Exploring the Potential of Modeling Kits in Understanding Small and Big-Scale Science Phenomena

Summary of SyMETRI meeting May 8th, 2023 by Qiaochu Xu

Presenter/Guest Speaker: Suresh Ghimire from the Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy, Faculty of Education, UBC
Date: May 8th, 2023
Host: Dr. Cynthia Nicol

In the SyMETRI meeting on May 8th, 2023,

Suresh began his presentation by stating that the aim of science education is not only to teach scientific content knowledge but also to develop scientific literacy and understanding of scientific inquiry skills. Educators have proposed various activity-based approaches to incorporate inquiry into science classes, but not all of them have been successful. Furthermore, the curriculum worldwide has long been criticized for being overstuffed and undernourished (AAAS, 1989, 1993), as it tends to provide a superficial overview of scientific concepts without delving deeper into understanding the scientific inquiry process. Suresh spoke about the science curriculum overly emphasizes scientific concepts while neglecting scientific process skills in many countries and including Nepal. Based on his 12 years of experience working with teachers, Suresh said it is evident that they are neither adequately trained nor supported in adopting inquiry-based teaching methods.

In responding to the inadequacy of inquiry-based learning and lack of hands-on activities in science classrooms, Suresh introduced the model-based inquiry (MBI) proposed by Windschitl et al. (2008), which centers on generating, testing, and revising scientific models. They argue that MBI can support science learning across all academic levels. Jonas Hallström and Konrad J. Schönborn (2019) also agree that models and modeling can be utilized to promote authentic STEM education and literacy. The potential of model-based inquiry seems particularly promising in Nepali schools with limited resources.

Suresh is interested to investigate the following questions:

  • What are the perceptions of Nepali science teachers on the use of hands-on activities facilitated by scientific modeling kits in science classrooms?
  • How can scientific modeling kits be effectively integrated into Nepali science classrooms to enhance student learning of big and small-scale scientific phenomena?

Suresh’s research aims to investigate the perceptions of Nepali science teachers who use Karkhana’s scientific modeling kits in their classrooms, specifically focusing on the potential of model-based inquiry facilitated by these kits. Karkhana is an education enterprise in Kathmandu working with schools to bring hands-on STEM experience for kids aged 0 to 18. Karkhana designs learning experiences that provide learners with opportunities to make things and shape their own worlds. Karkhana’s experiences allow children to practice and perfect the 21st-century skills of creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, and communication while using science, arts, and technology. The Hands-on science program designed by Karkhana is being implemented in more than 50 schools by around 180 teachers and reaching to 10,000+ students.

Additionally, his research will explore teachers’ views on the effectiveness of scientific modeling kits in enhancing students’ understanding of various scientific phenomena, ranging from atomic and planetary scales, which significantly differ in magnitude, such as size, distance, weight, temperature, motion, and other related variables. Suresh will return to Nepal for his data collection, we look forwards to hearing more about his study once he come back from Nepal.

Here are some slides from his presentation:

Bio

Suresh is an educator based in Kathmandu, Nepal. He co-founded an education enterprise Karkhana in 2012 and has been designing hands-on Science learning kits for middle schools since then. Currently, he is pursuing an MA in Curriculum Studies at UBC. He is a passionate tinkerer and spends his free time walking, hiking, and enjoying the woods.

 

Learning Disabilities in Mathematics: A Survey of British Columbia Teachers’ Understandings, Perspectives, and Experiences

Summary of SyMETRI meeting April 25th, 2023 by Qiaochu Xu

Presenter/Guest Speaker: Charli-Rae Dougherty from the Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy, Faculty of Education, UBC
Date: April 25th, 2023
Host: Dr. Cynthia Nicol

In the SyMETRI meeting on April 25, 2023,

Charli-Rae Dougherty presented her masters in math education capstone project titled“Learning Disabilities in Mathematics: A Survey of British Columbia Teachers’ Understandings, Perspectives, and Experiences.” Charli-Rae is a practicing teacher in the Quesnel School District in central British Columbia. She surveyed teachers across BC to learn of their experiences and perspectives of students’ learning disabilities in mathematics.

Charlie-Rae began our meeting by introducing some characteristics of learning disabilities in mathematics such as significant difficulty learning mathematics where teaching and remediation strategies are less effective, difficulty working with symbolic representations, poor working memory, and high anxiety around mathematics. Charli-Rae also mentioned that there are relatively few studies that focus on learning disabilities in mathematics, with mostly being case studies or correlational research studies. Charli-Rae investigated the following questions in her capstone project:

  • How knowledgeable of MLD do teachers perceive themselves?
  • How confident are teachers in meeting the needs of their students with MLD (learning disabilities in math)?
  • What characteristics do teachers notice in their students’ with MLD?
  • What strategies do teachers use to support with learning disabilities?

Public and private school K-12 teachers in BC were invited to respond to a survey that included likert scales and open-response questions. In total, 223 participants responded. Among them, 42% were elementary classroom teachers, and 26% were mathematics teachers. Interestingly, more than half of the participating teachers rated themselves as not knowledgeable at all about the process and criteria required for the diagnosis of learning disabilities in math. Respondents stated that it is difficult to understand what a learning disability in math is if you are not aware of what it takes to be diagnosed with one.

Here are some results of her study:

Those attending SyMETRI asked questions about the research design of survey methods, such as what questions to ask on the survey to get accurate responses and how to ask questions differently to improve the quality of the survey. SyMETRI members also asked about teaching strategies to teach students with learning disabilities in math, such as over learning, repeated practice, and backtracking. Other members shared their opinions on the use of concrete objects and manipulative to support abstract and spatial thinking skills in the math classroom.