Before we began working with
selected schools, we offered training sessions for teachers.
Our objective was to make the
instructors active participants in the
workshop rather than passive spectators.
The training gave them a chance
to familiarize themselves with the
experiments so that they could teach
them with confidence. The teachers’
dedication was critical to the success of
the program. For example, the task of
dividing the class into appropriate work
groups required a previous knowledge
of the students that only the teachers
could provide. Teachers were also able to
control discipline in the classroom.
After four months of preparation,
we took “The Voyage of Light” to the
schools. Two members of our group
attended each class, plus the head
teacher. The project team was excited
and nervous because we did not know
how we would be received. In one
exercise, which began with a discussion
of rainbows, the class monitor asked:
“Do you think you could create one?”
and “Do you want to describe one?”
They all responded, “Yeeees!” But, until
they did the experiment themselves,
said the class monitor, “they never could
imagine how beautiful it is to create
a rainbow. Some (the most creative
ones) imagined the universe and in the
center the sun; they even saw stars and
constellations. Ah, kids!”
We were gratified to see that the
students did not want to end the
experiments in order to take our survey
evaluating the program. In some sense,
it meant having to end the fun and
begin a more traditional system of
teaching. Probably the most important
memory that will stay with the children
will not be specific scientific concepts or
optics laws, but rather the sense of fun
they had while conducting science.
Throughout the year, we overcame
many challenges. We realized that it
is necessary not only to involve the
teachers, but also higher school authorities in order to generate total buy-in to
the project. We did not have problems
with getting the children to perform the
Kids having fun with optics at the university. Courtesy of Rodrigo Vicencio
In developing materials
and activities, the group
emphasized simple but
innovative experiments
that children could
reproduce on their own.
This enabled the children
to be the protagonists
in their own learning
experience.
experiments because they were highly
motivated. We believe that the involvement of the head teachers was critical
to getting and keeping high student
motivation.
We asked the children to write down
what they had learned during the work-
shops. With this task, we realized that
our project had soaked in more deeply
than we could have imagined. Some
phrases were: “Now I like science better
than soccer;” “I learned that the project
was sensational and I liked all the
experiments;” “I learned to share with
my classmates;” and “I learned that you
can do anything.”
We concluded the project with
an original play that was created to
reinforce the content that was taught
throughout the workshops. The kids
were very receptive. Our intention was
to leave them with a lasting impression
of what they had experienced in order
to maintain their positive thoughts
toward science. We hope that we have
motivated some of our kids to learn by
posing questions and enabling them to
search for their own answers. Through-
out 2010, we will continue our voyage
with other kids. t
We are grateful to all those who collaborated
with us and made this voyage a reality,
especially Explora-Conicyt, GTD Internet,
MIM and the science faculty at the University
of Chile.
Rodrigo A. Vicencio ( rodrigov@uchile.cl) is with
the departamento de física, facultad de ciencias,
Universidad de Chile and Center for Optics and
Photonics (CEFOP) in Chile.
