| |
|
01 May 2004 The Hands-On Approach of Teaching Science To Young People Scott Little Introduction Science as a discipline, whether it is Physics, Chemistry, Biology, or other areas of inquiry, is a means for understanding the universe around us. The primary method by which we as humans establish this understanding is by the use of our senses. We touch, smell, taste which is converted to electrical impulses that our brain uses to learn. This paper is a discussion on the benefits of teaching children about science by having them take apart electronic and basic household items and by studying them to see how they work. Let me begin by stating that I am not a full-time science teacher. I am employed as a full-time Systems Engineer/Project Manager and part-time I.T. person in my family Material Handling business. I have A.S. Degrees in Biology, Engineering, Physical Science, and Liberal Arts, a Certificate in Electronics, Bachelor Degrees in Economics and Natural Science/Mathematics, an Executive Program in Project Management, and very soon will begin work towards a Master’s Degree in Teaching Mathematics. My volunteer experience is follows:
In addition, I have two boys, ages nine and five, who in I am attempting to instill the love of science that I have, and who are as much a part of this research as I am. Learning by Taking Things Apart Children have an intrinsic curiosity about the world around them. They want to learn as much as possible by touching, tasting and feeling with sometimes-disastrous results. How many times have we told our kids "don’t put that in your mouth"? Obviously, we were doing this to protect them, without realizing at the same time they were doing this to learn, to receive sensory stimuli about their environment. As they get older, children will look for explanations of why the universe is as it is. Favorite questions are "Why is the sky blue?" "Where do babies come from?" In addition, there is a need to know why the television has a picture, what is the Internet, and how does the microwave cook food. To look inside of something and see what makes it tick is how many great scientific minds got their start. One is reminded of a young Albert Einstein visiting his Father and Uncle’s generator factory and playing with the coils and other components. Richard Feynman, the great Nobel Prize winning Physicist, recalled with fondness that his first job as a boy in upstate New York in the 1930’s was to fix his neighbor’s radios. He began by taking his own family’s broken radio apart to see how it worked, was able to fix it and word spread. This approach to teaching not only satisfies a young person’s curiosity, it also uses the senses to reinforce the learning process. Attempting to learn true science without this important reinforcement has been likened by some to learning to drive without using a car. Does this mean we should just dump a box of old electronic parts in front of a class room and think that our students are learning? Not at all, as Professor Charles Barman said "A chimpanzee could do this". There needs to be a process where the participants are being introduced to new concepts that can be incorporated into existing ones, along with an increase of present knowledge. Professor Barman has developed a method to accomplish this termed Discovery Learning that he developed for the Science Curriculum Improvement Study for The National Science Foundation. Discovery Learning is a cyclical process of development that is broken into three phases. They are as follows:
These phases represent a simplified version of the scientific method. Students are asked to look at some given material object, i.e. an old computer or VCR, question how it works, deduce using newly acquired knowledge how it does work, and incorporate it into existing knowledge. The old Chinese proverb says it in a nutshell; I hear and I forget For many years educators have stressed the importance of using a hands-on approach to teaching any subject, especially science. Piaget, the great French educator, believed all learning should be rich in physical experiences. He stated that to learn science by watching adults do experiments is about as successful as teaching children to swim by observing adults in the water. In the 1960’s Bruner said "The school boy learning physics is a physicist, and it is easier for him to learn physics behaving like a physicist than by doing something else." He believed that the main goal of education should be in the acquiring of certain desirable skills. The results of studies on hands-on science teaching curriculums show just how beneficial this approach can be. In 1982 Bredderman issued a report on a 15-year study involving 13,000 students in 1,000 classrooms comparing hands-on based education with traditional textbook teaching. The students in the hands-on group scored 20 points higher in science processing skills and scored higher in descending order of the following areas: creativity, attitude, perception, logic development, language development, science content, and mathematics. More good news is that economically disadvantaged students seem to gain the most benefit, and current research is showing this may also be true for ESL students. Grading this type of activity can be accomplished by numerous methods. Primarily, the students can be asked to explain the concepts they have learned and be graded for knowledge on a graduated scale. This could include describing the existing concept and how they deduced the new concept from it. Secondly, the students can be asked to repair, or at a more advanced level, create a simple device. This would normally be accomplished working in a group, with each student performing a prescribed task to be completed by a specified time schedule. The tasks could be shuffled so that each participant learns all aspects of the process. At what age can hands-on training be implemented? Since it does require some amount of manual dexterity to manipulate tools, should teachers wait until students feel comfortable and safe using them? Not necessarily, the simple basics can be introduced very early on, and as stated earlier, will be augmented by a child’s own innate curiosity. The following are photographs of my son Nathan at the Palm Springs Science Museum.
These photos were taken in July 2000 just before his Sixth birthday. He is in the process of taking apart a VCR using tools they provided and with no help from any adults. He was taken to the museum as a birthday present from his Grandmother; he wanted to go there. Offering my apologies for being a gloating father, I will say this. There was a teenage boy who looked to be about 15 years old next to him and who was also dismembering a VCR. The boy started about the same time Nathan did, and Nathan finished before him.
Let me state for the record that I did not force either of my children into doing these activities against their will. They enjoy taking apart things and learning about how they work. This grew out of a natural desire to do the things that I enjoy. I began by bringing home old computer components from work and trying to fix them as a hobby in my off hours. They would join me and before long, they were doing it on their own. My older son Nathan took apart his first PC towers at the age of four. My younger son Isaiah, who is now five, has assisted his brother and myself in many disassemblies, ranging from computers to VCRs. Our latest project was re-wiring the outdoor lighting and installing a photocell sensor, which I let them do pretty much on their own and with little supervision. Again, please understand I am not giving this information to show how great my children are (even though as their father I do feel that way), but to show that normal, happy children can learn how to do complicated things just by making it fun. I have for many years’ previous taken apart radios, VCRs, microwaves, clocks, and anything else I could get my hands on. Part of this was for the sheer enjoyment of it; the other reason was for economic necessity. I was too broke or too cheap to buy new appliances. The idea was if I could get it to work I would have a free T.V., radio, etc. The funny thing was that after awhile I noticed intuitively I could guess what was wrong. In other words, I could "diagnose" the illness. This was without even opening a book on how that particular device or appliance worked or was built, and in the beginning with little formal knowledge of the science or technology behind it. I have also had the privilege of working with and knowing people who worked in a mechanical or technical field and had little or no formal education but who had extensive hands on experience. Their knowledge and "shade tree" intuition seemed almost supernatural in their ability to repair, diagnose and sometimes-even design highly complex mechanical and electrical machinery and components. Conclusion Human beings want to know about the universe around them. We have been given the gifts of our senses to help interpret the world, and the gift of our brains to analyze and interpret this information. Our teachers have the immensely important task of helping our young people do this in the most efficient way possible. A hands-on approach to learning science seems a good way to accomplish this goal. Sources 1. Charles Barman "A Procedure for Helping Prospective Elementary Teachers Integrate the Learning Cycle Into Science Textbooks" Journal of Science Teacher Education 1, 2 summer 1986. 2. Teaching Children Science, Third Edition, Joseph Abruscato, University of Vermont Press 1992. 3. My children Nathan age 9, and Isaiah age 5. Sources- Internet. 1. David L. Haury and Peter Rillero "Perspectives of Hands-On Science Teaching; How is Hands-On Learning Evaluated?" North Central Regional Educational Laboratory 1994 URL: http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/content/cntareas/science/eric/eric/-6.htm. 2. David L. Haury and Peter Rillero "Perspectives of Hands-On Science Teaching; what are the Benefits of Hands-On Learning?" North Central Regional Educational Laboratory 1994 URL: http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/content/cntareas/science/eric/eric/-2.htm.
|
|||||||
|
Copyright
2004 by Society for Amateur Scientists
|
|||||||
