Teachers’ views and practices related to experiments in Physics

Abstract

The study aimed to investigate what are teachers’ views and practices related to practical work in Physics in secondary school years. Particular emphasis was made on the influence of practical work on understanding of particular concepts, teachers’ personal experiences that might have affected their view of practical work, constraints teachers encounter whilst doing practical work and the reason why teachers choose to set up a type of experiment and not another. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 20 different teachers from girls’ and boys’, state and church schools. In this way, it was possible to analyse different views from a range of schools. Results from the study showed that teachers consider practical work as an integral part of the teaching of Physics, since it helps students in understanding a particular concept or topic and also in developing certain skills. Despite this, teachers said that one of the major constraints they encounter is time which leaves them with two options, either to rush through certain topics so as to be able to engage in practical activities or else reduce the amount of practical work so as to be able to cover all the content of the syllabus. Furthermore, time limitation also influences the way in which experiments are carried out with students. The most frequent methodology used by teachers is the cookbook type whereas the investigation is the least used since it is described by teachers as time-consuming. Other constraints met by teachers include resource availability, especially for participants teaching in church schools and the availability of the laboratory and other school facilities.