Use of locally available materials in teaching science
Date of Award
Master of Education (M. Ed.)
Institute for Educational Development, Karachi
The concept of employing the locally available materials in teaching Science is emerging as a popular and worthwhile teaching learning strategy in building the conceptual understanding of students. It has a number of strengths, but the way it helps students construct on their own previous knowledge is valuable, and it also enables them to be the scientists of their own world. The purpose of this research was to see whether the locally available teaching materials or teacher-made materials could be utilized to teach the concepts of acid and base to secondary level students. It was undertaken with two research participants, who are comparatively less experienced, considering interviews, post-lesson conferences, observations and document analysis. Collaborative action research was employed in conducting this research study. All the interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed, and all the data was analyzed and categorized to achieve the themes. It was evident from the study that the research participants found the strategy and approach of locally available teaching materials constructive and interesting for their workplace learning, professional development and teaching learning. They thought that it was a useful micro level curriculum innovation for their professional development, and their simple efforts could make effective use of everyday material in their teaching. They found that collaborative work was central for its successful implementation, and it helped them a lot but costed nothing. The study further reveals that if teachers are facilitated and provided support, the concept of locally available teaching resources in Science, in Pakistani contexts, could be effective and productive. The research study has made some recommendations to include and emphasize the use of locally available materials in both pre-service and in-service training courses. It, further, suggests schools managements to ensure the on-going professional support at school level to novice teachers, so that it can boost their confidence level and working spirit.
Khan, S. (2006). Use of locally available materials in teaching science (Unpublished master's dissertation). Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.