MAKING TEACHING AND LEARNING OF SCIENCE SUBJECTS FUN AND PRACTICAL
Most science subjects are generally believed to be hard and unintelligible. Subjects like physics, chemistry, biology, further mathematics and mathematics have been giving students problem over the years and have contributed to failures such as truancy and drop-out. But nevertheless there are methods of teaching these subjects effectively and efficiently.
Students love to hear stories and therefore, storytelling is one of the best ways to get their attention in class (s). The teacher can explain the facts of biology or laws of physics in the form of stories. This is a mental organizer as human beings can remember stories than just plain facts. Some teachers present the whole concept as a story while others use a story to open and end the session.
Learning through argumentation gives students a widened thinking to contrasting ideas which in turn deepens their understanding. They can refine ideas with others and engage with open-ended questions and reinstate observations or remarks in a more scientific language. Teachers can also guide them in their approach and share intellectual expertise with them.
Learning by doing is an unparalleled approach to teach science and this is made a reality with remote laboratory (lab). Students are given access to authentic scientific tools and opportunities to control remote lab experiments. This would enhance their inquiry skills and conceptual understanding and also the students can learn and explore with motivation.
Mini-labs allow student to take part in hands-on activities inside the classrooms to illustrate the concept. This makes classroom sessions more fun, engaging and memorable. Students can attempt to mock-up day and night with a globe and flashlight, build circuits, test for conductivity and magnetism, produce mixtures and solutions or model the formation of sedimentary rocks and more.
Schools should conduct science fares as part of their teaching strategy to promote students’ interest in the subject as well as to evaluate their level of understanding. In this competition students are given a time frame to answer a question or perform a task through a range of experiments and research. They showcase the output in form of report, display board or as models.
Students take the role of teaching each other that promote excitement learning science. In peer-to-peer teaching approach, they are really engaged in the content by discussing scientific topics, generating questions and working in teams to explore new information. Some of the activities involved in this approach include buzz groups and critic groups.
These methods can help effectively in making science subjects fun and lively to teach in most of the secondary schools in Nigeria where it is believed that learning or teaching science is ineffective.
SSS 3D
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT GIRLS COLLEGE, BENIN CITY