APPLICATION OF NON-FORMAL EDUCATION IN TEACHING PHYSICS

CLASSES

MRS. NICOLETA CÎNDEA

PRESIDENT OF Youth for Future 2006

 

Physics, as a branch of exact sciences , that attempts to elucidate natural phenomena, creates difficulties in perception, especially for the   pre-university students, although their curiosity to intelge what surrounds them is very high and very creative! A significant challenge , due to the  the explosion of information and IT development, has occured.Thus, trying to capture their attention on the importance of studying physics and after my participation in training courses of international exchanges of experience, where  methods of non-formal education have been used and the results are obviously positive,  we decided to apply this method in the physics classes that I perform at  the C. Brancusi high-school, in Petrila.

STUDENTS WORKING AT THEIR PROJECTS

AS  THE FIRST STEP,I HAVE DECIDED TO APPLY THOSE LESSONS-LEARNED WITHIN REVISING HOURS AND THE STUDENTS HAVE BEEN SEPARATED IN GROUPS. EACH GROUP HAS  HAD A CHAPTER TO DEBATE FOR A TIME-FRAME OF 15 MINUTES, THEN A REPRESENTATIVE OF EACH GROUP HAS HAD TO PRESENT THE GROUP’S DECISION. THESE DECISIONS HAVE BEEN ANALYSED AND/OR APROVED BY COLLEAGUES. AT THE END I HAVE DRAWN CONCLUSIONS WHICH OVERLAPPED THE LESSON OBJECTIVES

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE METHOD IS OBVIOUS AND THE INVOLVMENT OF STUDENS HAS INCREASED, I HAVE DIVERSIFIED THE METHOD, STARTING TO ASK QUESTION ABOUT PHENOMENA IN NATURE IN ORDER  TO  ESTABLISH, AS A COMMON CONCLUSION, THE TITLE OF THE  LESSON,  ACTUALLY STARTING FROM

THE CONCLUSIONS.

      IT DEVELOPMENT AND THE CONSTANT INTEREST OF THE STUDENTS IN USING COMPUTER EQUIPMENTS IN ORDER TO CREATE MOVIES HAVE GENERATED  THE IDEA TO PRESENT THEMSELVES THE LESSON.

SO THE FIRST LESSON, TEACHES BY THE STUDENTS FOR STUDENTS, HAS COME. TO BE MORE SPECIFIC

 THE SUBJECT OF THE LESSON HAS BEEN “MECHANIC WORK ”, THE STUDENTS HAD TO BRING  EVERYTHING THEY COULD FIND ON  THIS ISSUE, IN ORDER TO PERFORM TOGETHER, AS A JOINT TEAM, THE LESSON. TO MY SURPRISE THEY HAVE MADE A POWER POINT PRESENTATION WHICH HAS CONTAINED ALL LESSON OBJECTIVES, AND PRESENTATION WITH ANIMATION!

DISSCUTIONS AND DEBATE ABOUT LESSON

THEN I HAVE ASKED THEM TO MAKE THE SAME FOR THE “ENERGY” LESSON, THE PRESENTATION HAS BEEN MADE UPON THEIR IDEAS AND THIS NEW PRESENTATION IS VERY NICE. OTHER STUDENTS HAVE BEEN INTERESTED ON SUCH PRESENTATION, SO, AS A RESULT OF COMPETITION,  THE BEST POSSIBLE AND COMPLEX PRESENTATION HAVE OCCURRED

FINAL CONCLUSION

ON THIS OCCASION I FOUND THAT THE STUDENTS FROM THE TECHNOLOGICAL BRANCH, WHO WERE TRYING TO OBTAIN   HYDROGEN FROM WATER ELECTROLYZE  AS AN ENERGY SOURCE CAME TO SHOW ME HOW DID THEY EXPERIENCE AT HOME AFTER DOCUMENTING FROM THE NET .OTHER STUDENTS BROUGHT ME IMAGES OF HOLOGRAMS AND SHOWED IMAGES OBTAINED AFTER THEY BEGAN TO WONDER HOW TO GET THESE PICTURES SO, BECAUSE I HAVE EXPLAINED THEM, THEY BECAME INTERESTED IN OPTICS.

Others told me that they had to find a week in order to each the material, but in the meantime they found other interesting phenomena such as: the speed of the darkness, about the  Material behind the brain, they  managed to understand the liaisons between Chemistry, Physics, Biology and that there is now a need to study them all to find solutions to save the planet.

So when I started to divide students in groups of two or three to prepare lessons,  I have presented once the Galileo vs. /Inquisition case and a student has made the statement that there is no stand by stat , I put  him to make a presentation about this idea to have trained staff and class as the Inquisition, the student in question has had  the right to a defender. So I managed to train the students in discussions on the pros and cons and the presentation was a real dispute giving rise to brainstorming

In summary method shows the advantages of developing students' skills on the use of IT, English, etc. and teamwork spirit, the interest in Physics has developed. Disadvantage however is that they are not attracted by the math, just because  they get high marks for hard work  but not so high  when    solving Physics  problems! Why Physics laws should have mathematical beauty?  So the method can be improved?

DISSCUTION ABOUT EDUCATION AT A LEVEL OF CE KEPT IN BUCHAREST

DISSCUTION ABOUT EDUCATION AT A LEVEL OF UE AND UN KEPT IN PRAGUE

WE HOPE TO HAVE MORE DEBATES ABOUT THIS KIND OF EDUCATION