Call of duty for Science Teachers in India

[This article has also been published in Teacher Plus magazine: http://www.teacherplus.org/classroom-update/teaching-research-skills]                        

                                     Image Courtesy: Vishawabharati English Medium School, Ahmedabad

Science teachers of India have one of the toughest challenges in today’s times. Let me explain:

At the World Economic Forum-2011 in Davos, almost all of the eminent economists appeared to be agreeing on one particular point: a country with a strong “knowledge-economy” will take global leadership in the coming times. The heart of “knowledge-economy” is progress in science and research. America, European Union, China, and Japan are firmly marching forward in this direction. However, in the present scenario, India is lagging behind by a great margin. According to Science Report-2010 published by UNESCO, India’s contribution to the world research publication is only 3.7 per cent, whereas China’s contribution is 10.6 per cent and the United States’ contribution is 27.7 per cent. In global patents, India’s share is merely 0.5 per cent (USPTO patents), whereas China’s share is 4.7 per cent and the US’ share is massive 52.2 per cent. Though 16 per cent of the world’s population resides in India, only 2.2 per cent of scientific researchers of the world hold Indian citizenship. In addition, for every one million of population, India has only 137 scientific researchers; this is outnumbered many times by all of the developed countries and many of the developing nations (for e.g., China -1070, US -4663, and Japan - 5573).

Will India participate in the global competition and give a tough challenge? In the present times, the economic rise is making Indians increasingly optimistic about their future. However, in order to sustain high GDP growth rates for longer duration, India must generate a large pool of globally competent scientific researchers, whose work will drive future industries. As per UNESCO’s Science Report 2010, one of the biggest challenges for India in the coming years will be to revolutionarily improve both quantity and quality of scientists and researchers. The development of this much needed human resource is rooted in the science classrooms of our schools. And, the science teachers are directly shaping our presumably future scientists. The competition is no more between the GDP numbers, but is between the science teachers of various nations. India will out-pace China and America, if the Indian science teachers out-educate the Chinese and the American teachers. The Indian science teachers, truly, have one of the toughest challenges on their hands.

The challenge is tough, but not impossible. This will require a paradigm shift in teaching practices. Since I have taught Physics both in India and US for about two years, I shall more specifically talk about physics-teaching. [Note: The ideas presented here can be applied to many other faculties of science, and up to a certain extend to social-science as well.] When we have this broader goal of nurturing future scientists, teaching a child mere physics-content is not enough. The students must be taught research skills. They should be taught to approach the scientific concepts/problems the way physicists do. Development of scientific attitude and thinking pattern in students is of utmost importance for the future success in knowledge development of their respective field of interest.

Usually, a researcher follows the following steps:

1. Identify & Define Problem

2. Literature Review

3. Form Hypothesis

4. Methodology & Data Collection

5. Analyze Data & Produce Results

6. Explain Results & Draw Conclusions

7. Provide directions for further research

Physics teachers are in a great position to help students acquire these skills. Let us see how we can do this with an example — the experiment of the verification of Ohm’s law (Chapter 12, Class 10, NCERT):

1.         Identify & Define Problem: Students will define the problem. For this, they will identify variables that may play an effective role in a particular physical phenomenon. The teacher should direct inquiry through questions and discussions.

·      In our case: To study the relation between potential difference and current in a closed electric circuit (verification of Ohm’s Law).

2.         Literature Review: In this process, students gain relevant background knowledge about the problem. They may explore knowledge-resources (e.g., text/reference books, websites, or audio-video sources) for getting deeper understanding of the problem presented to them. Preferably, the teacher should encourage library-work with well-defined time limits, and if required, should provide resources (i.e., books, websites, etc.) as well. At the end of this session, the teacher should discuss the basic concepts to make sure no student skips this step.

·          In our case: Students will have the knowledge and understanding of Ohm’s law and will get familiar with relevant terminologies (i.e., potential difference, current, resistance, electric circuits).

3.         Form Hypothesis: Students will be asked to form hypothesis with scientific rationale based on the literature review. Formation of hypothesis requires understanding of - (a) variables and constants pertaining to the problem, and (b) the relation between variables. There can be many different hypotheses and explanations for a single problem.

·           In our case: “As voltage (V) increases, while maintaining constant resistance, the current (I) will increase”.

Rationale: According to Ohm’s law, the potential difference across resistor is directly proportional to current. In addition, the metal wire used as the resistor will provide constant resistance as its temperature is constant.

4.         Methodology & Data Collection: Based on their hypothesis, students will identify independent (V) and dependent (I) variables and constant parameters. They will list the apparatus needed to test their hypothesis, devise a method-plan, and prepare an observation table. The teacher’s role is to facilitate this autonomous process and to probe questions. The teacher should direct students’ attention to their hypothesis and to the literature as required. Once scientifically correct method-plan is devised, students can collect data.

5.         Analyze Data & Produce Results: Students can always refer to the literature as needed.

6.         Explain Results & Conclusion: Students should justify their results and conclude their experiment.

7.    Experiment analysis: Students should mention limitations of their experiment and suggest steps for improvements.

In the above exercise, defining a problem, literature review, hypothesis development, identification of constants & dependent/independent variables, method-plan preparation and justification for results are very vital steps. These steps are the crux of inquiry and development of science. Unfortunately, in our schools, students hardly get any opportunity for such intellectual exercise. During experiment sessions, in most schools, students simply follow method-steps mechanically, calculate results, and copy everything in a journal. Such a practice may work for getting high results in “cram and crack” exams, but it does absolutely nothing to promote scientific inquiry. This must be changed.

            Inquiry-based approach is applicable in regular classes as well. While teaching, teachers should emphasize on the following features of classroom inquiry:

·         engage learner in scientifically oriented questions

·         give priority to evidence in responding to questions and formation of hypothesis (warrant responses with scientific rationale)

·         learner should formulate explanation from evidence

·         learner should connect explanation to scientific knowledge and justify explanation

Group activities and demonstrations, along with scientific discussions, should be maximized in classrooms in order to encourage students to think critically. Now, lecture method alone will not work. There has to be a two-way communication, where students are active participants and can challenge the teacher. Physics should be talked in class – how concepts were evolved, how/why theories were tested and added to the pool of scientific knowledge, how/why theories were refuted, how theories are interlinked and how they are related to the real world.

In addition, physics problem solving sessions can be divided in steps to make critical scientific thinking of students more evident:

1.      Explain problem in your words with appropriate figure

2.   Devise strategy (how will you solve the problem): Students will write problem-solving strategy briefly. In order to control the effect of student’s memory on scientific process, a teacher may give multiple equations and students may choose appropriate equation for devising strategy.

3.      Calculations & results

Here again, I would give higher value to steps 1 & 2, which are essential elements of scientific approach to problem-solving. However, our schools solely focus on step 3, which saddens me. I do not mean that calculation is not important. It is important, but it should not out-value the other vital scientific steps. Suppose the total score of a problem-sum is 10, I would allocate score-value of 3, 3, & 4 for steps 1, 2, & 3, respectively. It is time our high school students use softwares like Mathematica and Matlab, and scientific calculators, so that their class-time is utilized in other aspects of learning rather than mere calculations. In addition, they must be engaged in solving physics problems using computer programming, mainly, in FORTRAN or C language (recommended through personal communication by Ketan Patel, Senior Research Fellow, PRL; & Dhiraj Shah, Research Fellow, ISRO). In research labs, these softwares and languages are widely used; and nobody hand-calculates on paper.

            I totally understand the practical difficulties that a teacher might face while implementing inquiry-based approach in teaching. Based on my personal experiences, three factors play a major role:

·         Lack of Resources:

o   Physical Resources: Activities, demonstrations, and experiments ---- all of these require relevant apparatus and infrastructure. The list may go on to reference books, audio-video equipment, CDs/DVDs, computers with high speed internet connectivity, softwares and so on. In a developing country like India, resource-constraint has been a great challenge when it comes to implementing something on a large scale.

o   Time: Most of the Indian schools have class-period of 30-35 minutes. This is just not sufficient for inquiry-based lesson plans. Tapping into prior knowledge of students, activities/demonstrations, group discussions, teacher-explanation, and note-taking may require, at least, 45mins - 1hr. In addition, the experimental sessions (as described previously) may require about 2-3hrs.

·         Lack of Autonomy: It is possible that the school administrators or parents are not convinced with the newer teaching approach; and they may voice objection. This can be very frustrating and demotivating for teachers.  

·         Lack of Competence: Most of the teacher training colleges never discuss “how to teach research skills”. Hence, it is very likely that even trained teachers lack knowledge and skills that this approach demands. However, as professionals, it is the duty of the teachers to develop the required skills and stay updated to remain globally competent. I would also suggest teachers to develop some political skills like – persuasion, negotiations, and lobbying. These skills can help them tackle the previous two impeding factors (i.e., lack of resources & lack of autonomy). 

            Coming back to the broader question— will India become a global leader? Our teachers may not be the only contributing factor to India’s rise, but they surely are one of the most important ones. If we are able to provide research experiences in our classrooms, I see bright possibilities. I wish our teachers all the very best – ‘You have always been the unsung heroes; and today again, you are asked to heavy-lift India’s great optimism for its future’.   

I welcome your comments....