TI-AIE: Effective project work: sources of energy

What this unit is about

Project work is an active approach to teaching. It gives students the opportunity to explore a particular aspect of science in greater depth, in an extended and collaborative way. Project-based learning puts students at the centre of the learning process. Students learn by doing and they can become knowledge creators when they undertake project work – this is one of the aims of the NCF (2005). Project work in science also allows students to work as real scientists do.

Research suggests that students using project-based learning are likely to retain the knowledge they acquire for longer (Thomas, 2000). Other benefits are that it develops students’ information gathering and processing skills, presentation skills, confidence, and independence. In a competitive global world, these skills are very important.

This unit will introduce you to some teaching strategies that will enable you to undertake project work with your students with confidence. Managing project work well requires teachers to adopt a facilitative role. These strategies will give you practical support in being an effective facilitator.

The strategies are explained using examples from the Class X topic ‘sources of energy’, but these ideas can be used in other parts of the science curriculum.