New Perspectives in Science Education

Primary school teachers in Singapore generally do not have a science degree. As part of their professional development, they regularly attend in-service courses to upgrade their competencies. The present study, part of a full time in-service course conducted at the university, had an assignment that requires teachers (N=28) to work in groups and fabricate an exhibit that can be used to communicate scientific concepts in an interactive manner. They need to make use of commonly available materials and, where items need to be purchased, the cost should not exceed S$10. Teachers were given about 4 weeks to work on this project – not continuously but during breaks in the in-service course schedule and, where necessary, during their free time outside the course schedule. The activity affords teachers enormous scope to acquire better understanding of key scientific concepts when working in an applied context. (Teachers were also told that the activity would also provide them some experience in supervising their own students to coming up with exhibits for the annual school science fair), Evaluation of the activity was done through a validated survey, teacher reflections, demonstration of the exhibit by teachers for communicating science and document analysis of the written reports. Results show that the activity produced significant gains in conceptual understanding of key concepts by the teachers, more confidence by them in communicating science to their peers, and   high interest levels when learning by doing in an applied context. Images of selected exhibits will be shared during the presentation. Some implications of the study are discussed.