SUCCESSFUL EDUCATIONAL TECHNIQUES AND IDEAS FOR ENHANCING PUPILS’ MOTIVATION AND INTEREST FOR NATURAL SCIENCES

By DAIVA KERŠIENĖ,

a physics teacher at the Sietuva Secondary School in Vilnius

The learning in constant change of behaviour influenced by experience.

The natural sciences constitute a part of experience of the humanity and, therefore, are of importance to every contemporary human being in order to understand the world where he is living, comprehend the essential influence of science to social, political and economic life if the mankind. New technologies, society, politics and economics also greatly influence the natural sciences.

Education in natural sciences is aimed at helping the pupils to acquire abilities ensuring the willingness to learn and apply the knowledge of the inter-related natural sciences.

One of the principal purposes of the teaching is fostering the active thinking and mental work.

Majority of pupils consider the natural sciences as fear inspiring because of the associated mathematical apparatus and rather abstract teaching.

The natural sciences are insufficiently covered in current strategic documents regarding the secondary education. After setting the aim to humanise the general education and enhance the teaching of humanitarian and social sciences, the natural sciences left without a due attention. Undoubtedly, when implementing a reform of education in natural sciences, it is necessary to rationally balance it with the humanitarian education but not making it secondary or additional in the conditions of the information society. Methods based on achievements of natural and exact sciences are increasingly often applied in the social and humanitarian sciences. The humanitarian sciences still more often have to provide answers actualised by the fast progress of the natural sciences and technologies. From the perspective of the general education, humanitarian, social and natural sciences are integral parts of one human culture. Therefore, an approach of the diversity should be applied in the school. The integration of subjects and active learning techniques are useful for the achievement of this goal.

Ideas and techniques that I employ in lessons of physics are as follows:

- Project of physics “Lithuanian Paleoastronomy”,

- Programme of integrated lessons of physics and art,

- Project of physics “Economy of Heat and Electrical Energy in the School”,

- Integrated project “Man – Energy – Environment”.

Project of physics “Lithuanian Paleoastronomy”

Paleoastronomy is a new interdisciplinary branch of science, which investigates the ancient (from the stone age) methods of observation and fixation of the sky phenomena and means of transfer of the astronomical information found in archaeological monuments.

The man started to observe the Sun, the Moon and stars from the most ancient times. People learned to measure time by observing the phases of the Moon. In the dawn of history people perceived that the Moon influences a lot of vital processes taking place on the Earth. Ancient people draw the symbols of heavenly bodies and worshiped them. The images of the Sun, the Moon and stars created many thousand years ago survived until our times in written sources and works of art.

The Nature gives the man a very handy tool for measuring of time: “watch the Moon and you will see that every night is different”. When looking at the Moon, the ancient man perceived the flow of time and learned to measure it. The cycle of the Moon constitutes the basis of the first calendars in history of the mankind.

Programme of integrated lessons of physics and art

Rather not each pupil sees his future life related to the natural sciences. Some of them are afraid of this world full of boring formulae and logic reasoning, other pupils from childhood have inclination for art, music or languages.

This programme is aimed at integrating of these subjects.

Project of physics “Economy of Heat and Electrical Energy in the School”

Knowledge not necessarily means skills bus skills are impossible without the knowledge. The first actions and exhibitions of works of pupils entitled “Economy of Heat and Electrical Energy” were organised in our school back in 2000. Pupils from 1^st to 12^th classes participated in those events. They collected data and analysed information and results and formulated conclusions. Pupils from 1^st to 4^th classes draw posters, those from 5^th to 12^th classes manufactured models of apartments and classrooms, wrote essays. The action was closed by an event for pupils from 1^st to 4^th classes entitled “Do we know how to save?”.

In 2003, the 10^th class 2003 pupils calculated what amount of heat might be lost every day in their class because of unsealed windows. The 9^th class pupils created a game encouraging other children to save heat, water and electrical energy.

In my opinion, this project prompt to accumulate information and apply it in practice, i.e. to obtain appreciable results of saving, suggest the pupils to revise their prejudices, and prove that that the saving in fact is not an impossible task. What is required is knowledge, skills and personal responsibility.

Moreover, it helps to popularise the saving and effective use of electrical energy in the school (at home) and foster the skills of saving of heat, electrical energy and water.

Integrated project of natural sciences “Man – Energy – Environment”

An integrated project of natural sciences entitled “Man – Energy – Environment” was carried out in the years 2004-2005. One of the objectives of the project is to analyse in detail what role in our life has the use of energy and what effects of the energy use are on the Nature. It also highlighted the alternative energy sources that could reduce the negative effects of the human activity on the environment. The presentation of the project was made in the form of an open integrated lesson of the natural sciences “Man – energy – Environment”.