ABC Project in Science Education in Brazil (Hands-on / La main à la pâte) Science Education in Brazil

Transcription

1 ABC Project in Science Education in Brazil (Hands-on / La main à la pâte) E W Hamburger Instituto de Física e Estação Ciência (Institute of Physics and Science Station), University of São Paulo (retired) Science Education in Brazil The teaching of science in secondary schools was considered bookish, and included no experiments or applications for educators in the 1950s. Books emphasizing experimentation and reasoning were translated by pioneers of science in Brazil such as José Reis, Jayme Tiomno and José Leite Lopes. The Brazilian Institute for Education, Science and Culture (IBECC - Instituto Brasileiro de Educação, Ciência e Cultura), established in São Paulo in 1955, and associated with UNESCO, is dedicated to improving science education. This overhaul which began in the United States in 1956 was quickly adopted in Brazil. These new science curricula from the United States and England, based on projects such as the Physical Science Study Committee (PSSC) Physics, were translated into Portuguese and courses were held for teachers. In 1963, the Pilot Project for Physics Education (Projeto Piloto de Ensino de Física), with support from the IBECC and the University of São Paulo, a UNESCO initiative in Latin America, was created to produce a new course in physics for secondary education, based on modern educational technology and with an emphasis on experiments. Beginning in 1969, Brazilian teachers began developing new scientific curricula for secondary education which were more suitable to the situation in the country. In 1965, Science Centers were established to develop teaching materials and train professors in Recife, Salvador, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, São Paulo and Porto Alegre. In 1980, many other centers were established and today there are roughly 100. The teaching overhaul initially concentrated on secondary education (15 to 17-year-old students). In the second phase, it was gradually extended into primary education, from the fourth to the eighth grade (11 to 14 years of age), where there is a designated science teacher with a college education. Very little happened,

2 however, in the lower grades (from the first to the fourth grade) where there is only one teacher for all subjects, who has only a secondary education 1. These teachers generally had and still have a very limited education in science. They feel insecure about teaching scientific subjects, and even less comfortable about conducting experiments or research with students. So when I was asked by Dr. Norberto Cardoso Ferreira and Dr. David Jasmin, at the end of 2000, to support the implementation in Brazil of a pilot group for the methodological application of the French project La Main à la Pâte (Lamap), designed to improve science education in primary education, I quickly accepted. History of the ABC Project in Science Education - A Hands-on Approach in Brazil The French project La main à la Pâte was started in Paris in 1996 by Nobel laureate physicist and member of the Academy Georges Charpak. He had been inspired by the Hands On project of his Nobel prize winning colleague and physicist, the academic Leon Lederman, in Chicago. The Académie des Sciences (Academy of Sciences) in Paris supports the Project and encourages other academies from other countries to also do so. The Brazilian Academy of Sciences (ABC) soon showed its support; and today the Inter-Academy Panel (IAP), the world agency for academies of science, also supports it. Thanks to support from the French government, ABC, through agreements with the French Académie and other interested Education Secretariats, a Brazilian mission of 12 educators traveled to France for four weeks in May of 2001 to observe the Lamap project in schools and in the National Institute for Pedagogical Research (INRP- Institut National de Recherches Pédagogiques), under the Ministry of Education. 1 There have been significant initiatives, but no large-scale effects have emerged. We cite as examples a series of books by Rachel Gevertz and Osvaldo Frota Pessoa, and the project of Anna Maria Pessoa de Carvalho et al. FEUSP- v. p. ex. Ciências no Ensino Fundamental, ed Scipione, SP, 1998.

3 In 2002 and 2003 there were similar missions and approximately 40 Brazilian professors from São Paulo, São Carlos and Rio de Janeiro have already participated in these visits. The first group of the project in Brazil included the following institutions: Science Station (Estação Ciência) and The Center for Scientific and Cultural Dissemination of S. Carlos (CDCC-Centro de Divulgação Científica and Cultural de S Carlos), both from USP; The State Secretariat of Education of São Paulo (Secretaria Estadual de Educação de São Paulo); The Municipal Secretariats of Education of São Paulo and of São Carlos (Secretarias Municipais de Educação de São Paulo e de São Carlos); The Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (FIOCRUZ- Fundação Oswa ldo Cruz) and the State Secretariat of Education of Rio de Janeiro (Secretaria Estadual de Educação do Rio de Janeiro). The name adopted for the Project in Brazil was the ABC Project in Science Education Mão na Massa (hands-on) and the first topic addressed was: Water. In July of 2001, the first teacher training began in São Paulo and São Carlos and shortly thereafter, it was applied in the classroom. This teacher training was also conducted in Rio de Janeiro at this time. The project was well received by both teachers and students. In the following years, the project expanded to include every school system and it was implanted in new centers. Currently there are 12 school systems involved: Science Station/University of São Paulo (working with the state school system of São Paulo), The City of São Paulo, Center for Scientific and Cultural Dissemination/University of São Paulo, The City of São Carlos, The Oswaldo Cruz Institute, Ilha de Vera Cruz Community Action Project, The City of Jaraguá do Sul, University Center of Jaraguá do Sul, The City of Ribeirão Preto, The Federal University of Espírito Santo, The Live Museum of Science and Technology of Campina Grande, The Federal University of Viçosa and Piracicaba. Comments a) There is always a university group cooperating with the professors and school system. This is one of the characteristics of the project and the participation of the Academy brings with it the participation of experienced researchers.

4 b) The number of professors and classes that are adopting this project is increasing rapidly. The are few trainers and technicians, in such a way that the expansion is occurring with little follow up. It is difficult to know in detail what is happening in the classroom. c) There is little research available, even to suggest possible changes in content or methodology. It is necessary to create research and observation groups in the centers. d) At present, there are no funds available to carry out research on the project and its implementation 2. On the other hand, the number of technicians allocated to the project in many institutions is insufficient to carry out the implementation and development of teaching material for the project, making it impossible to collect and analyze research data. e) The coordination of the many institutions involved in the project is undefined. This is an advantage as it provides flexibility, but in the long-term and as the project grows it will need to be changed. An Intentions Protocol has already been developed by consensus among the institutions, to be signed by the participants. f) The classroom activities are funded by the education secretariats of each school system. Innovations always require extra resources, however modest they maybe, and these are not always provided for in budgets. This also applies to university and research institution participants. Clearly the expansion of the project depends on obtaining additional necessary funding. Only one school system, the city of São Paulo, has tens of thousands of students participating in the project; others have a few thousand (São Carlos and the state school system of São Paulo) and others still begin with just a few classes. g) The centers begin, in general, using photocopied materials translated from French. There are difficulties regarding copyrights for the print publication of translated texts. h) On the other hand, the interest, knowledge and creativity of the teachers have quickly led to modifications, additions and new materials. The French example is motivating Brazilian teachers to create materials and experiments in similar 2 Funding from CNPq for the Science Station has been approved but not yet released.

5 activities, which arise from the specific situations of each school or center. The results are promising and have led to the unlocking of potential that exists in the teaching staff. They could be richer still if university researchers were to contribute more. i) Communication between professors that participate in the project is an important consideration. In France the intensive use of the internet has facilitated this communication. This is not yet possible in Brazil since many teachers do not have access. In the state school system of São Paulo, the teachers have improvised successfully using a poor man's internet ; it is a large notebook that circulates among the schools (approximately 10), where each teacher writes down his experiences and comments on the project. On the other hand, the city of São Paulo school district has conducted various large events to bring the teachers together. j) Training sessions unite, in each school, the teachers with trainers, and they communicate with the central institutions of each center. The project in the São Paulo State school system, although still small, receives visits and training from external trainers. k) Communication between the different centers in the country is conducted through the internet and in general meetings. There have been four or more directors meetings per year. Moreover, there have been larger events, such as those cited above and two international ones in Rio de Janeiro: ICSU - International Council of Science, organized by the Academy, and the 1 st Latin American Conference of the Project, organized by the French Embassy and FIOCRUZ in In the annual meetings of the SBPC (Brazilian Society for Progress in Science) and other scientific and educational societies, reports have been presented on applications of the project. l) One of the issues addressed in the meetings was that it would be desirable to have an external evaluation of teaching materials produced to guarantee highquality. This could be carried out on a regular basis by a commission appointed by the centers and by the Academy.

6 m) The adaptations of the project for preschool (Municipal Secretariat of São Carlos), for first through fourth grade special-education classes (State Secretariat of São Paulo) and for the Education of Young People and Adults (EJA, Ilha de Vera Cruz) are proving interesting. n) The declarations by teachers that the project facilitates and accelerates literacy and makes classes more interesting for the students is very important. o) The application of the project requires an additional effort by the teachers. It requires tremendous concentration to follow the reasoning of various groups of children carrying out different activities. This has been established in France, where the classes are made up of approximately 20 children. In Brazil, classes have 30 to 45 students and thus require much more effort. In theory the application of the methodology by a single teacher in such large classes appears almost impossible, but they have shown that it is possible. However, it is not realistic or just to expect that all the teachers will permanently adopt a project that requires so much dedication and effort. p) Another difficulty pointed out by a teacher is methodological and conceptual 3 : It's distressing for the teacher in the classroom to realize that the sphere knowledge is infinite. In the words of Charpak, the practical application of the project requires a certain experimental aptitude which many fear they do not possess 4. Conclusions What is the main objective of the ABC Project in Science Education Mão na Massa? It is a pilot project designed to evaluate if and how science education with experimentation, using the Lamap approach, should be introduced into Brazilian schools. The expansion of the project into many school systems will serve to improve its visibility for a wide range of school systems, under different situations and with different resources. 3 Refer to Beatriz C Athayde, Rafaela Samagaia, Amélia I Hamburge and E W Hamburger, ABC na Educação Científica-Mão na Massa: Análise de Ensino de Ciências com Experimentos na Escola fundamental Pública Paulista, IFUSP/P-1582, October/ Charpak,G. La Main à la Patê: Lês Sciences a l École Primaire, França, Flammarion, 1996

7 The project is being implemented by means of teacher training in the school systems. However, this is a short-term strategy. In the medium-term training should be included in university teacher education. This would allow the teachers to enter the classroom with knowledge of the experiments and scientific concepts to empower them to develop project activities without needing so much extra training, as is the case today. This means that, in addition to the Secretariats of Education, we must also convince institutions with teacher education programs, particularly teachers colleges, of the need for this approach. There needs to be a subject in the teaching program for these activities. The situation is similar to the one encountered in the 1960s, when experimental education was introduced in secondary schools. New subjects were introduced, by decision of the Federal Education Council, in physics and chemistry for teaching degrees. They were called Instrumentation for the Education of Physics (or Chemistry) and their aim was to give new professors practice in classroom experiments for secondary education. Around 1980, professors Antonio G Violin and Amélia I Hamburger, from the Physics Institute at USP, proposed the creation of the subject "Instrumentation for the teaching of Sciences in Secondary Education for the teaching certificate program, but it was not adopted. This is known in education as the "Innovation Effect : innovations initially tend to be well accepted and appear to improve performance. But in the midterm the difficulties begin to appear and in the long-term they are abandoned. The teachers that adopt these innovations also tend to be the most motivated and hardworking, and their teaching efforts were probably already better than the average. The professors who are more set in there ways, resist innovation because it requires more work. So it is necessary that innovations be tested for a certain period of time before they are adopted on a large-scale. During this testing period, observation and record taking are necessary to permit evaluation. This aspect needs to be improved in the ABC project for Science Education.

8 The Training of Teachers of the Network of State Public Schools of the City of São Paulo Science Station / University of São Paulo Beatriz A. de Castro Athayde (Science Station / University of São Paulo) Rafaela Samagaia (Science Station / University of São Paulo) Simone Falconi (Science Station / University of São Paulo) Amélia Império Hamburger (Retired in Institute of Physics / University of São Paulo) E W Hamburger Instituto de Física e Estação Ciência (Retired in Institute of Physics and Science Station / University of São Paulo) The project was implemented through a partnership between the Science Station (Center for the Promotion of Science, Technology and Culture of the Office of Culture and University Extension of the University of São Paulo) and the Coordination of Teaching and Education Standards (CENP) of the State Public Schools System of São Paulo. The teacher training began at the end of July 2001 and was given by the Science Station team after their internship in France where they became acquainted with the project and its implementation in French schools. The teacher training on the project was carried out in schools within the North 1 Education Directorate (Diretoria de Ensino Norte 1), located close to the Science Station, to facilitate the team s follow up of the project s implementation in the school and specifically in the classroom environment. Training in 2001 The group drawn from these four schools of the North 1 Education Directorate (Diretoria de Ensino Norte 1) included a technical-teaching assistant (ATP), four teachers from each school (one per grade whenever possible) and the respective educational coordinator (table 1). The two-session training 5 was carried out at the Science Station Team Science Station: Beatriz A.C.C. Athayde and Sandra R. M. Setúbal

9 The teacher training allowed the teachers to perform the activities prior to implementing them in the classroom environment. They discussed the project s methodology and became acquainted with experimentation, which is unusual at this level of schooling and in teacher training courses alike. The training continued in the schools by means of follow up visits by the trainers. The follow up sessions aimed at discussing the project s application in the classroom environment, the needs and difficulties which arose during this process and the adaptations required. The project was implemented in classes whose teachers participated in the training, including a class for students with special needs. The activities proposed were adapted to suit the needs of these children. The topic studied at the training sessions was Water, and the training focused on the changes in its physical state. It was exciting for the students to observe the melting of ice, boiling of water, condensation and other phenomena. In one of the activities the students were asked to take an ice cube to school. The problem began at home and continued until class time. In class students presented their results and discussed why some ice cubes resisted transportation while others did not, and recommended efficient solutions to prevent ice from melting. After this stage the ice was stored for further experiments focusing on the temperature, form and reversibility of the physical state of ice. Training in 2002 In 2002, the Central-West Education Directorate joined the group and the total number of schools grew to eight (table 1). The training 6 of teachers was held at the schools, during the collective education sessions (htpc). There was a different number of participating teachers in each school: in some of them all the teachers participated whereas in others just those in charge of implementing the project participated Team Science Station: Beatriz A.C. C. Athayde, Christiane I. Yamamoto and Sandra R. M. Setúbal, Fábio C. Farah (intern)

10 This training model increased the number of teachers trained but this did not necessarily mean that the project would be implemented in the classroom environment. Table 1 therefore does not indicate the effective and systematic inclass implementation of the project nor does it indicate the adherence of all the teachers. The training model currently in place has ensured the commitment of the schools in the project and their organization so as to provide greater support to teachers in addition to deeper knowledge of the working conditions at the schools and the needs arising from the project s implementation in the classroom environment. However, this approach is not feasible if a large number of schools are to be included. Classrooms with students with special needs (children with physical disabilities or impaired hearing) have been included and required closer follow up. Changes were introduced following discussions between the trainers and the teachers of these classes. The sensorial experience was very important for these children and allowed them to improve concentration, to memorize the activities and to better organize reasoning and oral and written expression (whenever these forms of expressions were possible). The topic was Water but some complementary activities were carried out to meet the needs of the schools after the project was first implemented in the classrooms. These activities addressed the importance of water and its treatment, pollution and floods. The teachers suggested activities according to the discussions which took place in the classrooms and discussed the use of such activities with the trainers. One of the teachers of a special education class built a garden of senses with the students. The garden was planted at the front of the classroom, with plants with different forms and smells and provided different tactile sensations. These different characteristics allowed children to classify the plants. Children planted and observed the growth of plants and the importance of water for plants. In another experiment the teacher worked with the school s environment and the changes it undergoes. They also studied a river located in the vicinity of the school where waste is disposed of.

11 Training in 2003 The group was enlarged with the participation of one additional school from each Education Directorate (table 1). The teachers and coordinators involved in the project implemented it in the schools they moved to thus adding new schools to the project. The monthly training sessions 7 were held at the Science Station. These training sessions were attended by the education coordinator and two teachers from each school and by the technical-teaching assistants (ATPs) from the respective Education Directorate. This ensured that each school would have a trio to replicate the training. Adherence to the project was voluntary. However, in some schools the training was replicated to the entire teaching staff. Throughout this year, follow-up visits were made to the schools to discuss the training, the difficulties and needs which had arisen and the implementation of the project in the classroom environment. These visits allowed us to see that the training at the schools was not systematic, which made it difficult to implement the project in the classes. The teachers who were trained directly at the Science Station implemented the projects in their classes but this was not always the case with the other teachers. In the schools where the follow-up visits were regularly made which depended on the teachers availability to meet the number of participating teachers increased during the year. This may be due to a greater degree of comfort on the part of the teachers who had the chance to discuss their difficulties in implementing the project in class with their peers and with the trainer team and also to the encouragement resulting from the students reaction to the project. The teachers need to learn about the work carried out by their colleagues and the solutions to the difficulties relating to the project s implementation. They Team Science Station: Beatriz A.C. C. Athayde, Christiane I. Yamamoto, Rafaela Samagaia and Simone Falconi, Talita R. L. Romero (intern).

12 have therefore proposed the creation of the Itinerant Notebook (Caderno Itinerante) in which they would be able to share their experience. The project s replication was also carried out by the Central West Education Directorate that began monthly training session for teaching coordinators of thirty schools. These sessions were conducted by coordinators who had already participated in the project. Fifteen out of these thirty schools began training their teachers. This year the Science Station offered training sessions on Saturdays to a school located in the Taboão da Serra Education Directorate and to a federal school located in the city of São José dos Campos. These training sessions included water treatment and distribution, floating of bodies in water and soil. In October, with the visit of French trainers to Brazil, a meeting was held at the Science Station in which the schools created an exhibit showing the work done with students. The French trainers conducted two workshops. The impact of the meeting and the workshops made the project more popular and attracted more schools. Workshops aimed at the public were also held to promote the project. In November a paper called First Steps in Scientific Education/ The Mão na Massa Project Analyses on the Teaching of Sciences in Public Primary Schools in the State of São Paulo 8, which discussed the training of teachers and the difficulties in implementing the project, was presented at the 4th National Meeting on Research on the Teaching of Science, held in Bauru (SP), Training in 2004 This year the number of schools has increased to thirteen and include two schools from the Taboão da Serra Education Directorate and one from the North 1 Directorate (table 1). 8 Autors: Amélia I. Hamburger, Beatriz de Castro Athayde, Ernst W. Hamburger and Rafaela Samagaia

13 The training is held 9 at the Science Station. In 2004 we adopted the same model as 2003 but with a primary focus on developing a system to train the schools staff on site in order to strengthen the work of the trainer group and enhance the project s implementation in the classroom environment. At the beginning of the year we held a meeting to sensitize headmasters and coordinators of participating schools as to the need for greater commitment on the part of each individual school. The first training session aimed at organizing the activities of the year and included a presentation on the methodology of the project to new participating schools, discussions on the methodology and the model of replication for each school. In the second training session the teachers started working with the Soil Module, which should be implemented in the first semester. The follow up will include at least one visit per semester to discuss the development of training and the training needs of the schools in addition to the project s implementation in the classroom environment. A series of lectures will be organized to further discuss issues relating to the teaching of science to children and to train teachers. Some workshops at the Science Station have also been scheduled including one designed for elderly people as part of the University s schedule of activities Start Date end of July April March February Schools Trainers Teachers 15 65* 49*? Teaching Coordinators *** 13 Technical-teaching Team Science Station: Beatriz A.C. C. Athayde, Christiane I. Yamamoto, Rafaela Samagaia and Simone Falconi, Talita R. L. Romero (intern) and Rosangela Neves (intern).

14 Assistants (ATP s) Students 450** 1950** 1470**? Education North 1 North 1 and North 1, North 1, Directorates Central-West Central-West Central-West and Taboão da and Taboão Serra da Serra *Estimated total ** Estimated total assuming 30 students per class ***Fifteen out of this total were trained by the Central-West Education Directorate ****The implementation at this school has not yet begun Material Used The materials used to train the teachers and to implement the project in the classroom environment were developed by the Science Station s training team. The French sequences of La Main à la Pâte have been translated and adapted to create the Water Module 10. The activities proposed were then presented to and discussed with the teachers prior to their introduction to the students. During the development of this module which dealt with the changes of physical state of water, the group felt some complementary activities were needed in view of the discussions with the classes. These complementary activities were developed by the training team and integrated into the training sessions. This module was used in 2001, 2002 and in the beginning of The Float or Sink Module 11, also translated from the French by the team of the Center for the Promotion of Science and Culture of the University of São Paulo (CDCC) was adapted by the training team at the Science Station and used in the training sessions held in Additional activities have been suggested and 10 Translation and adaptation of the original L eau dans la vie quotidiene (École des Mines de Nantes, Editions Odile Jacobe and Jeulin D couvertes), by Sandra R.M.Setúbal. Permission for publication or reproduction has not yet been granted. 11 Module available at the CDCC site. Translation of the original Flotte ou Coule (École des Mines de Nantes, 1999).

15 added to the module to enable teachers to choose the activities that best suit the needs of their students. In the second semester of 2003, we began developing the activities and organizing the Soil Module 12, which was developed by the training team from the Science Station. This module was included in the training sessions held in 2003 and will be included in the 2004 sessions. The structure of each module, the presentation of the activities and their development varied greatly as each module had a different origin. The Water Module included more detailed descriptions of each activity and suggestions on how the activities should be conducted following the stages proposed by the project as to its implementation in the classroom environment. The Float or Sink Module was not very descriptive and included material, procedures, complementary activities and suggestions as to the organization of results. The version included in the CDCC site included files indicating the material and related activities. In order to format the materials appropriately they were analyzed and discussed with the trainers (teachers, coordinators and technical-teaching assistants) who defined how best to organize these materials to meet the needs of the teachers. The model used for the Water Module was considered the most appropriate provided that suggestions were incorporated as to the complementary activities and the presentation of the results. The Soil Module was developed based on the structure proposed by the group but the previous modules have not yet been adapted to fit the structure proposed. Other materials are currently being developed such as the Map Module, an adaptation of the material available at the CDCC site, the Air Module, a project funded by the National Council of Scientific and Technological development (CNPq) and the Health and Hygiene Module. 12 Consulting: Prof. Maria Cristina Motta de Toledo, PHD, from the Institute of Geosciences of the University of São Paulo.

16