THE EXPERIMENT AND ITS ROLE FOR PHYSICS AT PRIMARY EDUCATION

Specific Foundation

The course is also offered to exchange programme students.

Within the context of this course, it is aimed that the students: - Know, and can describe the key role that the experiment carries out, for the teaching of Physics at Primary School. - Are aware of and know the use of simple materials of everyday use, which can be used for the experimental teaching of Physics at Primary School. - Know, and are capable of handling the basic arrangements of Laboratory equipment, which are used for the Physics’ experiments at Primary School. - Are in a position to curry out all the experiments that are stipulated in the teaching of the units of Physics (textbook for Primary School: “I research and I discover”). They will also be in a position to aid their future students in conducting these experiments.

During the lectures / meetings, in the context of this course, as the semester evolves in time, the following topics are taught / discussed: - The theoretical and epistemological basis for the use of the experiment in the instruction of Physics. - A historical restrospection of the use of experiments in the teaching. Historical experiments in the time evolution of Physics and their role. - The various types of experiment in teaching. - Teaching objectives of the carrying out of experiments at Primary School. - The main physical quantities and their units of measurement. The concept of measurement itself. - Basic principles for the measurement and the recording of physical quantities. The concept of error and the various types of error in measurements.. - Elaboration of measurements in an experiment. The concept of “average value”, of “deviation”, the design of simple graphs. - The conditions of safety during the carrying out of experiments in the school classroom or in the school laboratory. Common mistakes made during taking measurements and their avoidance. - Description and familiarisation, concerning the laboratory arrangements that are used for the experiments at Primary School. - For instance: the dynamo-meter, the digital chronometer, the electric multi-meter, basic electric sources, simple circuits, the alcohol thermometer, the protractor disc, and the prisms for the analysis of light in colors. - Basic demonstration experiments, with the participation of the undergraduate students, corresponding to the syllabus in the textbooks : ”Physics for the E Class” and “Physics for the F Class” of the Greek Primary School. - A little more advanced laboratory arrangements and sensors, which can be used for experimenting at Primary School, as well as their role in teaching. - Certain software tools for currying out simulated experiments through computer, selected among the ones existing in the Web. - Simple platforms of Educational Robotics, as well as their use, as instruments of measuring and recording quantities, in experiments of Physics for the Primary Education. At a laboratory level: - At specific meetings / lectures, during the duration of the course, some students present experiments that have prepared in groups, to the rest of the students. The experiments are related to specific units/topics of Physics, among the ones that the Primary School Syllabus contains. - During the presentation of the above experiments, the teaching objectives are described, the equipment used is presented, the place where the experiment would take place is specified (laboratory/school classroom etc), the arrangement of student in groups in the class is discussed, and - finally - the Worksheets that would be delivered to the school students, are scrutinised. - Feedback, as well as discussion, about the experiment(s) presented, form the plenary session of the undergraduate students.

Experiment, Role, Physics, Primary Education

29-08-2024