International projects
Three Dimensions of Inquiry in Physics Education
Researchers (1)
| no. |
Code |
Name and surname |
Research area |
Role |
Period |
No. of publicationsNo. of publications |
| 1. |
05974 |
PhD Mojca Čepič |
Educational studies |
Head |
2017 - 2020 |
821 |
Organisations (1)
Abstract
Pupils recognize the physics as one of the most boring, not understandable, irrelevant and therefore one of the most “hated” subjects across Europe. On the other hand, the physics is the fundament for further studies of science and technology that enrol lower number of students than needs of the society are. The inquiry based learning (IBL) practice, where pupils are actively involved in experimentation and become responsible for construction of own knowledge, improves pupils attitudes and motivation for physics. Therefore, the main goal of 3DIPhE with a long-term effect is an improvement of IBL approach in physics by training the teachers-practitioners in practitioner inquiry (PI).
PI is the approach that allows for verification of personal practice teachers believe in as successful, or to find reasons for the lack of success in a different situation. Teachers are trained in collecting evidence, the analysis of this evidence and in drawing conclusions based on material data. Through this process, the physics teacher acquires evidence for the quality of her/his IBL approach in the teaching and learning process in the physics classroom. Such evidence substantiate reasons for application of IBL and offer a moral support to additional work required for this approach. Evidence can be used to persuade authorities at the school and other stakeholders for the benefits of IBL and sometimes to the IBL related expenses. Nevertheless, the teacher that has deeply inquired her/his own practice is more competent than the teacher who does not do any inquiries on her/his actions. The teacher that regularly inquires her/his practice is also more motivated to correct or improve her/his actions. Consequently, we expect that after the 3DIPhE experience, the teacher will use the IBL more frequent, resulting in improved pupils’ attitude toward physics and pupils’ learning outcomes.
Several activities in the project lead to this goal. Teachers join professional learning groups (PLG) established in each country. PLGs are under supervision of coaches that help teachers to frame the inquiry problems, decide on modes of collecting evidence, the collected data analysis and in drawing conclusions. The coaches are focused on education and training of teachers to become independent inquirers of their own practice and to use the PI as a regular practice in self-evaluation. The coaches of PLGs are during the transnational training by sharing expertise among partners and in local training transfers of expertise in each partner institution. They are also trained in educational design research (EDR) that provides strategies and procedures for collecting evidence for PI problems, in various approaches to PI and in modes of coaching PLGs, where PI results are planned and discussed through entire life if the project.
The outcomes of the projects are manifold. At the beginning of the project the expertise needed for successful implementation of PI by teachers and the consequent continuous improvement of their approaches in teaching physics is dispersed among partners. Some partners are experts in IBL, some in PI, some in coaching PLGs and some in EDR. At the end of this project all partners’ institutions will have experts in all dimensions of inquiry and this expertise is later used to train and coach the teachers in PI of IBL in physics classroom. Besides, “The Training of Coaches” and “The PI Training” including e-books openly available, will be developed and prepared by the end of the project. The shared expertise and the materials allows partners to implement the training courses for active teachers as well as to offer Erasmus+ KA1 courses beyond 3DIPhE. Partners will consciously include the new expertise to trainings of pre-service and in-service teachers providing the long-term sustainability of 3DIPhE results and their application in school practice.
