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PUBLICATION INFORMATION

TITLE OF PUBLICATION

SUGGESTIONS FOR AN EFFECTIVE “LABORATORIAL EDUCATION” (INDICAZIONI PER UNA “DIDATTICA LABORATORIALE” FORMATIVA)

NAME OF AUTHOR(S)

Aldo Borsese, Marcella Mascarino, Patrizia Mittica, Irene Parrachino

NAME OF PUBLISHER

CONCURED (Università e scuola, problemi trasversali e ricerca didattica, CONCURED, anno XIV, n.1, 2009)

YEAR OF PUBLICATION

2009

LANGUAGE OF PUBLICATION

Italian

PUBLICATION TYPOLOGY

Research

TARGET GROUP OF PUBLICATION

Researchers, Teachers

SIZE OF THE PUBLICATION

3 – 10 pages

DESCRIPTION OF CONTENTS

The author of the paper is Aldo Borsese, a professor of chemistry, teacher trainer and expert in science education. He describes the main features of the laboratorial education, a tool for teaching very useful to develop the cognitive autonomy of pupils. In order to contextualize the concept of laboratorial education an example is given: it is an experience carried out with the future teachers of primary and lower secondary school, within the Master in Science Education held in Genoa in 2006/2007.
The laboratorial education is a methodology that valorizes the experimental approach to problem solving and enhances its educational potential. It foresees a sequence of actions where the student is not a banal performer that follows the instructions of a recipe, but a person who reflects about the way to carry out the experiment, performs it, collects data, analyzes the results and communicates them. This way to work allows to raise the logical-linguistic skills of pupils, the ability of evaluating their knowledge and the ability to relate to others. Everything can happen only through a systematic request to express their point of view, compare it with their classmates and to verify their claims.
The operative sequence that the author suggests to follow during a laboratorial path is the following:
- focus on the specific topic that will be addressed, through the description or presentation of an experience (this applies in particular to the experimental sciences) or a short written text (this approach is used for all disciplines)
- individual written work: each pupil has to express his point of view about the topic. The work has to be performed by the use of a worksheet where the teacher clearly indicates what is requested by the students. The task usually consists in one or more specific open questions- written work made by small groups (on another related worksheet): pupils compare the individual answers and try to reach a unique shared answer. Certainly, if different points of view persist, they also have to be written
- presentation of the conclusions of each group by the representatives of each group; the teacher try to build a summary of the results
- teacher’s considerations about the topic dealt, additional information and suggestionsAs an example of laboratorial education, the author suggests to take in consideration the interaction between table salt and water and to ask pupils on what the dissolution speed of salt can depend and how this could be evaluated. The salt dissolution is a process very useful for this kind of education, because pupils has already few information in their memory, so allowing them to make reasonable hypotheses.

REVIEWER’S COMMENTS ON THE PUBLICATION

The paper is significant because it describes a methodology of education used by several teachers, in particular in the field of scientific disciplines, but often not in the correct way. The laboratorial education has a great potential, not only in the case of scientific subjects, but it is necessary that teachers learn to use it in the suitable way, otherwise it can result a loss of time. In fact the laboratorial education is not a practical experience that students carry out in the lab by following a preconstituded recipe, but it can consist in a more complex path. Following this methodology, the experimental approach to the solving of scientific problems consists in designing and performing an experiment, in collecting data and analysing results, but also in enhancing pupils’ skills to express their point of view, to compare it with those of their fellows and to reflect about what they have done and thought during the activity. In this way pupils increase their self-esteem, their cognitive autonomy and their metacognitive skills.

WHERE TO FIND IT

http://www.aldoborsese.com/uploads/2/7/0/4/2704207/did_laboratoriale_xx.pdf

PDF OF THE PUBLICATION

18_did_laboratoriale_xx.pdf

NAME OF THE REVIEWING ORGANISATION

University of Genoa

Comments about this Publication

Your comments are welcome

Date: 2013.11.25

Posted by İbrahim Ethem Yavuz (Turkey)

Message: This paper is relevant as it emphasizes the crux in teaching - developing the ability of critical thinking in students. As in many countries considered as a controversial issue, the student-centered teaching is focused on. The teaching methodology is well described and it is based on ‘laboratorial experiments’. While running these experiments, several steps have to be followed. After introducing the topic by the teacher, some open-ended questions are asked to the students in order to raise their awareness which leads them to reflect on the questions. Besides the individual reflections, the students make small group discussions where an agreed solution should appear. Summarizing the answers by the teacher is the last step which helps students to get an overall structure of the discussed issue. So, the first step is about the presentation of problem, the second step is about individual work, the third step is group work and the final step is collective summary.
Applying this methodology in the classroom develops many points of the students. Besides the cognitive skills also meta-cognitive and social skills are developed. In other words, while the individual is reflecting on the issue, the communication with the other students will improve the social interaction. Also the self-esteem of the students is supported because they have to bear up to utter their own statements and have to justify them. Another important factor is, the students have to discuss about the questions and they have to find ways to present their solutions.
In my opinion, this method is one of the most effective ways to improve students in many aspects. Cognitive, meta-cognitive and also social skills are supported in only one implementation. We can say that this application is virtually custom-made for scientific subjects which can be worked through step by step.

Date: 2013.07.15

Posted by Inforef (Belgium)

Message: This publication has a very important value because it faces one of the most important problems in today’s education: teachers’ ability of to develop critical thinking in their students.
The work promotes the concept of laboratorial education as an experience carried out with the future teachers of primary and lower secondary school, within the Master in Science Education held in Genoa in 2006/2007.
The methodology by which chemistry teachers can begin to transform their students into critical thinkers is in here described.
The laboratorial education has a great potential, in particular in the field of scientific disciplines, but needs to be used in a correct way and it’s here that the publication become an essential tool for understand how the learning laboratory should operate
There are mainly four steps:
1. the presentation of problem
2. an individual work
3. a group work
4. a collective summary
A fundamental characteristic is that each step will be carried out at each stage of the scientific method, particularly at the observation, hypothesis, planning and designing stage and analysis of results.
This is, in my opinion, a very innovative method, not for its nature (the laboratorial approach is well known in the scientific field), but for the applications that the publication found for the method itself.
This way to work, in fact, allows to raise the logical-linguistic skills of pupils, the ability of evaluating their knowledge and the ability to relate to others. In this way pupils increase their self-esteem, their cognitive autonomy and their metacognitive skills.

Date: 2013.05.07

Posted by Ciara O\'Shea (Ireland)

Message: This paper is relevant as it describes a methodology by which chemistry teachers can begin to transform their students into critical thinkers. Educational policy in Ireland is striving to achieve these types of thinkers and so in the context of the Irish situation this paper is very relevant. The “learning laboratory” allows teachers’ to follow a specific sequence of operations whereby students will apply the scientific method to problems in a structured manner in the classroom.
The paper is quite descriptive in its dealings with how the learning laboratory should operate. Initially the teacher presents the topic after which the teacher asks some open ended questions relating to the problem. This is followed by individual reflection by the student on the problem and small group discussion then follows. Following small group discussions a unified solution should emerge from each group and these ideas and comments are then placed on a board. Finally the teacher will help the students build an overall summary of the results and findings on the board. These four steps i.e. presentation of problem, individual work, group work and collective summary, will be carried out at each stage of the scientific method, particularly at the observation, hypothesis, planning and designing stage and analysis of results.
This methodology puts in place a concrete method by which teachers can show students how the scientific method should be followed and the work that is needed to develop and expand upon a given hypothesis etc. In tandem with this sequence of events, time is allocated for metacognitive reflection so that the students can appreciate and gain a sense of their own personal learning and in essence see ‘how far they have come’. This should increase students confidence and afford a greater number of students the time and space to express their views more openly.
By using these specific sequences teachers can enable students to problem solve to greater depths and in the process improve not only their cognitive skills, but their communication skills also. It is envisaged that students will be able to make predictions, prepare activities to verify such predictions, describe in an ordered sequence the particular phenomenon taking place, use some scientific terms in their descriptions and finally form a definition of the phenomenon taking place.

National Reports on successful experiences to promote lifelong learning for chemistry The national reports on chemistry successful experiences to promote lifelong learning for chemistry are now available on the related section of the project portal. The reports presents examples of successful experiences in the partner countries and the results of testing of ICT resources with science teachers.