New Perspectives in Science Education
Could Smartphone in Science Teaching Foster Motivation and Positive Attitudes in Students?
Immacolata Ercolino, University of Camerino (Italy)
Sabina Maraffi, University of Camerino (Italy)
Francesco M. Sacerdoti, Temple University (United States)
Abstract
Motivating students is one of the most challenging things we do as educators even though sometimes generates teacher’s burn out.
One of the newer way to involve students in their Science learning consists in focusing on their usage and on applying knowledge and skills in their real-life. Students usually are engaged in authentic teaching pathway and highly value it as fundamental characteristic; good practice as hand’s on activities can be implemented in the classroom following the CLIL methodology focusing attention on experiencing real-life situations, this creates a positive classroom environment. New media equipment, as student’s own smartphones, can increase the teaching impact speaking the same language the students uses every day. The touch interface on smartphones is tailor-made for curious students and they are learning how to better use the important technology they hold. Playing with their phone is teaching them about the technology.
The smartphone will play a huge role in that. These new tools improve life and quickly, all students (and teachers) have these powerful high-tech laboratory equipment in their pockets. A smartphone with thousands of apps provided by two high-resolution cameras can replace a microscope. The use of smartphones and all these sensors are becoming absolutely necessary in science teaching. They can measure magnetic fields, their GPS coordinates (longitude and latitude), and so on. In this way we can measure distances as parallax using mobile devices and simulate distance measurements in the classroom, on the school campus or measure the concentration of a reagent in a solution.
An example on a actual smartphone use for teaching is new class role-playing games which creates an adventure for the students which partecipate to the game with their own equipment.
The smartphone is the device with which the students answer questions, take decisions, solve quests.
This paper is focused on the effects of smartphone in science teaching in classroom and their use in an innovative AstroQuest project which consists of a class interactive role-playing game to teach Astronomy, Physics, Chemistry.
The AstroQuest Project enhances interdisciplinarity between sciences and humanities and is multi-language in order to be used as CLIL compliance.
