Abstract:

It’s well know that “learning by doing” is an essential educational strategy, especially for scientific discipline. But, only about ten percent of students has a classroom opportunity to experience science in an interactive way. The Department of Physics at University of Salerno is working to help to change the way Science is taught.

For this purpose, we have designed and made a small Science Center, named “Divertiesperimenti” (“fun-Experiments”). Based on the model of the San Francisco’s Exploratorium, our exhibit’s collection provides learners with opportunities to directly observe and manipulate many natural phenomena, guided by university experts.

“Divertiesperimenti” want be a learning laboratory: a ludic place to explore and think: starting from direct experiences, teachers and students are involved in many practical activities. The core of the activities is the "Inquiry based learning”: starting from exploration by hands-on exhibits, learners are guided by university researchers to activate skills to do in-depth scientific inquiry.

Using also simple examples (and expanding by experiments with poor materials to help students understand common or complex phenomena) we stimulate learners to formulate questions and scientific hypothesis. And, to support teachers in their efforts to transform science teaching and learning, a number of our trainings provide professional development to educators in both formal and informal settings.

In this talk, we will briefly describe “Divertiesperimenti”, the small Science Center of University of Salerno, giving some examples of the activities offered to High-School students and teachers.

Keywords:

Educational, physics, learning by doing, exhibits hands on, experiments, Inquiry based Science education.