Increasing Student Involvement in the Science Class

Most students in government schools hail from underprivileged sections of the society. Education can help these students find liberation from the clutches of social inequalities. To help students in this regard, schools and classrooms have to be a conducive learning environment. Learning is an active process, and it necessitates the involvement of students. Students need the space for interaction to express their thoughts, and dialogue between the teacher and the students is a crucial aspect of learning.

To facilitate the aforementioned conditions, we must establish certain student-friendly norms in the classroom at the very onset in order to achieve inclusivity. When the norms are not followed, care should be taken that the students remind their peers and encourage them to respect those norms. Now, this does not happen in a day; it comes a result of repeated instructions and careful reminders.

Some of the important aspects that should be kept in mind while teaching are given as follows:

• Every student should express their ideas or ask questions about the topic in discussion, regardless of it being right or wrong. It should be ensured that the questions and answers are the original ideas of the students.
• No student should be laughed at for making mistakes; there should not be any punishment for failing to answer correctly.
• The students must summarise what they have learnt and share it in the class at the end of the class every day.
• The students should be allowed to suggest creative assessment ideas for a particular lesson—seminars, quizzes, tests, etc.

Connecting Science to Life

Science has to be connected to life. Students need be able to relate to the things happening around them and appreciate the issues at the interface of science and society. In my class, I employ some of the following strategies to connect science to lives of the students:

1) Connecting Science to daily life: Lessons on different topics, such as measurement, elements and compounds, body systems, usually start with the daily life experiences of the students. The importance of measurement was introduced through simple examples, such as the litres of milk or the groceries that are bought, the amount of ingredients required while cooking, and other such things. The steel utensils and the various plastic and metal appliances that are used by us were discussed before teaching elements and compounds. And, in the case of body systems, we talked about general health, hygiene, exercise, etc. Riddles were used as a mode of engagement in the classroom. Simple riddles allows the students to think and establishes a connection with the theme. An example of such a riddle is given below.

You bury me when I am alive and dig me out when I die...What am I?

2) Talking about environmental and social issues: Before beginning with a topic, I check for relevant newspapers articles and use that as the starting point of the discussion. Topics related to water was linked to ideas, such as water scarcity, water management, irrigation and agriculture, while chemistry in everyday life was linked to medicines, cosmetics, cleaning agents, etc. The theme of pollution was linked to the dumping of plastics, overflowing of drains, and inhaling dusty air.

3) Giving homework: I assign such home tasks that necessitates the students to come prepared with ideas/thoughts/facts that they can contribute to the discussion in class. For topics like the atomic structure, the students were asked to talk to their seniors and understand the fundamentals of an atom and the theories around it. In some other cases, the students had had to refer to the internet or books or discuss with their elders to finish their homework.

4) Conducting student seminars: We conduct seminars in which the students, either individually or in groups, get to present their learnings. This mode of teaching has a great impact in developing certain life skills, such as overcoming stage fear, improving communication skills, and other such things. Conducting seminars has become a common practice in the class, and the students gradually gain confidence with each presentation.

5) Assessing the students: Students are usually nervous about taking tests, worrying about the marks they would get and the ranks they will receive. To overcome this, no common tests were conducted in the classroom. Assessments were carried out using different methods, not being restricted to the traditional paper–pencil tests. The students were asked to choose between taking an oral quiz, making a model, or conducting a seminar as their mode of assessment.

The more my students interact in class, the more I become aware of their strengths and weaknesses. Making use of the abovementioned methods have helped me understand my students better and has, thereby, allowed me to modify my teaching style as per the needs of the learners. Learning should be an enjoyable process, and I always focus on making my classes enjoyable for my students.

Author: Priyamvatha