Home AIOU Solved Projects Developing Curiosity And Responsibility Through Science Experiments In 7th Grade Students

Developing Curiosity And Responsibility Through Science Experiments In 7th Grade Students

Topic
Theme
Sub Theme
The overall background of the participants of the project
Why did you select this specific sub-theme and topic? Relate it to your experience/problem in your classroom/institution.
What was your discussion with your colleague/friend / senior teacher or supervisor regarding the problem?
What did you find about the problem in the existing literature (books/articles/websites)?
What were the major variables/construct of your project? Give definitions/descriptions from the literature.
What did you want to achieve in this research project?
Who were the participants in your project?
How did you try to solve the problem?
What kind of instrument was used to collect the data? How was the instrument developed?
What were the findings and conclusion?
Summary of the Project
How do you feel about this practice? What have you learned?
What has it added to your professional skills as a teacher?
List the works you cited in your project.

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Topic

Theme

Developing Scientific Attitude Among Children

Sub Theme

Curiosity

The overall background of the participants of the project

This action research was conducted in School Name. It’s situated in district Name.

School Background:

In general the structure of school was huge and lovely. The school had lovely play area. It had all the necessary offices. The staff of school was very much qualified and helpful. The head of the school additionally helped me in my research at that school. Generally speaking the environment of school was great and better for learning.

Participants Background:

The participants of study were elementary 7th grade children who were enrolled in School Name…. . I selected elementary grade children which were considered in total 40 in members. The interest for children in this research led to their keenness for the task and the interview.

Financial status:

The reason for this research to determine Developing curiosity and responsibility through science experiments in 7^th grade students. Financial status measures families and network’s remaining in connection to society. Financial status can be comprehensively characterized as a person’s and network’s entrance to money related, social, and human capital assets. Alongside asset openness: it fills in as a significant determinant to get to personal satisfaction at individual, family, network and national level. Financial contrasts, for example, wellbeing and nourishment status, home condition that give access to scholastically related encounters, versatility rates, and monetary resources can surely impact scholarly accomplishments. Low Financial status associates with lower instructive accomplishment, neediness, and weakness, at last influence our general public, Inequities in wellbeing conveyance, asset circulation, and personal satisfaction. In this examination, by and large financial status of present area of District Name is monetarily not all that good.

Occupation of the Parents:

Parents with the high occupation are in a superior condition to help and support their kids ethically, mentally, profoundly and mentally. However, Parents with less lofty occupation because of precariousness and budgetary issues can’t give satisfactory present day offices to upgrade their kid’s instruction. The control of the Parents from area chose in this research is normal. A part of the Parents are not monetarily so great. The children who Parents with government employment are more verified and their family finds a sense of contentment moderately contrasted with the individuals who work in private association. They are consistently in dissatisfaction.

Earning trends of the Parents:

Parents with lofty occupation give important offices expected to the upgrade of their kids training. They likewise give them backing and support toward the accomplishment of instructive accomplishment. Then again, children from less esteemed occupations need such huge numbers of favorable circumstances when contrasted with those from the Parents with high renowned occupation. They face a great deal of difficulties both at home and school, which block them from taking an interest completely in study hall exercises, and result in poor scholarly execution.

Literacy Rate:

In 2019, District Name’s literacy rate of 46% for females was noticeably lower than the 69% for males; rural literacy was 49% compared to 74% in urban areas. District Name has several research and educational institutions, both public and private.

Why did you select this specific sub-theme and topic? Relate it to your experience/problem in your classroom/institution.

I am a trainee teacher by Aiou and I selected school Name for my research project. As action research was totally based on local level. I choose School Name for my action research. After talking some parents I decided to choose the following research problem: “Developing curiosity and responsibility through science experiments in 7^th grade students “.

Teaching students should be focused on the way that they can develop and express their learning curiosity particularly in the learning of science experimental work. To enhance learning’ highlight that curiosity combined with the motivation to learn is more important than intelligence. Students’ curious mind fosters the learning of abstract and complex concepts. Curiosity as a desire for active learning, spontaneous exploration, and find out. The basic role of curiosity in learning is to encourage and create knowledge. Therefore, by considering the significant role of curiosity in learning, the development of students’ curiosity should be among the major focuses of teaching and learning process. Chemistry, organic, inorganic, and physical would be more difficult to deliver if the application and real-life context are less obvious. Students learn science when they directly experience the method and the process of inquiry. Students can learn better when they measure, touch, feel, make charts, manipulate, draw, and record data. These are among the important aspects of learning instruction known as hands-on activities. Further that an impactful learning environment ought to allow students to learn by doing practice. Learning by doing stirs various learning skills including curiosity. Thus, engaging learners in various hands-on activities motivate their curiosity to learn new skills and knowledge through their experiences fully. It is assumed that working in a hands-on way ‘learning by doing’ provides a more realistic and exciting experience of the content. Experimentation, manipulation of symbols and objects as well as students’ interaction to be among students’ hands-on activities which can support meaningfully the learning of experimental work. Respective activities vary on how they enhance learning. Therefore, learning of the content can be strengthened when a student experiences a learning activity as enjoyable, pleasant, stimulating, and important. Despite its importance in education, particularly experimental work classrooms, the research on development of students’ curiosity is somewhat limited. Much bodies of research about curiosity were done around the mid-19^th century but was mostly on human psychology. Curiosity was strictly linked to biological drives, such as hunger and thirst. Learning to take place an organism must be motivated by being in a state of deprivation, such as being hungry or thirsty. Therefore, a good interpretation of human behaviour and learner curiosity is needed especially in a range of educational contexts. The discipline of science requires curiosity that is an important part of school science programs that aim to develop scientifically literate students. In order for teachers to develop students’ scientific literacy through fostering curiosity, teachers need to use a variety of pedagogical approaches. It is generally accepted that teaching science is more than mere content delivery and that knowing the content, passing it on to the students does not automatically lead to students’ learning what the teacher intends. Teaching is more than a collection of activities that are rehearsed and worked through.

Using an innovative approach, we attempted to implement students’ science experimental techniques in an elementary classroom for promoting curiosity. The encouraging findings of our study and their implications are discussed in this research.

What was your discussion with your colleague/friend / senior teacher or supervisor regarding the problem?

Discussion with colleagues/friends/supervisor:

Since I began my teaching practice, I have been using as many creative tasks as possible, not only strictly to teach students. In my action research project, I am therefore going to explore Developing curiosity and responsibility through science experiments in 7th-grade students. I discussed with my

colleagues/friends/supervisor for a better understanding of the problem and alternate solutions.

It seems that fostering student curiosity can have a direct impact on student engagement, interest, and assist students in driving their learning. High curiosity may improve individual’s memory for information they acquire, and they suggest “stimulating curiosity ahead of knowledge acquisition could enhance learning success. Curiosity influences academic achievement and curiosity with conscientiousness has as much of an impact on achievement as intelligence.

My supervisor defined curiosity as the desire for knowledge that motivates individuals to learn new ideas, eliminate information gaps and solve intellectual problems. Curiosity is a complex concept that can be decomposed into two distinct (though related) types, and among which there might be individual differences. Interest-type (I-type) curiosity, reflects a desire to acquire knowledge for purposes of intrinsic enjoyment and mastery-oriented learning. I-type curiosity is positive from an affective standpoint, as it is associated with positive anticipation of new knowledge and joy from knowledge acquisition and mastery. Deprivation-type (D-type) curiosity is conceptualized as an unsatisfied need state that results when individuals are bothered by lack of knowledge. D-type curiosity is intense and appetitive, and it motivates a desire to reduce knowledge gaps and obtain missing information. Given its appetitive intensity, D-type curiosity can induce sustained effort to acquire knowledge in the pursuit of knowledge acquisition. In this way, it is related to absorption and the inability to let go of the pursuit of information until the state of knowledge deprivation is resolved. Although I-type and D-type forms of curiosity have traditionally been conceptualized as individual difference variables, curiosity can also be evoked situationally. Our interest centers on the arousal of curiosity evoked in a given situation. Curiosity is part of, or integral to, the activity in which one is engaged, such as when one is curious about the subject matter of a book, TV show, lecture, or some other ongoing activity involving one’s attention (i.e., integral curiosity. Such instances could reflect either I-type curiosity or D-type curiosity. To illustrate, when reading a book, one may be motivated to acquire general knowledge (I-type curiosity) or learn what ultimately happens to the main character in a novel (D-type curiosity). Our inquiry, however, focuses on curiosity-evoking events (e.g., a ringing cell phone) that are unrelated to, or incidental to, a coincident experiential activity (e.g., reading a book). Although situations that evoke incidental curiosity are exceedingly common, little is known about whether, how, and why incidental curiosity evoking events might impact enjoyment of positive and negative experiential activities. Answers to these questions are not obvious, particularly after considering extant theory and data. The discipline of science requires curiosity that is an important part of school experimental programs that aim to develop scientifically literate students. In order for teachers to develop students’ scientific curiosity through experimental techniques, teachers need to use a variety of experimental approaches.

Curiosity is the inner drive for learning or ‘hunger for learning’ which is among the twenty-first century learning competencies. Students in their earliest stage ought to exhibit curiosity to stirrup knowledge acquisition and exploration, yet the development of curiosity in the context of education is considered to be unusual. This research assesses how experimental techniques develops and express curiosity in a hands-on learning environment.

What did you find about the problem in the existing literature (books/articles/websites)?

Literature Review

Teaching students should be focused on the way that they can develop and express their learning curiosity particularly in the learning of experimental psychology. Pluck and Johnson (2011) in ‘stimulating curiosity to enhance learning’ highlight that curiosity combined with the motivation to learn is more important than intelligence. According to Zion and Sadeh (2007), students’ curious mind fosters the learning of abstract and complex concepts. Oudeyer, et al. (2016) defines curiosity as a desire for active learning, spontaneous exploration, and find out. Borowske (2005) and Ostroff (2016) highlight the basic role of curiosity in learning is to encourage and create knowledge. Therefore, by considering the significant role of curiosity in learning, the development of students’ curiosity should be among the major focuses of teaching and learning process.

Chemistry, organic, inorganic, and physical would be more difficult to deliver if the application and real-life context are less obvious. According to Hirça (2013) and Holstermann, Grube, and Bögeholz (2010), students learn science when they directly experience the method and the process of inquiry. Hirça (2013) pointed out that students can learn better when they measure, touch, feel, make charts, manipulate, draw, and record data. These are among the important aspects of learning instruction known as hands-on activities. Hirça (2013) highlights Further that an impactful learning environment ought to allow students to learn by doing practice. Moreover, this in line with John Dewey in (Sikandar, 2016) who highlighted that learning by doing stirs various learning skills including curiosity. Thus, engaging learners in various hands-on activities motivate their curiosity to learn new skills and knowledge through their experiences fully.

Besides, scholars (Jirout & Klahr, 2012; Kashdan et al., 2004; Lamnina & Chase, 2019; J. Litman, 2005), identified different kinds of curiosity namely; openness to experience, epistemic curiosity, need for cognition, perceptual curiosity, typical intelligence engagement. However, only epistemic and perceptual curiosities are discussed regarding the focus and context of this research. According to Von Stumm and colleagues, epistemic curiosity is referred to as, the individual difference in seeking out for engagement and acquires knowledge (Von Stumm et al., 2011); whereas perceptual curiosity is induced by visual, auditory, and physical stimulation towards experience and feel (Pluck & Johnson, 2011; Von Stumm et al., 2011). Hence, to satisfy curiosity, the inquiry should involve activities and skills but should focus on the active search for knowledge and understanding of unusual elements in the environment.

It is assumed that working in a hands-on way ‘learning by doing’ provides a more realistic and exciting experience of the content. Holstermann et al. (2010) identify experimentation, manipulation of symbols and objects as well as students’ interaction to be among students’ hands-on activities which can support meaningfully the learning of chemistry. They further indicated that the respective activities vary on how they enhance learning. Therefore, learning of the content can be strengthened when a student experiences a learning activity as enjoyable, pleasant, stimulating, and important.

Despite its importance in education, particularly chemistry classrooms, the research on development of students’ curiosity is somewhat limited. Much bodies of research about curiosity were done around the mid-19^th century but was mostly on human psychology. Curiosity was strictly linked to biological drives, such as hunger and thirst (Pluck & Johnson, 2011). According to Pluck and Johnson (2011), for learning to take place an organism must be motivated by being in a state of deprivation, such as being hungry or thirsty. Therefore, a good interpretation of human behaviour and learner curiosity is needed especially in a range of educational contexts.

However, the Government of Tanzania has shown a serious commitment to achieving Education for All (EFA) through its poverty reduction strategy which led to the introduction of Secondary Education Development Programmes (SEDP I of 2006 and SEDP II of 2010). The Ministry of Education and Vocation Training through SEDPs had four thematic areas outlined in its Education Strategic Plan (ESP) in achieving the MDGs (MOEVT, 2010). These areas include the provision of quality education, enrolment expansion and access, equity, and efficiency in the management of secondary schools. These areas are also stipulated in the Education and Training Policy (ETP) of 2014 (URT, 2014). Also, the Sustainable Development Goals of 2015 specifically SDG4 emphasize the provision of quality education. Not only that but most of the interventions, projects, and different programs are implemented to improve the quality of education (Galabawa, 2008) especially the provision of quality science education.

Despite these efforts of the government, Galabawa argues that still there is a long journey to achieve quality education in community secondary schools. A report by Hakielimu (2017) has shown that there is an enormous gap that prevails between the number of students graduating from Community schools and those among them who can master a minimum set of cognitive skills. Machumu (2011) argued that community secondary schools have mainly been facing challenges due to the acute shortage of qualified teachers, poor school infrastructures, and inadequate teaching and learning materials. These are some of the motives which draw the attention of research, especially in community secondary schools.

What were the major variables/construct of your project? Give definitions/descriptions from literature.

Key Terms in the Project/Major variables:

A word that serves as a key, as to the meaning of another word, a sentence, passage, or the like. The key concept is usually the main idea in the essay question. To provide the readers a better understanding of the frequently used terms in the study, the following terms are defined operationally:

Curiosity:

Curiosity is a wonder of the human mind. It goes to the heart of modernity, as a driving force for learning, novel insights, and innovation, both for individuals and communities. In societies dependent on science and development, finding out what promotes or hampers curiosity and wonder in school curricula and science education is accordingly essential.

Teacher Role

Teachers have to value emotional bonds with students and educate students as emotional and social beings. The role of a teacher in the school is a vital one in promoting sense of curiosity others in students. In fact teaching requires high level of Emotional Intelligence.

Questioning

Asking questions is central to intellectual effort; it is instrumental in bridging the gap between the known and the unknown. Questioning existed even before the time of Greek philosopher Socrates and still prevails in classrooms. Questioning is a major teaching and learning strategy for teachers in Pakistan. Questioning is as old as speech, and the use of questioning as a teaching strategy is at least as old as the classroom.

Motivation:

Motivation is the word derived from the word ‘motive’ which means needs, desires, wants or drives within the individuals. It is the process of stimulating people to actions to accomplish the goals. In the work goal context the psychological factors stimulating the people’s behavior can be – desire for money & Success.

What did you want to achieve in this research project?

Research problems and research objectives basically have the same meaning. Therefore, very often research problems are stated in the same way as the research objectives. This indicates the important role of research problems and research objectives in research activities. However, research objectives should be stated differently from the research problems, as the research problems are stated as questions to be answered by the researchers, while the objectives are stated as the goal of research to be achieved by the researchers. Research objectives are more focused than research problems. The main objective of this research was to Develop curiosity and responsibility through science experiments in 7th-grade students.

Purpose of the study

The purposes of this study were:

To investigate parents’ roles in the development of curiosity skills among their students.
To explore teachers’ roles in the development of curiosity skills among their students.
To identify the level of curiosity among school students.
To identify students academic achievement among school students through curiosity.

Critical Question:

Curiosity in education is a very broad topic, and many questions could have been asked of teachers and students to gather information for this study. The researcher narrowed down the topic by focusing on teachers and students’ motivation, grades, attendance, and attitude. As a result, this study considered the following research questions:

Curiosity has an essential function in the academic performance of students and their construction of the concepts r u agree?
Is there a significant difference in curiosity according to their gender?
Curiosity influences the students learning and academic achievement r u agree?
Does students learn more when parents are actively involved in learning activities?
Do increases in parent responsiveness behaviours result in increases in young children’s curiosity?
Is parental responsiveness equally effective, or does its effectiveness vary for children with varying characteristics (e.g., socio-economic status, ethnicity, biological risk factors)?

Who were the participants in your project?

In order to understand the complexities of validity, researchers’ participation in and observation of the phenomenon should be the appropriate approach for a more authentic understanding and explanation of the qualitative data. The targeted population was children enrolled in elementary (7th) level of School Name….. However, in this questionnaire, forty (40) children, taking a related course, were selected in a School Name located in the district Name as a sample while considering the research control and validity of this study. This sample included children of the two major mediums (English Medium and Urdu Medium). These participants might generally represent the children in the elementary (7th) level. The peer curiosity was developed on the basis of a series of research regarding written skills identification and improvement for elementary (7th) children. This curriculum purported to explain the following topic. Developing curiosity and responsibility through science experiments in 7th-grade students.

How did you try to solve the problem?

Action Research

Action research encompasses small scale systematic inquiry and contains of a number of stages which frequently persist in cycles. Like planning, action, observation and reflection. Classroom action research was separated into two cycles; they were cycle I and cycle II and each cycle contained of four interrelated activities, specifically: Planning, Action, Observation and Reflection. It was crucial to reminder that early reflection was normally used in a classroom action study. Plan is prospective to action, action is deliberate and controlled, observation is responsive, reflection is evaluation to make it apparent, and the design of present classroom action study would be described as follows. In the present study, I collected data based on following steps.

Method of the Study:

The methodology of this research was comprised on an action research to found out and solve the problem. The social phenomenon under scrutiny was the Developing curiosity and responsibility through science experiments in 7^th grade students and learning achievement. I used, interviews, field notes and observations to collect the data needed to provide the information and insight necessary to answer my research requirements.

Population:

The entire group from which a sample is chosen is known as the population. All the students of grade 7th who were enrolled in School Name , was population of my study. It was quite convenient for me, being a resident to accumulate quality data from the chosen city and school.

Sample:

Sample is smaller representation of large whole. Generally, it consists of some of the observations that represent the whole population. I sampled grade 7th students enrolled in School Name for this study.

Sample Size:

The numbers of observation included in a sample is called size of sample. I selected 40 students of grade 7th for action research-based study.

Research instrument:

Interview schedule is referred to formal meeting between the respondent and the interviewer. In this technique a number of questions were designed according to the requirement and relevancy of researcher being conducted. I prepared questionnaire to attain study objectives.

Collection of Data:

The term an interview is often used interchangeably with survey. It is common and easy method of data collection in action research. I collected through well-structured research tool (Interview schedule). So in such type studies, it is very necessary during development of measurement tool for quality data to keep all aspects in mind. I used Quantitative method to get important and meticulous information through questionnaire consisting only close ended questions relative to my research objectives.

What kind of instrument was used to collect the data? How was the instrument developed?

Data Collection:

Data collection is the process of gathering and measuring information on targeted variables in an established system, which then enables one to answer relevant questions and evaluate outcomes to answer the research problem. In this Action Research, I kept all ethical consideration in mind. I also discussed the plan with the students and also took permission from the management and students before initiating the action cycle. I used following instruments for data collection.

Research Instruments:

Research instruments are a way of gathering data concerning the research focus. Gathering data using different research instruments is in fact creating different ways to study the social event being researched.

Questions:

I developed the question to obtain data on children’s patience through engaging them at grade 7th. Questionnaires are a convenient way of collecting data from a large number of individuals.

Rating Scale:

A rating scale is a tool used for assessing the performance of tasks, skill levels, procedures, processes, qualities, quantities, or end products, such as reports, drawings, and computer programs. These are judged at a defined level within a stated range. I also develop a rating scale to judge students’ performance.

Case Study:

A case study is usually an in-depth description of a process, experience, or structure at a single institution. In order to answer a combination of ‘what’ and ‘why’ questions, case studies generally involve a mix of quantitative (i.e., surveys, usage statistics, etc.) and qualitative (i.e., interviews, focus groups, extant document analysis, etc.) data collection techniques. I analyze quantitative data first and then use qualitative strategies to look deeper into the meaning of the trends identified in the numerical data.

Checklists:

Checklists structure a person’s observation or evaluation of a performance or artifact. They can be simple lists of criteria that can be marked as present or absent, or can provide space for observer comments. These tools can provide consistency over time or between observers. Checklists can be used for evaluating databases, virtual IM service, the use of library space, or for structuring peer observations of instruction sessions. I also used checklists for effective data collection.

Interviews:

I prompt the interviewee for detail information regarding my study themes. My role as researcher was to pose the questions and I used the responses of the students to prompt them for more detail if I thought it necessary. On several occasions, the interviewees’ responses led to discussions not pertinent to the research and I had to focus their thoughts on the topic. In the course of these discussions, their understanding of the topic was revealed. The complete interview was audio recorded and the recorder was placed in such a way that everybody could see it.

Students Portfolio:

Portfolios can be a physical collection of student work that includes materials. I check students portfolio such as written assignments, journal entries, completed tests, artwork, lab reports, physical projects (such as dioramas or models), and other material evidence of learning progress and academic accomplishment, including awards and honours.

Field Notes:

Field experiences support candidates to better understand and apply the themes through their work with students. To understand in simple words field notes are draft/rough notes taken while sitting in a class. So based on these field notes I was prepared my final observation. I also took field notes.

What were the findings and conclusion?

Findings and Discussions

I prompt the interview for detailed information regarding my study themes. My role as a researcher was to pose the questions and I used the responses of the students to prompt them for more detail if I thought it necessary. On several occasions, the interviewees’ responses led to discussions not pertinent to the research and I had to focus their thoughts on the topic. In the course of these discussions, their understanding of the topic was revealed. The complete interview was audio recorded and the recorder was placed in such a way that everybody could see it.

“Curiosity has an essential function in the academic performance of students” “ Curiosity according to their gender” “ Curiosity influences the students learning and academic achievements” “Students learning and parents involvement in learning activities” “Parent responsiveness behaviours result in increases in young children’s curiosity” “parental responsiveness equally effective for children”

Major Findings:

The 1^st statement was that “ Curiosity has an essential function in the academic performance of students” according to 1^st statement the 65% of the students admitted that The Curiosity has an essential function in the academic performance of students and their construction of the concepts about life issues solving.

2^nd statement was that “Curiosity according to their gender” in 2^nd statement more than half 55% of the students admitted that there is a significant difference in students’ Curiosity according to their gender.

3^rd statement was that “Curiosity influences the students learning and academic achievements” this statement shows that 50% of the students admitted that self-patience the students learning and academic achievement.

According to 4^th statement more than half 55% of the students admitted that students learn more when parents are actively involved in learning activities with students.

In 5^th student 60% students admitted that increases in parent responsiveness behaviours result in increases in young children’s Curiosity and academic achievements.

In last statement 55% students admitted that parental responsiveness effectiveness vary for children with varying characteristics (e.g., socio-economic status, ethnicity, biological risk factors).

Conclusion:

Deep curiosity is an essential factor as a driving force for societal and scientific growth, and to maintain its development and wellbeing throughout childhood in science education is an urgent task. In preschool, curiosity should be nourished by means of maximums, which encourages children to inquire and wonder. A benefit of this method is friendship with the natural surroundings, which in turn constitutes the foundation for acquiring facts at school. In property, on the other hand, curiosity should come into focus, by means of learning about the diversity of the world, based on facts and terms. Finally, emotive friendships and a basis of facts and clear-cut knowledge are the suitable substrates for the deep epistemic curiosity and personal understanding of science, which should dominate during the years of adolescence and high school age. The child is then equipped with established terms and concepts and an inquiring mind, ready to begin a bold search for new insights and truths, which constitutes the foundation for any science. The progress from maximums to fact-based knowledge and to science demonstrates a possible pathway to maintain the joy of learning and deep curiosity throughout an entire life span. Maximums creates friends. Knowledge creates confidence. Science creates doubt. Although science rests on facts, it is permanently doubting its own findings and models. Thus, science education must have the personal journey of discovery as goal. This is what Richard Dawkins had in mind when stating that Science is the poetry of reality. The quote captures what must be at the core of any science education. It reflects the experience of the independent and mature self, where curiosity is not merely a pale memory from a lost childhood, but the impetus for reflection, science and knowledge in the intellect of the adult.

Summary of the Project

Curiosity is the inner drive for learning or ‘hunger for learning’ which is among the twenty-first-century learning competencies. Students in their earliest stage ought to exhibit curiosity to stir up knowledge acquisition and exploration, yet the development of curiosity in the context of education is considered to be unusual. This research assesses how science experimental techniques develop and express the curiosity of students in a hands-on learning environment. A sample of 40 senior students from elementary schools in school Name was involved in this study. Besides, the study examined how science experimental techniques can be incorporated as a pedagogical practice to foster students’ curiosity. The study employed a convergent mixed method design in form following a pragmatic stance. We used lesson observations, interviews, and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) to gather qualitative data while quantitative data were obtained through the Students’ Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SSRQ) and Teacher Rating Scale (TRS). It was revealed that experimental work activities can successfully be used when teachers share success criteria and learning intentions of a particular lesson. The overall results showed a significant increase in students’ curiosity due to the implementation of science experimental techniques activities as an instructional strategy. In this perspective, we advocate for science experimental activities to be used frequently in class lesson sessions and more studies should be done further on students’ curiosity in the field of education.

The objective of this study

The main objective of this research was to Develop curiosity by using science experimental techniques among grade 7^th students.

Purpose of the study

The purposes of this study were:

To investigate parents’ roles in the development of curiosity skills among their students.
To explore teachers’ roles in the development of curiosity skills among their students.
To identify the level of curiosity among school students.
To identify students’ academic achievement among school students through curiosity.

Process of Data collection:

I used action research method for existing research. Observation, focus group interviews, questionnaires and field notes by me to collect the data. The interviews used in this study were semi-structured. I conducted direct interview of students during their free time. I also used mobile phone for recording data. The head teacher introduced me to the class teacher. I assured that the study is the sole purpose of writing a research project and that the data collected would be treated with utmost. The Statistical Package for Social Scientists (IBM SPSS Statistics 20) program was used for data screening, data transformations and analysis. Study identified a significant, causal, and reciprocal relationship between classroom effective environment and students learning.

Findings:

This study has combined the study of literature with a statistical test for designing construction of curiosity through science experimental techniques measurement. It is not an easy thing to do both simultaneously. There are many weaknesses in this study that should be corrected in further research to develop this measurement.

The purpose of our seven week research study was to promote students’ curiosity through experimental techniques in a elementary science classroom. The results are encouraging, and we plan to pursue this practice in our classroom teaching. Through this research, we intend to share our findings with other practitioners in the hope that they may look for opportunities in their classroom teaching to tap students’ curiosity and encourage them to “coconstruct their learning”. This could provide readers with the opportunity to adapt some activities keeping in mind the facilitating factors and challenges or to take this research further, fill in the gaps or enrich it.

We began by considering the then prevalent teaching/learning practices in the classroom. We wanted to minimize imposing anything alien on the students. This is evidenced in the sequence of activities administered in the classroom, from using a picture to using Suchman Inquiry to storytelling. Action research helped us to plan, teach, reflect and adapt innovative activities according to the level of development of the students’ questioning skills. We used a variety of low and no cost, hands-on, minds on activities at an appropriate level of difficulty. Gradually, children were given the freedom not only to ask questions but also to look for the answers to those questions. The class room dynamics shifted from “power asymmetry” to students taking control of their learning. This was enjoyable for the students.

How do you feel about this practice? What have you learned?

Earlier I was a bit confused when I went to area for research. I was hesitated to start my work in the area but when I arranged meeting with parents then suddenly this hesitation went away. The staff of the area told me that we will help you and guide you whenever you need. After meeting with parents and their positive response I was satisfied and ready to do it. After this practice I feel that it was great experience of my life because I experienced a lot of new things. I am feeling very satisfied and glad after my research. It was quite interesting and Conflict management experience. Now I am confident after this research. Now I am able to do these all sorts of such tasks. I m feeling myself as confident, glad and learnt person. I learnt a lot of new things which I never learnt in my previous life. For example when I talked with senior Parents and expert people I learnt a lot of skills of writing. When i taught the children then me counsel dictionary and great writers, businessmen and novels .These all things increased my Conflict management also showed them video lesson of some expert and creative writers to teach them. It also helped me to learn new things. This practice also improved my writing skills too. I also learnt how to write effectively and accurately I have improved my English grimmer. My vocabulary has been improved. I learnt new methods of improving writing. I learnt how to write stories in appropriate way. Overall it helped me to develop new writing skills, new way of teaching writing skills. So I am glad to say that it was unforgettable experience of my life. First of all most of us numb the uncomfortable emotions, but unknowingly when we do this research we can also end up numbing our other emotions like joy, peace, happiness, and pleasure. We can’t fully have one without the other. The first step is always awareness, because once we have awareness we can start to do something about it. This is one of the reasons I love researching and attending classes as it’s basically a scheduled time in the day, where I have no other distractions, to just be in my routine and notice how I’m feeling. That being said I rarely make it to a class once a week these days, so I do have to find simple and quick ways to connect. Since mindfulness is about being present in the moment and noticing all the sensations and emotions in your mind and life, one thing you can do is ask yourself where in your mind you feel your emotions. I had mixed feelings with research. I was bit nervous and somewhat curious to learn action research. I attend all of the meeting to reach 80% attendance to learn about how to do action research effectively. My experience regarding current research was informative. In this regard my respective supervisor helps me a lot.

What has it added to your professional skills as a teacher?

Action research is a form of research that is authentic and meaningful to the teacher/researcher because it is conducted by the teacher in his/her own classroom space. Action research helps me to pick up threads suggested in academic circles, and weave them in my own classroom. Action research allows me to take ownership over my teaching and occurs when teacher researchers contemplate a classroom or instructional issue, design a study, execute the study, track data and results, and reflect. The action research progression is interactive; it is not a passive process, as teacher-researchers are active constructors of knowledge. This action research helped me to maintain classroom management through effective discipline practices for effective writing skills. I learnt that curiosity of students effects academic performance or academic achievements. From this practice I’m able to assess the problem in my class. Now I can identify, process and solve the problem through scientific way which results better than previous which was beating about bush. As teachers construct new knowledge while linking prior knowledge, learning occurs. This research provides me with data from my own experiences and my own students. This is the meaningful evidence that I need to be able to tell other stories. I strongly believed that there is no better way to communicate your story than to stand up in front of my peers and share the journey of action research. This study added my professional skills as trainee teacher that sharing useful strategies with students and provide them examples enhance their English writing skills. I will give assignments to students that offer appropriate practice with feedback. Writing is a complex skill which most students actually need in order to successfully go through school. Because everything is based on writing during academic years, a student who possesses good writing skills will automatically do better at everything, including exams, essays, assignments, and so on. I’m talking about general and specific tips and tricks on how to approach a specific type of essay. For example, you can emphasize the importance of creating clear and concise outlines before they start writing. As a teacher, my role is to help each and every student improve themselves, acquire new skills, and become a better individual by the end of their time spent in school. Even though one cannot improve their skills without working hard and having a desire to make progress, a teacher can definitely get involved and make huge differences concerning this matter. I followed these tips, for improvements in my student’s mind-set to curiosity of students for effective learning.

List the works you cited in your project.

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Biddulph, F., D. Symington and R. Osborne. “The Place of Children’s Questions in Primary Science Education.” Research in Science & Technological Education 4, no. 1 (1986): 77–88.
Borko, H., and R. Putnam. “Expanding a Teacher’s Knowledge Base: A Cognitive Psychological Perspective on Professional Development.” In Professional Development in Education: New Paradigms and Practices, edited by T. R. Guskey and M. Huberman, 35–65. New York: Teachers College Press, 1995.
Brain, M. “Students Are People.” Emphasis on Teaching [online]. Available at bygpub.com/eot/ eot9.htm. 1998.
Carr, W., and S. Kemmis. Becoming Critical: Education, Knowledge and Action Research. London: Falmer, 1986.
Davis, B. G. Tools for Teaching. San Francisco: JosseyBass, 1993.
Derry, N., and J. Ploughman. “Helping Students Understand Their Own Learning Through the Use of Log Books in Science.” Science Education International 8, no. 2 (1997): 15–20.
Feasey, R. “Thinking and Working Scientifically.” In Teaching Primary Science Constructively, edited by K. Skamp, 29–63. London: Harcourt Brace, 1998.
Freire, P. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. London: Penguin, 1972.
Gallas, K. Talking Their Way into Science: Hearing Children’s Questions and Theories, Responding with Curricula. New York: Teachers College Press, 1995.
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The Teaching of Science in Primary Schools. 2d ed. London: David Fulton, 1996.
Holt, J. How Children Fail. Rev. ed. London: Penguin, 1982.
Kerry, T. Effective Questioning. London: Macmillan, 1982.
Liem, T. L. Invitations to Science Inquiry. Chino Hills, Calif.: Science Inquiry Enterprises, 1987.
MacNamara, D. “Teaching Skill: The Question of Question.” Educational Research 23, no. 2 (1980): 104.

Developing Curiosity And Responsibility Through Science Experiments In 7th Grade Students