Experiments, vital part of science
I had the opportunity to speak to a secondary school textbook publisher recently and was appalled to discover that the sales of science practical books have dropped drastically because they are no longer utilised in many schools.
It is an open secret that our society judges students’ by the number of As they score in public examinations.
In a bid to maximise the number of ‘A students’, science practical sessions have apparently taken a back seat in some schools in favour of intensive coaching on how to answer questions in public examinations.
Although this may boost the number of students who score As in public examinations, it is counterproductive to our effort to inculcate lifelong passion in the field of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM).
According to statistics, of the 90,000 science students who sit for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia, 12 per cent or 10,800 students eventually switch to non-STEM programmes in universities.
The neglect of science practicals could be one of the contributing factors to a decline in interest towards STEM courses at tertiary level.
Experiments are an integral part of science. There is no alternative to making learning science fun except by conducting experiments.
The saying “I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand” rings true here. Some concepts and principles can never be comprehended solely by reading from textbooks.
Certain sights and sounds need to be experienced to be remembered. For instance, you could describe to students how combustion of hydrogen gas produces a ‘pop’ sound but nothing beats the thrill of sticking a burning wooden splinter into a test tube filled with hydrogen gas and hearing it with your own ears.
Neither can the experience of dissecting be replicated by watching videos or viewing plastic models.
In addition, carrying out experiments in groups teaches students about the value of teamwork.
The laboratory is the place where students learn how to delegate tasks, work together, and communicate effectively with each other.
It also prepares students well for what they are about to face in the real working world where success is often times the fruition of teamwork.
The approach used to teach science practicals nowadays involves completing worksheets and writing lab reports without actually conducting the experiments.
Students are trained to memorise the expected results of the experiments, write discussion, and conclude the investigations based on theoretical knowledge.
This teaching methodology is problematic as it gives students a false impression that experiments always turn up the way we expect them to be when in reality, many factors could influence the outcome of these experiments.
This does not bode well with our country’s aspiration to produce our very first Nobel laureate in science in the near future.
In fact, many scientific discoveries are made due to these so called “failures” and the sooner the students accept the reality, the more prepared they are to embrace the challenges that lie ahead.
It is high-time we re-evaluate how science is taught in schools.
To be fair, teachers should not shoulder the blame alone because they too are judged by the number of “A students” they produce each year.
It takes a paradigm shift in the society to change the direction we are heading.
To produce Nobel laureates in STEM by the year 2050, we should stop obsessing about the number of As they score in public examinations and let them discover their passion in the laboratories.
HO WAI YEW Centre for Foundation Studies Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman