Symposium: Using Effective Learning Experiences In Physics To Develop the 21st Century Competencies and Student Outcomes

To make the learning of Physics more authentic, engaging and visible, students have to be exposed to hands-on investigative group activities. This aligns with studies that suggest that concrete learners make greater improvement in subject mastery with more reflective (Saunders & Sheperdson, 1987) and positive attitude (Lawson, 1995) in Science learning.  We designed activities where students work in groups cooperatively; to facilitate discussion and presentations, students used White boarding.  The process fits into the 5E Learning Cycle Model.   

The electricity topics can be quite abstract for many students. To help students relate to circuit design questions and make their learning more visible and with deeper understanding, we implemented our in-housed Foutan board activities. This activity is an adaptation of the Foutan board activity used by Cornell University “Xraise Outreach for CLASSE” Wilson Lab (CNS Institute for Physics Teachers 2011 Revised).   

Our activities also expose students to technology that are being adapted pervasively in our work places and homes. The students use sensors, semiconductors and electronic data analysis gadget to capture the physical data and processed it. This aligns with the
information skills of the 21st Century Competencies.   

These activities are carried out for our Year 3 and Year 4 students who are in their 15 and 16 years of age. The outcomes were positive. Students showed a better understanding of the topics.  They were more confident in forming and communicating explanations and they showed a higher level of academic self-efficacy through keener interest and motivation. Students’ feedback survey showed on average above 3.1 out of 4 where 4 is highly agreeable, with standard deviation of 0.55-0.65 reliability where below 1.00 indicates reliable. The survey thus showed that the students felt more confident to question, clarify and reflect on their learning; the hands-on activities helped to spur their interest in the topics; they can relate better to real world application and the activities help them have a deeper or clearer understanding of the Physics concept taught in class.