Report On Teaching Science Using Virtual Experiment

Introduction With the implementation of the SPN 21 in the curriculum, teachers are encourage to provide an opportunity to learn and develop students' capability through the use of ICT tools in order to foster positive learning attitudes towards learning the science content. Therefore, in order to expose the students to the uses of the technology in the classroom, the attitudes and enthusiasm of teachers are of great importance. The use of different technological devices or ICT media such as computers, Overhead projector (OHP), LCD projector, Interactive White Board (IWB), internet and so forth in teaching and learning science should also be emphasized. This report described a project study in which science lesson was carried out involving the use of virtual experiment when teaching and learning the science content to the students at the upper primary level. Objectives The purpose of the project study were: i)

To observe students’ involvement in using virtual experiment

ii)

To examine the impact of using virtual experiement in teaching and learning science to the students in term of students’ attitudes and achievement.

Methodology A science lesson using virtual manipulative applets was carried out in a group at SR Katok. It was involving the students of Primary 5 and they were introduced using one virtual applet on "Grouping and Changing Materials". This applet was used because it allows student to perform the science experiment or interactive activities online with the arrangement of virtual objects for conducting the experiment/ activities. The software also provides feedback throughout the experiment/ activities such as display of correct or wrong answers and so forth.

Procedure

For set induction, the students were asked to recall their prior knowledge regarding the properties of materials. Teacher discussed with the students by asking them to list out all the properties of materials that they have learnt.

Then using the science applet as shown on the pictures, the teacher introduced the topic “Grouping and Changing Materials” to the students. The applet can be found at http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/6_7/grouping_materials.shtml Grouping and changing materials. During this activity the teacher introduced to the students the four properties of materials such as wood, metal, rubber and glass. At the same time, the teacher also demonstrated to the students in how to drag the virtual objects and placed it onto the correct group of material.

After that, the teacher asked the students to do the activity individually by asking them to come to the board and put the object onto the correct grouping of material. As soon as the students finished dragging the objects into the correct categories, the teacher asked and discussed with the students what and why the objects belong to that particular group. The students were asked to explain and reason their answers.

For the next activity (Quiz session), the teacher asked the students to answer 10 multiple choice questions (MCQ) which can be found from the same software. Here, the teacher asked the students to answer the question by choosing the correct answer on the displayed applet. Then, the teacher discussed the answers with the students. For the last activity, the students performed individual activities. Worksheets were given to the students. Before the end of the lesson, the teachers had also

conducted some interviews to the students regarding the use of this science applet in the classroom.

Results The result from the quiz activity which was done by the students showed that they had managed to score 7 out of 10 questions. They were able to answer most of the question given, however there were few questions that confused them, as a result they made mistakes for those question. One of example of the questions is “Which of these things is not found naturally but is made by changing a natural material?”For the individual activities done by the students, the score obtained were then tabulated as shown below. Question 1

Question 2

Number of pupils

Wood

Ceramic

Fabric

Rubber

Part (i)

Part (ii)

Total

1

3

2

1

2

1

1

10

2

3

1

1

3

1

2

11

3

2

2

1

1

1

1

8

4

2

2

3

3

1

2

13

5

2

1

3

3

1

2

12

6

2

2

1

3

1

2

11

7

2

2

2

2

1

2

11

8

2

1

1

2

1

2

9

9

3

3

3

3

1

2

15

10

3

2

3

3

1

2

14

Total

114

Mean of score = Total score / no of students Mean of score = 114/ 10 Mean score = 11. 4

Conclusion As a conclusion, the students were able to answer most of the questions given by teachers during the Quiz session and also when doing individual worksheet. The used of virtual experiment when learning the science content seemed to be very effective and could encourage students to learn and understand the science concept easily. Therefore, it is important to teachers to provide this type of opportunities so that students will be able to learn in more meaningful ways.

Strength of the lesson From the students’ interviewed, they expressed their feeling of enjoyment when doing the activities when learning science using this applet. This is because they have never used this applet before and would like to learn other science concepts using the applets again in the future. Other than that, some of the students have also admitted that they could understand and remembered the concepts easily when given the opportunities to move the objects on their own.

Weakness of the lesson However, there were some weaknesses when the science lesson was carried out. Some of them were limited access to the internet, some of the computers do not have internet access therefore the students were asked to sit at the front so that all of the students have the opportunities to manipulate the objects on the screen. The numbers of student were also limited, only half of the students were allowed by teachers to involve in the project. The lesson was unable to start on time due to students arrived late to the computer room. Some of the students were also not familiar with the term used in the questions and explanation regarding the terms was not too clear.

Benefit of using virtual experiment in teaching and learning science. When looking at the students’ results and students’ attitudes towards the use of this virtual manipulative experiment when teaching and learning the science

concepts, it can be seen that there are many benefit when using this applets. Some of the advantages are: •

It gains students’ interest and their positive attitudes.

•

It is easier to carry out.

•

Less preparation time.

•

Safe and interesting display.

•

It fosters student scientific skills such as process skills when conducting the experiment and so forth.

Recommendation For the future project study, there are some recommendations so that the lesson will be more interesting and effective such as when explaining the unfamiliar term to the students, teachers should put a link or shows pictures to make the questions more clear for example a link on how a glass is made, shows pictures of burning of woods and etc based on our Brunei context so that students will be able to understand and relate with their daily life activities. It will be appropriate if the teachers bring USB or external modem device in case there is no internet connection available in the school. Increasing and involving more students in this type of project so that the effectiveness of using this virtual experiment in science lesson will be more reliable.