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Reigniting Technical Students’ Interest in Science

By IGI Global on Feb 27, 2012
Are science and design natural partners? Authors of a case study recently published by IGI Global demonstrate how a pencil holder design project gave new life to a group of Singapore students' understanding of physics, helping this group of academically-challenged students embrace scientific principles.

In Singapore, students are assigned to different secondary school curriculums based on their Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) scores. "In the Normal (Technical) course, students offer 5-7 subjects in the GCE ‘N' Level examination," states the Singapore Ministry of Education website. "This curriculum prepares them for a technical-vocational education at the Institute of Technical Education."

These "NT" students "are predominantly kinaesthetic learners with short attention spans," write the case study authors Nazir Amir of Greenview Secondary School, Singapore, and Professor R. Subramaniam of Nanyang Technological University, Singapore in their case study, " Fostering Inquiry in Science among Kinaesthetic Learners through Design and Technology."

"Many students in this stream have also been identified as having difficulty reading, understanding, and answering questions across subjects because of their weak proficiency in the English language […]," they write. Mr. Amir and Professor Subramaniam argue in this case study that Design and Technology courses can be infused with scientific principles, rather than focusing merely on aesthetic principles.

As part of their Design and Technology curricula, 37 students aged 13-14 were asked to create a pencil holder that incorporated physics principles such as movement, balance, or friction. The pencil holder would be made from wood and must have been able to hold three or more pencils. It should also have been suited for use as a McDonald's Happy Meal toy.

"The students were excited at the challenge as it contained a play factor," write the authors. "Play factors are important in presenting science concepts to students, […] as we want them to feel that science can be fun."

Since credit for the project would be partially based on the application of physics principles and "value-added" innovations, students used their science textbooks extensively when brainstorming ideas for the project, the authors write. Several students "were able to show their creativity in science through the application of a number of physics concepts" in their designs, write Mr. Amir and Professor Subramaniam. "Extracts from their portfolios and artefacts revealed how they made creative use of pivots, inclined planes, wheel and axle, pulleys, moments, and friction to good effect as part of the functionality of their pencil holders to captivate users."

In addition to incorporating scientific principles, the students expressed uniformly positive feelings about the project, according to the authors. "There were no negative statements towards the project at all," they write, continuing,

"The success of the pencil holder project needs to be attributed to the way students were guided in their D&T [Design and Technology] lessons. The students were never left entirely to figure out an idea on their own. Rather they were taken care of by their teachers who had a strong belief in the potential of these NT students."

However, they note, "The findings from this study are restricted to one class of students and must thus be viewed in this context."

This case study can is part of one of IGI Global's recently released casebooks, Cases on Inquiry through Instructional Technology in Math and Science. You can learn more about this book by visiting www.igi-global.com/book/cases-inquiry-through-instructional-technology/56022.

"Fostering Inquiry in Science among Kinaesthetic Learners through Design and Technology" and the rest of the cases featured in Cases on Inquiry through Instructional Technology in Math and Science are available for use in your class. All teaching cases are now being offered for classroom use at a special student rate of $3.00 per case, per student! To learn more about our Teaching Case Collection and begin searching for the perfect case for your class, visit www.igi-global.com/cases.aspx. View the sample PDFs, and for an even more complete preview, professors across the globe can request a complimentary case study examination copy at www.igi-global.com/cases/browseourcases/requestexaminationcopy.aspx!
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