Science Fair Competitions are entrenched in most of our memories as a period of exciting interaction with peers, teachers, materials and equipment. It was a time when we got away from the drudgery of being taught science in the classroom and could express ourselves freely. Depending on the environment in which we received science education, it may have been a process of self-discovery triggered by our curiosity, research and presentation of an experiment or model or a demonstration of an experiment which we may have learnt from a laboratory handbook. Whichever the case it may have been, it was fun!
Viewing science as fun because of the opportunity to engage in experiments, is a commonly held view by most students in primary school. Some research findings are presented in the blog, “Socratic Questioning – Where Do I Start?”, to corroborate this view.
Overwhelming academic pressures owing to meeting curriculum demands, in many cases, force us to depend on quick ways of demonstrating science experiments. In these cases, the experiments are a presentation of a science concept which we may have already learnt from the textbook. Is this science?
If we define science as comprising a systematic study of the structure and behaviour of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment[1], we see the element of “observation” missing. Is it the result of the discovery, which is re-checked by new direct experience, as suggested by Richard Feynman?[2] Some deep thinking would lead us to question, Science fairs were fun but really did we learn science?
To appreciate science for its real worth, we may need to approach, “how we learn” science, differently from pre-established ways. Our fun Science Fairs may well be an everyday affair if only we make science a part of our daily lives; allowing it to permeate every part of our life.
“Science affects every aspect of our lives, what we eat and what we wear; what we do as work and what we do as play; what we think and what we feel, even how we are born and how we die, few moments in our lives are untouched by the products of and processes of science.” – Simpson & Anderson in their book “Science students and schools”[3].
As children we were curious and asked innumerable questions, incidentally this is a powerful tool for self-discovery called Socratic Questioning. We are encouraged to ask probing questions and keep asking questions till insight and clarity emerges.[4] We are not in it for the answers or rather they are not the goal. Therefore, we fulfil an important criterion in our quest – learning science never stops. We can’t fathom the extent of knowledge out there and therefore we don’t focus on “answers” as the goal. We keep going!
Over the last 2500 years or more, from the point of “the genesis of science” till today, a multitude of great women and men have made discoveries and arrived at theories, concepts, laws and that became the science encased in the textbook. We will continue to learn that, as it has great value but how about thinking afresh? How about discovering what science is, making that discovery on our own as well?
With the above in mind, our questioning commences:
- How aware am I of which parts of my life are touched by science?
- Are these aspects of my life touched by science and how? The clothes and shoes I wear? The transportation I use to go to school? I take guitar lessons – is that touched by science somehow? I play football at school – how about that? I love ice-cream – Can science explain to me why it takes its shape, colour and taste? I have a pet dog – what knowledge of science can I obtain by asking questions about him/her?
Thus begin a series of questions. To dive deeper into how my guitar lessons may be related to science: the strings on the guitar produce a variety of sounds, when played. Why do those different sounds emerge? Do all guitars sound the same? Why are there different kinds of guitars? How does that affect the quality of the sound?
The child says to himself – With one aspect of my life, have emerged a series of questions which may be linked to science. The questions emerged, because I asked them. I made an observation and asked the question. For the child it means, owning a) the questions and b) the succeeding process of discovery.
Here is a fun way to go about it. A parent could be the mentor or guide and the child is the one seeking to unravel the mysteries of the world in and around him. If several children are interested in a process of self-discovery, a group of parents could act as mentors and the children could be the ones asking questions.
- Each individual child observes himself and his environment closely on a daily basis
- Each individual child makes a log or record of questions – a comprehensive list of questions from his/her everyday life. Children have a plethora of interests and everyday life activities. How about asking questions about things which interest us and see how science touches them. An example has been mentioned earlier.
- Each individual child categorizes those questions. A simple classification would be: a) Food; b) Nature; c) Sports; d) Animals and so on. As one progresses further in one’s questioning, one may want to try classifying the questions into the branches of science (if the insights emerging from the questions indeed touch science) – physical sciences, earth sciences and life sciences. In the process the child learns how these branches are defined.
- The child begins his/her learning on these questions, through guidance from the mentors – through interaction with peers; through his/her personal and school resources – textbook, library, internet and so on.
- The child is fascinated with a particular area or field. For instance, he plays in a particular position on his school football team. He begins to unravel, at what angles he has a greater probability of getting a goal through the goal post. He would like to demonstrate this through an experiment.
- With guidance from his mentors, research and his own efforts he understands underlying principles from science that could have a bearing on his observation.
- He demonstrates an experiment to his peer group, and with further questioning from the group, he is able to fill in gaps in his understanding.
There are no right or wrong answers. In common parlance, he/she may fail to demonstrate what he intended to do, but for him and his peers, it is far from a failure, it is a journey. The mentor(s) would seek to emphasize the understanding of science rather than seeking “success”.
To operationalize the above idea, the mentor(s) may choose to use an online platform. How about the children showcasing their experiments, every weekend, to all the peers and mentor(s), on a digital platform? In course of time, the peer group could get larger and the learning broadens.
Further to the above, the peer group could get together to watch documentaries or movies on themes/questions that are common to all. For example: a) All about plastic; b) All about water; c) All about light and so on.
The peer group could subscribe to a science journal collectively; may even seek to share their valuable insights and contributions with a kids science journal or create their own website (and circulate a kids journal) which would work as a platform of learning and sharing knowledge.
Everyday life is an ideal setting for science to really become fun. “Observation”, the first step in the process, can take place in contrived settings too. Organizing a visit to the local science museum, observatory or planetarium; a weekend Turtle walk on the beach with a voluntary group (for example: The Students Sea Turtle Conservation Network); nature walks; bird watching; exploring the bio-diversity of a nearby lake; volunteering for a cleaning drive or visiting a nearby village to understand farming activities are all excellent ways to pique the child’s curiosity. [5]
Depending on the child’s interests, the above settings can engender a wealth of questions related to science, steer one towards gaining novel insights and lead one onto the path of self-discovery. The child begins to understand what truly interests him and what he would like to invest his time and energy on.
Looking at the apprehensions and reservations connected with science learning; it is advisable to break away from stereo-types and pre-conditioned ways of thinking. How to bring the fun back into science, an element that is actually intrinsic to it?
Games as Tools in Science Education and Science in Games
Even before we embark on presenting elaborate research on the area, we all intuitively understand that games are an excellent way to promote learning, science or otherwise. As children, we were encouraged to engage in puzzles such as Sudoku, jigsaw puzzles, Rubik’s cubes, trivia or word puzzles. All these games encourage skills and thinking patterns which are useful in promoting scientific way of thinking. Some deep “observation” would reveal to us that games themselves contain science in its many facets, which is what makes them so much of fun! (Try the methodology in the previous section, to unravel the Science behind games)
There is evidence that elements contained in games contribute significantly to factors such as “reaction time, probabilistic inference, spatial cognition (spatial is concerned with size, position and area of something) and visual short-term memory[6]. In particular the evidence favours “good video games”, contrary to popular beliefs and negative connotations about the effects of video games on children. With the preponderance of technology and its ubiquitous use by children; parents, teachers and mentors would do well to consider research in this area.
A small number of schools in the U.S., have begun to experiment with gamification (using game elements in other environments to enhance user experience[7]) across their curriculum.[8] The authors of this paper speak of how cultural tools such as language, art and institutions play an important role in the development of scientific thinking. There is more – games being a powerful cultural tool; they can be used very effectively by educators.
The National Research Council in the U.S, voicing its concerns on the weak performance of children in science, seriously considered adopting a new approach to science education – adoption of simulations and games. These were not just to motivate, but also for “conceptual understanding, science process skills and comprehending the nature of science”.[9] The primary goal is to move away from garnering facts and “doing science”. One significant advantage of using games in learning science, is that children view “errors/failures” differently – in a science classroom it could be viewed as “negative external evaluation” while in a game it is seen as “constructive feedback.[10] Intense states of concentration are achieved in a game and potential for gradation of the difficulty level provide tremendous opportunities for science learning.
“Good video games” are similar to how scientists approach a problem: construct a hypothesis; design an experiment to test the hypothesis, evaluate the results and refine the hypothesis.[11] There is a genre of video games called “serious educational games[12]” which teach underlying principles of science, which focus on the content of science (environmental science, biology games or games teaching principles of Physics). Similarly, there are games which encourage a scientific way of thinking and some others (such as strategy games) which promote skills which are useful in the area of science. [13]
While more research in this area is needed before we claim wide-ranging implications for science education; discretion on the part of parents and mentors, can play a vital role in deciphering which elements of games can serve well in learning science. Accordingly, this tool can and should be used prudently.
This article seeks to bring science in to everyday “thinking” – achieving an awareness on how it touches our lives. Pre-conceived notions can be eliminated through novel ways of learning science; therefore, some new ways of approaching science education have been presented before the reader. With a change in attitudes and beliefs regarding science, it wouldn’t be hostile or abstruse. We would appreciate it for its true worth!
[1] oxfordreference.com
[2] feynman.com/science/what-is-science
[3] Simpson, R.D. & Anderson, N.D. (1981). Science students and schools. A guide for the middle and secondary
school teachers, New York: John Willey and Sons.
[4] See Blog on “Socratic Questioning – Where Do I Start?”
[5] For more ideas on science (environmental sustainability) at home or with peer group, please see
blog on “A Closer Look at Science – Environmental Sustainability”
[6] B.J.Morris, S.Croker, C Zimmerman, D. Gill, C. Romig; Gaming Science: the “Gamification” of
Scientific Thinking, 2013 (Frontiers in Psychology)
[7] Kapp, K.M, The Gamification of Learning and Instruction: Game-Based Methods and Strategies for
Training and Education, 2012
[8] B.J.Morris, S.Croker, C Zimmerman, D. Gill, C. Romig; Gaming Science: the “Gamification” of
Scientific Thinking, 2013 (Frontiers in Psychology)
[9] National Research Council. 2011. Learning Science Through Computer Games and Simulations.
Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
[10] B.J.Morris, S.Croker, C Zimmerman, D. Gill, C. Romig; Gaming Science: the “Gamification” of
Scientific Thinking, 2013 (Frontiers in Psychology)
[11] Gee, J.P., Being a Lion and being a soldier: learning and games, 2008a
[12] Annetta, L.A., Serious Educational Games, 2008
[13] B.J.Morris, S.Croker, C Zimmerman, D. Gill, C. Romig; Gaming Science: the “Gamification” of
Scientific Thinking, 2013 (Frontiers in Psychology)
