Switched on! Student and teacher engagement in an electricity practical

Abstract

Electricity is taught in junior high school science in Australia and many other countries. While electricity is all around us and one would say that its context and relevance are obvious, students generally do not find learning about electricity engaging. The objective of this paper is to describe the development and evaluation of an open inquiry investigation on electrical power intended to engage students. Using design-based research methodology, three trials were run. The evaluation from trial 1 showed that while teachers engaged and were enthusiastic about the investigation, students were less so. The investigation was modified in two ways for trial 2. The first modification was the introduction of two parts, where Part A guided the students and Part B was open inquiry. The second modification was to integrate digital technologies, in the form of a spreadsheet, into the investigation. The power consumption and estimated amount of time an appliance is likely to be used were entered into the spreadsheet to obtain the cost of using a particular appliance. In trial 2, both the teachers and students engaged with the investigation. Trial 3 consolidated the findings of trial 2. The lesson here is that students are prone to follow algorithms without investing adequate mental effort in topics such as electricity, oblivious to the obvious relevance of the topic. Creative ways of engaging students need to be researched. In this study we found that the integration of open inquiry with digital technologies is a viable solution. Whether this approach reaps similar benefits in other topics needs to be investigated.

Analisis Keterampilan Praktik Ilmiah Siswa dalam Pembelajaran IPA SMP berciri Inkuiri Induktif

“…Para guru IPA pada umumnya masih mengajarkan dan mengomunikasikan sains hanya sekadar fakta yang tak terbantahkan, tanpa melibatkan proses-proses inkuiri sebagai penciri utama dalam sains (Öberg et al, 2022). Selain itu, permasalahan lain dalam pembelajaran berbasis inkuiri, yakni cara mengintegrasikan pertanyaan siswa ke dalam penilaian pada saat melakukan inkuiri, adalah masalah yang lebih rumit yang membutuhkan penelitian lebih lanjut, serta siswa cenderung mengikuti algoritma tanpa menginvestasikan upaya mental yang memadai (Herranen & Aksela, 2019;Kota et al, 2019). Hal ini diperparah dengan banyaknya buku pelajaran IPA yang berisi pengukuran parameter non-manipulatif (NPM) sebagai metode ilmiah yang dominan, padahal NPM belum dapat memfasilitasi pemahaman siswa tentang keragaman metode ilmiah (Wei et al, 2022).…”

“…Berdasarkan hasil studi diketahui bahwa indikator KMP dan KPS saling berkaitan. Pada saat kegiatan inkuiri, terdapat tiga aktivitas, yakni cognitive engagement, behavioral engagement, dan emotional engagement atau hands-heads-hearts-on (Inan & Inan, 2015;Kota et al, 2019). Kegiatan intervensi dalam studi ini adalah pembelajaran dengan menerapkan pendekatan inkuiri induktif terbimbing.…”