Geo Time Travel – An Explosive Adventure

Abstract

<p>The recent legislative and ministerial standards require to the teachers to change the way of "doing school" and to put “emphasising on the needs in order to build, through dialogue between the different disciplines, a coherent and unified profile of cultural meanings”. The National Guidelines regarding OSA (specific objectives of learning) formulated on the European directives based on the “knowledge society”, recommend to improve interdisciplinary connections. The predominantly linear path of disciplinary knowledge, found in text books, consents an internal order in the mind rather than to induce the “ability to connect”, encouraging the development of complex thought. This methodology created over time a superficial knowledge that leads to permanence of “commonplaces” and “misconception”.</p><p>These are the questions: is theatre foreign to science? Is it possible to promote scientific knowledge through drama? This tool indicates the separation or the link between 'two cultures'?</p><p>Our proposal was to produce a training module. We realized a scientific script with didactic value titled “Geo Time Travel – An Explosive Adventure”.</p><p>The plot tells of a near future, where the most technically advanced school classes will have the opportunity to confront each other in breathtaking cultural challenges in order to win the coveted prize up for grabs. Just before the start of the semifinals we know the science teacher who will accompany her most brilliant students during the test. The group is informed that the next test is timed and will consist of a journey through time, so in a few seconds the team is preparing to start. It is precisely the haste to be a bad adviser: in a cloud of smoke, the participants find themselves in a completely different era from the one they have planned. How far back have they gone? How will the group get away with gladiators, famous naturalists, mysterious traders and Sibylline prophecies? Will students be able to move on to the final phase?</p><p>The procedure predicted:</p><ul><li>- the analysis of pedagogical needs</li> <li>- the analysis of the misconceptions or prior knowledge</li> <li>- the selection of the focalised scientific concepts</li> <li>- the application of the new knowledge</li> </ul><p>The teacher, in this case a scriptwriter, composed the script, inserting interdisciplinary topics, developing a good plot to capture the attention but being careful not to trivialize main concepts. It was important to introduce playful scenes in order to make the show more dramatic and a little less academic.</p><p>The role of the teacher changed: she was the director or was joined by the director. Each student received a role: who the actor, who the prompter, who the lighting or audio technician.</p><p>We created the schedules to observe before, during and at the end of the experience.</p><p>It was important to change the traditional way to evaluate the performances of students.</p><p>We’ll represent the drama in theatre and the research will focus on understand the reaction of both a general public and a public of students. The data collected will be analysed with different statistic methods.</p>