
A questão que norteou a pesquisa foi: Quais os indícios de PCK em
licenciandos em química durante o estágio supervisionado?
METODOLOGIA
A pesquisa ocorreu com dois grupos de licenciandos em química no
penúltimo semestre do curso, na disciplina de prática de ensino e estágio
supervisionado das faculdades integradas do Vale do Ribeira na cidade de
Registro-SP. O PCK foi acessado através do instrumento CoRe, do registro
audiovisual das aulas de regência, dos diários de bordo e dos planos de aula da
regência. As análises foram feitas a partir da triangulação dos dados coletados
e foram utilizadas as categorias de Loughran et al. (2000) acopladas ao modelo
integrativo de Gess-Newsome (1999) apresentadas na Figura 3.
O grupo 1 era constituído pelas licenciandas Jaci, Vera, Bia e Ana (nomes
fictícios). Elas cursaram a licenciatura em química de 2006 a 2009 e tinham
idade entre 20 e 25 anos. Dentre as quatro alunas, apenas Jaci já havia
trabalhado como professora substituta em escola pública. Foram filmadas duas
regências, uma aula teórica e outra experimental. A aula teórica ficou sob a
responsabilidade de Jaci e Bia, e a aula experimental foi ministrada por Ana
e Vera. O conteúdo versava sobre pH e os indicadores ácido-base. A primeira
aula visava a introdução da definição de pH e pOH, além dos cálculos para a
sua determinação. A segunda aula, experimental, compreendia a demonstração
dos indicadores ácido-base. Durante as regências, os alunos do ensino médio
tiveram pouca participação.
O grupo 2 era constituído pelos licenciandos Miguel, Sergio e Paulo (nomes
fictícios). Eles cursaram a licenciatura em química de 2006 a 2009 e sua idade
variava de 20 a 30 anos. Na época da regência, os três licenciandos trabalhavam
no laboratório de uma indústria local e nunca haviam lecionado. Foi filmada
uma regência (2 aulas em um dia) que contemplou a teoria e a prática. Na
prática experimental foram feitas demonstrações relacionadas com a teoria
explicada. Os três licenciandos se alternavam nas exposições, tanto teóricas
quanto práticas. O grupo realizou a regência numa escola rural. O conteúdo
da aula versava sobre os fatores que interferem na velocidade de uma reação
química. Houve participação dos estudantes, incentivados pelos estagiários.
As regências das aulas dos grupos foram transcritas e as análises foram
divididas em episódios e turnos (T) que correspondem ao trecho analisado
(Carvalho, 2006). Cada episódio foi caracterizado nas distintas categorias
que compõem os elementos do PCK (Figura 3). Da mesma forma foram
analisados os planos de aula, CoRe e diários de bordo.
RESULTADOS
A tabela 2 mostra os indícios dos conhecimentos necessários
para a construção do PCK e a tabela 3 mostra um resumo geral
desses indícios observados nos dois grupos.
Tabela 2. Indícios dos conhecimentos para a construção do PCK dos
grupos 1 e 2.
Categorias Grupo 1 Grupo 2
Jaci Bia Vera Ana Miguel Sergio Paulo
1. Visão de
aprendizagem
i i i i p p P
2. Visão de
ensino
r r r r r r R
3. Compreensão
do conteúdo
i i i i r p I
4. Conhecimento
e práticas das
concepções alter-
nativas
r r r r i i i
5. Tempo de en-
sino/ Sequências
Didáticas
p p p p p p p
6. Contexto-
escola, sala de
aula, série
- - - - p p p
7. Compreensão
dos estudantes
r r r r p p p
8. Visão do
Conhecimento
Científico
r i i i i i i
9. Prática Peda-
gógica
p p p p i i i
10. Tomada de
decisão
i - - - p p p
11. Reflexão p p r i p p p
12. Elementos
explícitos x
elementos tácitos
das práticas/
crenças/ideais
r - - - - - -
(i) Incipiente - quando o licenciando não tem esse conhecimento ou teve uma formação
insuficiente para adquiri-lo); (r) Regular (quando seu conhecimento não é o suficiente
para ser utilizado como um dos conhecimentos do PCK); (p) Possível (quando esse
conhecimento pode contribuir para a construção do PCK).
Figura 3. Modelo integrativo do conhecimento de professores (Gess-Newsome, 1999) acoplado aos elementos do PCK propostos por Loughran et al. (2000). * =
conhecimento necessário para o ensino na sala de aula.
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JOURNAL OF SCIENCE EDUCATION - Nº 2, Vol. 14, pp. 74-78, 2013, ISSN 0124-5481,
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Indícios do modelo integrativo no desenvolvimento do PCK em licenciandos em química durante o estágio supervisionado
Para o grupo 1, no componente conhecimento disciplinar, categoria
3, as licenciandas apresentam lacunas na formação acadêmica. Na
categoria 4, as licenciandas não conheciam na literatura as concepções
dos alunos referentes a esse conteúdo. Em relação à categoria 8, as
licenciandas demonstraram que ainda estão descobrindo a relação dessa
categoria e sua importância para a aprendizagem. Há, portanto falhas
relevantes na formação, resultando numa falta de integração dessas
categorias, comprometendo o conhecimento disciplinar. No componente
conhecimento do contexto, a categoria 5, as licenciandas do grupo 1 têm
um conhecimento curricular que as ajuda no preparo da aula. Na categoria
6 as licenciandas não têm maior desenvoltura devido à falta de interação
com os estudantes que elas não convivem. Na categoria 7, as licenciandas
possuem um conhecimento acadêmico sobre o que os alunos compreendem,
o que é necessário e extremamente útil para elas no momento da regência.
Para esse componente, há uma integração superficial que contribui para o
trabalho das licenciandas. No componente conhecimento pedagógico, na
categoria 1, as licenciandas avaliam os estudantes de forma pontual. Na
categoria 2 as licenciandas não permitem que os estudantes tenham suas
conclusões, elas direcionam as respostas numa concepção-centrada-no-
professor que envolve o estímulo-resposta. Na categoria 9 as licenciandas
constroem a prática através das suas observações das práticas de outros
professores, o que é também útil para elas e contribuiu para a prática na
regência. Na categoria 10 as licenciandas agiram de maneira não planejada.
Na categoria 11, as licenciandas demonstraram perceber a importância da
prática do mesmo conteúdo e a mudança de metodologia de ensino, mas
também falharam ao considerar a aprendizagem apenas pela observação
e acreditaram nos resultados oriundos de uma avaliação pontual. Na
categoria 12, as licenciandas utilizaram esse conhecimento ao prever
algumas dificuldades dos alunos, mas não conseguiram saná-las. Para
esse componente, há uma integração superficial, porém, que se tornou
útil para o trabalho das licenciandas.
Analisando os indícios do PCK do conteúdo pH pelo grupo 1 através
dos componentes de conhecimentos disciplinar, do contexto e dedagógico
através das distintas categorias, conclui-se que, de maneira global, o PCK
das licenciandas do grupo 1 é bastante incipiente e percebem-se falhas
nos distintos componentes.
Tabela 3. Resumo dos indícios do PCK dos grupos 1 e 2.
Componentes
do
Conhecimento
Categorias
Qualificadores dos indícios
do PCK
Grupo 1 Grupo 2
A) Disciplinar 3 - Compreensão do conteúdo
4 -Conhecimento e prática das
concepções alternativas
8 - Visão do conhecimento
científico
Incipiente
Regular
Incipiente
Regular
Incipiente
Incipiente
B) Contexto 5 - Tempo de ensino/ sequências
didáticas
6 - Contexto – escola, sala de
aula, série
7 - Compreensão dos estudantes
Possível
Inviável na
regência
Regular
Possível
Possível
Possível
C) Pedagógico 1 - Visão de aprendizagem
2 - Visão de ensino
9 - Prática pedagógica
10 - Tomada de decisão
11 – Reflexão
12- Elementos explícitos versus
elementos tácitos das práticas/
crenças/ideais
Incipiente
Regular
Possível
Incipiente
Possível
Regular
Possível
Regular
Incipiente
Possível
Possível
Não
avaliado
No grupo 2 o
s licenciandos mostraram-se confiantes na regência,
fizeram perguntas que indicavam segurança e conhecimento do conteúdo.
No componente conhecimento disciplinar, a categoria 3, os licenciandos
do grupo 2 não apresentaram muitas lacunas na formação acadêmica,
apenas sobre catalisadores. Para a categoria 4 os licenciandos não
pesquisaram na literatura sobre as concepções dos alunos referentes a esse
conteúdo, comprometendo a compreensão deles sobre o conhecimento
dos estudantes. Na categoria 8 os licenciandos mostraram concepções
acerca desse conhecimento que limitaram o seu ensino do conteúdo. Não
ocorreu a integração dessas categorias, comprometendo o conhecimento
disciplinar. No componente conhecimento do contexto, a categoria 5,
os licenciandos souberam adequar o currículo ao tempo disponibilizado
para a regência. Na categoria 6, os licenciandos apresentaram segurança
na aula, mesmo tendo pouco contato com a escola e com os alunos.
Na categoria 7, os licenciandos souberam o momento de permitir a
participação dos alunos e intervir quando necessário. No componente
conhecimento pedagógico, para a categoria 1, os licenciandos tiveram
uma visão de avaliação de acordo com o conteúdo e o tempo previsto para
a regência. Para a categoria 2, os licenciandos utilizaram estratégias que
melhor se adequaram ao contexto da aula. Na categoria 9 os licenciandos
tiveram dificuldades em articular o tempo para a regência. Na categoria
10, os licenciandos fizeram intervenções necessárias no contexto da aula.
Na categoria 11, os licenciandos fizeram reflexões que mostraram seus
pensamentos acerca da regência, indicando que eles necessitam de mais
formação e mais experiências. Para a categoria 12 os licenciandos, para
essa regência, não mostraram crenças sobre o conteúdo específico da aula.
Para esse componente, há uma integração superficial que contribuiu para
o trabalho dos licenciandos.
Para o grupo 2 dos licenciandos, analisando os indícios do conteúdo
fatores que interferem na velocidade de uma reação química dentro dos
componentes conhecimento disciplinar, conhecimento do contexto e
conhecimento pedagógico, conclui-se que o PCK também é incipiente,
mas com alguns indícios de modificações. Esse grupo apresenta um
conhecimento de conteúdo mais articulado, o que reflete nos demais
conhecimentos.
CONSIDERAÇÕES FINAIS
Neste trabalho investigou-se um grupo de licenciandos em química
durante a realização do estágio supervisionado e buscaram-se indícios
do PCK analisando quais os conhecimentos que compõem o PCK são
acionados durante o estágio.
Observou-se no grupo 1 uma nítida separação entre os componentes
conhecimento disciplinar, do contexto e pedagógico. Nesse momento, as
licenciandas estão tentando adquirir componente disciplinar e há muitas
falhas de conteúdo químico que são reveladas nos distintos instrumentos
utilizados e a atenção das mesmas está focada no conteúdo. Elas parecem
não conseguir lidar com os outros conhecimentos necessários à pratica
pedagógica, pois estão focadas nas próprias dificuldades com relação
ao conteúdo. No momento do estágio não foram capazes de observar os
alunos nem suas dificuldades.
No grupo 2 observa-se uma maior aproximação dos componentes
pedagógico e de contexto, mas uma fragilidade do componente
disciplinar. O grupo centraliza a sua prática na apresentação dos slides,
nas demonstrações e na participação dos alunos, mas a aula evidencia
apenas os fenômenos químicos. Esse grupo parece ter mais domínio do
conteúdo específico, embora evitem abordagem molecular do conteúdo,
permanecendo apenas no fenomenológico. Os licenciandos observam
os alunos e incentivam a participação. A prática da regência ocorreu de
acordo com o planejado pelo grupo e eles se sentem satisfeitos e os alunos
demonstram compreender o assunto ensinado.
Em relação aos estágios de desenvolvimento do professor em formação
(Dreyfus, 2004), pelos resultados e análises apresentadas, as licenciandas
do grupo 1 encontram-se no primeiro estágio (Iniciante), pois se
mostraram racionais e inflexíveis nas ações em sala de aula. O grupo 2
dos licenciandos encontram-se no segundo estágio (Iniciante avançado)
pois desenvolveram estratégias que os ajudou a articular conteúdo ao
tempo disponível.
Neste estudo com esses dois grupos de licenciandos temos evidências
de que a construção do PCK de professores iniciantes é melhor explicada
pelo Modelo Integrativo (Gess-Newsome, 1999). No caso do grupo 1, as
licenciandas estão em fase de amadurecer seu conhecimento disciplinar,
muito embora apresentem alguns flashes dos demais conhecimentos. O
grupo 2 apresenta uma relativa segurança no conteúdo, o que se traduz
em sala de aula, em maior incentivo à participação dos alunos. Entretanto,
esses licenciandos apresentam uma visão de conhecimento pedagógico
incipiente. Assim, as análises apontam para o modelo integrativo de
desenvolvimento do conhecimento de professores. Assim, os distintos
conhecimentos mereceriam uma atenção individualizada num primeiro
momento para depois serem paulatinamente integrados na prática do
estágio supervisionado. A insegurança com o conteúdo disciplinar força
os licenciandos a uma postura mais centrada no professor limitando
o papel dos alunos a expectadores, como foi observado no grupo 1. À
medida que melhora o conhecimento do conteúdo, as atuações em sala
de aula parecem tender a um ensino mais dialógico, como se observou no
grupo 2. Por outro lado, apenas um bom conhecimento do conteúdo não
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Assessment of a visit to an optics laboratory during university science week.
é suficiente. Em muitas ocasiões observa-se que, apesar das licenciandas
apresentarem falhas de conteúdo sérias, conseguiram de alguma forma
sustentar a atuação em sala de aula por um domínio, embora pequeno, do
conhecimento pedagógico e de contexto.
No Modelo Integrativo, os componentes do PCK seriam
desenvolvidos individualmente e integrados na prática. Nesse
estudo parece ser esse o caminho dos licenciandos analisados, muito
embora eles estejam muito incipientes nos domínios dos distintos
conhecimentos, especialmente no conhecimento do conteúdo, o que
reflete sobremaneira nos demais.
AGRADECIMENTOS
Aos licenciandos da Faculdade Scelisul investigados e ao CNPq pelo
apoio financeiro.
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Received 21-10- 2012/ Approved 29-04-2013
Assessment of a visit to an optics laboratory during university science week
Evaluación de la visita a un laboratorio de óptica en la semana de la ciencia
J. A. GArcíA
1
, F. J. PERALES
2
, L. Gómez-robLedo
1
, J. ROMERO
1
1
Departamento de Óptica. Facultad de Ciencias. Universidad de Granada. España.
2
Departamento de Didáctica de las Ciencias Experimentales Facultad de Ciencias de la Educación. Campus Universitario de Cartuja s/n.
Universidad de Granada. 18071 - Granada. España, fperales@ugr.es.
Abstract
Non-formal science education plays an increasingly relevant role in the
popularization of science, especially in the case of science museums, which
have been a recent focus of educational research in science education.
However, in Spain the visits by non-university students to university
faculties are also increasingly widespread, which usually occurs during
the celebration of “Science Week”. In this paper we show a first approach
to the assessment of that experience, in particular, visits to the physics
and optics laboratories of the University of Granada. To enable us to do
this, different questionnaires were developed and applied to teachers and
students. We discuss the results of those and advocate a greater involvement
of non-university teachers to increase the success of such visits.
Key words: non-formal science education, popularization of science,
assessment, non-university education.
Resumen
La educación científica no formal juega un papel cada día más relevante
en el ámbito de la divulgación científica, especialmente en el caso de
los museos de ciencia, lo que ha supuesto una reciente atención de la
investigación educativa hacia dicho contexto. No obstante, en España
también van cobrando importancia las visitas a las facultades universitarias
de ciencias por parte de alumnos no universitarios, lo que se suele producir
con el motivo de la celebración de las “Semanas de Ciencia”, cada día
más extendidas. En este trabajo hacemos una primera aproximación a la
evaluación de dicha experiencia en el caso de la Universidad de Granada,
en concreto para los laboratorios de física, y de óptica en particular. Para
ello se han elaborado y aplicado cuestionarios dirigidos a los profesores
y alumnos participantes. Se comentan los resultados de los mismos y se
apuesta por una mayor implicación del profesorado no universitario para
incrementar el éxito de dichas visitas.
Palabras clave: educación científica no formal, divulgación científica,
evaluación, educación no universitaria.
INTRODUCTION
Visits to museums and science centers play an increasingly important
role in non-formal science education, as is evidenced by the exponential
growth experienced by the number of visitors to these areas in recent years.
An example of this is the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Granada
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Assessment of a visit to an optics laboratory during university science week.
(Spain) where 10 or 15 years ago visits by groups of non-university students
were sporadic. However, in recent years demand has grown enormously as
has the number of laboratories that are open during these visits.
The organization of “Science Week” has probably been the fact that
has contributed most to this growth. 45 schools attended the 38 different
activities that were held in the 2010 edition. The interest of secondary
schools in making these visits is illustrated by the speed with which the
available places are exhausted and the number of schools requesting to
participate.
The analysis of this type of activity and the effect they have on students’
learning processes have been treated by many researchers, showing that the
affective and social aspects of learning benefit most from these visits, but
conceptual and procedural learning gains too if the most influential factors
are optimized (Guisasola et al., 2005). In an earlier work (Garcia et al., 2010)
some of these benefits had been noted after the students’ visit to the Optics
laboratory in Granada University.
However, the specific aims of such visits have not been fully clarified, the
literature showing that most teachers do not usually explain them or prepare
activities before, during or after them (Cox-Petersen et al., 2003; Griffin,
2004; Tal et al., 2005), although, according Guisasola et al. (2005), when the
teacher prepares the visit and reflects on the activities afterwards in class, the
learning experience is more significant from both a conceptual, affective and
collective point of view.
Moreover, one should ask oneself what the motivations and expectations
of the students themselves are of this type of activity because, a priori, it
would be desirable to design them in such a way as to optimize the learning
process.
All this has meant that the fundamental aim of this work is to know the
expectations of teachers and students when they come to do activities like
those described here. More specific goals would result if the activity were well
designed or has to be modified in any way, so that it can be identified with
the students’ image of physics, in general, and optics, in particular, seeking
as far as possible to optimize it.
DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITY
During “Science Week 2010”, the Faculty of Sciences of Granada offered 38
activities on different days and times, allowing the configuration of 83 routes
with an average of 4 activities each. All routes were followed by 83 groups of
secondary school (12-16-year-old) and Baccalaureate (17-18 year-old) students
with an average of 25 students per group. This involved the participation of
a total of 45 schools and 2075 students. The activity described here, in the
Optics Laboratory, was done by 12 groups from 9 different educational centers,
totaling approximately 300 students.
Activity Assessment
In order to achieve the proposed aims, we designed two pre-visit
surveys, one for the school teachers responsible and the other for the
students, and a post-visit survey for students to complete after they
concluded the visit.
The teacher who was interested that the students should take part in the
activity could find information about it in the web page. A script could
be downloaded that showed the 16 experiments that could be done as
well as the two surveys prior to the visit, asking them to complete them.
The first survey was intended primarily to involve the teacher, as far as
possible, in the development and design of the activity and to discover
what the motivation for such activity was. Therefore, the first two questions
concerned what they considered as essential experiments for their students
and what could be excluded for lack of time. The third one enabled the
teacher to make any comments and / or suggestions, and, finally, they were
asked to reply, using a number from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly
agree), to a series of statements regarding the visit and its connection
with their teaching.
The prior survey that the students had to fill in was limited to a set of
statements that they also had to assess from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly
agree). The first five wanted to know their expectations about the intended
visit, that is, to know what their motivations were in the activity they would
engage in and their opinion on this subject. The last statements focused on
optics, and in particular on their knowledge and interest in it.
Although it was clearly stated that teachers should deliver both surveys
before starting work so that we could tailor the visit to their interests,
only 7 of the 9 centers that did the activity completed it according to
the rules. When asked about why they had not done so, the answer that
was most frequently given was that all the experiments seemed well
planned, so they left it to the organizers to consider what experiments
to do and what not.
In order to assess the activity itself, one of the authors remained in the
laboratory watching both the students and their teachers, while another author
was doing the activity with students. After the visit, the two pooled their notes
about it. This evaluation had two objectives, firstly, to be self-critical, that is,
based on what they had seen, to analyze what should be done, and in what
direction the activity should be changed. They also sought to analyze the
attitude and interest of participants. The organizers had a short conversation
with the teacher on arrival to find out their interests, after that they watched
to see how they acted during the visit and asked them at the end what their
main conclusion of the activity had been.
This way of evaluating this type of visit, or generically, a Science museum,
has already been used by some authors. For example, Falk and Storksdieck
(2005) followed the movement and interaction of visitors to a science museum
to see if there was a relationship between motivation shown in prior surveys
and attitude shown during the visit.
There are many interesting aspects of the students’ conduct to evaluate,
however, one must be aware of the complexity that this entails. Even so, it is
especially interesting to see if they maintained their attention throughout the
entire activity and whether there were differences between boys and girls.
As evidenced by Jarvis and Pell (2002), it would be desirable to increase
the interest and to maintain it over time. These same authors found that that
interest was closely related to the teacher who accompanied them on the tour,
so if s/he interacted with the students and with the guide, they showed more
interest than if the teacher remained much more passive.
After the visit the survey was given to the teacher and they were asked
that after a week they should give it to their students and, once filled
in, it should be sent to us. The survey asked them to assess the activity
compared with what they expected before it happened. Although the
teachers appeared very willing, the reality is that it we only received 28
surveys from students in two centers. However, in the next section we will
discuss the main results derived from these responses. The format of the
survey was similar to the one they had filled in before, although rather
shorter. Three main questions were put: that comparing the fact of the
visit with what they had expected before making it, if they had enjoyed
themselves; if they thought they had learned anything and, finally, asking
them to make any suggestions they wanted.
RESULTS
Prior survey of teachers
When asked what experiments they considered essential for their
students to see (Question 1) and which could be left out for lack of time
(question 2), the most popular answer was that it would be desirable to
perform all the experiments, but in case some had to be omitted it should
be those that were least relevant to their students’ curriculum. This seems
to show that what the teacher wants is that when tackling the contents
in class they can refer to the activity, therefore, it thereby constituting a
teaching aid for them.
The second type of answer that recurred could be called “not responding”;
included in this are those left blank and those that do not indicate a specific
experiment as essential or otherwise, in which case teachers only intended
it to serve as motivation and left in the air its possible future use in the
classroom.
As to which specific experiments appeared most often in these answers,
we must say that there is a high variability depending primarily on the
characteristics of the group (if they are of 1st or 2nd of Baccalaureate, whether
they have seen some content related to themselves or not, and so on..). The
third question gave them the possibility of making any suggestion or indication
that they wanted, leaving the option blank; only some teachers commented
that the level of students should be taken into account.
The last issue is that showing a series of statements on which they
were asked to indicate their degree of agreement; the purpose of these
statements was to learn the motivations and approaches that the teachers
had made when programming this activity. Table 1 shows the percentage
of times the number was marked to indicate if the respondent totally
disagreed (1) or strongly agreed (5) with the corresponding statement.
As can be seen in two of the statements there is total unanimity: they
did not make the visit simply because they had to undertake excursions
during the course and that they felt that, given the script, the visit would
be very interesting.
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Assessment of a visit to an optics laboratory during university science week.
Table 1.- Percentages of teachers’ responses to the survey (1: strongly
disagree ... 5: completely agree) (N = 7).
ITEM 1 2 3
4 5 Average
I planned it fundamentally as a motivating fact
-- -- --
29 71 4.7
I hope it will help in my teaching work
-- -- --
14 86 4.8
The experiments I see will help me to explain Physics
-- -- --
29 71 4.7
Basically, it will be a complement to the student’s
curriculum
-- -- 29
71 4.4
I think this type of activity will make my students study
Physics with greater interest
14
29 57 4,4
We have to make two excursions in the academic year
and this is convenient and cheap
100
1
I think of it basically as an enjoyable and sociable
activity
71 29
1.4
In view of the script I think it will be very interesting
100 5
We will work on it beforehand
57 29
14 1.7
From these various statements, it appears that the activity was thought
of as something that would help them in their teaching to explain physics,
but they also expected it to be a supplement to the students’ curriculum that
would allow them to improve their concept of the subject. In addition, most
of them did not regard it simply as enjoyable and sociable, and finally, they
indicated that they would do little or no work on it in class beforehand. This
answer was surprising since as some authors (Guisasola et al., 2005) point
out, the best results are obtained when a specific task is done, both before
and after the activity.
From these responses, we assume that teachers use this type of visit to
break the routine of teaching and, incidentally, for students to attend laboratory
experiments not typically carried out in secondary schools (not in this class
or any other), hoping that such activity will awaken a greater interest in
the sciences. However, this exception carries with it a clear disconnection
between the content of the visit and their regular classroom programming,
understanding that the visits are the responsibility of the organizers. This
means, as claimed by Lemelin and Bencze (2004), that no significant
conceptual development will occur, since this only happens when the visit is
explicitly linked to learning objectives that relate school work and the visit.
This assumption coincides with that shown by Guisasola and Morentin (2009),
who suggest that this may be because they do not consider the visits as part
of their professional duties.
Prior survey of students
Table 2 shows the mean and standard deviation of the scores given to each
statement, and the percentage of agreement and disagreement with them.
Table 2. Parameters of student responses to the survey (SD = standard
deviation; Agreement: percentage of students responding 4 or 5; Disag.:
Percentage of students who answer 1 or 2) (N = 122).
ITEMS Response Parameters
Views about the visit
Mean SD. Agreement Disag.
I’m looking forward to going to
enjoy myself with my friends
3.33 1.25 38.52 26.23
I’m looking forward to going
because there’s no class that day
2.30 1.36 20.49 59.84
I’m looking forward to going
because I think I’ll learn a lot
3.98 0.98 69.67 8.20
I’m not looking forward to going.
I’m going because it’s compulsory
1.39 0.92 4.92 89.34
I’m excited about going to visit
the University laboratory
4.31 0.90 77.05 3.28
Views about Physics
Physics is my favorite subject 2.81 1.25 30.33 41.80
Physics is enjoyable and fun 2.47 1.10 16.39 50.82
Physics is very difficult 3.43 1.12 46.72 20.49
Physics seems to me a very
useful subject
3.84 0.99 67.21 6.56
Knowledge of Optics
I can give examples of refraction
and reflection of light and explain
why it happens
2.74 1.20 25.41 45.08
The phenomena of Optics are
close to me in my daily life
3.26 1.20 42.62 29.51
I think I know almost nothing
about Optics
2.81 1.22 26.23 45.08
What most interests me about
Optics is vision
3.02 1.03 27.05 26.23
The first statements seek to know what the students’ intentions are prior to
making the visit. The two statements that reflected the greatest unanimity are
4 and 5. The first makes it clear that the reason they wanted to come to do the
activity was not, in any case, because it was compulsory, that is, they viewed
it with pleasure, which undoubtedly is very much in favour of activities like
this. The other almost unanimous statement is that which refers to the fact
that visiting a University laboratory arousing great interest among students.
This fact, which appeared in a previous paper (Garcia et al., 2010) should
certainly be considered in the learning process, since everything that may make
students become more motivated to study physics can assist in improving their
academic performance.
The first three statements endeavor to discover their interest prior to the
visit. Thus, they show that they want to have fun with friends, showing aspects
of sociability and playfulness already reported by other authors. They do not
want to go merely to avoid class and they demonstrate a clear intention to
learn a lot from making the visit. These statements show responsible students,
who want to have fun, a logical thing at their age, but they do not want to free
themselves of class for one day but to learn.
Of the four statements that seek their opinion on Physics, the students
agree that this is a useful but difficult subject, and not enjoyable and fun,
which mostly leads them to assert that it is not their favorite subject. Thus,
the European Union has shown the need to improve the concept of general
physics and experimental sciences in our society (see, for example, the
“Rocard Report”, 2008).
As to the answers given on the statements concerning Optics, these are, of
course, quite discouraging to the teachers of this subject, since a significant
percentage of students, almost half of them (45.08%), believed they could
not give examples of the concepts of reflection and refraction, although these
phenomena have already been studied several times before, in both primary
and secondary education. While most recognize that the phenomena of optics
are close to their daily lives, almost 30% did not think so, a percentage similar
to those who claim to know little or nothing of Optics. Also in this section, the
percentage of qualified claims with a 3 (neither agree nor disagree) reached
quite high values, suggesting that students were unclear what to think, perhaps,
through ignorance.
Presumably, therefore, that the students were interested in visiting this
laboratory in particular, and those of the University in general, and this interest
should be exploited to achieve a significant improvement in their conceptions
of physics and, in particular optics. In short, university laboratories should be
opened to secondary school students.
Evaluation during the development of the activity
When the group arrived, and after a brief conversation with the teacher
in charge, the activity began and, as it developed, both its evolution and the
behavior of teachers and students were observed.
Regarding the attitude of teachers, the following observations were made:
• They participated little, but experienced it with interest.
• About half of them took photographs.
• Some took notes.
• Very few asked questioned or participated.
Moreover, as noted above, upon completion of the activity, the teachers
were asked for their main conclusion about the visit. In this sense, the most
common opinion was that it seemed very appropriate for their students; they
believed it would help them to see physics and optics in a much more positive
light and they expected to use examples of it afterwards in the classroom,
although they did not specify in what sense and how they would use it. The
impression made by these comments is that most teachers did not anticipate
carrying out any particular activity either before or after the completion of
the visit, but thought after making it, that perhaps they could use it later. On
the other hand, we did not receive any negative opinion about the activity.
In one case, the teacher took copious notes and took many photographs of
both the students and the experiments themselves. He indicated that he had
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Assessment of a visit to an optics laboratory during university science week.
proposed to the students that they would do a work after the visit, to which
all students would have to contribute from both recreational and academic
points of view.
Regarding the presenters’ observation of the students:
• During the first five minutes they were rather shy.
• Girls tended to behave better while the boys tried to get attention by “joking
about”
• After those five minutes, they were participatory, always ready to touch,
comment or reply.
• They kept their interest and motivation throughout the activity.
These findings are consistent with the views expressed by Jarvis and Pell
(2002) which also indicated that prior to the visit the girls were more anxious
than boys, but as the visit went on the boys showed more interest.
Maintaining motivation and interest throughout the activity is the major
stated goal, and it is very rewarding those doing the activity when it is
achieved.
Another outstanding aspect of the attitude of the students is shown by the
final comments that they made, considering that carrying out this activity
was very appropriate since they deemed it “short”, and volunteered that “they
liked it and had learned a lot” a spontaneous comment that showed us that
the aims had been achieved.
Concerning the appropriateness of the experiments:
From the point of view of the opinions and desires shown by the teachers,
the experiments selected were very appropriate, as they have proved
to motivate students to maintain their interest and participation in a
meaningful way. However, they do not always relate fully with the work
going on in the classroom. To improve this area, further collaboration on
the part of teachers is essential.
Survey of the students after the visit
As noted above, the evaluation survey after the completion of the visit is
the most incomplete aspect because the number of responses received was
low. This survey focused on the following aspects of the visit:
• Fun: there is unanimity that students had enjoyed themselves.
• Learning: they nearly all believed they had learned a lot.
• Suggestions: most left this blank. Those who indicated something in this
section did so with the most varied opinions, such that they would like to
have had more time, they could not see all the experiments or, for example,
comments like: “I have learned much, I thought Optics was just where you
made glasses”
The results of the post-visit opinions were undoubtedly very satisfactory,
although we have to indicate that only just over a fifth of those who had
completed the prior survey, and only a tenth of those who had attended the
activity did so. Greater interest from teachers is absolutely necessary for the
students to fill in the survey, as it seems, they forgot to pass on the opinion
poll that was provided to the students.
FINAL REMARKS AND CONCLUSIONS
This work has focused on a first approach to the evaluation of an
increasingly common and necessary science outreach activity, such as the
guided visit by non-university students to university science centers. Both the
activity presenters and the teachers are increasingly convinced of the need for
such activities driven, in part, by the gradual decline in enrollment of science
courses. Also, there is undoubtedly interest from non-university teachers to
make the most of this opportunity given to them.
However, there are very few evaluation studies of such activities, outside
of visits to non-formal science centers (museums, science centers, nature
interpretation, and so on), where there is a certain tradition of educational
research. Therefore it is necessary to go into this topic more deeply in order
to optimize the results of such visits.
The following are the conclusions to be drawn from the results of the
evaluations.
1. With regard to teachers’ expectations about the visit to be undertaken and
the nature of the experiments offered, they would prefer to have more links
to the curriculum they teach. The preferred objective that teachers attributed
to the experiments is their students’ motivation. Finally, although they did
not considered the visits routine, they did not plan previous work on them
in their classrooms.
2. Turning now to the students of secondary school and Baccalaureate who
participated in the visit, they showed great willingness and motivation
to visit the laboratories of the University, wanted to have fun and enjoy
themselves with their friends, but also to learn from visits like this.
3. Of their knowledge of optics that students had declared before visiting,
they knew surprisingly little and their views were disconnected from real
life.
4. The teachers usually followed the development of the experiments with
interest but took little part. Nor did they seem to deduce that they could
be used later in their teaching, although they considered them appropriate
for their students.
5. The attitude of the students, after a short interval, was expressed in interest
and participation in the course of the experiments.
6. The low number of post-visit responses from students precludes drawing
evident conclusions, although we are satisfied with what has been done.
As for the future implications of this study, we can start by saying that the
great willingness shown by teachers and students on the visits obliges us to
upgrade the process and overcome the shortcomings and weaknesses that
have been observed.
The aspect that surely must be insisted on in the development of the
activity is to coordinate more with the teachers, the concept they have of
it, and their involvement. Proper disposition of the students and the good
results obtained have been proven and it is necessary for teachers to develop
complementary actions to perform in the classroom, both before and after
the visit; to set the activity objectives and maintain the relationship between
activity and curriculum. This would, without doubt, be positively beneficial
to the students.
With respect to the image of optics, we must stress that the students who
made the visit knew little about the subject. It is surprising that students’
knowledge of optics is so poor and students failed to see how optics relates
to their daily lives since these students have seen optics topics previously at
both the primary and early secondary levels. This is certainly an observation
on which to reflect and that has to be related, among other variables, with
current teacher education.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We wish to acknowledge the funding received for this work under the
Project EDU2008-02059 from the Ministry of Science and Competitiveness
(Spain).
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Received 19-05- 2012/ Approved 29-04-2013
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Resumen
Este artículo propone una mirada desde la biología del conocer para la enseñanza
de las ciencias. Un estudiante como un observador construye su conocimiento a
partir de las referencias incorporadas en la interacción que ocurre en el entorno
de la escuela y la comunidad, ésto lo hace a través del lenguaje que crea el espacio
relacional. La interacción entre los estudiantes se realiza de acuerdo con la estructura
biológica de cada uno lo que permite el acoplamiento estructural. En este trabajo
analizamos las explicaciones de los estudiantes para preguntas elaboradas en una
secuencia didáctica interdisciplinaria. Fueron generadas tres categorías y nueve
subcategorías de análisis que se presentan y discuten. Éstas permitieron inferir
que las relaciones de la vida cotidiana les permiten a los estudiantes establecer
interacciones recurrentes, que son las experiencias de las referencias utilizadas en
las explicaciones elaborada por ellos.
Palabras clave: interacción, referencias, explicación, biología del conocer, conocimiento.
Abstract
This paper proposes a view from biology of knowledge to teach science. A student
as an observer constructs his knowledge from the references embedded in the
interaction in the school environment and his community; this is done through
language that creates the relational space. The student interaction is performed in
accordance with the biological structure of each individual allowing the structural
coupling. In this paper we analyze the students’ explanations to questions developed
in an interdisciplinary didactic sequence. Were generated three categories and
nine subcategories of analysis that are presented and discussed in the text. These
categories allowed us to infer that the relations of daily life will allow students to
establish recurrent interactions, which are the experiences of the references used
in the explanations made by them.
Key words: interaction, references, explanation, biology of knowledge, knowledge.
INTRODUCCIÓN
Los educandos están en una constante interacción con el medio en que
viven y con otros individuos, esta acción es tan recurrente que puede no ser
percibida durante el quehacer cotidiano. En esta perspectiva, el concepto
de interacción puede ser comprendido como las relaciones del sujeto con el
medio o las relaciones con otros individuos. Las interacciones de un educando
tienen influencia en la forma que éste determina las referencias de la realidad
que lo rodea.
La manera a través de la cual el estudiante interactúa es un reflejo de
su estructura cognitiva y neurológica, lo que le permite una plasticidad de
dinámicas (Maturana & Varela, 1980; 1988; 1998) para definir la forma como
responde a los estímulos o de la manera por la cual formula sus proposiciones
y explicaciones con respecto a aquello que aprende. En esta perspectiva, la
acción que influencia la interacción, puede ser comprendida como aprendizaje.
La acción de la interacción es un quehacer humano en su espacio de vivir,
en su fluir como ser vivo. A este respecto Maturana & Varela (2001) afirman
en un aforismo clave de este ciclo de interacción del individuo con la realidad
que lo rodea que: “Todo hacer es un conocer y todo conocer es un hacer”. De
esta forma, el proceso educacional como espacio de interacción del educando
debería promover intencionalmente este ciclo entre conocer y hacer, una vez
que este espacio es pensado y planificado para que eso ocurra. Nos parece
importante destacar aquí que aunque no sea planificada la interacción va a
ocurrir en todo y cualquier ambiente escolar como la sala de clases, los pasillos,
el gimnasio deportivo, las áreas al aire libre, durante las clases y en los recreos
por mencionar algunos espacios y actividades. De esta forma, los educandos
están sujetos y son actores de una constante interacción.
Los dominios de interacción del individuo pueden ser comprendidos
con respecto al medio como “el dominio de su operación como un todo
en el espacio de todas las interacciones” (Maturana & Varela, 1998). De
esta manera, el ambiente escolar al estimular el hacer estará incentivando
y fomentando el proceso de aprendizaje, esto es, el conocer. Cuando
el educando se encuentra envuelto en este ciclo constante, su forma de
interactuar se va modificando junto con el medio que lo rodea y junto a las
referencias que se van estableciendo y que van siendo construidas por el
sujeto-educando. Maturana (1998) define el educar como:
“el educar constituye un proceso en el cual el niño o el adulto convive con el
otro y, al convivir con el otro, se transforma espontáneamente, de manera que
su forma de vivir se torna progresivamente más congruente con el del otro en el
espacio de convivencia.” Maturana (1998, p. 29).
Esta concepción de educar se puede comprender como alusión al
conocimiento formalizado en los contenidos disciplinares y en las relaciones
establecidas con los educadores, los compañeros de clase, los compañeros
de la escuela, los mejores amigos, los padres, esto es, todo aquello que el
educando establece como importante en sus relaciones.
En este dominio explicativo entonces, un objetivo central de la escuela
y de la enseñanza seria proporcionar oportunidades al educando para que
este desarrolle sus capacidades y habilidades y no apenas para indicarle sus
inhabilidades. Otro objetivo importante en esta visión es el de contribuir
para que el educando construya coherentemente su conocimiento. Este
conocimiento le permitirá comprender el mundo en el cual vive. Para que
estos objetivos sean alcanzados es necesario ayudar explicita y claramente al
educando para que éste se adueñe y asuma su posición de sujeto con respecto
al conocimiento y a su propio desarrollo educacional.
Así, la educación escolar debería estar fundamentada en principios que
permitan que el propio educando establezca conexiones entre los contenidos
del currículo escolar, de las experiencias y de su realidad. (Fourez, 2003;
Lemke, 2006). Maturana (2001) cuando insiste en que “la realidad es una
proposición explicativa”, define una perspectiva para el educando frente a
la realidad, perspectiva ésta, que puede cambiar la forma como el sistema
de enseñanza aborda sus acciones dentro del campo de la enseñanza de las
ciencias. Este cambio tiene como centro propulsor y a la vez como factor
principal la importancia de la proposición del educando al explicar la realidad
en que vive. En la visión del gran educador brasileño Paulo Freire (Freire,
1996) esta centralidad de lectura de la propia realidad por los sujetos a través
de su propia palabra, se traduce en la lectura no ingenua del mundo. Insistimos
en esta lectura de la realidad a través de la palabra del educando como una
forma de atribuir sentido al contenido curricular de ciencias, abordado en
particular en este texto.
De esta forma, tomando en cuenta la perspectiva de realidad como
construida por el proceso de interacción del educando con ella, la
enseñanza de las ciencias podrá situarlo en el papel de observador activo
y crítico del propio vivir cotidiano, en el entender la vida, en la forma
de construir su conocimiento y en la manifestación de su experiencia a
través del lenguaje.
El lenguaje es una manifestación comportamental humana, una forma de
interactuar con la realidad y de influenciar la manera de intervención en el
medio y en las relaciones con los otros individuos. La concepción de lenguaje
en una visión Bakhtiniana, considera la noción de sujeto delante de un contexto
con varios elementos influyentes, pudiendo ser estos contextos históricos,
culturales y sociales. Esta misma noción considera la comprensión y el análisis,
la comunicación efectiva y los sujetos y discursos envueltos en ella (Brait,
2006). Al analizar el sujeto envuelto en este lenguaje, podemos identificar
otro campo que ejerce una gran influencia sobre él, su constitución biológica,
esto es, su constitución como ser vivo con una fenomenología biológica que
lo torna un fenómeno biológico. Un fenómeno biológico es todo fenómeno
que envuelve la realización del vivir de por lo menos un ser vivo (Maturana &
Varela, 1998). Como un ser vivo, el educando no puede ser comprendido fuera
Investigar la explicación de los educandos en clases de ciencias: las bases culturales
y biológicas
Research the explanation of students in science classes: the biological and cultural
basis
Herbert Gomes dA siLvA, mAríA eLenA infAnte-mALAcHíAs
Programa Interunidades em Ensino de Ciências e Escola de Artes, Ciências e Humanidades, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brasil,
herbertgomes@usp.br, marilen@usp.br
83
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JOURNAL OF SCIENCE EDUCATION - Nº 2, Vol. 14, pp. 82-85, 2013, ISSN 0124-5481,
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de esta constitución, y su proceso de aprendizaje a través de la interacción no
puede ni debe ser ignorado
En el contexto que acabamos de exponer, buscamos en la propuesta
de investigación de este artículo, analizar las referencias iniciales que el
educando establece para sus explicaciones a través del lenguaje. Por otro
lado, pretendemos indagar el papel de la interacción para la construcción de
referencias de los educandos en clases de ciencias de la naturaleza.
La referencia epistemológica base de la investigación
El desarrollo de esta investigación se llevó a cabo considerando la
perspectiva epistemológica de la biología del conocer de Humberto Maturana
y de manera particular el concepto de ciencias. Este es definido a partir de
la perspectiva del observador con respecto a la realidad que lo rodea y en
acuerdo, o en convergencia con otros individuos envueltos en una vivencia
científica. De acuerdo con Maturana (1998) “la realidad es una proposición
explicativa”. De esa forma la comprensión del concepto de ciencias en este
texto, involucra la explicación de la realidad fundamentada en la experiencia
en el vivir de un grupo de individuos. La diferencia entre el conocimiento
producido de manera científica y el conocimiento que no es científico, reside
en los métodos a través de los cuales la explicación fue realizada y que está
conscientemente explícita para el sujeto que observa. También es importante
considerar que este sujeto es aceptado por el grupo con el cual comparte su
explicación de la realidad, sentido común científico o comunidad científica
(Kunh, 1996).
De esta forma, el aprendizaje es la reacción del ser vivo a una interacción
con el medio o con otros seres vivos, lo que resulta en conocimiento. Así,
el individuo comienza a seleccionar la forma que interactúa a partir de este
conocimiento. Después que ocurre el aprendizaje, la manera que el individuo
interactúa no es por casualidad o simplemente un comportamiento aleatorio
(Wieser, 1972). Existe a partir de ese momento una intencionalidad, una opción
comportamental y una manera de interactuar determinada por el individuo.
A partir de esta perspectiva surge el sujeto que observa. El hombre se
posiciona delante de la realidad dentro de un proceso de interacción. Para
realizar lo propuesto en este trabajo, considerando el hacer ciencia, el hombre
tiene una condición inicial al proponer una explicación. Somos observadores en
el observar, en el suceder del vivir cotidiano en el lenguaje, en la experiencia
del lenguaje (Maturana, 1998).
El comportamiento es una manifestación que puede ser observada, éste no
encierra en sí una distinción entre lo que es instintivo y lo que es aprendido
(Maturana, 1988; 1990; 1998; 2002). O sea, no podemos identificar lo que es
aprendido o lo que es instintivo, pero podemos observar este comportamiento
en la interacción. Cuando observamos el comportamiento seleccionado
de un ser, manifestado en su interacción, estamos hablando de conductas
consensuales, como definido por Maturana (1998, pág 71).
En esta investigación se procuró observar la explicación, como conducta
consensual, a través de la manifestación comportamental de existencia del
ser humano: el lenguaje. Esta afirmación se origina en el pensamiento de
Maturana & Varela (2001) cuando afirman que: “Toda reflexión, inclusive la
que se hace sobre los fundamentos del conocer humano, ocurre necesariamente
en el lenguaje, que es nuestra manera particular de ser humanos y estar en
el hacer humano”.
METODOLOGÍA
Los sujetos de la investigación
Consideramos el proceso de aprendizaje como objetivo de la investigación
para la enseñanza de las ciencias. En esta perspectiva, el aprendizaje se origina
a partir del proceso de interacción, siendo éste el elemento constructor de las
explicaciones para la realidad y sus conceptos científicos. Para esta finalidad
trabajamos con un grupo de educandos de una escuela de la red pública del
Estado de San Pablo en Brasil, la escuela estatal Casimiro de Abreu
1
. Los
estudiantes fueron jóvenes del 9º año de la enseñanza básica por representar la
última etapa de este periodo de escolarización y, al mismo tiempo por poseer en
el currículo contenidos de ciencias que permitían un abordaje interdisciplinar
entre conceptos de química, física y biología de forma no fragmentada. El
grupo de estudiantes fue formado por tres cursos regulares con un total de
81 jóvenes con edades entre 13 y 15 años. La investigación fue realizada en
octubre de 2011, durante el segundo semestre escolar.
1
Escueladeperíodointegral, localizada enlaciudaddeSãoPaulo,en laregión
centro,barrioVilaPaiva.
La secuencia didáctica aplicada en la investigación
El trabajo fue desarrollado durante una secuencia de 5 clases de 60 minutos
de duración cada una. Cada una de las clases tenía objetivos específicos de
acuerdo con el aumento del nivel de complejidad de las actividades, grado de
interacción y participación de los estudiantes formulada a través del lenguaje
(Tabla 1). La investigación fue realizada en dos momentos principales. El
periodo entre la primera y la segunda respuesta fue para estimular interacciones
planificadas e intencionales a través de actividades didácticas permitiendo así
la observación de las manifestaciones del comportamiento de los estudiantes,
las cuales son objeto de análisis en este artículo.
Tabla 1: Planificación de las clases de acuerdo con los objetivos (lo
que hacer) y acciones que los estudiantes deberían realizar (reacción
de los estudiantes a las actividades)
Clase Objetivo Propuesta de acción
1ª
Estimular la manifestación
de las concepciones de los
estudiantes para explicar a
través de la escritura
Los estudiantes deberían responder la pregunta:
¿El color blanco existe? Elaborando una
respuesta escrita
2ª
Estimular la observación
y formulación de hipótesis
explicativas
Experimentos con rayo de luz
3ª
Identificar, asociar y describir
el contenido propuesto sobre
la visión (I)
Invitación a la participación, aula dialogada
y presentación de slides digitales: rayos de
luz (Física)
4ª
Identificar, asociar y describir
el contenido propuesto sobre
la visión (II)
Invitación a la participación, aula dialogada
y presentación de slides
digitales : visión, sistema perceptivo y cerebro
(Biología y Química)
5ª
Instigar las concepciones
para el explicar, a través de
la escritura
Los estudiantes deberían responder la pregunta:
¿La sensación del color blanco existe?
Elaborando una respuesta escrita
En la primera clase fue propuesto a los estudiantes la respuesta a la
pregunta: ¿El color blanco existe? Durante la segunda clase fueron realizados
experimentos diversos con rayos de luz. El primer momento consistió en la
utilización de una luz blanca como faja de luz incidiendo sobre un prisma. En
el segundo momento se utilizó una ampolleta L.E.D (Light Emiting Diode),
compuesta por unidades que representasen los colores primarios del rayo
de luz: verde, azul y rojo. A partir del tercer momento, a través de un lente
biconvexo convergente de pequeña distancia focal (una lupa escolar), puesta
entre la ampolleta y una superficie blanca, fueron alternadas las fuentes de luz
de la siguiente forma: un L.E.D encendido; dos L.E.D encendidos y tres L.E.D.
encendidos, diversificando las combinaciones de colores. Posteriormente,
La superficie blanca se cambió por una superficie roja, otra verde y otra
azul. Finalmente, fue utilizada una ampolleta de luz negra sobre las diversas
superficies (blanca, roja, verde y azul).
Durante la tercera clase fue realizada una clase dialogada sobre las
propiedades físicas de los rayos de luz. En la cuarta clase, los contenidos
conceptuales comprendían el funcionamiento de la visión en los seres
humanos, anatomía del ojo, la percepción del ambiente, el sistema neural y
como las sinapsis se distribuyen en el cerebro, además de la interacción del
ser humano al percibir el ambiente. En la quinta y última clase se le propuso
a los estudiantes que respondieran una nueva pregunta, que contenía una
alteración importante: ¿La sensación del color blanco existe?
RESULTADOS Y DISCUSIÓN
Los datos analizados fueron las respuestas por escrito de los estudiantes,
producidas en la primera y última clase de la secuencia didáctica propuesta.
Las respuestas de los estudiantes fueron analizadas y categorizadas de acuerdo
con el sistema conceptual propuesto en este trabajo y las ideas de la teoría de
la biología del conocer de Humberto Maturana y Francisco Varela.
Los estudiantes elaboraron respuestas a la pregunta inicial propuesta, sin
intervención del profesor; ¿El color blanco existe? Las respuestas después de
analizadas y categorizadas permitieron la identificación de los fundamentos
que ellos utilizan para realizar sus explicaciones. A partir de la interpretación
de las respuestas de los estudiantes, fueron identificadas tres categorías con
nueve sub categorías originadas a partir de estas (Tabla 2).
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Tabla 2: Categorías y subcategorías de referencias, identificadas en las
explicaciones de los estudiantes para la primera pregunta: ¿El color
blanco existe? Para cada categoría se indica el número de estudiantes
clasificados dentro de cada una. En total 81 estudiantes participaron de
la actividad y 16 no respondieron.
Categorías Sub categorías Ejemplos
1.Contextuales
(n= 38)
a) Objetos
... El blanco está presente en muchas cosas: hojas
de papel, zapatos, ropas, tintas, esmaltes.
b) Constatación Sí, yo veo el blanco en varios lugares.
c) Experimentos
Si tu tomas un cristal y lo pones en la luz, los
colores aparecen.
d) Significados El blanco es el color de la paz.
2.No-
contextuales
(n= 19)
e) Descriptiva
Es algo que existe en nuestros ojos que capta y
manda la imagen a nuestro cerebro.
f) Conceptual
Nuestro cerebro procesa las imágenes con el color
blanco y podemos verlo.
3.Conceptuales
Hipotéticas
(n= 8)
g) Impositiva Sí, porque es la forma de luz intensa.
h) Divergente
Depende, si tú vas por tu visión, el color blanco
existe. Pero si vas por la ciencia, el color blanco
no existe.
i)Relato personal
Como el prisma es transparente, y para mi es
imposible lo transparente crear una luz blanca.
Para comprender las categorías generadas en este estudio, explicamos a
continuación la naturaleza y el origen de las mismas:
1. Referencias contextuales – Estas explicaciones se fundamentan en
situaciones del cotidiano, en la vivencia directa dada por la percepción,
tienen relación directa con el mundo que rodea al estudiante, un mundo
posible. Esta categoría fue dividida en cuatro subcategorías: a) objeto - la
referencia que sirve de prueba es un objeto con el cual el individuo tiene
contacto; b) constatación – la referencia es la validación por la experiencia
o prueba directa que sirve como hecho comprobatorio; c) experimento –
utiliza como referencial la descripción de un relato vivido por el individuo
y d) significado – todo lo que representa algo de sí mismo, esto es, valores
intrínsecos de los estudiantes o formados socialmente (Bakthin, 2006).
2. Referencias no contextuales – Las explicaciones son formulaciones que
pueden ser aplicadas a diferentes contextos, o que no necesitan de contexto
para su entendimiento. Esta categoría fue dividida en dos subcategorías: e)
descriptiva – cuando el estudiante describe la experiencia sin revelar en su
discurso el contexto en el que ocurrió el episodio y f) conceptual – En este
caso el estudiante utiliza un concepto que no permite dudas con respecto
a su posición, es casi un enunciado.
3. Referencias conceptuales hipotéticas – Las explicaciones surgen de una
manera independiente de un histórico de vivencias y son consideradas como
enunciados en las explicaciones de los estudiantes. Fue dividida en tres
subcategorías: g) impositiva – que finaliza la explicación de forma categórica
sin espacio para argumentaciones contrarias; h) divergente – cuando la
explicación presenta elementos discordantes que demuestra una posición
heterónoma, autoritaria o una opinión de negación al propio enunciado, i)
relato personal – cuando la explicación revela la idiosincrasia del estudiante,
indicando que ésta fue el resultado de su reflexión apoyada en sus valores.
Figura 1. Distribución de las explicaciones de los estudiantes en las categorías que
resultaron del análisis de sus respuestas. Se indica el porcentaje obtenido para un
total de 65 respuestas.
En la figura 1, fueron representadas las explicaciones de los estudiantes
de acuerdo con las categorías elaboradas después de la interpretación de
las mismas. Como se puede observar, la mayoría de los estudiantes utilizó
en sus textos discursos correspondientes a la categoría contextual (47%;
38 estudiantes) para explicar la pregunta inicial. De esa forma, es posible
identificar situaciones observadas en el cotidiano de los estudiantes utilizadas
para comprobación de sus conclusiones. Esta información es de gran
importancia porque los estudiantes utilizan como principal referencia de sus
explicaciones, el mundo que los rodea.
Durante el transcurso de las cinco clases sin intervención directa del
profesor, los estudiantes vivieron situaciones que les permitieron comparar
sus explicaciones con las explicaciones científicas provenientes de la biología,
física y química, al respecto de los fenómenos estudiados. Durante la última
actividad de la secuencia fue nuevamente propuesta la pregunta inicial con una
modificación: el uso de la palabra sensación. Sin embargo, como el objetivo
aquí no es el estudio de los contenidos conceptuales, y si de la identificación
de las referencias que los estudiantes utilizan para tomar sus decisiones y
explicar el mundo, esa alteración en la pregunta no fue relevante para la
ejecución de la tarea.
Al responder la pregunta realizada en la última clase: ¿La sensación de
color blanco existe? Los estudiantes mostraron argumentos más elaborados
y sus explicaciones estaban estructuradas con base en los conocimientos
científicos presentados y discutidos en las clases anteriores, construidos
durante el transcurso de las vivencias ofrecidas por la secuencia didáctica. El
análisis de la pregunta final será divulgado en otro artículo que caracterizará
la interacción como elemento fundamental para la expansión de las referencias
de los estudiantes en las clases de ciencias.
El acoplamiento estructural (Maturana y Varela, 2001) se produce cuando
dos o más individuos en un proceso de interacción recurrente se interfieren
entre sí provocando cambios en todos los involucrados. Los estudiantes en
clase, su vida escolar y su vida en la comunidad, están en acoplamiento
estructural con otras personas, lo que promueve una interacción recurrente en
su vida cotidiana. Este acoplamiento estructural se realiza mediante el uso del
lenguaje todos los días, lo que causa las interacciones recurrentes que pueden
o no pueden establecer conductas consensuales entre los estudiantes, y esto
es lo que sucedió en el grupo que participó en las actividades propuestas en
esta investigación.
CONCLUSIONES
Frecuentemente en la práctica escolar, se señala la importancia de
la memoria para la enseñanza-aprendizaje de ciencias. Esto se revela
cuando exigimos respuestas “padrón” de nuestros estudiantes y cuando
desconsideramos las explicaciones de éstos, por considerarlas ingenuas o no
científicas. Para Damásio (2010), lo que normalmente llamamos de memoria es
una memoria compuesta por las actividades sensitivas y motoras relacionadas
con la interacción entre el sujeto y el objeto durante un tiempo determinado.
Esto, en las palabras del autor, significa que la memoria es pre-conceptuada
por nuestra historia y creencias previas. La memoria perfectamente fiel y
“pura” para un conocimiento científico es un mito. Damásio (2010) afirma
que nuestro cerebro retiene una memoria de lo que sucedió en una interacción,
y esa interacción incluye fundamentalmente nuestro pasado, y muchas veces
el pasado nuestro como especie biológica y cultural.
De esta forma, siempre percibimos mediante una interacción y no de una
receptividad pasiva, por este motivo, recordamos contextos y no cosas aisladas
(Damásio, 2010).
Desde nuestra perspectiva y a partir de la biología del conocer proponemos
que la educación científica debería suceder en el espacio relacional de los
estudiantes. Esto debería ocurrir a partir de la planificación de actividades
que estimulen el lenguaje científico en el espacio en que el educando se
relaciona y también brindarle experiencias que promuevan la interacción y
que le sirvan de referencia en la construcción de sus discursos. Proponemos
que esta manera de abordar la enseñanza de las ciencias haría que el lenguaje
científico, pudiera manifestarse de manera no mecánica ni literal sino en la
forma de construcción de explicaciones en las relaciones de los estudiantes
sea en la escuela como en la vida comunitaria.
BIBLIOGRAFIA
Brait, B. Bakhtin: conceitos chaves / Beth Brait (org.). 3 ed. – Contexto: São Paulo, 2006.
Bakhtin, M. Marxismo e Filosofia da linguagem: problemas fundamentais do método
sociológico da linguagem. Traducción de Michel Lahud y Yara Frateschi Vieira.
13 ed. Hucitec: São Paulo, 2006.
Damásio, A. R. Self comes to mind: constructing the conscious brain. Pantheon Books,
New York, 2010.
Categorías a partir de la respuestas de los estudiantes
47%
23%
10%
20%
Contextuales
No-contextuales
Conceptuales hipotéticas
Ninguna respuesta
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JOURNAL OF SCIENCE EDUCATION - Nº 2, Vol. 14, pp. 85-87, 2013, ISSN 0124-5481,
www.accefyn.org.co/rec
Fourez, G. Crise no ensino de ciências? Investigações em Ensino de Ciências, 8 (2),
109-123, 2003.
Freire, P. Pedagogia da autonomia: saberes necessários á prática docente. Paz e Terra,
São Paulo, 1996.
Lemke, J. Investigar para el futuro de la educación científica: Nuevas formas de aprender,
nuevas formas de vivir. Enseñanza de las Ciencias, 24 (1), 5-12, 2006.
Maturana, H. R. Autopoiesis, structural coupling and cognition: a history of these and
other notions in the biology of cognition. Cybernetics & human knowing, vol. 9,
No.3-4, pp 5-34, 2002.
Maturana, H. Cognição, ciência e vida cotidiana. Organización y traducción Cristina
Magro, Víctor Paredes – Ed. UFMG: Belo Horizonte, 2001.
Maturana, H. Emoções e linguagem na educação e na política. Ed. UFMG: Belo
Horizonte, 1998.
Maturana, H. Reality: the search for objectives or the quest for a compelling arguments.
Irish J. Psychology, 9 (1), 25-82. (issue on constructivism), 1988.
Maturana, H. Science and daily life: the ontology of scientific explanation. In W. Krong, G.
Kuppers, & H. Nowotny (Eds), Selforganization: portrait of a scientific revolution.
Pp. 12-35. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publisher, 1990.
Maturana, H. & Varela, F. J. Autopoiesis and cognition: the realization of the living.
Boston studies in the philosophy of science; v. 42, 1980.
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humana. Palas Athenas: São Paulo, 2001.
Maturana, H & varela, F., The tree of knowledge. Boston: Shambala New Science
Library. 1988.
Maturana, H. & Varela, F., De máquinas y seres vivos – autopoiesis, la organización de
lo vivo. Ed. Universitaria: Santiago de Chile, 1998.
Kuhn, T. The structure of scientific revolutions. 4ª ed. Perspectiva S. A.: São Paulo, 1996.
Wieser, W. Organismos, estruturas, máquinas: para uma teoria do organismo. Editora
Cultrix: São Paulo, 1972.
Received 13-07- 2012/ Approved 29-04-2013
Abstract
The recent outbreak of the H1N1 virus, or swine flu, sparked weeks of discussion
in a secondary school life science course. Therefore, this activity was designed to
address students’ questions about, and strengthen their understanding of the concept of
disease transmission. In this exercise, students act as disease vectors and detectives;
both transmitting a simulated disease to each other, and tracing the infection back
to its source. As such, students practice science inquiry skills, and address a social
perspective of science.
Key words: simulated disease transmission, active learning, biology lessons
Resumen
El brote reciente del virus H1N1, o de gripe de los cerdos, fue discutido en las semanas
de las ciencias en los cursos de escuela secundaria. Por lo tanto, esta actividad fue
diseñada para tratar las preguntas de los estudiantes relacionadas, y consolidar su
comprensión del concepto de transmisión de la enfermedad. En este ejercicio, los
estudiantes actúan como vectores y detectives de la enfermedad; ambos que transmiten
una enfermedad simulada el uno al otro, y rastreando la infección a su fuente. Como
tal, los estudiantes practican habilidades de la investigación de la ciencia, y tratan
una perspectiva social de la ciencia.
Palabras clave: transmisión simulada de la enfermedad, aprendizaje activo,
biología
INTRODUCTION
It has been demonstrated that students who have early positive experiences
with science are more likely to become interested in careers in research,
medicine, environmental science, and even zoo keeping (Gould, Weeks,
Evans, 2003). Moreover, students who describe themselves as having had
negative experiences in science classes, even as far back as elementary school,
reported finding science difficult and boring (Gould, Weeks, Evans, 2003),
and frequently avoided pursuing a profession that might require a science
background.
More recent research suggests that there may be other reasons why students
avoid science. The traditional way in which science is taught, especially in
secondary schools, may be unappealing to many students. Informational
lectures, presented by a “sage on a stage”, followed by the typical paper and
pencil assessments may cause a lack of engagement in the subject on the part
of the student. This lack of investment leads some students to find science
boring (Joyce, Farenga, 2000).
Active learning, defined as any activities students do in a classroom other
than just listening to the instructor’s lecture, creates a sense of relevance
and personal investment for science students (Paulson, Faust, 2000). Active
learning provides an opportunity for students to interact with the professor
and fellow students, which promotes the development of higher order
thinking skills (Bonwell, Eison, 1991), and allows students to stop passively
receiving information, and to interact with the information in a meaningful
way. Moreover, research shows that students understand material better and
retain it longer if they can react to the lecture or course material actively
(Paulson, Faust, 2000). These factors make it more likely that active learners
will stay in college and graduate. Therefore, it seems likely that engaging
younger students in active learning, particularly middle school students,
may pave the road for future success in science. Making science more
accessible to students, while at the same time fostering positive student/
teacher interactions may eliminate some of the factors that lead to science
disinterest and avoidance.
METHODOLOGY
In the recent past, the H1N1 virus, also known as “swine flu” was a hot
topic in the media, and in the biology classroom, as well. As reports of this
illness began to spread, and worldwide panic seemed imminent, students
became extraordinarily curious about the flu, and how it might become a
pandemic. This highly visible outbreak provides a unique opportunity to
illustrate the process of disease transmission, with a hands-on laboratory
activity.
In addition to addressing a current event, the lesson provided a way to
address several of the National Science Foundation Education Standards.
For example, students were conducting scientific inquiry, and examining
science in person and social perspectives. Prior to the start of the lab activity,
a lively discussion about the recent epidemic was conducted, and students
were eager to discover how the disease transmission route could be so rapid
and so widespread.
This exercise fit seamlessly into a lesson on the immune system. A class
of 10
th
grade high school biology students participated in this lesson. During
a three-hour laboratory class, 24 students were divided up into groups of 6
students.
Disease detectives at work: a lesson on disease transmission for secondary school
students
Detectives de enfermedades en el trabajo: una clase sobre la transmisión de la
enfermedad para los estudiantes de escuela secundaria
MARY E. DAWSON
Department of Biological Sciences, Kingsborough Community College of The City University of New York, Brooklyn, New York, 11235, USA,
Mdawson@kingsborough.edu
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JOURNAL OF SCIENCE EDUCATION - Nº 2, Vol. 14, pp. 85-87, 2013, ISSN 0124-5481,
www.accefyn.org.co/rec
National Science Education Standards Addressed by Activity in This
Article
Science As Inquiry (5-8):
• Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry.
• Understanding about scientific inquiry.
Science in Personal and Social Perspectives (5-8)
• Personal health
• Natural hazards
• Risks and benefits
• Science and technology in society
History and Nature of Science (5-8)
• Science as a human endeavor
• Nature of science
Secondary School
The eight categories of content standards are
• Unifying concepts and processes in science.
• Science as inquiry.
• Physical science.
• Life science.
• Earth and space science.
• Science and technology.
• Science in personal and social perspectives.
• History and nature of science.
(National Research Council. 1996. National Science Education Standards. Washington,
DC: National Academy Press.)
ASSESSMENT
Students may be assessed through their participation in the exercise, and
their written responses to the questions included. In Exercise 1, students are
required to draw conclusions based on their observations. They will present
their findings to the class. The lab reports produced by each team in exercise 2
should be reviewed and assessed by the other teams in the class. Exercise 3 can
be used a homework assignment, providing the students with an opportunity
to reflect on what they have learned, and then apply this knowledge to real
life situations, thus adding context to their knowledge acquisition.
Extension
The results from this exercise can also be used to underscore lessons in:
• the impact of disease on different socioeconomic classes
•
bio-terrorism and biological warfare lessons in history/and or current events
• the historical implications of major outbreaks of contagious diseases
DISCUSSION
Evidence indicates that learning should be interest driven. The relatively
recent newsworthiness of the H1N1 virus, commonly known as swine flu,
captivated a group of high school students studying life science. They became
increasingly interested in how this disease could be transmitted so rapidly
and so easily, and were eager to learn about disease transmission. Creating a
hands-on activity enables instructors to demonstrate a powerful concept in a
very meaningful, easy to visualize way. The students were excited to sleuth
the disease transmission pathway, and the concept of how a disease is easily
transmitted and spread was clearly understood by all students. Furthermore,
the students gained exposure to the field of epidemiology. The lesson had a
very positive impact on the class, and sparked many hours of discussion about
diseases and their transmission, particularly swine flu. Subsequent discussion
involved topics such as biological warfare, and what impact it would have on
society; how diseases such as bubonic plague, cholera and small pox can have
huge historical implications; and the reasons why economically disadvantaged
members of a society might be more likely to suffer the ravages of disease.
One shortcoming of the exercise was the fact that precision was important to
a successful outcome. That is, it was important for students to keep a precise
record of which students they exchanged “bodily fluids” with. Therefore,
this exercise requires close supervision by the lab instructor, thereby lending
itself best to small groups. One suggestion is that the instructor should keep
track of which students had what solutions, such as in a “blinded” fashion on
the blackboard for all to see.
CONCLUSIONS
This lesson proved to be an excellent, inexpensive, and easy to implement
format for bringing a highly visible news item into the science classroom. It is
easily adapted for use at both the middle and high school level. Students were
excited to explore the science behind something they read about and watched
on television every day. Furthermore, they were able to practice scientific
inquiry and apply the scientific method to a socially relevant problem. The
students were amazed to see how their deductive reasoning skills could be
employed to parse out which of their classmates were the disease vectors, and
the route of disease transmission. Finally, this lesson was the launching point
for many future discussions about disease transmission, and scientific inquiry.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bonwell, C. and J. Eison. Active Learning: Creating excitement in the classroom. ASHE-
ERIC Higher Education Report No. 1. Washington , DC: George Washington
University. Available:
http://www.ed.gov/database/ERIC_Digests/Ed394441
, 1991.
Caine, G., R. N. Caine, and C. McClintic. Guiding the innate constructivist. Educational
Leadership, 60(1): 70-73, 2002.
Gould, J.C., Weeks, V, and Evans, S. 2003. Science Starts Early. Gifted Child Today,
26 (3), 38 – 41, 2003.
Joyce, B. A., & Farenga, S. J. Young girls in science: Academic ability, perceptions, and
future participation in science. Roper Review, 22(4), 261-262, 2000.
Orlik, Y. Ch. 10. Modern class organization and extra class work in chemistry. Chemistry:
Active Methods of Teaching and Learning. , Iberoamerica Publ., Mexico, 2002.
Paulson, D., and J. Faust.
http://calstatela.edu/centers/cetl/instspeak/scl/activelearning
,
2000.
APPENDIX 1
Materials
Instructors should prepare two sets of the following, one for each exercise.
•
5 disposable 5-ml transfer pipettes per student/ 6 students per group
(commercially available)
• 1 test tube per student/ 6 per group
• 1 bottle of distilled water - 15 ml per student/ 90 ml per group of 6
• 1 bottle of 0.1 N NaOH - 15 ml per student/ 90 ml per group of 6
• About 10 mL phenol red per group of 6
• A wax crayon or permanent marker
Safety note: Care should be taken when handling these chemicals. As
is true for all work in the laboratory, instructors and students should
wear goggles, a lab coat, and proper gloves, and standard safety practices
observed.
Preparation of Solutions
Distilled Water
Decant 200 ml of distilled water into a disposable plastic bottle
(commercially available) and label with a number and record. Prepare one
250 ml beaker-full for each lab group except one. The remaining group will
receive the NaOH solution
1 N NaOH
Measure 40.0 g of NaOH (Fisher Scientific) on a triple beam balance.
Add this mass to a 1 L volumetric flask and dilute with distilled water up to
the 1 L mark. Decant about 200 ml of this solution into a disposable plastic
bottle (commercially available) and label with a number (different from the
HCl solution above) that you will record. Prepare one 250 ml beaker-full
and place at one lab table only. Make sure to keep track of the solutions
and their identifying numbers.
Once prepared, these solutions have a long shelf life and can be kept
indefinitely if capped. Instructors should decant the distilled water and the
NaOH solution into 250 ml beakers and provide one at each of the student
lab stations. (NOTE: only one table gets the NaOH).
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Students should be instructed in the use and proper disposal of transfer
pipettes. All solutions should be dispensed using disposable 5 ml transfer
pipettes. Pipettes should be rinsed and disposed of in a standard trash
receptacle.
The following activity was designed for high school students, but it can
be adapted for a middle school life science course. The exercise best lends
itself to working in small groups of six students per group.
ACTUAL LESSON
HOW ARE DISEASES TRANSMITTED?
Introduction
Are you able to count how many times you have been sick in your life?
Probably not, because in reality you have been sick more times than you
can possibly remember or count. Now think back to the last time you were
sick. What were the symptoms? How long were you sick? Did you see a
doctor, or did you “tough it out” on your own? Were you able to figure out
how you got sick?
Diseases are insidious in the way they spread. A sneeze, a cough, a
handshake or even seemingly harmless kisses are some of the many ways
in which diseases may be transmitted. Some diseases, such as the common
cold, run their course within a week to ten days and have virtually no lasting
effects. Other diseases, like swine flu, hepatitis, AIDS, West Nile Virus and
Ebola Virus can be much more devastating.
Biological weapons such as anthrax and small pox are effective and deadly
because they can be easily transmitted in the air we breathe and by the things
we touch. Today we will investigate how diseases are transmitted from one
individual to another.
Materials
At each laboratory station you will find the following material:
• A bottle of stock solution with a number on it
• a clean test tube
• several 5 ml disposable transfer pipettes
• Phenol red solution
• A wax crayon or marker
All stock bottles contain dilute (0.001N) hydrochloric acid (HCl), except
one, which contains 0.1N sodium hydroxide (NaOH). Both solutions look
the same, and are to be considered bodily fluids for the rest of the exercise.
The NaOH solution represents the infected fluid, and therefore, the disease-
spreading agent. The person in possession of this solution is the carrier of
the disease, and can easily transmit it to others by exchanging bodily fluids
with them.
Exercise 1 (Time required: 1.5 hours)
Method
1. Transfer three pipettes full of stock solution (about 15 ml) into a clean test
tube. Keep this pipette for step 3.
2. Randomly select another student in your group with whom you will exchange
solutions (bodily fluids).
3. Put one pipette full of your solution into the other person’s to complete the
exchange. Rinse this pipette and discard it in the trash.
4. Record the name and stock number bottle of the person you exchanged
fluids with.
5. Repeat this exchange with two more people from the class. Use a clean
pipette each time. Remember to rinse and the discard the pipette
before taking another.
6. Return to your laboratory station and, using a clean pipette, add
one drop of phenol red to your test tube. Phenol red will react with NaOH
to produce a change in color from clear to red. No such change occurs
with HCl.
7. Record the results from your test tubes in your lab notebook.
Your instructor will record the names and contacts of infected
individuals on the black board. Along with your classmates, you should
try to find the original source of the infection, and determine the route
of transmission throughout the class. Discuss the following questions
in groups of two or three. You will share your conclusions with the
entire group.
I. Is it possible to predict the maximum number of individuals who could be
infected after three rounds of transfers? If so, what is that number?
11. Why might the observed number of infections differ from the predicted
number?
Exercise 2 (Time required: 1.5 hours)
Method
In Exercise 1 you observed the results of disease transmission within a
limited group of individuals. What do you predict might happen if the number
of contacts you make is greatly increased? Would your chances of becoming
infected also increase? Why or why not?
With these questions in mind, you are to formulate a hypothesis and develop
an experiment to answer the following question:
Do the chances of becoming infected with a contagious disease
increase when the number of contacts with possibly infected individuals
increases?
Your hypothesis should be an “if/then” statement. For example: “If”
a disease is airborne, “then” breathing may cause me to become infected.
Have you instructor review your hypothesis and experimental design before
proceeding.
Your experimental design should test your hypothesis, and will use the
same materials as Exercise 1. You will be provided with new numbered stock
solutions, clean pipettes, and clean test tubes. List and number the steps in
your experimental design.
After you have made your observations and collected your data, analyze
these data and draw conclusions from them. Present these data, using charts
and/or graphs, along with your conclusions. Since scientists rarely work
alone, “brainstorming” with your classmates is encouraged. Use the following
format to prepare your final report.
Disease Transmission
Question: Do the chances of contacting a contagious disease increase when
the number of contacts with possibly infected individuals increases?
Hypothesis:
Materials:
Experimental Design and Methods:
Data and Analysis:
Conclusions:
Exercise 3 (Homework)
Use what you have learned in this exercise to compose a real life
scenario in which a disease is being spread. Discuss how you would
go about detecting the source of the disease, and what steps you would
take to prevent further contamination?
Received 28-11- 2011/ Approved 29-04-2013
Journal of Science Education
Internacional and bilingual
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Abstract
The purpose of this research was to investigate, referenced on Vygotsky’s work, how
the process of attributing meanings to living beings occurs among young children.
To this end, a group of sixteen 4-year-olds were monitored in their activities relating
to the development of the project “Small Animals”, during which they made an in-
depth study of butterflies. This work was carried out using a qualitative methodology.
It was found that the children negotiated the meanings of words among themselves
during the discursive interactions. It was concluded, from this investigation, that the
children not only assimilated some knowledge about butterflies but also incorporated
into their drawings similar modes of representation as those they encountered in the
scientific materials made available to them, with special emphasis on the sequential
format of presentation of the phases of the life cycle of butterflies.
Key words: child education, children’s drawings, science teaching, language, Vygotsky
RESUMEN
La finalidad de esta investigación – realizada en la Guardería Oeste, localizada
en el campus de la Universidad de São Paulo – Brasil, fue investigar, a partir del
referencial de Vigotski, como ocurre el proceso de atribución de significados sobre
los seres vivos, entre niños cuando están participando de interacciones discursivas
mediadas por los adultos. Para esto, un grupo compuesto por 16 niños de 4 años
fue acompañado durante ocho meses en las actividades relacionadas al desarrollo
del proyecto “Pequeños Animales”, cuando estudiaron con mayor profundidad las
mariposas.En este trabajo, se utilizó la metodología cualitativa. Se constató que los
niños fueron negociando entre sí los significados de las palabras, en el transcurrir
de sus propias interacciones discursivas. En esta investigación, se concluyó, que los
niños, además de apropiarse de algunos conocimientos sobre las mariposas (aspectos
morfológicos, fases del ciclo de la vida, diversidad de las especies, hábitos alimentarios
y estrategias de defensa contra los predadores), incorporaron, en sus dibujos, modos
de representación semejantes a los encontrados en los materiales de divulgación
científica disponibles a los niños, mereciendo destaque el formato secuencial de la
presentación de las fases del ciclo de la vida de las mariposas.
Palabras clave: educación infantil, enseñanza de ciencias, lenguaje, Vigotski, dibujo
infantil, atribución de significados
INTRODUCTION
The purpose of our work is to explore how young people process and
categorize attributes of living objects. To this end, we present an analysis
of drawings and dialogues produced by sixteen 4-year-old children who
responded spontaneously to the researcher’s request that they “draw something
about the Small Animals project” which the children primarily studied
butterflies.
Early childhood drawing
Several authors claim that children’s thinking is ludic, i.e., when they play or
draw, children think about the reality of their surroundings and produce knowledge
and impressions about it (Soundy, 2012; Swann, 2009; Fello, Paquette & Jalongo,
2007; Kishimoto 1996; Dias 1996; Santa-Roza 1993). In this study, we consider
drawing as a language young children use to interact ludically with the world
and to understand it (Soundy, 2012; Ferreira 2003; Moreira 1999).
Drawing is a way to allow children to express their thoughts and construct
meanings for them. (Ferreira, 2003) It is these meanings that we are
interested here, since they are the product of thought and reveal the process
of construction of ideas. As Soundy (2012) asserts “when adults spend time
talking with children about their artwork, they see glimpses of imagination
at work, as well as effective uses of language.” (p. 45)
For Vygotsky (2000), the act of imagination is thus manifested through
different recombinations that children make of real elements; in other words,
each drawing is therefore the representation of a recreation of the reality
known by children. The author claims that it is only possible to create starting
from what is familiar.
Several authors (Chang, 2012; Kim, 2011; Derdyk, 1989) see drawing as
a way of acting upon the world whereby it invents and tests its hypotheses
and theories about how the world functions. Derdyk (1989) also emphasizes
the importance of verbal language that enables the child to name its drawings
and them.
Soundy (2012) points out when children are stimulated to speak about their
drawings “such conversations place teachers in a better position to understand
children’s thought processes, extend their meaning through interaction, and
contribute to their future development as visual meaning-makers.” (Soundy, 2012)
Brooks (2009) warns us not to interpret solutions for graphic problems
as expressions of thoughts concerning scientific questions. That is why, in
the analysis of drawings, it is important to take into account the dialogues
of their authors.
In Brooks’ work, this researcher stresses that group drawing not only helps
children to visualize their own ideas and projects but also enables them to
reach “a higher level of thinking.” According to the author, “when young
children are able to create visual representations of their ideas they are more
able to work at a metacognitive level”. (Brooks 2009, p. 340)
Based on the above considerations, we analyze the two types of texts
produced by the children: drawings and dialogues.
The roles of verbal language and symbolization based on Vygotskian
references
According to Vygotsky (1998), for young children, speaking is part of the
solution of practical tasks like drawing a picture. Therefore, in our research,
our analyses of drawings always include the dialogues of those that produced
them. At four or five years of age, children are still unable to think in silence
i.e., their thinking is not yet interiorized. Thus, the need to speak is associated
with that of planning and organizing actions to be executed.
For Vygotsky (1998), the development of language and the ability to
symbolize lead to changes in the possibilities of perception and of the field of
attention, since language enables us to pay closer attention to some aspects than
to others, allowing for new rearrangements of reality by means of innumerable
sequences and different groupings.
Another contribution of language is that it expands the capacity of
memory. Referring specifically to the role of memory in the early years of
life, Vygotsky (2003) asserts that, for young children, thinking is synonymous
to remembering. With respect to creative productions, the author emphasizes
that creative ability is directly linked to memory. (Vygotsky, 2000)
In the context of this work, these graphic productions serve as evidence of
what was in the children memories and what captured their attention at the
moment they produced them.
However, we must not forget that, although the drawings are individual,
they were produced in a group as the children talked among themselves. As
Vygotsky argues (1998), “for children, signs and words constitute first and
foremost a means of social contact with other people.” (p. 38)
This author also states that “the meaning of words evolves” (Vygotsky
1998, p. 151). This is because, through the use of communicative speech, the
sense of words is negotiated and their meanings are attributed accordingly
(Kim, 2011). Therefore, inviting the children to draw butterflies was like
inviting them to think and talk about butterflies, to establish relationships and
to develop their thoughts about the subject a little more. We can thus state that
our data constitute records of the actual process of negotiation of meanings.
Drawings, words and butterflies in childhood education: playing with ideas in the
process of signification of living beings
Diseños, palabras y mariposas en la educación infantil: juego con las ideas en el
proceso de significados sobre los seres vivos
CELI RODRIGUES CHAVES DOMINGUEZ
1
, síLviA LuziA frAtescHi triveLAto
2
1
Escola de Artes, Ciências e Humanidades (EACH-USP), Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Arlindo Bettio, 1000, CEP 03828-000, São Paulo, SP
2
Faculdade de Educação, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. da Universidade, 308, CEP: 05508-040, São Paulo, SP, Brasil.
celi@usp.br,slftrive@usp.br
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Drawings, words and butterflies in childhood education: playing with ideas in the process of signification of living beings
METHODOLOGY
The study group was composed of sixteen 4-year-olds and a teacher. During
the four-month period of obsevation, the researcher acted as a participant,
following the activities relating to the “Small Animals” project, which took
place twice a week. The animals that most captured the children’s interest
were butterflies.
During the observation time, the teacher proposed a wide variety of
activities aimed at motivating the children to learn more about the little animals
and to think about the subject, making records using different languages like
roundtable conversations, children’s stories, caterpillars observations in the
terrarium, dramatizations, drawing, modeling, painting, collage and research
into informative materials.
Just before we concluded our data collection, the children were invited to
make a drawing of the project. As soon as each of the children finished the
task, they were asked to explain everything they had drawn (Soundy, 2012).
The material produced by a group composed of four children who interacted
during this production is presented below. The children sat together around
the same table and talked during the entire time they were drawing. Children’s
names are assumed.
Aspects of the process of signification revealed by the drawings
Presented below are the four drawings produced. It should be kept in
mind that the information in the captions was obtained from the declarations
of the authors.
Fig 1 Rafael’s drawing
(1- flower for the butterfly to rest on; 2- butterflies; 3- cocoon; 4- ladybug)
Fig 2 Felipe’s drawing
(1- butterflies; 2- cocoon; 3- tree)
Fig 3 Clara’s drawing
(1- cocoon; 2- larva; 3- grub; 4- a “pile” of leaves; 5- butterflies; 6- flower for
the butterflies to rest on; 7- daughter ladybug; 8- mother ladybug; 9- path for the
ladybugs to meet; 10- little balls for the grub to eat inside the cocoon)
Fig 4 Tiago’s drawing
(1- lion; 2- lion’s mane; 3- cat; 4- caterpillar; 5- butterfly; 6- cocoon; 7- flower;
8- tree; 9- brushwood; 10- ladybug; 11- little balls the caterpillars enter to turn into
butterflies)
One of the interesting aspects is the fact that some elements are repeated in
all the drawings, such as butterflies in their adult form, the presence of plants
(trees, flowers, brushwood), the cocoons and the presence of ladybug. This
preoccupation is very peculiar, for it points to the idea that the children were
quite clear about the context of production of their drawings.
In this context, the children included in their drawings the indispensable
conditions for maintaining the life of the animals, such as, for instance, the
needs of butterflies for a home, a place to rest. This is evidenced by the flowers
(Fig.1, 3,4), by the brushwood (Fig. 4) and by the tree (Fig. 2). Another
interesting aspect is the appearance of several stages in the life cycle of these
insects, as indicated by the presence of a cocoon (Fig. 1, 2), of all the stages
of life (Fig. 3, 4). We also can mention several morphological aspects of the
animals: segmentation (Fig.2, 3, 5); the presence of wings on all the butterflies
(Fig. 1, 2, 3, 4); the presence of antennae (Fig. 2, 5) – and the little balls in
the drawings of Clara and Tiago (Fig. 4, 5).
Despite their similarities, a look at the set of drawings shows that they are
visually very different, indicating that these productions are authentic and
preserve the individual characteristics of each author, and are not stereotyped
or copies. In addition to the graphic aspects, one can also see differences
among the elements included in each of the productions, and even in each
child’s motivation while drawing.
This brief analysis of the drawings is the first evidence that, although these
productions are individual, they also make up a single collective production
since they somehow complement one another.
Roles of verbal language in the construction of meanings
The transcriptions of the children’s dialogues during the production of their
drawings are presented below.
Clara: First I’m drawing a flower to put the butterfly on.
Rafael: Hey, if you do it, I’ll do it. If you draw a flower, I’ll draw a flower.
Felipe: I won’t draw a flower.
Rafael: Now, I’m going to draw the one of (..)
Clara: I didn’t even draw it.
Rafael: Leave it. I’ll draw the flower for the butterfly to stay on.
Clara: But that one I’m going to draw in the daytime.
The main function of the first dialogue is to enable Clara to plan her action.
However, upon hearing her, Rafael begins a negotiation about how each one
will or will not include the significant “flower” on the paper. In other words,
the dialogue initially plays only a planning role. Nonetheless, because it is
spoken aloud, it also assumes a communicative function when it is heard.
For both Rafael and Clara, the meaning of “flower” refers to “a place for the
butterfly to rest”. But when the boy says he will include this element because
Clara said she would also do it, the girl immediately made a differentiation:
“But that one I’m going to draw in the daytime.” It is interesting to note that
these statements indicate that “flower” is not seen merely as a decoration,
but rather as an element that delimits the context, representing the natural
environment in which butterflies live.
Tiago: Draw a cat now.
Clara: In a cocooooon.
Rafael: I’m drawing a co... red of the cocoon. You’re right, the cocoon I was
going to draw.
Clara: I’m going to make a huge cocoon. Look at the enormous cocoon!
Rafael: That doesn’t even exist.
Clara: But I’m going to draw a huuuuge butterfly. (...)
Tiago: I’m going to draw a tiny cocoon. (...) Here, a tiny cocoon. I’m
going to draw another cocoon.
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Drawings, words and butterflies in childhood education: playing with ideas in the process of signification of living beings
Before Tiago even entered the room, he said he would not make a drawing
about the project, however, when Clara announced she was going to draw a
“cocoon”, he immediately started producing a series of representations about
the theme of “butterflies”. It is interesting to note that Tiago not only decided
to talk about cocoons but also started participating in the context that was
being negotiated: the size of the cocoon.
While Tiago’s cocoon is “tiny”, Rafael questions the fact that Clara
produces an image of an “enormous cocoon,” stating that it doesn’t exist.
Once again, one sees the preoccupation of representing a real butterfly, a
live being and not an “artistic” butterfly. In response to Rafael’s questioning,
Clara included another characteristic as a way to give her drawing coherence:
“draw a huuuuge butterfly.” This strategy the girl uses also indicates she has a
notion that there is a connection between cocoon and butterfly as two forms
of life of the same animal.
Clara: There’ll come a thing... a teeny-weeny thing. It’ll be crawling.
Tiago: I’m going to draw a butterfly passing by.
Clara: Hey...what was it like... that thing there that’s...
Rafael: A cocoon. I’m drawing.
Clara: What is that really? Ah. Ahhh, that one... [laughter]
Rafael: Drop the cocoon, Clara; you keep on pushing the table the whole
time.
Clara: Looks like... ahh...a (little arrow)...I don’t know.
Rafael: A little larva, Clara.
Researcher: Ah, is it a little larva?
Clara: It’s a little larva. This here’s a little larva, the...oh, it...
Tiago: Hey! I’m gonna draw the little larva.
Clara: Aaaa thingy. A.., what it’s called?
Rafael: I don’t remember.
Clara: Here’s the little larva.
Rafael: Cocoon!
Clara: Nooooo! See the cocoon here! (points at the outline of a cocoon on
her paper)
Rafael: Little larva, of course.
Clara: No, little larva was this one. Teeny-weeny larva. (again points at her
paper)
Clara: Yeah, it’s the... oh... it’s the.., what’s the... what’s it called?
Rafael: I don’t know (I know).
Clara: Ah... ah... .
Tiago: The earthworm.
Clara: Yeah, the earthworm.
At this point, Clara interrupted her outlining twice, lifting her pencil off
and away from the paper. The first time was when she couldn’t remember the
words “little larva,” and the second time, when she couldn’t name the grub,
which Tiago called “earthworm.” Only after her classmates helped her find
the word corresponding to the stage of life she was describing verbally did
she resume drawing.
This situation points to the importance this girl places on naming and to
the fact that talking really serves to regulate action, since Clara was only
able to resume drawing when she found what she considered a suitable word.
Once again, we see that size is significant for children, since this
characteristic enables the girl to differentiate between “little larva” and “grub.”
Another aspect we perceive in Clara and Tiago’s dialogues, as well as
Rafael’s, is the movement performed or suffered by the animal, in another
condition indicating its existence as a living being – the little larva “will be
crawling”, the “butterfly passing by.”
Researcher: What’s the name of the “butterfly earthworm”? La...?
Tiago: I’m gonna draw it...
Researcher: La... la...
Clara: I’ll do it, la...
Researcher: Larva, isn’t it?
Clara: I’m gonna make a grub. The grub, it’s wide
1
. Then it’s
gonna eat a lot…Big fat grub… The leaf that was here,
piles of leaves, piles, piles, piles.
Clara: And it ate a pile, it ate and ate. And then it stayed inside
the cocoon.
[a child making some sounds]
1 In Portuguese, the word lagarta contains all the letters of the word larga, with only
a minor change in the location of the letter R. (grub = lagarta; wide or fat = larga)
Clara: It stayed inside the cocoon, and turned into a butterfly.
Rafael: Ah, I did the cocoon after you. Haha.
Clara: Let me. (...) I’m doing the butterfly.
In this portion of the conversation the researcher intervened to refresh
the children’s memory with the word “grub” (lagarta) as an alternative for
“earthworm.” However, pronouncing just the first syllable of the word (“la…”)
was not enough to remind the children of this relationship, indicating that
“earthworm” was a reference they found more suitable for butterfly larvae.
Therefore, when the researcher spoke the complete word (lagarta
1
), the
girl immediately made an inversion of the letters which made more sense
for the meaning she attributed to this life form, that of a voracious animal.
The dialogue, in addition to indicating a possible association of the ideas of
growth and development with the act of eating – considering the distinction
made between the little grub (teeny-weeny) and the grub (big fat grub) –,
also allows us to reflect about the relationship between the description of the
meaning of the word grub [lagarta] and the significant “grub” itself, which,
to be accepted by Clara as a representative of the “butterfly worm” phase, had
to undergo an inversion of its letters that would give meaning to this word
1
.
The sequence constructed by the child – after “eating a pile” the grub stayed
inside the cocoon and turned into a butterfly – allows us to assume that the
food was considered an indispensable condition for development. Moreover,
it should be noted that although it corresponds to a phase in the life cycle of
butterflies, the children used the word “cocoon” as a synonym for shelter, i.e.,
a “place for the butterfly to stay.”
Clara: It’s surviving here, the butterfly.[she said, indicating the cocoon
she had drawn first]
Researcher: Is it surviving?
Clara: Yeah. Because I’m making some little balls for them to eat.
Researcher: OK. Ah, and it eats while it’s inside the cocoon.
Clara: Yeah.
Researcher: Right. Hmm...
Clara: Mine eats.
Researcher: Yours eats.
Tiago: Lemme see...
Clara: But it doesn’t really eat...!
In this conversation, the relationship between food and survival becomes
even more evident, for the girl states that the grub’s survival inside the cocoon
is possible thanks to the insertion of little balls for the animal to eat.
It is interesting to note that, in response to the researcher’s question, Clara
explained that she recognized the difference between a “real” butterfly and
the one in her picture. One could thus wonder: if Clara knew that butterflies
do not eat in the cocoon phase, why did she include food in her picture, even
though most of the time she demonstrated her intention of representing a
real butterfly?
Although she knew what grownups and books say about the cocoon phase,
for Clara, the existence of a live being that can survive without food did not
make sense, so she could not leave the cocoon without the “little balls” because
she wanted to ensure the animal’s survival. Thus, introducing food into the
cocoon in her picture was a way to attribute meaning to the information that
might still be incoherent to her. Therefore, Clara used her imaginary ability
to reorganize the elements of reality.
The way in which Clara appropriated several items of knowledge about
butterflies – the phases of their life cycle, the grub’s voracious appetite, the
anatomical aspects of each phase, and flowers for the butterflies “to rest on”
– did not occur passively or randomly, but instead, in a way coherent with her
inner reality: one must eat frequently to stay alive.
Tiago: Look, look, here’s the little ball. It’s the little ball.
Researcher: And what are those little balls for you, Tiago? What is the
caterpillar... what do those little balls do?
Tiago: The caterpillar goes here into the little balls and it turns
into a butterfly.
Researcher: Oh, inside the little balls.
Rafael: It’s the cocoon, isn’t it Tiago?[Tiago nods his head
affirmatively.]
Researcher: So they’re the cocoons, these little balls? Oh, Tiago, how
wonderful.
Here, once more, speech as a regulatory function is transformed into
communicative speech. However, although Clara and Tiago included little
balls in their pictures, they attributed different meanings to this word/figure.
Therefore, when Clara said “little ball” – even though she immediately
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Drawings, words and butterflies in childhood education: playing with ideas in the process of signification of living beings
explained the meaning she attributed to the term – Tiago, upon hearing it,
appropriated the word based on his own references, giving it a meaning that
seemed to make more sense at that moment.
After Tiago described what he was referring to when he drew “little balls,”
Rafael named these little balls by asking: “It’s the cocoon, isn’t it Tiago?”
Tiago agreed, demonstrating that they both shared the same definition for
the word “cocoon.”
From the findings we came up with based on an analysis of the data
obtained, below we present a few considerations about the process of
signification and of the implications of the characteristics of these interactions
when working on biological subjects with young children.
FINAL REMARKS
The practical drawing task was continually permeated with dialogues,
confirming Vygotsky’s (1998) proposition about the need young children have
to talk in order to carry out this kind of activity (Brooks, 2009; Soundy, 2012).
During the entire exercise, the children revealed that they were clearly
aware of the butterfly context approach. To draw “live butterflies,” they
included in their pictures the elements related to life: food, habitat, shelter
and development. Among the scientific items of knowledge assimilated by the
children we can highlight their notions about life cycle and metamorphosis,
morphological aspects of butterflies, feeding habits and locomotion strategies.
Drawing pictures, therefore, required that the children think about
butterflies in a specific way, taking as reference what they knew of these
animals from a biological standpoint. It is interesting to note that during the
development of the project, in addition to scientific materials, toys, children’s
stories, works of art, etc. were also used. However, the different experiences
they had in the daycare center through the use of such diverse materials and
activities enabled the children to “play with ideas about butterflies,” providing
them with a rich repertoire of memories about the subject and enabling them
to know how to refer to butterflies when seen as living beings, and not, for
instance, as imaginary characters in children’s stories or cartoons.
Nothing was initially predetermined regarding the form and/or results
expected from the production of the pictures. It was precisely this repertoire
of memories that allowed for the emergence of “loose ideas.” The spoken
expression of these ideas constituted a mode of thought organization and of
action planning. The speeches also exerted the function of communication,
since, upon being heard, they triggered conversations and changes in the
elaboration of the drawings (Soundy, 2012; Brooks, 2009).
We can therefore state that the drawing task enabled reciprocal interferences
in the children’s fields of memory and attention, leading them to produce
drawings that, while preserving individual aspects, are the fruit of the
discursive interactions and the negotiations that took place. It could be asserted
that the set of four drawings is also a single collective production.
It is also worth mentioning, as Vygotsky (2003) argues, that for young
children words elicit a set of meanings, and not defined concepts. For instance,
when Tiago heard the word “cocoon,” it led him to draw not only a cocoon but
also a series of elements referring to the butterfly’s life cycle. When spoken
aloud, this word interfered in the boy’s field of attention, providing access
to his memory and to the set of meanings associated with the word. It would
thus be reasonable to wonder why it was precisely the word “cocoon” that
caused the boy to change his original project. Why not the word “flower,”
“grub,” or “butterfly?”
The term “cocoon” seems to have a greater potential as a referent of memory
than the other words, perhaps because Tiago established a stronger affective
relationship with this word, or, having satisfied his desire to draw the lion
and the cat, he was more inclined to do what the researcher had requested
(Vygotsky, 2003).
Clara, a child who makes intensive use of verbal language, enabled us
to discover two aspects that stand out: the importance of naming things to
draw her figures (Derdyk 1998), and the need for the meanings of words to
make sense.
These findings indicate that the process of signification about butterflies,
in their condition of living beings, enabled the children to identify not only
the conditions necessary for life but also the most suitable ways to represent
them in this context.
Finally, among the concerns educators should keep in mind when broaching
subjects related to live beings with young children, it seems to us appropriate
to highlight three that we consider crucial. The first is the choice of a variety
of informative materials with good quality images that address the same
theme from distinct perspectives (such as children’s literature, scientific texts,
cartoons, paintings, poems, songs, etc.).
Another important concern is that of encouraging the children’s
participation in discursive interactions. Lastly, it is essential that children be
able to use different expressive languages routinely in order to draw, paint,
model, imitate, talk and play, play and play a great deal with the ideas related
to subjects they study, in order the grasp the meanings and senses that are
being mediated starting from biological knowledge.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Arfouilloux, J. C. A entrevista com a criança. A abordagem da criança através do diálogo,
do brinquedo e do desenho. Rio de Janeiro: Zahar, 1993.
Brooks, M. Drawing, visualisation and young children’s exploration of “big
ideas”, International Journal of Science Education 31 [3], 319-341, 2009.
doi:10.1080/09500690802595771
Brooks, M. What Vygotsky can teach us about young children drawing. Art in Early
Childhood 1[1], 1-13, 2009.
Chang, N. The role of drawing in young children’s construction of science concepts.
In: Early Childhood Education Journal 40 [3], 187-193, 2012. DOI: 10.1007/
s10643-012-0511-3
Derdyk, E. (1989). Formas de pensar o desenho: desenvolvimento do grafismo infantil.
São Paulo: Scipione, 1989.
Dias, M. C. M. Metáfora e pensamento: considerações sobre a importância do jogo
na aquisição do conhecimento e implicações para a educação pré-escolar. In:
Kishimoto, T. M. (org.) Jogo, brinquedo, brincadeira e educação. São Paulo:
Cortez, 1996.
Drucker, M. F.; Soundy, C. S. Drawing opens pathways to problem solving for young
children. In: Childhood Education 86 [1], 7 -13, 2009.
Fello, S. E.; Paquette, K. R.; Jalongo, M. R. Talking drawings: improving intermediate
students’ comprehension of expository science text. Childhood Education 83 [2],
80- 86, 2006.
Ferreira, S. Imaginação e linguagem no desenho da criança. Campinas: Papirus, 2003.
Kim, M. S. Play, drawing and writing: a case study of Korean-Canadian young
children. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal 19 [4],
483-500, 2011.
Kishimoto, Tizuko M. O jogo e a educação infantil. In: KISHIMOTO, T. M. (Org.) Jogo,
brinquedo, brincadeira e a educação. São Paulo: Cortez, 1996.
Moreira, A. A. A. O espaço do desenho: a educação do educador. São Paulo: Loyola, 1999.
Santa-Roza, E. Quando brincar é dizer – a experiência psicanalítica na infância. Rio de
Janeiro: Relume Dumará, 1993.
Soundy, C. S. Searching for deeper meaning in children’s drawings. In: Childhood
Education 8 [1], 45-51, 2012. DOI: 10.1080/00094056.2012.643718
Swann, A. C. An intriguing link between drawing and play with toys. Childhood Education
85 [4], 230-236, 2009.
Vygotsky, L. S. A formação social da mente. São Paulo: Martins Fontes, 2003.
Vygotsky, L. S. La imaginación y el arte en la infância. Madrid: Akal, 2000.
Vygotsky, L. S. Pensamento e linguagem. São Paulo: Martins Fontes,1998.
Received 21-03- 2012/ Approved 29-04-2013
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JOURNAL OF SCIENCE EDUCATION - Nº 2, Vol. 14, pp. 92-93, 2013, ISSN 0124-5481,
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Abstract
In this study, a chemistry game named “Chemistry Land-Find It” was designed.
Then, a group of students’ and chemistry teachers’ reflections about the game were
examined. It is concluded that the game may be successfully employed to stimulate
learning and to facilitate learning chemistry in an enjoyable way.
Key words: educational games, chemistry, compound
Resumen
En este estudio, en primer lugar fue diseñado un juego de química llamado “Tierra
de química – encuentralo”. En segundo lugar, fueron examinadas las reflexiones de
un grupo de estudiantes y docentes de química sobre el juego. Se concluye que el
juego puede ser empleado con éxito para estimular y facilitar el aprendizaje de la
química de una forma divertida.
Palabras clave: juegos educativos, química, compuesto
INTRODUCTION
Developing scientifically literate individuals is a primary aim of science
education. One of the central aspects of scientific literacy is having and being
able to use scientific knowledge (Matthews, 1994). In order to help students
to learn and use knowledge scientific disciplines such as chemistry, which
are usually thought to be very hard and boring to learn, should be taught in
an interesting and enjoyable way. It is possible to promote active/constructive
learning and to make learning science a fun experience by means of educational
games (Budak et al., 2006; Hatipoglu et al., 2004). According to Gredler
(2012), games provide unique opportunities for students to interact with a
knowledge domain. Besides, the games which have very specific content are
beneficial learning tools in educational settings (Randel et al., 1992). The
educational games which are appropriate to students’ mental, physical and
spiritual development improve learning and thinking skills, retention and
attitudes of students (Forman & Forman, 2008; Karaagacli, 2005; Vanags
et al., 2012).
It seems that educational games are widely used in teaching science
currently (Navas & Orlik; 2003; Orlik, Gil & Moreno, 2006; Orlik, 2002).
The interest in developing competitive games such as board and card games
for chemistry teaching especially has gradually increased (Capps, 2008;
Costa, 2007; Harris, 1975; Morris, 2011). These limited games are mostly
focused on a specific subject in chemistry such as chemical symbols of
elements, stereochemistry of carbohydrates. However, there is also need for
comprehensive chemistry games which include many interrelated subjects. For
this reason, we have turned our attentions towards developing comprehensive
chemistry games for elementary, secondary and high school students. This
study focuses specifically on introducing the Chemistry Land-Find It Game
which is designed by us, and examining the reflections about it. Although
Chemistry Land-Find It Game seems to be about compounds, it includes
many interrelated subject and concepts such as solubility in water, structures
of organic and inorganic molecules and valency of ions.
METHODOLOGY
Context of the study:
In this study, we firstly designed a chemistry game named Chemistry Land-
Find It, for providing opportunity for students to use their knowledge about the
classification, formulation and naming of organic and inorganic compounds.
Secondly, we recruited a group of high school students and chemistry teachers
to play the game, and examined their reflections on the experience.
Introduction of the game:
Chemistry Land-Find It Game involves 30 compounds. While 15 of them
are organic compounds (saturated and unsaturated hydrocarbons, and alcohols
all of which involve at most six carbons), 15 of them are inorganic compounds
(ionic and covalent). The game is played with 2 players and 1 referee. Three
identical cards are prepared for each compound so we have 90 cards (30
compound x 3 card). An example from the cards is given in Figure-1.
Figure-1: One of the cards in the game
Formulas (empirical and molecular) and name of the compound is written
on each card. Some examples of the compounds covered in the game are
C
3
H
8,
C
6
H
6,
C
2
H
5
OH, C
2
H
4
(OH)
2,
C
3
H
4,
C
3
H
6,
C
6
H
12,
K
3
PO
4
, CaCl
2
, Na
2
CO
3
,
NF
5
, N
2
O
3
, SF
6
. A box for saving the game and a manual for introducing the
rules of the game have also been prepared (Figure-2).
Figure-2: The box and the manual of the game
Rules of the game:
1. Three cards belonging to each compound are distributed to referee and
two players. While all cards of players are laid as open in front of them,
those of the referee are closed.
2. One of the players selects a card among referee’s cards without seeing
compound which is written on it, and gives the card to another player.
This player holds the card and looks at the compound.
3. The player who has given the card asks questions which provide him/
her with clues to identify the compound on the card to the other player.
He/she determines the selected compound according to the answers of
his/her questions by eliminating other compounds on the cards in front
of them. (The ONLY answers allowed are ‘Yes’ and ‘No’.) The cards
of eliminated compounds are shut by reversing.
4.
After he/she ascertains the compound, game continues with the selection
of card by the player who held the card in the first round.
5. Each player should firstly ask one of these questions “Is the compound
organic?” or “Does the compound dissolve in water?”.
6. The question examples which players can ask are “Is the compound an
alkene?”, “Does the compound have ionic character?”, “Is the metal of
the compound divalent?”, “Is the compound in structure of cyclic?”,
“Does the compound have three carbons?”.
7. Players can ask that “Does ……(element) exist in the compound?” only
when if two compounds remain. However, it is every time possible to
ask whether oxygen exists or not.
8. All the answers of questions in the game must be “yes” or “no”. The
names of compounds can not be asked. Players can not ask more than 10
Designing a chemistry educational game and examining reflections about it
El diseño de un juego educacional de química y su análisis
EYLEM BAYIR, CAGIL DENIZ
Trakya University, Faculty of Education, Department of Science Education, Edirne, Turkey, eylembudak76@gmail.com
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Juegos educativos y aprendizaje de la tabla periódica: estudio de casos
questions. They should ask questions which provide them to eliminate
as many compounds as they can.
9. Players win twenty points for each compound which they identified.
However, one point is deducted from their points for each question
which they asked. Therefore, in this game, it is important to identify
more compounds with fewer questions. The player who has higher score
than the other wins the game.
10. Compounds used in previous rounds are excluded from the game for
that round.
11.
Through the game, referee has three main duties: controlling the questions
so that the players obey the rules, counting the number of the questions
asked and recording the scores for each round.
Intervention:
After we designed it, we organized a chemistry game lesson for several
hours in a high school in Edirne in Turkey. Participants of this lesson were five
students (grade 12, 17-18 years old) and four chemistry teachers. This lesson
was planned to inform participants about how the game can be used to teach
and learn chemistry, and to take the reflections from the participants about
it. During this lesson; firstly, the game was introduced, and a manual about
rules of the game was given to the participants by the researchers. Secondly,
we allowed them to play the game. Lastly, we interviewed all the participants
about using the game in chemistry lessons. The views of participants were
audio-taped and then transcribed for analyzing.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
When the views were analyzed, it was revealed that the teachers’ reflections
consist of eight domains. According to them, the game: 1-teaches organic
and inorganic compounds in an interesting and enjoyable way, 2-teaches the
relevant concepts to students easily, 3-helps students to realize the relationships
between concepts, 4-brings forward mis-conceptions, 5-addresses multiple
intelligence domains, 6-allows students to use their interpretation skills,
7-allows students to use their learned concepts, 8-provides high interest and
motivation to students for learning chemistry.
On the other hand, the students’ views disperse into five domains. According
to the participating students, the game: 1-is a very enjoyable way to learn
chemistry, 2-encourages them to think in different ways, 3-activates them
physically and mentally, 4-requires that they have understood the concepts
within the game, 5-provides the opportunity to apply previously learned
concepts.
According to these results, it is concluded that the game designed by us
may be successfully employed to stimulate learning and to facilitate learning
chemistry in an enjoyable way. We believe that this study will be one of the
corner stones as a part of a project on construction of a science games center
in future in Turkey.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
A brief summary of this study was presented at the 4th International
Conference on Advanced and Systematic Research (ECNSI), Zagrep, Croatian,
11-13 November 2010, and it was awarded with “Best Paper Award”.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Atkins, P. & Jones, L., Chemical Principles: The Quest for Insight, Freeman, New
York, WH, 1999.
Budak, E., Kanli, U., Koseoglu, F., Yagbasan, R., Science (Physics, Chemistry, Biology)
Teaching with Games, National 7th Science and Mathematics Education Congress.
7-9 September 2006, Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey, 2006.
Capps, K. Chemistry taboo: An active learning game for the general chemistry classroom.
Journal of Chemical Education, 85, [4], 518, 2008.
Costa, M. J., CARBOHYDECK: A card game to teach the stereochemistry of carbohydrates,
Journal of Chemical Education, 84, [6], 977, 2007.
Forman, S. & Forman, S., Mathingo: Reviewing calculus with bingo games. Primus,
18, [3], 304–308, 2008.
Gredler, M., Educational Games and Simulations: A Technology in Search of a (Research)
Paradigm. In The Handbook of Research for Educational Communications and
Technology, Associate for Educational Communication and Technology, Bloomington,
IN, 2001, Retrieved June 12, 2012, from http://www.aect.org/edtech/ed1/17/index.html
Harris, O., Chemistry game, School Science Review, 57, [199], 352-354, 1975.
Hatipoglu, N. D., Kavak, N., Tumay, H., Budak, E., Tasdelen, U. & Köseoglu, F., Teaching
Chemistry with Games, 18th International Conference on Chemical Education-
IUPAC, 3-8 August, Istanbul, Turkey, 2004.
Karaagacli, M., Methods and Approaches in Teaching, Pelikan Press, Ankara, Turkey, 2005.
Matthews, M., Science Teaching; The Role of History and Philosophy of Science,
Routledge, New York, NY, 1994, 32.
Morris, T. A., Go chemistry: A card game to help students learn chemical formulas,
Journal of Chemical Education, 88, [10], 1397-1399, 2011.
Navas, A. M. & Orlik, Y., Educational computer games on science teaching, Journal of
Science Education, 2, [4], 92-95, 2003.
Orlik, Y., Chemistry: Active Methods of Teaching and Learning (in Spanish), Iberoamerica
Publ., Mexico, 2002, Chapter 10.
Orlik, Y., Gil, E. & Moreno, A., The game “Young Scientists” as an active science
educational tool for extra-curricular work in the secondary school, Journal of
Science Education, 7, [2], 32-33, 2006.
Randel, J. M., Morris, B. A., Wetzel, C. D. & Whitehill, B. V., The effectiveness of games
for educational purposes: A review of recent research, Simulation & Gaming, 23,
[3], 261-76, 1992.
Vanags, T., George, A. M., Diana, M. G. & Brown P. M., Bingo!: An engaging Activity for
learning physiological terms in psychology, Teaching of Psychology, 39, [29], 2012.
Received 18-06- 2012/ Approved 29-04-2013
Resumen
En este artículo se presentan dos estudios de caso mediante los que se pretende indagar
en torno a la adquisición de aprendizajes y actitudes despertadas en estudiantes de
10º grado cuando trabajan en torno a juegos educativos en el tema de los elementos
químicos y su clasificación periódica. En uno de los casos el juego planteado implicaba
aprendizaje de tipo mecánico y superficial, dirigido a la memorización de los elementos
de las diferentes familias de la Tabla Periódica. En el otro se exigía aprendizaje de
naturaleza más profunda de tipo significativo, orientado a la comprensión de la idea
de periodicidad y las causas que fundamentan el comportamiento periódico de las
propiedades de los elementos. Los resultados obtenidos sugieren en el primer caso,
actitudes más favorables en los alumnos aunque centrada en la componente lúdica
de la tarea, mientras en el segundo apuntan hacia mayores niveles de implicación
cognitiva en relación al contenido estudiado, si bien el interés despertado parecía
menor y los logros alcanzados fueron limitados.
Palabras clave: actitudes de los alumnos, aprendizaje mecánico, aprendizaje
significativo, clasificación periódica de los elementos, juego educativo
Abstract
In this paper, two case studies are analyzed in order to investigate the acquisition
of learning and attitudes aroused in students in grade 10 when working with
educational games about the Periodic Table of elements. In one case, the
game involved learning mechanical and superficial material directed to the
memorization of the elements of the different families of the Periodic Table. In
the other, significant learning was required, aimed at understanding the idea of
periodicity and the causes underlying the periodic behaviour of the properties of
the elements. The results obtained suggest the first developed more favourable
attitudes in students while focusing on the recreational component of the task.
On the other hand, the second pointed to higher levels of cognitive involvement
Juegos educativos y aprendizaje de la tabla periódica: estudio de casos
Educational games and learning about the Periodic Table: case studies
Antonio JoAquín frAnco mAriscAL
1
, José mAríA oLivA mArtínez
2
1
I.E.S. Juan Ramón Jiménez, c/ Fernández Fermina, 17, 29006 Málaga
2
Departamento de Didáctica, Facultad de Ciencias de la Educación, Universidad de Cádiz, 11519 Puerto Real, Cádiz, España
antoniojoaquin.franco@uca.es, josemaria.oliva@uca.es
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Juegos educativos y aprendizaje de la tabla periódica: estudio de casos
in relation to the content studied, although the interest aroused seemed less
and achievements were limited.
Key words: attitudes of students, rote learning, meaningful learning, Periodic Table,
educational game
INTRODUCCIÓN
Esta investigación forma parte de una tesis doctoral cuyo objetivo era
analizar el efecto del juego educativo como recurso didáctico en la enseñanza
de la clasificación periódica de los elementos químicos en alumnos de
educación secundaria (15-16 años) (Franco, 2011). Dicho trabajo se basó en
parte en la evaluación de los aprendizajes de los alumnos a lo largo de una
propuesta didáctica que incorporaba un conjunto de recursos lúdicos como
elemento central para favorecer el aprendizaje de los estudiantes y actuar
en el posible cambio de actitudes del alumno hacia las ciencias. En líneas
generales la propuesta didáctica se mostró útil para el aprendizaje en general
y la motivación del alumnado en particular. No obstante, se encontraron
diferencias sustanciales en las actitudes despertadas ante aquellos juegos que
exigían solamente aprendizajes de tipo asociativo o memorístico, y aquellos
otros que requerían aprendizajes más profundos de tipo significativo. En este
artículo se analizan las diferencias encontradas entre ambos casos tomando
como referencia sendos juegos que perseguían respectivamente los dos tipos
de propósitos señalados.
APRENDIZAJE A TRAVÉS DE JUEGOS Y ENSEÑANZA DE
LAS CIENCIAS
En los últimos años ha surgido una gran efervescencia de publicaciones
y propuestas educativas, gran parte de ellas de tipo lúdico, en torno a los
elementos químicos y a la Tabla Periódica. En bastantes de estas propuestas
se emplean juegos educativos muy variados y otros recursos recreativos,
como modo de fomentar metodologías de enseñanza de tipo activo (Orlik,
2002) encontrando puzzles de muy diverso tipo (Helser, 2003; Franco y Cano,
2011), juegos de mesa (Linares, 2004), de naipes (Granath y Russell, 1999,
Faria, Oliveira y Codognoto, 2010), bingos (Tejada y Palacios, 1995), etc.
A estas actividades basadas en juegos podemos sumar otras que, sin recurrir
propiamente a ellos, se plantean de un modo atractivo al hacer uso de recursos
de tipo no formal como los documentales y el cine, la literatura, las adivinanzas,
el teatro, las nuevas tecnologías, etc.
Parece existir un consenso al señalar que el juego constituye un elemento
relevante en el desarrollo cognitivo y afectivo de niños y adolescentes
(Garaigordobil, 1990). La aproximación al conocimiento a través del juego
posibilita oportunidades para crear y desarrollar una serie de estructuras
mentales (Piaget, 1979), que abren una vía al desarrollo del pensamiento
abstracto (Vygotsky, 1982), así como una estimulación en aspectos
relacionados con la atención y el recuerdo, la creatividad y la imaginación
del alumno (Vygotsky, 1982; Bruner, 1986). En el ámbito específico de la
enseñanza de las ciencias, Yager (1991), por ejemplo, señalaba que “tomar
parte en juegos focalizados” sitúa al alumno en un escenario que facilita su
motivación y que le permite trabajar en torno a destrezas de muy diverso tipo.
Asimismo, los juegos didácticos ofrecen al estudiante la oportunidad de ser
protagonistas de su aprendizaje.
Dentro de este conjunto de actividades podemos distinguir entre aquellas
dirigidas a que los alumnos retengan o memoricen información, por ejemplo
el aprendizaje de símbolos y nombres o de ubicación de los elementos
en la Tabla (Peña, 2007; Franco, Oliva y Bernal, 2012) o retención de
normas de formulación y nomenclatura química (Franco y Cano, 2008;
Muñoz-Calle, 2010), y aquellas otras que requieren aprendizajes más
profundos orientados a dar un sentido a la Tabla Periódica o aplicarla para
interpretar propiedades o hacer predicciones (Faria, Oliveira y Codognoto,
2010; Franco, 2011). Resulta claro que los mecanismos de aprendizaje
que se ponen en juego en ambos casos son distintos, y que las actitudes
que pueden despertar a raíz de ello en los alumnos también pueden diferir.
De hecho en el segundo caso tendríamos un aprendizaje más profundo,
con demandas de implicación del alumnado más altas, y, en consecuencia,
que exigen un mayor esfuerzo. Dado que el aprendizaje a nivel cognitivo
está mediado por factores de tipo emotivo (Pintrich et al., 1993), cobra
sentido la indagación sobre cómo la complejidad cognitiva de la tarea
afectaría a las actitudes positivas que potencialmente despiertan los juegos
educativos en los estudiantes.
En este artículo se presentan dos estudios de caso mediante los que
se pretende indagar en torno a la adquisición de aprendizajes y actitudes
despertadas en alumnos de secundaria cuando se enfrentan a juegos educativos
en el tema de los elementos químicos y su clasificación periódica. En uno de los
casos el juego planteado implicaba aprendizaje de tipo mecánico y superficial,
dirigido a la memorización de los elementos de las diferentes familias de la
Tabla Periódica. En el otro, se exigía aprendizaje de naturaleza más profunda
de tipo significativo, orientado a la comprensión de la idea de periodicidad y
las causas que fundamentan el comportamiento periódico de las propiedades
de los elementos. En éste, los estudiantes tenían que poner en práctica los
conocimientos previos, establecer relaciones entre lo nuevo y lo viejo, y dar
un sentido lógico a la información y a los procesos que se facilitan. A través
de la comparación de resultados en ambos casos deseábamos comprobar en
qué medida las demandas y dificultades de la tarea cognitiva que tenían que
Tabla 1. Propósitos de aprendizaje para la propuesta didáctica para alumnos de grado 10
Saber ciencias Hacer ciencias Saber acerca de las ciencias
Primer nivel de profundización
- Apreciar la gran diversidad de elementos, y su papel como
constituyentes de la materia.
- Conocer los nombres y símbolos de los elementos químicos,
así como los grupos principales.
- Enumerar y comprender algunas propiedades físicas y químicas
que sirven de base para clasificar a los elementos.
- Conocer los criterios utilizados en diversos intentos de
clasificación periódica como tentativas previas a la Tabla
Periódica actual.
- Identificar elementos químicos en materiales del entorno.
- Interpretar información a partir de valores de propiedades.
- Identificar en la Tabla Periódica diferentes familias.
- Diseñar y realizar experiencias para clasificar elementos
a partir de su conductividad.
- Diferenciar elementos en función de algunas de sus
propiedades características.
- Reconocer propiedades químicas de los elementos:
reactividad, estequiometría, etc.
- Clasificar elementos químicos en función de sus
propiedades.
- Reconocer la importancia de una simbología universal
para los elementos químicos.
- Valorar la presencia de la química en la vida diaria.
- Identificar la regularidad y la ordenación, como
criterios en la clasificación periódica.
- Estimar el carácter provisional de la ciencia a través
de la evolución de la Tabla Periódica.
- Valorar la utilidad de los modelos científicos.
- Ser conscientes de las limitaciones de la Tabla
Periódica, y del carácter aproximativo y parcial de
todo conocimiento.
Segundo nivel de profundización
- Conocer los “ladrillos” de la materia y el carácter universal
de los elementos químicos.
- Conocer y diferenciar algunos de los primeros modelos atómicos.
- Asimilar conceptos inherentes a la clasificación periódica:
número atómico, número másico, masa atómica, isótopos,
octeto.
- Conocer aplicaciones de los isótopos.
- Conocer limitaciones de la Tabla Periódica.
- Buscar y sintetizar información sobre el átomo y los
modelos atómicos.
- Analizar datos procedentes de la Tabla Periódica para
inferir la composición atómica.
- Resolución de problemas y cuestiones sobre composición
y propiedades de los elementos.
- Interpretar y predecir la estabilidad de los átomos y su
reactividad química en función del modelo de capas y
la regla del octeto.
- Inferir la evolución de propiedades atómicas.
- Reconocer el orden en el Universo como base de nuestra
comprensión del mundo, a través de la invarianza
de los elementos químicos y de las partículas que
los componen.
- Valorar la importancia y la utilidad de los modelos
atómicos en la interpretación y predicción de hechos.
- Reconocer las virtudes y las limitaciones de los
modelos atómicos de Thomson, Rutherford y capas,
y de la propia Tabla Periódica.
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Juegos educativos y aprendizaje de la tabla periódica: estudio de casos
desarrollar afectaría a las actitudes de los alumnos ante el juego planteado y
a la dinámica que se desencadena en torno a él.
DISEÑO DE LA INVESTIGACIÓN
El escenario de investigación se sitúa en el desarrollo de una unidad
curricular dedicada al tema de la Tabla Periódica a nivel de 10º grado (16 años),
desarrollándose a lo largo de 24 sesiones de una hora cada una. La muestra
de estudiantes estuvo formada por 38 alumnos pertenecientes a dos grupos
distintos de un instituto público, matriculados en la asignatura de Física y
Química que es una materia optativa dirigida a aquellos alumnos que desean
cursar en el futuro opciones de ciencias. Dichos sujetos mostraban un perfil
de estudiante trabajador, con interés por la asignatura y con un rendimiento
académico medio alto.
El tema estaba dividido en dos partes que se correspondían con dos niveles
de profundización, uno inicial y otro avanzado. Los contenidos tratados en
cada uno de ellos se expresan en las Tabla 1.
La metodología en el aula fue de tipo activo, implicando directamente a
los alumnos en su proceso de aprendizaje y trabajando de forma colaborativa
en pequeños grupos. Las actividades planteadas fueron de naturaleza muy
variada. Sin embargo, debido a que el eje fundamental de esta investigación
consiste en analizar el potencial del juego educativo como recurso didáctico,
los juegos y otras tareas de tipo lúdico fueron frecuentes.
Los instrumentos de recogida de información en la investigación
fueron el portafolio del alumno, el diario del profesor investigador y
dos cuestionarios finales administrados al concluir la unidad curricular,
uno destinado a la evaluación de aprendizajes de tipo conceptual de los
estudiantes y otro dirigido a que éstos comparasen los juegos empleados
desde el punto de vista de cuatro indicadores: sencillez, utilidad, atractivo
e interés. Para cada indicador los alumnos debían de señalar el juego más
y menos valorado entre todos los empleados en la propuesta didáctica,
doce en total. Nos ceñiremos en este estudio solamente a los ítems de los
cuestionarios y los fragmentos del diario y los portafolios que guardan
relación con el problema planteado.
Del conjunto de recursos lúdicos empleados en la propuesta hemos
seleccionado dos juegos para mostrar las diferencias que manifiestan los
alumnos en cuanto a aprendizajes finales y actitudes desarrolladas. Para ello,
se han elegido el “Juego de las familias” (Franco, Oliva y Bernal, 2012) y
el recurso “Mi vida periódica” (Oliva, 2010). A continuación describimos
brevemente las características de estos dos juegos.
Juego 1: “El juego de las familias”. Basado en el célebre juego de
naipes de las familias, tenía como meta reunir todos los elementos químicos
que pertenecen a una misma familia o grupo de la Tabla Periódica. Desde
el punto de vista del aprendizaje, este recurso didáctico persigue la
adquisición de aprendizajes asociativos de tipo memorístico, concretamente
pretende que el estudiante sea capaz de identificar y reconocer las distintas
familias de elementos que componen la Tabla Periódica. Por otra parte,
este juego se desenvuelve en un contexto competitivo ya que todos los
estudiantes rivalizan entre sí intercambiando las distintas cartas para
intentar reunir las distintas familias de elementos. Contribuye así con un
cierto incentivo de rivalidad entre el alumnado. El lector interesado puede
consultar las normas del juego y el material empleado con los alumnos en
Franco, Oliva y Bernal (2012).
Juego 2: “Mi vida periódica”. La segunda tarea planteada también
puede considerarse como un juego, al reunir como en el caso anterior las
principales cualidades de este tipo de recursos: poseer una meta, tener un
carácter lúdico y presentarse en un contexto competitivo. Tomando como
referente la analogía de la Tabla Periódica con un calendario (Goh y Chia,
1989) este recurso posee dos metas bien definidas. Por un lado, establecer
ejemplos de situaciones periódicas en la vida cotidiana del alumno, y por
otro, hacer predicciones estableciendo regularidades en un calendario como
modelo que se asemeja a la Tabla Periódica. De este modo, el juego aborda
la comprensión de la idea de familia a través del concepto de periodicidad
(Oliva, 2010), y permite asimismo analizar las limitaciones que presenta
el Sistema Periódico como modelo científico. Como han sugerido algunos
autores (Raviolo, Ramírez y López, 2010), las analogías pueden ser también
útiles como recurso para entender qué es un modelo, y no solo para aprender
modelos. El carácter lúdico de esta tarea reside en su vinculación con la
vida diaria del estudiante, así como el hecho de que se plantee de un modo
activo y participativo (Oliva, 2008) en un marco de competición entre grupos
en el que la puntuación obtenida dependía tanto del número de situaciones
diarias periódicas propuestas como del número de regularidades encontradas
entre un calendario y la Tabla Periódica. Dado que este juego se formuló
casi al final de la unidad, se esperaba que los alumnos lograsen conectar
las regularidades en las propiedades de los elementos con la configuración
electrónica en los mismos.
RESULTADOS
Aprendizaje de los alumnos en el “Juego de las familias”
En el primero de los juegos, la consecución de aprendizajes de los nombres
y símbolos se evaluó a través de una cuestión escrita formulada en el contexto
del cuestionario final administrado con el siguiente enunciado “Escribe los
elementos pertenecientes a la familia del cloro”. Las respuestas dadas por
los alumnos se analizaron en cuatro categorías: a) el alumno cita todos los
elementos de la familia; b) el alumno cita todos los elementos de la familia
excepto uno; c) el alumno cita un número de elementos igual o inferior a tres;
d) la respuesta es inadecuada o en blanco. La Tabla 2 muestra los resultados
obtenidos.
Tabla 2. Tipos de respuestas para la cuestión en torno a los elementos
químicos que componen las familias de la Tabla Periódica
Tipo de respuesta %
alumnos
A. Se citan todos los elementos de la familia 39,5
B. Se citan todos los elementos de la familia excepto uno 26,3
C. Se cita un número de elementos igual o inferior a tres 10,5
D. Respuestas inadecuadas o en blanco 23,7
Como puede observarse, casi dos tercios del alumnado recuerdan los
nombres de los elementos de la familia, olvidando sólo uno en el peor de los
casos. De ahí que, desde nuestro punto de vista, se considere que el juego
de las familias resultó parcialmente útil a la hora de retener y recordar la
mayoría de los nombres y símbolos de los elementos químicos que componen
la familia en cuestión.
Del aprendizaje adquirido por los alumnos quedó constancia también en el
diario del profesor, como lo demuestra, a título de ejemplo, el siguiente diálogo
que tuvo lugar en uno de los pequeños grupos en los que se organizaban los
alumnos. Para la lectura del mismo hemos de situarnos en el contexto del
final de una partida, una vez que se habían formado todas las familias menos
la del nitrógeno. Un alumno detectó que le faltaba una carta, a pesar de que
la había solicitado durante el juego.
Adrián: “Creemos que se ha perdido la carta del nitrógeno porque no
hemos podido formar esa familia”.
Profesor: “No es posible, ya que miré todas las familias antes de repartir las
barajas. Revisar todas las familias formadas a ver si os habéis confundido”.
Vanesa revisa sus familias y entre ellas aparece la carta del nitrógeno.
Adrián (a Vanesa): “Pues yo te pedí el nitrógeno y no lo tenías”.
Vanesa: “No me he dado cuenta, ha sido un error”. (Diario del profesor
observador)
Como puede verse, este alumno (Adrián), da muestra de conocer la
composición de la familia en cuestión, de modo que con espíritu crítico, es
capaz de percatarse de una situación incomprensible para él ante la ausencia
de la carta del nitrógeno, persistiendo en el intento hasta averiguar dónde
estaba la misma.
El juego sirvió asimismo para que, en determinados momentos, los
alumnos percibieran que aún no dominaban completamente los nombres
ni los símbolos de los elementos de los grupos principales. Los siguientes
fragmentos están sacados de los portafolios individuales de los alumnos que
iban cumplimentando en paralelo al desarrollo de los juegos: “Todavía no sé
bien los nombres de los elementos de la Tabla”,“Es un poco difícil saberse
todas las familias” (Portafolios de un alumno).
De forma minoritaria varios alumnos también realizaron comentarios
menos favorables: “Lo peor ha sido memorizar” (Portafolios de un alumno).
En resumen, puede decirse que este juego sirvió parcialmente para el
logro de los fines para los que se formuló, que como dijimos se movían en la
familiarización de los alumnos con la Tabla Periódica y la memorización de
los elementos de sus familias principales.
Aprendizaje de los alumnos en el juego “Mi vida periódica”
Para evaluar el aprendizaje de la noción de periodicidad y conocer si los
estudiantes eran capaces de admitir la existencia de elementos con propiedades
similares, los alumnos respondieron también en el cuestionario final a la
siguiente pregunta, “¿Crees que existen elementos con propiedades parecidas
entre sí? Razónalo”. Se trataba de evaluar la percepción de los alumnos al
respecto, ante un aspecto básico del razonamiento en química como es la
tarea de clasificación (Scerri, 2011).
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Juegos educativos y aprendizaje de la tabla periódica: estudio de casos
Las respuestas se agruparon en tres categorías, que se describen a
continuación, cada una acompañada de ejemplos explicativos aportados por
los alumnos. Además, añadimos una cuarta categoría que quedó vacía en esta
muestra, si bien aparecía en alumnado de cursos superiores aunque de forma
minoritaria (Franco, 2011). De esta forma, pretendíamos dejar testimonio de
una carencia observada en los datos obtenidos en un ámbito sobre el que se
esperaba haber obtenido mejores resultados.
•
Categoría A: Admite la existencia de elementos con propiedades parecidas
y ofrece algún tipo de explicación causal basada en regularidades en la
configuración electrónica.
Esta categoría estuvo ausente en el alumnado de este estudio y recogía
aquellas respuestas adecuadas que utilizaron explicaciones que hacían
referencia a la configuración electrónica del elemento. Veamos algunos
ejemplos de respuestas ofrecidas en el estudio general antes referenciado
con alumnos de 12º grado: “Sí, existen diferentes tipos de elementos según
su configuración electrónica y su colocación en la Tabla Periódica depende
de ello” o “Los elementos que pertenecen a un mismo grupo (columna)
tienen propiedades químicas similares. También poseen el mismo número de
electrones en la última capa”.
•
Categoría B: Admite la existencia de elementos con propiedades parecidas
y ofrece algún tipo de explicación basada en regularidades en la Tabla
Periódica.
La segunda categoría agrupó aquellas respuestas de carácter descriptivo
que aludían a algún tipo de regularidad subyacente a la Tabla Periódica, pero
sin explicar su causa. Así, algunos alumnos señalaron que los elementos
del mismo grupo poseen las mismas propiedades, y otros se referían a la
clasificación de los elementos en metales y no metales: “Sí, los que están
en la misma columna” o “Los elementos que se sitúan cerca en la Tabla
Periódica tienen propiedades parecidas. Si nos movemos en horizontal o en
vertical estas propiedades van cambiando”.
•
Categoría C: Admite la existencia de elementos con propiedades parecidas,
pero más que aportar explicación al respecto se limitan, a citar ejemplos
de elementos parecidos.
Esta categoría englobó las respuestas que justificaban la existencia de
elementos parecidos utilizando ejemplos de elementos en lugar de una
explicación más detallada: “Sí, por ejemplo los gases nobles” o “Sí, por
ejemplo el flúor y el cloro, son elementos muy cercanos en la Tabla Periódica”.
Se encontraron también explicaciones inadecuadas como la siguiente, que
además de desconocer los isótopos del carbono, confundía este concepto
con el de valencia: “Sí, como el carbono-14 y el carbono-16 que son muy
parecidos excepto en sus valencias”. Algunos alumnos pensaron que si el
estado de agregación de los elementos era similar, dichos elementos tendrían
también otras propiedades parecidas: “Sí, hay elementos que tienen las mismas
propiedades, por ejemplo, pueden encontrarse en el mismo estado”.
• Categoría D: Respuestas inadecuadas o en blanco.
La Tabla 3 muestra los resultados obtenidos atendiendo a las categorías
citadas.
Tabla 3. Tipos de respuestas en torno a la noción de periodicidad
Tipo de respuesta % alumnos
A. Admite similitudes en las propiedades de los elementos
basándose en regularidades en la configuración electrónica
0,0
B. Admite la existencia de elementos con propiedades
parecidas y ofrece algún tipo de explicación basada en
regularidades en la Tabla
55,3
C. Admite la existencia de elementos con propiedades
parecidas, pero se limitan a citar ejemplos de elementos
parecidos
18,4
D. Respuestas inadecuadas o en blanco 26,3
En coherencia con lo que ya hemos apuntado, ningún estudiante de 10º
grado fue capaz de admitir la existencia de elementos con propiedades
parecidas ofreciendo algún tipo de explicación basada en regularidades con la
configuración electrónica. Este dato muestra la dificultad que supone para los
alumnos de este nivel relacionar la distribución de los electrones en el átomo
con las propiedades de los elementos. Cabe destacar, la respuesta mayoritaria
en la categoría B, dada por un 55% de los alumnos, que se apoyan en algún
tipo de explicación basada en las regularidades de la Tabla Periódica para
justificar la existencia de elementos con propiedades parecidas. Por otro lado,
cabe subrayar que también existe un alto porcentaje de alumnos que no dan
una respuesta satisfactoria a esta cuestión.
De las respuestas de los estudiantes que hemos comentado, se desprende un
nivel de implicación cognitiva mucho mayor con este juego que en el caso del
juego de las familias, dado que los razonamientos promovidos van mucho más
allá de la mera retención de información. A pesar de ello, desde nuestro punto
de vista, el nivel de aprendizaje adquirido por los alumnos puede considerarse
pobre, al no haberse conseguido el objetivo previsto en la categoría A. Este
escaso aprendizaje de los conceptos de regularidad y periodicidad también
se pudo detectar en algunos comentarios de los alumnos en el portafolios en
los que se constata el carácter descriptivo de las reflexiones en vez de basarse
en alguna relación causal: “He aprendido que hay cosas que se repiten como
en la Tabla” o “Las cosas se pueden repetir a diario, semanal, anual, etc.”
(Portafolios de un alumno).
VALORACIÓN DIDÁCTICA DE LOS JUEGOS POR PARTE
DEL ALUMNADO
Con idea de conocer las percepciones de los alumnos en torno al juego
planteado, se realizó por una parte, una valoración global de cada una de las
tareas lúdicas desarrolladas a lo largo de la unidad didáctica, y por otra parte,
se analizaron un conjunto de cualidades de los juegos didácticos tales como
su sencillez, utilidad, atractivo o interés. Para valorar los juegos desarrollados
se pidió a los estudiantes que puntuasen en cada caso, en una escala de 0 a
10, su grado de predilección por cada uno de ellos. La Tabla 4 compara la
puntuación dada por los alumnos en los diferentes juegos y tareas lúdicas
programadas en la unidad.
Tabla 4. Valoración por parte del alumnado de las tareas lúdicas
desarrolladas a lo largo de la propuesta didáctica (con asterico aquellas
que son referentes de este estudio)
Juego Puntuación
* Juego de “Las familias” (Franco, Oliva y Bernal, 2012) 8,8
Juego “Elemental ganemos el Mundial” (Franco, 2006a) 8,7
Juego del Tetris 8,5
Juego del octeto (Franco, 2011) 8,5
Puzzle “USA elemental” (Franco y Cano, 2007) 8,4
Juego “Autodefinido atómico” (Franco, 2008) 8,4
Trabajo práctico “Conductores y aislantes” (UNESCO, 1973) 8,3
Juego “El experimento de Rutherford” 7,8
Construcción maqueta del caracol telúrico 7,3
Juego “La lotería de átomos” (Franco, 2006b) 7,2
* Juego “Mi vida periódica” (Oliva, 2010) 7,0
Juego “La búsqueda de los elementos” (Franco, 2007) 6,1
Como puede observarse en la Tabla 4, el juego de “Las familias” fue la
tarea lúdica mejor valorada con una puntuación de 8,8, mientras que el juego
“Mi vida periódica” fue una de las tareas peor valoradas, a pesar de que su
puntuación fue también ciertamente alta. Por otro lado, para cada uno de los
cuatro indicadores citados los estudiantes debían elegir el juego mejor y peor
valorado. La Tabla 5 resume estos resultados.
De los datos obtenidos se desprende una mejor valoración del juego
de “Las familias” respecto al de “Mi vida periódica”. De esta manera, se
Tabla 5. Porcentajes de estudiantes que valoran los dos juegos
Sencillez Utilidad Atractivo Interés
Juego de las
familias
Mejor valorado 44,7 % 23,7 % 42,1 % 23,7 %
Peor valorado
5,3 % 5,3 % 2,6 % 7,9 %
Mi vida
periódica
Mejor valorado 18,4 % 0 % 2,6 % 2,6 %
Peor valorado 0 % 18,4 % 18,4 % 26,3 %
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Juegos educativos y aprendizaje de la tabla periódica: estudio de casos
evidencia que el primero de ellos resulta globalmente para los alumnos más
sencillo, más útil, más atractivo y más interesante que el segundo. Los datos
cualitativos extraídos del diario del profesor y del portafolios de los alumnos
avalan estas conclusiones. Así, pudo constatarse que los alumnos pusieron
rápidamente manos a la obra en la realización de la primera actividad sin que
tuvieran problemas en la aplicación de las normas del juego y permanecieron
jugando durante toda la clase: “Algunos alumnos ya están en disposición de
aprender antes de saber a qué van a jugar”, “Al tocar el timbre algunos
grupos no habían acabado la última partida y permanecieron en el aula hasta
concluirla” (Diario del profesor).
Así mismo, el juego de “Las familias” fue rememorado en sucesivas
ocasiones a lo largo de días posteriores, lo que da muestra del impacto que
produjo. Sin embargo, en contraste con el éxito alcanzado por dicho juego,
el otro, “Mi vida periódica”, generó un interés inicial mucho menor, como
se desprende en el siguiente comentario: “La actividad se me ha hecho un
poco aburrida” (Portafolios de un alumno). Otro indicio de este menor interés
fue el reducido número de estudiantes, ¡sólo dos!, que habían preparado esta
tarea en casa el día anterior. Además, se observó que los alumnos tampoco
mantuvieron el interés por la tarea mientras la hacían, como recogieron estos
comentarios del profesor: “Es una actividad más, creo que se hace bien pero
no engancha demasiado” (Diario del profesor).
Daba la impresión de que el menor entusiasmo del alumnado ante el juego
propuesto era debido a la mayor dificultad intrínseca de la tarea a resolver, lo
cual obligaba a una labor de concentración y de implicación más profunda.
Y quizás por esta mayor dificultad se pueda comprender que el alumnado no
viera claro sus propósitos ni adónde les conducía: “Había que escribir mucho
y no se aprende mucho”, “No sabía lo que había que hacer. Si lo sabía, pero
no para qué” (Portafolios de un alumno).
A pesar de todo ello, y aunque al principio los alumnos tuvieron dificultades
para entender la finalidad de la actividad, al final ésta parece que sirvió para lo
que el profesor pretendía, como muestra este comentario: “Creo que la puesta
en común en clase ha contribuido a que los alumnos alcancen los objetivos
previstos con este juego” (Diario del profesor).
DISCUSIÓN Y CONCLUSIONES
En suma, los resultados obtenidos sugieren en el primer caso actitudes más
favorables en los alumnos aunque centradas en la componente lúdica de la
tarea, mientras en el segundo manifiesta mayores demandas de implicación
cognitiva en relación con el contenido involucrado, si bien el interés despertado
parecía menor y los logros alcanzados fueron limitados. A pesar de ello, el
hecho de que en este segundo caso, finalmente, se consiguiesen al menos parte
de los propósitos planteados, sugiere que también resultó de utilidad para el
aprendizaje de los alumnos.
Aunque estos resultados no pueden generalizarse, siendo posible que
los datos obtenidos en ambos juegos dependan también del mayor o menor
atractivo de cada uno desde el punto de vista de su estructura lúdica y
competitiva, ofrecen al menos un marco desde el que entender las dinámicas
que pueden generar distintos tipos de juego en función de los contenidos
implicados. De este modo, los juegos que exigen aprendizaje asociativo,
mecánico y de automatización y creación de rutinas implícitas, podrían ser
extrínsecamente más motivadores para los alumnos al liberarles de una carga
cognitiva adicional y permitirles que centren su atención en la dinámica lúdica
del juego y, en su caso, disfruten más de la componente competitiva del
mismo. Mientras tanto, aquellos juegos destinados a movilizar aprendizajes
más profundos, o bien logran motivar intrínsecamente al alumno para que se
centre en la componente cognitiva y de contenido de la tarea, o bien, parecen
inducir a una participación obligada y protocolaria que no es percibida dentro
una componente lúdica. Esto último es lo que parece que ocurrió en el caso del
juego de “Mi vida periódica”, en la que, en líneas generales, no se vislumbró
un alumnado dispuesto a implicarse de lleno intelectualmente en la tarea, lo
cual resulta esencial para la resolución de la misma. Resultado de ello es que
los logros alcanzados fueran limitados.
El desafío estaría, pues, en lograr diseñar juegos que llegaran a aunar las
dos componentes básicas que estamos manejando, de un lado la motivación
extrínseca del alumnado por el juego y, de otro, la motivación intrínseca
e implicación cognitiva del alumno ante tareas que exijan aprendizaje
profundo. Ejemplos de juegos de este tipo lo encontramos en el empleado
por Faria, Oliveira y Codognoto (2010), mediante un juego de naipes con
el que el alumnado no solo mejoraba su motivación hacia el aprendizaje en
las actividades de aula, sino que también propiciaba el establecimiento de
comparaciones entre propiedades de los diferentes elementos químicos, y
facilitaba la comprensión en torno a la naturaleza de la Tabla Periódica y a la
ubicación de cada elemento dentro de la misma. Para ello sería preciso conocer
mejor cuáles son los elementos que sustentan las dinámicas de los juegos,
es decir, qué hace que un juego logre atrapar de una forma motivadora a los
alumnos en su desarrollo; y qué mecanismos afectivos y cognitivos se suceden
cuando los alumnos se enfrentan a juegos que logran aunar el interés y el
aprendizaje profundo del alumnado. A esclarecer ambos puntos dedicaremos
gran parte de nuestro esfuerzo en el futuro.
BIBLIOGRAFÍA
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Franco, A.J., Elemental, ¡ganemos el Mundial!, Aula de Innovación Educativa 156,
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Franco, A.J., La lotería de átomos, Alambique, Didáctica de las Ciencias Experimentales,
50, 116-122, 2006b.
Franco, A.J., La búsqueda de los elementos en Secundaria, Alambique, Didáctica de las
Ciencias Experimentales, 51, 98-105, 2007.
Franco, A.J., Aprendiendo química a través de autodefinidos multinivel”. Educación
Química 19, [1], 56-65, 2008.
Franco, A.J., El juego educativo como recurso didáctico en la enseñanza de la clasificación
periódica de los elementos químicos en Educación Secundaria, Tesis Doctoral,
Universidad de Cádiz, Cádiz (España), 2011.
Faria Godoi, T.A.; Oliveira, H.P.M. y Codognoto, L., Tabela Periódica - Um Super
Trunfo para alunos do Ensino Fundamental e Médio. Química Nova Na Escola,
32, [1], 22-25, 2010.
Franco, A. J. y Cano, M. J., Playing with the 50 States and the Chemical Elements, The
Geography Teacher 4, [2], 10-12, 2007.
Franco, A. J. y Cano, M. J., El juego didáctico en el tema de la formulación química
inorgánica en Educación Secundaria. Journal of Science Education 9, [2], 89-93, 2008.
Franco, A. J. y Cano, M. J., Elemental B-O-Ne-S, Journal of Chemical Education 88,
[11], 1551-1552, 2011.
Franco, A. J.; Oliva, J. Mª; Bernal, S., An educational card game for learning families of
chemical elements, Journal of Chemical Education, DOI: 10.1021/ed200542x, 2012.
Garaigordobil, M., Juego y desarrollo infantil, Seco-Olea, Madrid (España), 1990.
Goh, N. K. y Chia, L. S., Using the learning cycle to introduce periodicity”. Journal of
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Granath, P. L. y Russell, J. V., Using games to teach chemistry. 1. The old prof card
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Linares, R., Elemento, átomo y sustancia simple. Una reflexión a partir de la enseñanza de
la Tabla Periódica en los cursos generales de Química, Tesis Doctoral, Universidad
Autónoma de Barcelona, Barcelona (España), 2004.
Oliva, J. Mª, Qué conocimientos profesionales deberíamos tener los profesores de ciencias
sobre el uso de analogías, Revista Eureka sobre Enseñanza y Divulgación de las
Ciencias 5, [1], 15-28, 2008.
Oliva, J. Mª, Comparando la Tabla Periódica con un calendario: posibles aportaciones
de los estudiantes al diálogo de construcción de analogías en el aula, Educació
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Piaget, J., La formación del símbolo en el niño, Fondo Cultura Económica, México, 1979.
Pintrich, P. R.; Marx, R. W. y Boyle, R, Beyond cold conceptual change: The role of
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científico a través de analogías”. Revista Eureka 7 [3], 581-612, 2010.
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[12], 1115-1116, 1995.
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Scientific and Cultural Organization, París (Francia), 1973.
Vygotsky, L. S., El juego y su función en el desarrollo psíquico del niño, Cuadernos de
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Received 31-03- 2012/ Approved 29-04-2013
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JOURNAL OF SCIENCE EDUCATION - Nº 2, Vol. 14, pp. 98-100, 2013, ISSN 0124-5481,
www.accefyn.org.co/rec
Abstract
The review explained the relationship of two instructional approaches namely: socio-
scientific issues-based instruction and peer-assisted learning strategy. It shows the
similarities of the two as in active learner engagement, cooperative or group work
and writing skills. In either case, the two approaches were shown to be significant in
school science instruction irrespective of the similarity or difference between them.
Consequently, the need for science teachers to understand them and utilise them in
school science instruction has also been discussed.
Key words: socio-scientific issues, peer-assisted learning, science instruction.
Resumen
El artículo muestra la relación de dos métodos de enseñanza: los problemas socio-
científicos y la instrucción basada en estrategia colaborativa de aprendizaje. Analisa
las similitudes de los dos enfoques en el aprendizaje activo, el trabajo cooperativo
o de grupo y habilidades de escritura. Los dos enfoques son significativos en la
instrucción de ciencias, independientemente de la similitud o diferencia entre ellas.
En consecuencia, en el texto se discute la necesidad de que los profesores de ciencias
entiendan y utilicen estos métodos en la enseñanza de las ciencias.
Palarabras clave: cuestiones socio-científicas, aprendizaje colaborativo , educación
científica
INTRODUCTION
Socioscientific issues based instruction (SSIBI) is a new instructional
approach that is used in teaching controversial and socially real life problems
that are scientific in nature. It is referred to as Socioscientific Inquiry - SSIn
- by Eastwood, Sadler, Sherwood and Schlegel (2012) and socioscientific
instruction by Nuangchalerm and Kwuanthong (2010), Latourelle, Poplawski,
Schmaefski and Musante (2012) and Tomas (2009). Latourelle et al articulated
that it as an instructional model which combines the controversial, socially
relevant real life world issues with course content, to engage students in
teaching and learning situations. It is similar to case-based and problem-based
instructions in the aspect of framing science content within a story (Sadler,
Barab and Scott, 2007), but slightly differs from the two in that learners are
given the opportunity to explore the controversy surrounding an issue with
scientific explanations and processes. The learners are also challenged to
develop a position supported with scientific facts as evidences. Kosterman and
Sadler (in press) have shown that using SSIBI in teaching and learning science
improves students’ critical thinking power. It was also shown to influence,
positively, students’ interest in sciences and motivates as well as stimulates
higher order thinking (Latourelle et al, 2012) in addition to increasing the
learners’ understanding of science. Latourelle et al, also articulates that SSIBI
makes students investigate a wide range of subject areas and the implications
for sciences, politics, society and any other reality that affect the everyday
life of the learner.
In the process of instruction, the SSIBI approach requires learners to
develop a position on an issue or problem which is socioscientific in nature.
That is an issue or problem that is a real world issue and socially significant
to life and at the same time has ethical, moral, political, economic or religious
concern. The students can present and defend their opinions supported
by scientific facts in debates and argumentation. In so doing, they learn
much about the contents, processes and nature of science and technology
(Klosterman and Sadler, in press; Sadler, 2004, Reis and Galvão, 2009;
Hammerich, 2000). Example of socioscientific issues include among others,
Genetic Engineering - reproductive gene cloning, genetically modified foods;
Global Warming - green house effects global climatic change as a result of
human activities. Sadler, (2008) and Eastwood et al (2012) have reported the
application of SSIBI in the classroom for teaching some science issues that
have a social concern where students are allowed to negotiate, which calls for
the utilisation of their critical thinkingrskills. Similarly, Eggert and Bögeholz
applied SSIBI in classroom to measure students’ use of decision-making
strategy in situations relating to socioscientific isues.
However, peer-assisted learning strategy (PALS) is a type of class-wide
peer tutoring in which learners are grouped to help in teaching others of
relatively lower ability. It is a form of teaching in which learners are given the
opportunity to utilize and at the same time extend their own knowledge, skills,
ideas, attitudes and experiences to other learners of relatively the same age
group (Young, 2012, Scott, 2011, Okilwa, and Shelby, 2010). It is also viewed
as a method of group discussion or group analysis performed by learners to
enhance their understanding of somt concepts taught. It has sometmodels as
identified by Scruggs, Mastropieri and Berkeley (2012), Scott, (2011) and
Young, (2012):
a. Cross-age peer tutoring
b. Same-age peer tutoring
c. Individual peer tutoring
d. Class-wide peer tutoring.
The peer assisted learning strategy (PALS) as a class-wide tutoring
programme was used by classroom teachers to improve reading and
mathematics skills in learners (CEC, 2011; Mattatal 2009). It involves students
consciously assisting others to learn and in so doing, learning more freely and
effectively among themselves. Peer assisted learning strategy encompasses
peer tutoring, mentoring, modelling, education, counselling, monitoring and
assessment that are differentiated from other forms of cooperative learning
(Keith and Stewart 1998). In practice, learners are grouped in pairs usingaone
stronger and one weaker partner to form what Mattatal called ‘student dyads’.
Both parties mutually benefis as studies shos that the tutor helps him/herself
by increasing his/her knowledge, ideas and skills on the subjectsgtutored. This
is probablyn the result of a quest to improve confidence, overcome challenges
and satisfy the desire to tutor other subjects of interest (Young, 2012, Scott,
2011, Okilwa, and Shelby, 2010; Ehly, and Larsen, 1980). CEC and Mattatal
have shown the integration of PALS results in the improvement of reading and
mathematical skills in learners, Oekes (2012) have reportedsthe integration
of PALS in classroom teaching in sciences which include chemistry, physics,
biology and environmental studies.
Consequently, this conceptual review was done purposely to increase
students and researchers understanding of SSIBI by comparing it with a
more popular one, namely PALS. It brought out a clearer picture of where
they differ and where they are similaeIt is hoped that it will pave the way for
further studies by those interested in the application of the two instructional
approaches. At the moment, thereyare few studies or literature that highlighs
the instructionalpsimilarities or differences of the two approachese This
suggests the need to make such ancomparison.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
The psychological theory that underlies the two instructional approaches
is the social learning theory of Albert Bandura (McLeod, 2011,; Luszczynska
& Schwarzer, 2005). It describes an acquisition of valuable knowledge,
ideas, skill, experience and attitudes that are developed purposely in a social
group. The requirement of both SSIBI and PALS is the formation of social
groups where some members serve as models, as tutees, or as presenters of
concepts or position on a particular issue. The theory postulates that social
Instructional relationship of socioscientific issues-based instruction and
peer-assisted learning strategy: an implication for science instruction
Relación educativa de asuntos socio-científicos de enseñanza y las estrategias
asistidas de aprendizaje: las implicaciones para la enseñanza de ciencias
J
AMIL MIKHAIL YAHAYA, AHMAD NURULAZAM MD ZAIN, MAGESWARY A/P KARPUDEWAN
School of Educational Studies, University Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang, Malaysia
jamilgombe@yahoo.com, anmz@usm.my ,kmageswary@usm.my
99
JOURNAL OF SCIENCE EDUCATION - Nº 2, Vol. 14, pp. 98-100, 2013, ISSN 0124-5481,
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Instructional relationship of socioscientific issues-based instruction and peer-assisted learning strategy: an implication for science instruction
learning largely depends on effectiveness and dynamics of groups and
how individuals succeeded or failed during interactions. The theory adds
that social learning promotes the development of students’ emotional and
practical skills in addition to perception of oneself and the acceptance of
others despite their varied competencies and shortcomings. The cooperative
work nature of the two instructional approaches is recognised by the theory,
whicd emphasises learning from one another by observation, imitation and
modelling (Bandura, 1988,; Ormrod, 1999,; Luszczynska & Schwarzer, 2005,
Orlik, 2002, Aleksashina, 1987). Consequently, the relationships between
the two instructional approaches are as conceptually outlined in the figure
below which delineates the relationship of SSIBI and PALS with respect to
the differences and similarities.
Similarities
Active learner-engagement
In both SSIBI and PALS, learners are actively engaged in activities that have
to do with the teaching and learning process. In SSIBI, learners are given the
chance to explore a controversy around a problem or an issue while working
together to find out scientific evidence to defend their opinions. Similarly in
PALS learners are engaged in exploring and explaining any misconception
that bothers them which they may not be able to get in a traditional classroom
situation.
In both methods, learners freely interact, debate or argue, thereby expressing
their views, understanding or even their weakness which they may not have
the chance to do inea teacher-controlled classroom.
Cooperative/group work
In both SSIBI and PALS, learners are grouped to work together. This
grouping allows the weak learners’ involvement in the teaching and learning
process. It gives such learners a sense of belonging and encouragement. The
more skilled or more knowledgeable learners become models worthy of
emulation by the weaker learners. This is rooted in the social learning theory
of Albert Bandura,which postulates that models are an important source of
learning new behaviours and for achieving behavioural change in a given
setting (Bandura, 1997). The models express their potentialities, talents or
skills which create opportunities for the lower functioning learners to assume
an integral role in a valued activity (PSEA, 2008). This happens in SSIBI when
students are developing their group’s position on a problem with scientific
facts and findings as evidence to support their opinion. Similarly, in PALS the
tutee learns a great deal from the model tutor and may turn out to be a tutor
too as the system requires rotational tutorship.
Writing skill
Dabwosky (2000) articulated that PALS is an important avenue in making
students become aware of writing as a social process. This is true of SSIBI
in that, while developing a position on a particular controversial problem,
students find and write down evidences and come out with a written product
for debate, dialogue or argument. In both systems of instruction, the writing
session is one way of providing another social context (Dabwosky, 2000) in
which the student can discuss problems and challenges. They thus become
more knowledgeable, experienced and skilled in the topic that they are
writing about. Better writing and learning resulted from conversation and
constant questioning of views as observed by Dabwosky, which is found
in SSIBI and PALS.
Interdisciplinary perspective
SSIBI and PALS sessions are meaningful ways of introducing students
to a process in which a particular problem or issue can be approached
from different academic disciplines. Latourelle et al also articulates that
socioscientific issues-based teaching and learning makes students investigate
a wide range of subject areas in science, society, politics, economy and any
other reality that affects the everyday life of the learner. In other words,
the interdisciplinary nature of learning is explored in PALS and SSIBI
(Latourelle et al, 2012). Dabwosky (2000) contended that students develop
a better understanding of their community, academic discipline and finally
their reality.
Differences
Although both SSIBI and PALS have some similarities in their instructional
approach in engagement of learners in the teaching and learning activities
as well as encouraging group work, writing skills and interdisciplinary
exploration of knowledge, ideas, skills and experiences, there are still some
differences between the two as discussed below.
Subject Area
SSIBI as an instructional approach is exclusively used in socioscientific
issues teaching and learning. In other words, the system is used to address
controversial problems that are real world problem with scientific basis and
or process and at the same time having ethical, moral, political economic
or religious concern. The model allows learners to do research to explore
the controversy surrounding the problem keeping in mind the ethical, moral
etc concerns of the problem. On the other hand, PALS is also used on other
subject areas as it was shown to have been used in reading and mathematics
skills improvement.
Focus
PALS focuses on the improvement of learners understanding in a particular
area such as reading skills, numerical abilities and other sciences only,
neglecting the social significance of the learning content to the students. But,
SSIBI explores and focuses on controversies surrounding an issue or problem
taking into consideration ethical, moral, political, economic or religious
concerns of the problem. PALS targets problem of learners directly without
regard fof any controversy therein and so nothing is done in the exploration
of controversy, only the exploration of misconceptions and skills.
Learner
Engagement
Group
Work
Writing
Skills
Int/displ
Perspective
Content
Area
Focus
Position
Developmt
Students'
Demography
S S I B I + P A L S
D I F F E R E N C E S
S I M I L A R I T I E S
Figure 1. The conceptual framework of the relationships
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Instructional relationship of socioscientific issues-based instruction and peer-assisted learning strategy: an implication for science instruction
Development of a position
In PALS, students are not encouraged to argue or debate among themselves,
rather, they are assisted to help in the removal of misconceptions and in the
improvement of some skills or experiences in a given task. This constrasts with
SSIBI where students are encouraged and deliberately allowed to debate and
argue among themselves in defence of their developed position on a particular
socioscientific issue. In PALS, students do not develop a position because the
learning contents guides the discussions from beginning to the end and where
there is argument, it might be as a result of misconception but not deliberately
encouraged. Once the misconception is removed, the argument is gone.
Learners’ demography
Learners’ demography entails their age, sex, level of education, religion,
urban or rural and socio-cultural background. All these determine the
possibility of integrating SSIBI, but in PALS demography has no influence on
either participant. In other words, “it happens” in “lower classes” while sex,
religion, socio-cultural background as well as whether urban or rural learners
do not determine who can be the tutor or the tutee. This is unlike in SSIBI
where students’ demography can play a significant role in their opinion and
exploration of the controversy and would therefore be strictly guided by that.
Hence, discussions during presentations and debate or argumentation would
be highly influenced by demography.
Besides, PALS is carried out irrespective of the level of education meaning
that it happens even at the lower level of education as low as primary V and
VI (key stage 5 and 6). But SSIBI require higher level thinking order and so
is possible only at a higher educational level, possibly from senior secondary
level and above (key stage 9 and above).
CONCLUSIONS
Scientific literacy for successful living in the 21
st
century is one of the
priorities of science education (Rennie and Goodrum, 2007; Tyler 2007), and
schools are believed to be the main avenues for teaching knowledge, skills,
ideas, attitudes, experiences and processes of science and other disciplines.
But Klosterman and Sadler (in press) contended that learners usually lost
interest and motivation in school sciences and as a result hardly can they
make a connection between knowledgc taught to them in the classroom and
their everyday life. They also opined that science and technology have a great
influence on the everyday living of the people of modern society and the
relevance of science to students cannot be overemphasised in providing the
means to resolve life problems. It can be seen here that in both the similarities
and differences of the SSIBI and PALS as instructional strategie that both
models are significant in school science instruction. It was widely agreed
that school science is an activity-based subject and teacher-dominated lessons
proved ineffective in the acquisition of desired knowledge, skills, experiences,
attitudes and ideas for the learners who are hoped to be the future scientists
and technologists for sustainable development. Therefore, the approach to
be used for science instruction is the one that is geared towards holding
learners’ interest, motivating learners and making science a meaningful part
of everyday activity for successful living. This can happen only if the students
are fully involved in the activities of teaching and learning. This involvement
must stimulate their interest, improve higher order thinking skills and at the
same time increase understanding of the nature of science (Klosterman and
Sadler, 2012, Rundgren 2010) and technology (Klosterman and Sadler, 2010;
Latourelle, Poplawsky, Shmaefsky and Musante, 2012; Reis and Galvão,
2009). SSIBI and PALS are instructionally significant in involving learners
in the teaching and learning process where students can make meaningful
connections between what they learn in the school and their life. This includes
both socioscientific issues and other science topics that are very significant
to the students’elives. Consequently, it is strongly recommended that science
teachers at all levels of educatios should use their skills and experience in
science instruction to identify socioscientific issues in their science subjects
so that the best instructional approach can be used. Learners’ involvement
should also be given a priority so that some of the young learners will become
scientists and that scientific literacy can be popularised among the citizens
for successful living.
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web page, 2012.
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special education: 2010.
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Orlik, Y. Chemistry: Active Methods of Teaching and Learning. Iberoamerica Publ., Mexico,
2002, 358 pp. Chapter 10. Modern class organisation and extra class work in Chemistry.
PSEA. Research based strategies for special needs students, peer assisted learning strategies,
PSEA education services division. Professional Learning Exchange Advisory, (2008).
Reis, P. & Galvão, C. Teaching controversial socio-scientific issues in biology and Geography
Classes: a case study. Electronic Journal of Science Education. 13 (1), pp 1-11, 2009.
http://ejse.southwestern.edu
.
Rennie, L. J. & Goodrum, D. Australian school science education: National Action
Plan 2008 - 2012, Vol 2. Background research and mapping. Canberra: Australian
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Rosen, J. E., Murray, N. J. & Moreland, S. Sexuality education in schools: the International
experience and implication for Nigeria: Policy working Paper series No 12, 2004.
Rundgren, S. N. C. How does background affect attitudes to socioscientific issues in Taiwan?
Public Understanding of science, 20 (6), pp. 722-732, 2010.
Sadler, T. D. Informal reasoning regarding socioscientific issues: a critical Review of
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Cult stud of science education, 4, pp. 697-703, 2008.
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Received 16-07- 2012/ Approved 29-04-2013
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M. S. Pak. Methodology of teaching chemistry (Дидактика
химии: учебник для студентов вузов). Trio. Moscow,
2012, in Russian.
Improvement of professional students’ training in
pedagogical universities is one of the most important
tasks for modern Russian education. Socio-
economic changes taking place in Russia contribute
to the growth of the prestige of education, the
increased demand for highly educated, competent
specialists, capable of a creative approach to the
answering of any question and who will make
their own decisions. This situation calls for new
approaches in the preparation of the students -
future chemistry teachers. We need to update the
goals, content and technologies of training. The
importance of this problem is due to the fact that
in the framework of the implementation of the
Federal state standards of general education of
the second generation reviewed the objectives,
content, means, methods of chemical education
in Russian schools. The ways of solving these issues are considered in the book of M.
Pak «Didactics of chemistry.
The novelty of the textbook M. Pak «Methodology of teaching chemistry» arises
from the fact that, for the first time, we have a specially designed textbook for
methodical preparation of students directed towards the development of scientific
thinking of future teachers in higher and secondary schools, contributing to the
mastering of their interdisciplinary concepts, principles, laws and methods of chemical-
and-pedagogical education. In the textbook, the results of researches of psychologists,
the scientific works of the teachers, the work of the leading methodologists of chemists
are taken into account.
The questions of education, upbringing and development of pupils in the process
of studying chemistry in secondary and higher school are considered. The author
acquaints the readers with the content of school-chemistry and its regularities. In the
book, such issues as methods, means and forms of organization of educational activity
of students are reflected. Materials of the educational benefits allow the student and
the teacher get acquainted with the changes that occur in the present time to the theory
and methods of teaching chemistry, as well as with modern approaches, methods and
practical experience. In the book, there are various tasks for the self-assessment and
independent work by students, necessary for the development of professional skills.
This material helps the future teacher of chemistry to specify the learning objectives
and determine the ways of their implementation and to select the content of the material
on the subject in accordance with its principles. They are also helped to apply the most
effective methods, means and forms of education, to develop the cognitive tasks of
different kinds, which carry out the control of knowledge and skills of students and
apply modern technologies of teaching chemistry. Of great importance especially for
teachers, is the material that reveals the methodology of chemical education. It is very
important for the comprehension of modern methods of teaching and for chemistry
teacher to get acquainted with new conceptual approaches during their training.
The training manual is addressed to teachers, dealing with the urgent issues of the
modern chemical education, and University students studying the methodological
discipline in the different systems of higher professional education with the profile of
«Chemical education» and may be useful for preparation for the lectures, seminars,
laboratory and practical studies.
At the present time there are some works (I. Grebenev, A. Darinsky, O.S..
Zaitsev, N. Kuznetsova, I. Sarancev and others), which are devoted to the problem
of correlating didactics of chemistry and methods of teaching chemistry. Many
scientists consider didactic bases as the general framework for a technique of
teaching chemistry, and the methodological framework as a private method.
Despite different opinions, M. Pak substantiates the importance of didactic bases
in the methodical preparation of students. The author shows that the solution
of practical problems of chemical education is impossible without theoretical
knowledge. Any teacher should possess the common methods of teaching.
It can be noted that didactics, on the one hand, is an independent unit of the methodological
training, and on the other, integrated with a private method, while remaining section
of pedagogy. Disclosure of didactics of chemistry in the book of M. Pak is based on
the integrative methodology, the ideas of the systemic integrity (training, education
and development), the complexity of the application of educational tools, intra - and
interdisciplinary integration, unity of theory and practice, as well as the directivity of
chemical education (humanistic, vocational, practical, research, ethical, etc.).
The analysis of the textbook allows you to appreciate its functions: informational,
methodological, training, controlling development. Of course, the content of the
training manual is focused on educational practice. The textbook proposes material,
which allows teachers to organize the student’s independent work efficiently. Materials
in the textbook contain both theoretical issues and methodological recommendations.
The content of the training manual is built on the principle of continuity with the
subsequent levels of higher pedagogical education: master’s degree and postgraduate
course. The textbook is recommended for use in the process of theoretical and practical
training of students in a bachelor of education, and then in a masters of education, as
well as in the system of raising the professional skills of teachers.
The book, undoubtedly, will be reissued and I would like to wish to the contents
of tasks for the self-assessment included not only questions and the answers, but also
the tasks on critical and creative thinking.
This tutorial of M. Pak is useful not only to students and teachers of pedagogical
universities, but also for the teachers in schools and other educational institutions.
M, Toletova, A. Levkin
Russian State Pedagogical University
/The Herzen University/,St. Petersburg., Russia
Book reviews
A. Caamaño (coord.) . Física y Química - investigación, innovación y buenas
prácticas. Formación del Professorado. Educación Secundaria, Ed. Graó.
Barcelona, 2011.236 pp.
Em 2011, o Ministério da Educação da
Espanha publicou uma coleção de livros
sobre a formação de professores e a educação
secundária. Essa coleção foi dirigida por César
Coll e contou com a coordenação de outros
docentes das mais diversas áreas, tais como,
biologia, educação física, química, física,
línguas, geografia, história, tecnologia, música,
matemática, literatura e orientação educativa.
Da coleção, o livro “Formación del
Professorado. Educación Secundaria: Física y
Química – investigación, innovación y buenas
prácticas”, coordenado por Aureli Caamaño,
junta textos que buscam mostrar desde a
necessidade da compreensão sobre educação
de ciências, currículos de ensino, até as práticas
possíveis de serem trabalhadas por professores
sob uma concepção de inovação.
Ao ler o primeiro capítulo do livro, percebe-se que a falta de apoio do governo
no que diz respeito ao ensino de ciências não é a realidade somente de países
subdesenvolvidos ou em desenvolvimento, como Brasil, mas em países desenvolvidos
também, como a Espanha.
Outro ponto analisado é o ensino de ciências para o ensino secundário. Com isso até
espera-se uma crítica sobre a formação dos professores de ciências nas universidades,
porém, Vicente Mellado, coloca que as experiências obtidas ao longo da formação
acadêmica do futuro professor, desde sua formação primária, também influenciam na
sua atuação profissional. Isso leva a pensar que qualquer mudança feita no ensino terá
seus resultados positivos, porém, não instantâneos.
Uma frase que chama a atenção, muito ouvida nos corredores de instituições
de ensino e provavelmente também no ambiente escolar, é colocada no livro “Este
professor sabe mucho, pero no sabe enseñarlo”. É comum encontrar professores,
grandes pesquisadores nas áreas de ciências com um conhecimento enorme,
inquestionável, entretanto, não conseguem transmitir aos alunos, isto é, não sabem
lecionar. Sobre esse tema devem ser considerados dois pontos principais: o elevado
conhecimento necessários para os professores de ciências e a didática de seu ensino.
Na sequência, o livro apresenta alguns projetos de qualidade para o ensino de
física e química para o ensino secundário. São projetos criados em outros países,
os quais obtiveram sucesso, e que estão sendo reproduzidos em algumas regiões da
Espanha. Um elemento chave na reprodução desses projetos consiste na sua adaptação
à realidade local e ao público alvo. O que os autores dessa parte do livro salientam é a
utilização de recursos disponíveis, nem sempre os ideais, para a obtenção da melhor
aprendizagem por parte dos alunos, bem como a avaliação contínua do projeto e sua
adaptação, caso necessário.
A descrição detalhada de cada projeto de ensino de física e química possibilita uma
avaliação por parte do leitor. Imediatamente esse é capaz de fazer um julgamento prévio
sobre a possibilidade de aplicação, ou não, do referido projeto na sua realidade escolar.
Experimentos de química e física, de fácil execução, são descritos nos próximos
capítulos do livro. Esses procuram abordar conceitos importantes com práticas que
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Book reviews
envolvem o cotidiano dos alunos, o que facilita a aprendizagem leva à satisfação do
conhecer o que acontece ao seu redor.
Não deixando a ciência física e química desvinculada da realidade, o livro
também aborda a utilização de softwares didáticos no ensino de ciências. Sabendo da
dificuldade da realização de alguns experimentos em escolas secundárias, os softwares
desempenham um papel importante. Novamente os autores mostram exemplos de
aplicações e colocam endereços dos sítios ontem podem ser encontrados os softwares
na rede mundial de computadores.
A utilização de terminologias e símbolos também é abordada no livro não deixando
de demonstrar como podem ser trabalhados com os alunos.
O fechamento do livro ocorre com a apresentação de como realizar uma pesquisa
científica, o que é ensinado aos alunos do final do ensino secundário, e com uma
descrição detalhada de como o professor pode programar, realizar e avaliar as atividades
de ciências.
Como citado acima, não adianta ter conhecimento e não saber fazer dele a
práxis. Portanto, ao finalizar a leitura do livro “Formación del Professorado.
Educación Secundaria: Física y Química – investigación, innovación y buenas
prácticas” o sentimento que fica ao leitor é que ensinar é possível, basta querer.
Querer aceitar ideias, querer adaptar e querer o melhor para alcançar o objetivo de
ensinar ciências. Porém, o querer envolve muito trabalho e este é recompensado
com o resultado final.
Janine Botton
Instituto Latino-Americano de Ciências da Vida e da Natureza,
Universidade Federal da Integração Latino –americana,
UNILA, Brasil
A. Caamaño (coord.). Física y Química: complementos de formación disciplinar.
Formación del Professorado. Educación Secundaria: N. 5. Vol. 1. Ed. Graó.
Barcelona, 2011. 10 capítulos
“O primeiro pecado da humanidade foi a fé; a primeira virtude foi a dúvida.”
Carl Sagan
No ensino de ciências, devido as
crescentes inovações das sociedades
em diversos setores da ciência, da
tecnologia e seus impactos na vida
cotidiana, a elaboração de livros e
artigos para a formação profissional
de professores é muito importante.
O sistema de formação e atualização
de professores da escola secundária
deve propor atividades inovadoras
e eficientes para atender tantos as
demandas de modernização da práxis
pedagógica quanto de promover
o desenvolvimento de habilidades
científica nos estudantes o mais
cedo possível e assim maximizar a
qualidade do ensino contemporâneo.
Para as disciplinas de Química, Física
e outras disciplinas das Ciências
da Natureza os docentes da escola
precisam ter oportunidades de obter
informações atualizadas dos novos
métodos de ensino em suas respectivas áreas, bem como ter oportunidades de
atualizações interdisciplinares e multidisciplinares, um meio para isso, são as
publicações de livros artigos, tais como esse.
O livro revisado trata de temas, questões e problemas chaves do ensino de
Química e Física. Essas disciplinas devido a sua complexidade intrínseca, muitas
vezes, apresentam grau de dificuldades para os professores e professorandos para
organizar metodologias e processos de ensino e aprendizagem para as aulas. O
capítulo 1 descreve o tema da natureza da ciência e construção do conhecimento
científico. Os autores analisam vários conceitos da Ciência, tais como a concepção
indutivista da ciência e a concepção objetiva dos conhecimentos científicos. Eles
discutem o que é mais importante analisar, uma vez que a ciências é neutra e sem
ideologia, pelo menos teoricamente. E também dão ênfase ao fato do trabalho
científico ser um processo coletivo e ter por base os avanços da ciência passada
e atual. Neste sentido, ressaltam a importância da ciência e suas interligações
interdisciplinares com na cultura humana, nas tecnologias e na sociedade e outras
linhas de ensino moderno de ciências.
Nos capítulos 2 e 3 disponibilizam informações muito interessantes sobre a
história da Física e da Química e suas influências no ensino. Os autores mostram
o enfoque histórico do processo de ensino, apresentando vários exemplos de
conceptos do ensino de Química e Física e seu desenvolvimento e histórico.
Por exemplo, eles analisam os conceitos de matéria (átomo, elemento químico)
de campo e outros, mostrando a linha de desenvolvimento desde a antiguidade
até a idade moderna. Também nestes capítulos de apresentam as descrições de
metodologias e de atividades para aulas, as quais podem ser usadas por professores
no processo de ensino.
Os próximos dois capítulos mostram a fronteira do conhecimento e investigação
em Física e Química. Estas ciências se destacaram pelo grande progresso no
século XX e os autores apresentam os pontos chaves deste processo tais como
as investigações sobre Bing Bang, antimatéria, energia, clima e outras, as
quais são o fundamento para o incrível aumento de inovações tecnológicas da
contemporaneidade. Também analisaram a influencia de Química e da Física
para a resolução de problemas de energia, saúde, ambiente e também para outras
ciências modernas tal como química biológica, biotecnologia e nanotecnologias.
Capítulo 6 analisa os problemas ambientais e as questões sobre a
sustentabilidade do ponto de vista das Ciências da Natureza. Os autores fazem
apontamentos para os aspectos de maiores importâncias a serem ensinados nas
escolas, e suas correlações com os conhecimentos que podem apresentar a solução
destes problemas em todo o mundo. Defendem o ponto de vista que no ensino é
preciso por atenção especial aos processos de proteção e conservação ambiental,
bem como aos assuntos sociais que visam o aumento da distribuição de renda
igualitária e os meios de construção de um futuro sustentável. Para atender a esses
objetivos nos cursos escolares, os autores propuseram várias atividades para aulas
com diferentes exemplos.
Nos capítulos 7 e 8 mostram a importância do tema de alfabetização científica
e suas conexões com o ensino de ciência na escola. Para atender as demandas
do currículo das ciências da natureza, Física, Química na Espanha, e as suas
conexões com assuntos da vida cotidiano e sociedade, os autores discutem diversas
possibilidades da práxis pedagógica do processo de alfabetização científica e
sugerem enfoques lúdicos e divertidos. Também são analisados os conceitos de
contextualização da ciência, e as competências necessárias a serem adquiridas
no processo de ensino-aprendizagem de ciências.
Os últimos dois capítulos do livro tratam dos aspectos do curso de formação
de professores para o ensino médio em Química. Nas escolas da Espanha e
outros países da Europa, a construção destes cursos tem foco nos aspectos
do funcionamento moderno da ciência, tecnologia e sociedade. Enfatizando a
importância dos conhecimentos de Física para a formação futura de jovens e para a
vida profissional, nos cursos de formação de professores de Física devem analisar
o processo de abandono escolar vinculado as dificuldades de aprendizagens nesta
disciplina. Os autores trazem exemplos de como organizar os cursos de ciências
nesta etapa escolar utilizando recursos e informações da atualidade. E também
mostram diferentes variantes de como expor os conteúdos, realizar as avaliações
dos conhecimentos e habilidades adquiridos. Demonstram que ensino de ciências
pode ser organizado em torno de problemas reais da vida e da natureza, com todas
as suas conexões interdisciplinares.
Portanto, o livro analisado é uma obra coerente com as demandas de atualização
e formação de professores para o ensino de ciências. É exemplo bom e útil e pode
ser utilizado tanto por estudantes das licenciaturas como por os professores das
escolas, devido a sua extensiva preocupação com o rigor científico. Os educadores
dos vários países podem encontrar ideias modernas para atualizar seus métodos de
ensino de ciências e potencializar o seu desenvolvimento profissional, bem como de
seus alunos, futuros profissionais de qualquer área de atuação a qual escolherem.
Tanise Knakievicz,
Instituto Latino-Americano de Ciências da Vida e da Natureza,
Universidade Federal da Integração Latino –americana, UNILA, Brasil
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JOURNAL OF SCIENCE EDUCATION - Nº 2, Vol. 14, p. 103, 2013, ISSN 0124-5481,
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ORGANIZADORES
• ITAIPU Binacional - Parque Tecnológico de ITAIPU
• Servicio Brasileño de Apoyo a las Micro y Pequeñas Empresas
(SEBRAE)
• Fondo Andaluz de Municipios para la Solidaridad internacional
(FAMSI) / Ciudades y Gobiernos Locales Unidos (CGLU)
• Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo (PNUD) a
través de la Iniciativa ART
El Segundo Foro Mundial de Desarrollo Económico Local es parte de
un proceso que se inició con los preparativos del Primer Foro Mundial
de Agencias de Desarrollo Local “Territorio, Economía y Gobernanza
Local: nuevas miradas para tiempos de cambio” que tuvo lugar en
Sevilla en octubre del 2011. El I Foro reunió a 1,300 participantes
provenientes de 47 países para intercambiar prácticas e instrumentos
territoriales para el desarrollo económico local y explorar su relación con
estrategias nacionales de desarrollo local y con el debate global sobre
desarrollo humano sostenible. Cómo conjugar este debate con prácticas
2do Foro Mundial de Desarrollo Económico Local
II Fórum Mundial de Desenvolvimento Econômico Local
Fechas: 29 de octubre a 1 de noviembre de 2013
Lugar: ITAIPU, Foz do Iguaçu, Paraná, Brasil
e instrumentos operativos para superar la brecha entre conceptualización
y su aplicación en el terreno es un desafío que cobra cada vez mayor
importancia y atención, tal y como lo demuestran eventos globales como
el Foro Social Mundial (enero 2012), la Conferencia de las Naciones
Unidas sobre el Desarrollo Sostenible, Río+20 (junio 2012), y Africités
(diciembre 2012), entre otros.
El objetivo principal del II Foro Mundial de Desarrollo Económico
Local es de facilitar el diálogo y el intercambio entre actores locales,
nacionales e internacionales sobre la eficacia e impacto del desarrollo
económico local frente los grandes desafíos de la época actual, a partir
de las prácticas existentes. Más específicamente, los objetivos del II
Foro Mundial de Desarrollo Económico Local son:
− Facilitar un diálogo político internacional sobre Desarrollo
Económico Local incluyendo a los actores públicos y privados.
− Promover la construcción de políticas públicas sobre Desarrollo
Económico Local.
− Demostrar la relevancia del territorio y del Desarrollo Económico
Local para un desarrollo integral, incluyendo los pilares económicos
sociales y medioambientales.
− Presentar la necesidad de instrumentos de implementación de
estrategias y planes de desarrollo económico local tales como
las Agencias de Desarrollo Económico Local y las Agencias de
Desarrollo Regional.
El Segundo Foro Mundial de Desarrollo Económico Local es parte de
un proceso que se inició con los preparativos del Primer Foro Mundial
de Agencias de Desarrollo Local “Territorio, Economía y Gobernanza
Local: nuevas miradas para tiempos de cambio” que tuvo lugar en
Sevilla en octubre del 2011. El I Foro reunió a 1,300 participantes
provenientes de 47 países para intercambiar prácticas e instrumentos
territoriales para el desarrollo económico local y explorar su relación con
estrategias nacionales de desarrollo local y con el debate global sobre
desarrollo humano sostenible. Cómo conjugar este debate con prácticas
e instrumentos operativos para superar la brecha entre conceptualización
y su aplicación en el terreno es un desafío que cobra cada vez mayor
importancia y atención, tal y como lo demuestran eventos globales como
el Foro Social Mundial (enero 2012), la Conferencia de las Naciones
Unidas sobre el Desarrollo Sostenible, Río+20 (junio 2012), y Africités
(diciembre 2012), entre otros.
PARTICIPANTES
Técnicos y políticos, sector privado, actores locales y representantes
de distintos niveles de gobierno, de instituciones de promoción y apoyo
al desarrollo local y organismos internacionales procedentes de los 5
continentes, con un equilibrio territorial, social y de género.
Fechas: 29 de octubre a 1 de noviembre de 2013
Informaciones: http://www.foromundialdel.org/, www.pti.org.br,
Email: santiago@pti.org.br
104
REVISITING THE CHEMICAL HISTORY OF A CANDLE: SOME REFLECTIONS FOR CHEMISTRY
TEACHERS BASED ON A CASE STUDY
Revisitando La historia química de una vela: algunas reflexiones para profesores de química respaldadas
por un estudio de caso
Baldinato J., Nagy J., Alves Porto P. (Brazil) ...........................................................................................60
DESIGNING A CHEMISTRY EDUCATIONAL GAME AND EXAMINING REFLECTIONS ABOUT IT
El diseño de un juego educacional de química y su análisis
Bayir E., Deniz C. (Turkey) .........................................................................................................................92
COURSE ‘ICT TOOLS IN SCIENCE EDUCATION’ – WHAT AND HOW TO TEACH
Curso “Herramientas TIC en la educación científica ‘- qué y cómo enseñar
Bernard P. , Bros P. (Poland) .......................................................................................................................16
O ENSINO DE CIÊNCIAS PARA CRIANÇAS DE 5-6 ANOS.
Teaching science for children 5-6 years old.
Blasbalg M.E. , Arroio A. (Brasil) ......................................................................................................... 40 SI
Botton J. ª Caamaño coord. Física y Química – investigación, innovación y buenas prácticas.
Formación del Professorado. Educación Secundaria: Grao, 2011. Book review. ......................................101
La utilización doméstica de plaguicidas en ambientes rurales y urbanos - situación e intervención educativa
Domestic use of pesticides in urban and rural communities. status and educational intervention
Bosch B., Mañas F., Gentile N., Gorla N., Aiassa D. /Argentina/ ............................................................36
ART AND SCIENCE: IMPROVING SCIENCE TEACHERS´ INTERDISCIPLINARY COMPETENCES
Arte y ciencia: mejorando las competencias interdisciplinarias de los profesores de ciencias
Cachapuz A. (Portugal) .............................................................................................................................5 SI
PROCURANDO A QUALIDADE DA EDUCAÇÃO CIENTÍFICA
Cachapuz A., Orlik Y. ...............................................................................................................................3 SI
ENSINO DE QUÍMICA E SURDEZ: ANÁLISE DA PRODUÇÃO IMAGÉTICA SOBRE
TRANSGÊNICOS
Teaching of chemistry and deafness: analysis of production of visual representations about transgenic
Canavarro Benite A., Machado Benite C. (Brasil) ..................................................................................37 SI
CHALLENGES IN SCIENCE EDUCATION .............................................................................................55
FROM SER TO STL: TRANSLATING SCIENCE EDUCATION RESEARCH INTO SCIENCE
TEACHING AND LEARNING
De la investigación hacia la enseñanza y aprendizaje : transferir la investigación en educación científica
a la enseñanza y aprendizaje de ciencias
Childs P. (Ireland) .......................................................................................................................................56
CONDITIONERS OF TEACHING PRACTICE: REPORTS OF A CHEMISTRY TEACHER IN BASIC
PRIMARY EDUCATION IN BRAZIL
Acondicionadores de la práctica docente: informes de una profesora de química en la educación primaria
básica en Brasil
Clemente Urata T., Eterno da Silveir H. (Brazil) ................................................................................... 44 SI
REFLEXÃO SOBRE A AÇÃO NA LICENCIATURA EM QUÍMICA: O ESTÁGIO SUPERVISIONADO
COMO ESPAÇO FORMATIVO
Reflection on the action: supervised preservice teachers’ practice as formative space.
da Costa Garcez E., Carneiro Gonçalves F., Tito Alves L., Flora Barbosa Soares M. ,
Araújo da Silva Mesquita N. (Brasil).....................................................................................................52 SI
UMA ABORDAGEM EXPERIMENTAL PROBLEMATIZADORA PARA O ENSINO DE COMBUSTÃO
An experimental problematizing approach to combustion teaching
de Barros Arsie
E., Caroline Morato Fabricio C.,
Maciel Guimarães O. (Brasil) ................................48 SI
DISEASE DETECTIVES AT WORK: A LESSON ON DISEASE TRANSMISSION FOR SECONDARY
SCHOOL STUDENTS
Detectives de enfermedades en el trabajo: una clase sobre la transmisión de la enfermedad para los estu-
diantes de escuela secundaria
Dawson M. (USA) .......................................................................................................................................85
THE PERCEPTION OF CHEMISTRY OF FIRST-YEAR UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS AT THE
UNIVERSITY OF BUENOS AIRES
La percepción de la química de estudiantes ingresantes a la Universidad de Buenos Aires
Di Risio C., Bruno J., Ghini A., Guerrien D., Veleiro A., Rusler V. (Argentina) ..................................29
USO DE SIMULAÇÕES COMO UMA DINÂMICA DIFERENTE PARA QUEM APRENDE E PARA
QUEM ENSINA: UM ESTUDO DE CASO
Using simulations as a different dynamic to learners and teachers: a case study
Fejes M., Pinheiro Sales M.G., Infante-Malachias M.E. (Brasil) ...........................................................8 SI
JUEGOS EDUCATIVOS Y APRENDIZAJE DE LA TABLA PERIÓDICA: ESTUDIO DE CASOS
Educational games and learning about the Periodic Table: case studies
Franco Mariscal A.J., Oliva Martínez J.M. (España). ................................................................................93
IDEAS OF STUDENTS AND FACULTY ABOUT READING AND WRITING IN SCIENCE AND
TECHNOLOGY CAREERS
Las ideas de los estudiantes y profesores sobre la lectura y la escritura en carreras científicas y tecnológicas
Garcia L., Valeiras N. (Argentina) ..............................................................................................................42
ASSESSMENT OF A VISIT TO AN OPTICS LABORATORY DURING UNIVERSITY SCIENCE
WEEK.
Evaluación de la visita a un laboratorio de óptica en la semana de la ciencia
García J.A., Perales F. J., Gómez-Robledo L., Romero J. (Spain) ............................................................78
INDÍCIOS DO MODELO INTEGRATIVO NO DESENVOLVIMENTO DO PCK EM LICENCIANDOS
EM QUÍMICA DURANTE O ESTÁGIO SUPERVISIONADO
Evidence for integrative model during PCK development in chemistry student teachers during pre-service
training
Gomes Elias Mariano Pereira P., Fernandez C. (Brasil) ............................................................................74
AS REPRESENTAÇÕES MENTAIS DE PROFESSORES DE QUÍMICA EM FORMAÇÃO
CONTINUADA E INICIAL: LIMITES E APROXIMAÇÕES.
Mental representations of chemistry teachers in initial and continuing education: bounds and approximations.
Gomes Catunda de Vasconcelos F. C., Valéria Campos dos Santos V., Arroio A. (Brasil)........................ 16 SI
INVESTIGAR LA EXPLICACIÓN DE LOS EDUCANDOS EN CLASES DE CIENCIAS: LAS BASES
CULTURALES Y BIOLÓGICAS.
Research the explanation of students in science classes: the biological and cultural basis.
Gomes da Silva H., Infante-Malachias M.E. ( Brasil) ...............................................................................82
THE INFLUENCE OF THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE IN DESIGNING LEARNING INDICATORS:
ELECTROMOTIVE FORCE IN DC CIRCUITS
La influencia de la historia de la ciencia en el diseño de indicadores de aprendizaje: fuerza electromotriz
en circuitos cc
Guisasola J. (Spain), Garzón I. (Colombia), ZuzaK. (Spain) ......................................................................4
TEACHING AND LEARNING OUT-OF-SCHOOL
Gisasola J. ......................................................................................................................................................3
EFFECTIVE LARGE SCALE INTEGRATION OF THE IPAD MOBILE LEARNING DEVICE INTO
FIRST YEAR PROGRAMS
La integración a gran escala del dispositivo de aprendizaje móvil iPad en los programas universitarios
de primer año
Hargis J. (UAE) , Soto M. (USA) ...............................................................................................................45
ILLUSTRATING THE INVISIBLE: ENGAGING UNDERGRADUATE ENGINEERS IN EXPLAINING
NANOTECHNOLOGY TO THE PUBLIC THROUGH FLASH POETRY
Ilustrando lo invisible: comprometiendo a estudiantes de ingeniería a explicar nanotecnología al público
Hayes L., Phair J., McCormac C., Marti Villalba M. , Papakonstantinou P., Davis J. (UK) ....................12
Index special issue, 2012 ...........................................................................................................................50
Jan Rajmund Pasko - 50 years of teaching and 45 years of scientific work ................................................47
E-LEARNING THROUGH THE EYES OF THE CZECH STUDENTS
Aprendizaje electrónico desde el punto de vista de los estudiantes universitarios
Klement M. (Czech Republic) .....................................................................................................................66
Knakievicz T. A. Caamaño (coord.) . Física y Química: complementos de formación disciplinar. Formación
del Professorado. Educación Secundaria: N. 5. Vol. 1. Ed. Graó. Barcelona, 2011. 10 capítulos Book
review .........................................................................................................................................................102
Knakievicz T. MATIOLI, Sergio Russo; CAMPOS, Flora Maria de (Ed.). Biologia Molecular e Evolução.
Ribeirão Preto; SP; Holos, Editora e Sociedade Brasileira de Genética, Brasil . 2012, 22 capítulos.
Book review. ...........................................................................................................................................55 SI
ENSINO ORIENTADO PARA A APRENDIZAGEM BASEADA NA RESOLUÇÃO DE PROBLEMAS:
PERSPETIVAS DE PROFESSORES DE CIÊNCIAS E GEOGRAFIA
Problem-based learning: science and geography teachers’ perspectives
Leite
L., Dourado
L., Morgado
S., Meireles
A., Azevedo
C., Alves C., Fernandes
C., Silva E.,
Cabral E., Pinto
E., Osório
J., Vale M. , Ribeiro M.T. (Portugal). .........................................................28 SI
USE OF COMPUTER GENERATED HYPER-REALISTIC IMAGES ON OPTICS TEACHING: THE
CASE STUDY OF AN OPTICAL SYSTEM FORMED BY TWO OPPOSED PARABOLIC MIRRORS
Uso de imágenes generadas por ordenador en la enseñanza de la óptica: el caso de estudio de un sistema
óptico formado por dos espejos parabólicos enfrentados
Martínez-Borreguero G., Naranjo-Correa F., Pérez-Rodrígueza A., Suero-López1 M.,
Pardo-Fernández P. (Spain) .........................................................................................................................25
EDUCAÇÃO EM CIÊNCIAS NO ENSINO SECUNDÁRIO GERAL EM TIMOR-LESTE: DA INVES-
TIGAÇÃO À COOPERAÇÃO
Science education in general secondary school in East-Timor: from research to cooperation
Martins I. (Portugal). ...............................................................................................................................20 SI
INSTRUCTIONAL RELATIONSHIP OF SOCIOSCIENTIFIC ISSUES-BASED INSTRUCTION AND
PEER-ASSISTED LEARNING STRATEGY : AN IMPLICATION FOR SCIENCE INSTRUCTION
Relación educativa de asuntos socio-cientificos de ensenanaza y las estrategias asistidas de aprendizaje:
las implicaciones para la enseñanza de ciencias
Mikhail Yahaya J., Nurulazam MD Zain A., A/P Karpudewan M.(Malaysia) ............................................98
Morentin M., Guisasola J. Centros de ciencia y visitas escolares. Editorial Académica Española,
Academic Publishing GmbH&Co KG, Alemania, 2012, 219 pp. Book review .........................................49
Nodzynska M., Stawoska I., Ciesla P. International Conference on Research in Didactics of the Sciences .....48
NOISE AND PERCEIVED DISCOMFORT IN GREEK SCHOOL CHILDREN
Ruido y molestias percibidas entre niños griegos en la escuela
Papanikolaou M., Roussi C., Skenteris N., Katsioulis A., Piperakis S. (Greece) ........................................40
SOME PERSONALITIES OF THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS THROUGH
POSTAGE STAMPS
Algunas personalidades de la historia de la ciencia y las matemáticas a través de los sellos de correos
Penereiro J.C., Lombardo Ferreira D. H. (Brazil) .........................................................................................8
ANALYSIS OF THE ASTRONOMICAL CONCEPTS PRESENTED BY TEACHERS OF SOME
BRAZILIAN STATE SCHOOLS
Análisis de los conceptos astronómicos presentados por maestros de algunas escuelas estatales de Brasil
Rincon Voelzke M., Pereira Gonzaga E. (Brazil) ......................................................................................23
DRAWINGS, WORDS AND BUTTERFLIES IN CHILDHOOD EDUCATION: PLAYING WITH IDEAS
IN THE PROCESS OF SIGNIFICATION OF LIVING BEINGS
Diseños, palabras y mariposas en la educación infantil: juego con las ideas en el proceso de significados
sobre los seres vivos
Rodrigues Chaves Dominguez C., Frateschi Trivelato S.L. (Brazil) ..........................................................88
APLICAÇÕES DA ROBÓTICA NO ENSINO DE FÍSICA: ANÁLISE DE ATIVIDADES NUMA
PERSPECTIVA PRAXEOLÓGIA
Applications of robotics in the teaching of physics: activities analyzes in a praxiological perspective
Schivani M., Brockington G., Pietrocola M.
(
Brasil) .............................................................................32 SI
THE PROGRESSIVE DEVELOPMENT OF SKILLS FOR ADVANCED LEVEL CHEMISTRY STUDENTS
El desarrollo progresivo de los conocimientos para los estudiantes de química del nivel avanzado
Szalay L. (Hungary), Gadd K. (UK), Riedel M. (Hungary) ......................................................................19
MAPEAMENTO CONCEITUAL E O USO DE CONCEITO OBRIGATÓRIO PARA FAZER
AVALIAÇÃO DIAGNÓSTICA DOS CONHECIMENTOS DOS ALUNOS
Concept mapping and the use of compulsory concept to make diagnostic assessment of students’ knowledge
Tolentino Cicuto C.A., Miranda Correia P.R. (Brasil). ..........................................................................23 SI
Toletova M., Levkin A. M. S. Pak. Methodology of teaching chemistry (Дидактика химии: учебник
для студентов вузов). Trio. Moscow, 2012, in Russian. Book review. ............................................101
PROBLEM BASED LEARNING ENVIRONMENTAL SCENARIOS: AN ANALYSIS OF SCIENCE
STUDENTS AND TEACHERS QUESTIONING
Aprendizaje basado en problemas en escenarios ambientales: un análisis de interrogación de estudiantes
de ciencias y profesores
Torres, J., Preto, C., Vasconcelos, C (Portugal) ...........................................................................................71
AVALIAÇÃO DO CURRÍCULO PORTUGUÊS DE CIÊNCIAS FÍSICAS E NATURAIS: O QUE
PENSAM OS PROFESSORES?
Evaluation of the Portuguese Curriculum of Physics and Natural Sciences: What do teachers think?
Torres, J., Vasconcelos, C. ( Portugal). .................................................................................................. 12 SI
ENSENÃNZA DE LA DERIVA CONTINENTAL: CONTRIBUCIONES EPISTEMOLÓGICAS E
HISTÓRICAS
Teaching continental drift: epistemological and historical contributions
Vasconcelos C., Almeida A., Américo Barros J. (Portugal) . .....................................................................32
SI- special issue, vol. 14, 2013
Index - volume 14, 2013
JOURNAL OF SCIENCE EDUCATION - Nº 2, Vol. 14, p. 104, 2013, ISSN 0124-5481,
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JOURNAL OF SCIENCE EDUCATION - Nº 2, Vol. 14, p. 105, 2013, ISSN 0124-5481,
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