Experiments in physics teaching: Towards an approach to laboratory skills development

Abstract

The aim of the present paper is to report on a research study which aimed to promote the idea that experiments in physics teaching should enhance the development of laboratory skills. The paper begins with a discussion of the role of laboratory work, as presented in different curricula in Europe and the US. Emphasis has been given to curriculum guidelines, according to which, laboratory work should promote the development of laboratory skills. Then, an empirical research study with one hundred and twenty-three (123) pre-service physics teachers has been reported. The study took place within the context of a pre-service teacher education program in a Department of Physics Teaching. The participants were distributed in six different semesters during three years. They performed experiments, wrote laboratory reports and prepared lesson plans to teach in the school laboratory. In addition, short interviews were conducted with quite many of them, while preparing lesson plans. The research goal was to investigate teachers’ understanding of the purpose of experiments in physics teaching and their difficulties when preparing lesson plans to teach in the lab. The program was successful in helping the participants to gradually ‘shift’ from the idea that experiments are used to verify a hypothesis or confirm theory, to the position that experiments should promote the development of laboratory skills. Implications for curriculum development and pre-service teacher education in Turkey have been discussed.