Search results for "hands-on"

Individual Creativity and Career Choices of Pre-teens in the Context of a Math-Art Learning Event

2021

A sample of 392 students (aged 12-13 years, M± SD: 12. 52% girls) completed a learning module integrating informal hands-on mathematics and arts activity (extending STEM to STEAM). Within a 140 minute workshop period participants worked with commercially available ‘4Dframe’ Math and STEAM learning toolkits to design and create original, personal and individual geometrical structures. Two science pedagogues acted as tutors supervising the process and intervened only when needed. A pre-/post-test design monitored individual creativity, relative autonomy, and career choice preference. Path analysis elaborated the role of creativity (measured with two subscales: act and flow), and it showed tha…

Teaching Motion Control in Mechatronics Education Using an Open Framework Based on the Elevator Model

2022

Universities and other educational institutions may find it difficult to afford the cost of obtaining cutting-edge teaching resources. This study introduces the adoption of a novel open prototyping framework in the context of mechatronics education, employing low-cost commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components and tools for the motion control module. The goal of this study is to propose a novel structure for the motion control module in the engineering mechatronics curriculum. The objective is to foster a new teaching method. From a methodology perspective, students are involved in a series of well-organised theoretical lectures as well as practical, very engaging group projects in the lab.…

Hands-on math and art exhibition promoting science attitudes and promoting science attitudes

2017

The current science, technology, engineering, art, math education (STEAM) approach emphasizes integration of abstract science and mathematical ideas for concrete solutions by art.The main aim was to find out how experience of learning mathematics differed between the contexts of school and an informal Math and Art Exhibition. The study participants (𝑁 = 256) were 12-13 years old from Finland. Several valid questionnaires and tests were applied (e.g., SRQ-A, RAVEN) in pre- and postdesign showing a good reliability.The results based on General Linear Modeling and Structural Equation Path Modeling underline the motivational effects. The experience of the effectiveness of hands-on learning at …

Ideas for using GeoGebra and Origami in Teaching Regular Polyhedrons Lessons

2018

The approach of combining GeoGebra and origami is well accepted among students in the school "Petro Kuzmjak" where it is used to teach geometry lessons. This article elaborates on how to introduce students (upper elementary and high school students, age 14-18) to Platonic solids and their properties through combination of GeoGebra and origami activities. Some of the important mathematical concepts related to these well-known geometrical solids can be explained to students applying hands-on activities along with educational software. peerReviewed

Teaching Inorganic Photophysics and Photochemistry with Three Ruthenium(II) Polypyridyl Complexes: A Computer-Based Exercise

2015

Among computational methods, DFT (density functional theory) and TD-DFT (time-dependent DFT) are widely used in research to describe, inter alia, the optical properties of transition metal complexes. Inorganic/physical chemistry courses for undergraduate students treat such methods, but quite often only from the theoretical point of view. In the calculation exercise herein described, students are guided step by step through the computational study of the photophysics and photochemistry of polypyridyl Ru(II) d6-metal complexes. In particular, by means of DFT and TD-DFT calculations, they are asked to examine and interpret a set of experimental data describing the absorption, emission, and ph…

Geometrinen hahmottaminen sosiaalisena, vuorovaikutteisena ja kehollisena toimintana

2022

Matematiikan ja luonnontieteiden oppimista käsittelevässä tutkimuksessa on viime aikoina korostettu kehon, kognition ja vuorovaikutuksen läheistä yhteyttä. Tässä artikkelissa pohdimme, millä tavoin geometrinen hahmottaminen on sosiaalista, vuorovaikutteista ja materiaalien välittämää kehollista toimintaa. Tarkastelemme eräässä kouluajan ulkopuolella järjestetyssä STEAM-työpajassa kerättyä videoaineistoa keskustelunanalyysin menetelmin. Työpajassa alakouluikäiset oppilaat saivat tehtäväkseen koota pareittain jalkapallon geometrisen representaation 4DFrame-rakennussarjan muoviputkista ja -kiinnikkeistä. Tapaustutkimuksemme osoittaa, miten tämän kaltaisen ohjatun rakennustehtävän aikana katse,…

Hands-on math and art exhibition promoting science attitudes and promoting science attitudes

2017

Building large molecular models with plastic screw-on bottle caps and sturdy connectors

2016

An improved method of connecting atoms formed with screw-on bottle caps is described. Fishing line (artificial polymer), steel wire, and countersunk bolts with nyloc nuts are proposed as sturdy connectors. Advantages and disadvantages of each method are described. The molecular models are stable while handling, can be built in a relatively short time at low cost, and can be useful at every level of education. The method is an alternative to professional model kits, in particular in construction of large models for long-term usage.

Computational Thinking Development: Benefiting from Educational Robotics in STEM Teaching

2022

<p style="text-align: justify;">The delivery of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) learning to improve an individual’s competence and future career interests has become a critical scientific undertaking for teachers and researchers alike. A plethora of research has proposed various hands-on robotics activities built on constructivist theories, thereby facilitating the development of knowledge based on reality for scientific and non-scientific stakeholders. Robotics may become an essential focus point within technology provision, which is an essential underlying characteristic for the seminal development of computational thinking (CT). However, despite the potentia…

Hands-on tasks in CLIL science classrooms as sites for subject-specific language use and learning

2015

This paper is concerned with content and language integrated learning (CLIL), i.e. classrooms where a foreign or second language (L2) is used as the means of instruction and where content and language learning objectives merge. More specifically, it explores the potential of hands-on tasks in CLIL chemistry and physics lessons to serve as sites for using and learning subject-specific language, conceptualised as both special concepts and terminology as well as subject-specific ways of constructing meaning. Using discourse analysis, attention was directed to hands-on tasks as well as pre-task and post-task phases. The findings indicate that despite the evident content orientation in the tasks…