Last week I visited some schools there I interacted with learners of various grades.
As I entered standard 10th,there were 35 to 40 students, I started with general discussion on Biology and then asked some questions from ‘Human digestive system’, one of the topics from their syllabus (already covered in the school).
My question to the class : What do you understand by enzymes?
The answers I got from different learners were
1. Enzymes break down the food.
2. Enzymes are chemicals.
3. Enzymes are pepsin, lipase , amylase etc.
4. Enzymes are important for digestion.
5. Enzymes are hormones..
Similarly in another class the question I asked was
Question: What do you understand by diffusion?
The answers I got were
1. Movement of particles.
2. Movement of water .
3. Movement of liquid from its high concentration to low concentration.
4. Movement of ions.
These are few examples of alternate conceptions, there can be many more. In conventional schools , students learn not to ask too many questions , instead to listen and repeat the expected answers. Science gets indoctrinated in their minds infact they are getting trained in asking least questions and following more.
As a result Science becomes an alien subject, something which has complex terms and concepts which has nothing to do with our daily lives. This is quiet evident by the answers given by different students above. Students mechanically reiterated what they heard or read from books without understanding the concepts. The science teaching learning process is much complex as it is thought to be, it is not only aimed to make learners understand the concept but also to develop a scientific temperament.
Let us take the example of diffusion from above.
The concept can go in the form of experiment in the class as follows
1. Light an insence stick- gas in gas diffusion.
2. Spray a room freshner - liquid in gas diffusion.
3. Put a pallet of colour in water- solid in water diffusion
4. Place a comphor block on the table solid in gas diffusion.
In one of the classes assigned to me ,I was to teach the concept of Electroplating .
I demonstrated the process of copper electroplating set up in the class and asked everyone to observe carefully and write their own hypothesis. And then a common discussion culminating into the concept and principals of Electroplating.
Many such concepts of Science can be meticulously combined with experiments . Unfortunately experiments are limited to handbook or practical manual in our schools and the time gap between the experiments and concept taught in class is very large may be different sessions altogether , this leaves no connect between enlisted experiments and concepts discussed in the class. I am no exception to its repurcurssions for example the abstract concepts of Physics were beyond my understanding due to lack of appropriate experiments along with concepts. For instance, a very interesting topic of 'Light' that is
‘Optics' got reduced to mere optical bench. Likewise there are many examples to site, as a result most of us end up doubting our own efficiency and intellect rather than asking questions.
Quote: "If you can't explain it simply , you don't understand it well enough."
It is important to make science students understand that experiments do not always result into right results , but finding out the reasons for the failure eventually takes us to the desired result .So, Science is not the transfer of information that is its not 'What we know' instead 'How we come to know'.
Science is a sense of wonder which is inborn in us right from childhood , as a result of which children ask questions , seek reasons. As we grow we tend to ask less or no questions, and subsequently loose this sense. We become prone to adjust ourselves to the parameters of existing education system and society.
That is science without INQUIRY
INQUIRY is not about being always right but seeking appropriate resolutions to questions and issues.
It is crucial for the development of Scientific temperament. Nurturing of inquiry skills and inquiring attitudes are habits of mind that will enable individuals to continue the quest for knowledge throughout life.
But Inquiry is not just asking questions , It is a more complex process. It involves several factors
1. A context for questions
2. A framework for questions.
3. Focus for questions.
4. Different levels of questions.
Well designed inquiry learning process produce education system that can be widely applied. So that students should not be focused on content as the outcome of learning , neither could they be asking questions and searching answers about minutiae.
A well structured inquiry learning activities and interactions should be set in a conceptual context so as to help students accumulate knowledge, as they progress from grade to grade.
This implies to organise the school curriculum so as to provide a relevant and cumulative framework for effective learning.
An appropriate education provide individuals with different ways of viewing the world, communicating about it and successfully coping with the quest and issues of daily life.
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An old adage states : " Tell me and I forget, show me and I remember, involve me and I understand."
