Glimpses of Science revisited: ‘Multimedia-assisted’ science activities for primary school teachers and their students

Abstract

Glimpses of Science presents some concepts and techniques of science to the primary school classroom through a student-centred approach that utilises hands-on activities accompanied by instructional multimedia resources. The project was funded by Australian School Innovation in Science, Technology and Mathematics (ASISTM) and represents a collaborative effort between the School of Physics at the University of New South Wales and a cluster of primary schools in the Sydney metropolitan region. The modules were developed in conjunction with eight primary school teachers through a series of professional development workshops and consist of a number of inexpensive kits for hands-on activities accompanied by illustrative material in the form of teacher’s notes, film clips, animations and so forth. The multimedia resources are presented in an interactive slide show. Each slide shows some information, but presents a question or instructional cue that lead to small group participation in the hands-on activity under investigation. The four modules developed cover the physics topics of sound, energy, light and the pendulum. The supporting multimedia was designed to assist the teacher in facilitating the small group work and can be viewed at http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/ASISTM/catalogue.html. Feedback from both teachers and students suggests that the activities are engaging and informative. Glimpses of Science can be viewed at http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/ASISTM