yahoo.comChemical Education Journal (CEJ),
Vol. 10, No. 2 /Registration No. 10-18Received April 29, 2008.
URL = http://chem.sci.utsunomiya-u.ac.jp/cejrnlE.html
yahoo.comFor the last 10 years, the Malaysian curriculum has undergone several changes in the contents, pedagogical approaches and the medium of instruction for the Science and Mathematics curricula. In my 31 years of teaching Science at the upper secondary level , the medium of instruction had changed from the English medium to the Malay medium in 1979 and from 2006 until currently it is back to the English medium. Science teaching has in fact metamorphosised from the mundane ways to the more creative approaches by creative and innovative teachers. The teachers are free to plan activities for the stipulated learning outcomes mentioned in the syllabus. Simple learning activities are incorporated in the lesson but the time consuming ones are carried out outside the classroom timeframe .
Project-based learning is one of these activities which are used in most Malaysian schools by the more creative teachers . It is an effective, innovative and interesting way of learning Science actively. It also caters to all types of pupils irrespective of which type of multiple intelligence they possess. The teacher plays a very important role as a facilitator to guide students in their learning process. From a very simple scientific idea, it can be developed into a very impressive project which students simply enjoy every moment of it.With the teacher's probing and questioning techniques, they are led through the creativity pathway to analyse and synthesise.In many occasions, the pupils themselves would come up with scientific solutions to overcome the problems encountered.
What is the methodology of project-based learning ?
To instill creativity in our pupils, the teachers themselves must be creative first.The teachers have to put their thinking caps on all the time to sustain the interest in the children.The steps involved are as follows :-
a) Guided and systematic investigation to a problem
b) Forming hypothesis and testing
c) Formulate research design and testing
d) Information gathering
e) Experimenting
f) Findings
g) Quantitative and qualitative analysis
h) Analysis of statistical data
i) Writing a science report
j) Writing an abstract
While learning with the pupils,the teacher would also know their learning capabilities and pupils too become more comfortable and closer to the teacher. The teachers teach in class but in these sessions with the pupils there is more time to reinforce or to assess how the pupils interpret any principle or concept taught. Ideally, these meet- the- teacher sessions have to be as frequent as twice in a month.
There are basically three types of projects involved in this
approach to learning. They are as follows:-
a) syllabus-orientated project
b) specified thematic project and
c) objective driven project
a) Syllabus-orientated project
The aim of doing this project is to make a lesson more interesting. Certain areas of the syllabus are quite theoretical or less interesting . Getting away from the usual routine of chalk and talk or the projector , pupils are involved in activities . Some examples of these projects are
i) preparing alcohols by fermentation of various
types of fruits brought by the pupils and
ii) knowing the various food additives in canned or packed
food.
By doing project(i) pupils are curious to predict the types of alcohols produced by fermenting the fruits. They begin to relate the active ingredient present in all the fruits with the type of alcohol produced .Indirectly they are led to draw reasonable conclusion and the main reaction for fermentation is well remembered.
For project (ii), pupils are divided into several groups and
are given the tasks to pick up from the food labels all the different
types of food additives. Knowing the chemicals, they will have
to discuss to relate these additives to the different functions.
At the end of the session, the group leaders have to do a presentation
which will be assessed by the teacher.
Figure 1 : From Fruits To Alcohol Project
b) Specified thematic project
This type of project is worked on when there is a certain theme specified by a certain Science competition. It is adviseable to do these projects all the time preferably as science society activities . In so doing , they can be fine tuned to the requirements of any competition rather than to round up pupils at the last minute to come with a project when there is a competition.
The examples of these projects are as follows :-
i) Devising a method to cool a room without using electricity
The name of this project done by a group of Form 4 students
is
ÒEco-coolÓwhich was an exhibit at the National
Science And Technology Education Carnival 2002 held in Sungai
Petani, a northern town in Malaysia.
The theme of the competition was conservation of energy
Figure 2 : The Set-up Of the Eco-cool Project
ii) To study the possibility of using Kenaf plant to absorb oil to solve the problem of oil spill.
This project was also done by a group of Form 4 students and it was exhibited at the National Science And Technology Education Carnival 2004 held in Johore Bahru, a southern town of Malaysia.
The theme of the competition was environmental issues.
The core of the Kenaf plant is capable of oil absorption. An amount as little as 3g of sieved Kenaf core can absorb as much as 12g of oil. The oil absorbed can then be squeezed out for recycling. The resultant core is biodegradable.
By exhibiting all the findings of these projects, pupils learn more about team work, the art of attractive display as well as the interpersonal skills while explaining their exhibits.
c) Objective driven project
This kind of project is carried out to satisfy the objective
of the targeted group.
Objectives can be very general or very specific and the projects
have to formulated according to these objectives.
Some examples of these projects which had been carried out are
as follows:-
(i) Wound antiseptic from papaya extract
The aim of this project is to participate in a science exhibition
which has no specific theme.
Antiseptic was extracted from young papaya as a main healing agent
for small wound. The antiseptic extracted is not harmful and does
not have negative effects.
(ii) Recycling kitchen waste through anaerobic decay
The aim of this project is to participate in the school's science fair held during the school's curriculum week.
All the organic kitchen waste was mixed and then left to decay for about 7 days. The mixture was ready for use when a sour and fragrant smell was detected. The effect of this organic fertiliser was shown when it was used to grow a few plastic beds of vegetables. The same fertiliser can be used to produce hydrangea flowers of different colours due to the acidity of compost from different types of kitchen wastes.
Figure 3 : Display Of Information Gathered From Project Conducted
How to implement project-based learning?
Pupils are divided into groups of 3-4 under the supervision of the teacher mentor.
During the first session, the pupils identify the problem to be investigated.They gather information on the project.The teacher mentor leads and guides the pupils to discussion during the sessions and together they devise the experiments needed to carry out.They analyse data collected, take photographs of the experimental results. At the end of the project, they have to write the report and abstract for presentation.The teacher mentor evaluate the project and suggest further areas to research on .
The duration of the project depends on the type of project . Due to time constraint,the syllabus-orientated project is usually confined to a double period lesson which is 80-90minutes or for the most two weeks'lessons . For a good objective driven or a specified thematic project, the duration will stretch over a minimum of two months.Thus, good planning is essential to finalise the time frame for the whole project before it is started.
Teachers for project-based learning have to be very committed and interested in conducting researches themselves before they can attract students to learn. They have to initiate discussions or even suggest ideas to probe into when students are not very responsive or active.
Initially, they will have to identify the areas or topics in the syllabus which can be used for this approach to learning. Then the subsequent tasks for the students' activities have to be worked out and work sheets to be prepared for easier delivery of instructions.
The designing of any experimental work resulting from the discussions has also to be carefully looked into by the teacher to make sure that the safety and the health aspects are ensured.
Last but not least, the teacher has to relate all the information gathered to the expected outcome or knowledge required.
The added value of project-based learning
This approach to learning creates opportunity for more teacher-pupil interaction during leisure times when it is done after school. When a pupil confides to the teacher his difficulties, the teacher understands more of his problems. Through this experience , the teacher would try to simplify the understanding by innovating a very useful teaching aid. An example of this is the Redox Analyser whereby a pupil will be experiencing the blowing in of the ethanol vapour through it to see the change in colour of the oxidising agent which is acidified potassium dichromate(VI) and to test the acid product formed using a piece of wet litmus paper.In the mundane experiment, most pupil find it difficult to distill out the acid portion to observe the product of the reaction.
This project approach to Chemistry learning is one up as compared to the ordinary or usual way of learning Chemistry. The difference is that students are using the inquiry approach to extract information needed through the tasks planned out by the teachers favouring project-based learning instead of just receiving information from the teacher. This has proven to be very effective and fun for the learning of very factual chemistry like properties and composition of matter and the periodic table.
Benefits of implementation of project-based learning as a teaching method
Most of the activities of project-based learning are done outdoor
or in a laboratory.
Pupils show greater interest and their curiosities are aroused
to maximise inquiry-based learning. Environmental issues are usually
discussed during the sessions with teacher mentor. Pupils are
monitored to be actively involved and the activities help pupils
to retain what they have learned besides making learning fun.
At the end of the project, pupils have the experience to give a multimedia presentation in a team to present their findings or to display their models. They too have to write a science report as well as an abstract of their work. All these requirements build up their confidence in doing presentation, writing and interacting with the audience. The whole process of learning also sharpens the pupil's computer skills and most important of all is they have become very independent and effective learners.
In conclusion, I would say that project-based learning is indeed a very effective and provened approach to see pupils enjoy learning.