Teaching approaches used to teach Newton's laws of motion

Abstract

Newton's Laws of Motion is a topic studied as part of the Physics SEC syllabus in Malta. This topic is abstract in nature and students often encounter difficulties in understanding these laws. This situation poses a great challenge to teachers who must present the scientific concepts in a way to promote learning. The aim of this research was to find out what teaching approaches teachers tend to adopt when teaching Newton's Laws of Motion in state schools. Qualitative and quantitative research instruments were used. The quantitative part involved a questionnaire sent to all Physics' teachers. The qualitative part involved interviews and lesson observations. The latter were carried out in order to see whether teachers actually put into practice what they declared in the questionnaire. The questionnaire responses showed that teachers adopt a variety of approaches. The most common approaches were teacher-centred: explanation, working examples on the board, questioning and demonstrations. Student-centred approaches such as investigations and groupwork were the least popular. The interviews and lesson observations substantiate the teacher-centred approach. They also showed that teachers adopt the traditional approach more than that stated in the questionnaires. These results are discussed in light of the revised National Minimum Curriculum (1999) that advocates a child-centred approach.