Abstract

Learner-centered strategies on, constructivist learning such as guided inquiry and cooperative learning, have been used to deliver a lesson on refraction of light to a mixed ability class School Certificate level. Hands-on activities leading to the completion of a worksheet during the implementation of the lesson resulted into the rediscovery of Snells law by themselves. Different evaluation techniques have been carried out with the help of worksheets and finally a test. Ultimately, essential follow-up actions and reflection by friends aiming at improving the delivery of the lesson have been pointed out.

Learner centered pedagogy The term, learner-centered describes a concept and a practice in which students and teachers learn from one another. It proposes a global shift away from instruction that is fundamentally teacher-centered, at times glibly termed sage on the stage, focusing instead on learning outcomes. It is not intended to diminish the importance of the instructional side of the classroom experience. Instead, instruction is broadened to include other activities that produce desirable learning outcomes. Learner-centered teachers articulate what we expect our students to learn, design educational experiences to advance their learning, and provide opportunities for them to demonstrate their success in achieving those expectations. A learner-centered environment grows out of curricular decisions and in-class strategies which encourage students interaction with the content, with one another and the teacher, and with the learning process. It encourages students reflection, dialogue, and engagement, and requires a reliable assessment of their content mastery. In this lesson, cooperative learning and guided inquiry approach based on constructivist approach are used as learner centered strategies. Cooperative learning Cooperative learning is a successful teaching strategy in which small teams, each with students of different levels of ability, use a variety of learning activities to improve their understanding of a subject. Each member of a team is responsible not only for learning what is taught but also for helping teammates learn, thus creating an atmosphere of achievement. Students work through the assignment until all group members successfully understand and complete it. Cooperative efforts result in participants striving for mutual benefit so that all group members:

gain from each other's efforts. (Your success benefits me and my success benefits you.) recognize that all group members share a common fate. (We all sink or swim together here.)

know that one's performance is mutually caused by oneself and one's team members. (We can not do it without you.) feel proud and jointly celebrate when a group member is recognized for achievement. (We all congratulate you on your accomplishment!).

Guided inquiry The tension between the goal of student autonomy and their need for structure and guidance is a necessary one. Guided inquiry seems an appropriate balancing point for middle school students. If one is to give students a chance to define the questions to be investigated, one must be prepared to be flexible. Furthermore, the subject matter and available materials need to lend themselves to this sort of exploration. If the students cannot experiment with materials firsthand, this approach will not work. To begin even guided inquiry, students need to have already experienced investigations. They need to have concrete experiential reference points for concepts like question, hypothesis, variable, control, and data collection. They need then an introduction to the materials, a chance to explore and become acquainted with the topic. With coaching and group editing, these investigations can be the core of an exciting investigation sequence. Initial efforts will reflect a poor grasp of the nature of questions that are useful bases for investigation, but through teacher-led discussions and practical efforts to design investigations to answer these questions, students can learn how to render their questions investigatable. Constructivism Constructivism is a theory that places the quest for understanding at the centre of the educational enterprise. When presented with new information, whether theoretical, objective, or interpersonal, humans seek to make sense of it. The process of making sense is enhanced in classroom settings when teachers practice five overarching principles: Seeking and valuing students points of view. Challenging students suppositions. Posting problems of emerging relevance for students. Structuring lessons around big concepts and ideas.

Assessing students learning within the context of teaching. Learner centered pedagogy with reference to the concept chosen The main learner-centered pedagogy that will be used will be cooperative learning and guided inquiry. Cooperative learning has been chosen because research has shown that cooperative learning techniques: - promote student learning and academic achievement - increase student retention - enhance student satisfaction with their learning experience - help students develop skills in oral communication - develop students' social skills - promote student self-esteem - help to promote positive race relations Guided inquiry is to be used because it is the closest teaching strategy that connects a given experiment in Physics to its physical explanation whereby the students can be guided to discover a concept by the teacher through the used to questions, hands0on activities etc. The purpose of guided inquiry is to provide students structured experience with scientific inquiry.

Lesson planning Subject area Class level Class size Venue Duration Topic Subtopic Aim : Physics : School certificate : 24 (mix abilities) : Physics lab : 105 minutes (3 periods) : Light : Refraction of light : To investigate the concept and laws of refraction

Lesson objectives: At the end of the lesson, all students should be able to:
a) Define the terms used in refraction including incident rays, angle of incidence, angle

of refraction, refracted rays and refractive index b) Describe experiments to show refraction of light through glass blocks
c) Perform calculation using the equation

Prior knowledge : Light, Reflection of light, Ray diagrams, Mathematical skills

Teaching aids

: Experimentation strategy

Discovery and discussion strategy Broadcast strategy Worksheets

Teaching strategies : Cooperative learning and Guided inquiry

Lesson methodology Part 1: Induction

A. Step into the class and say hello to the students.

B. Ask all the students to switch off their mobiles. C. Ask the students if there are absentees in the class. D. Tell the students that they are going to do a new topic on refraction of light. Part 2: Lesson development Testing of prior knowledge Students will be asked to answer some questions (questioning techniques): i. Does light travel in straight lines? ........................................................................................................................................ [Answer: yes] ii. What are the different ways in which rays are grouped in light beams? .......................................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................................... [Answers: parallel beams, converging beams, diverging beams] iii. What is the speed of light? ..........................................................................................................................................

[Answer:

For each question, enough time will be given to the students so that they can think well before answering each question. They will be asked to raise their hands if they have the answers. These questions will refresh there memory and make them remember the previous topic which was on reflection of light. The teacher will pick an average ability student to answer the question, if it is a wrong answer then other students will get the opportunity to answer. Good answers will be praised by teacher and if it is a wrong answer then teacher will give explanation so that the student can remove the miss-conception.

Brainstorming: Question: 1. Have you ever heard of the word refraction? 2. Where do you feel it occurs in daily life? 3. What do you observe when a straight stick (e.g a pen or pencil) is partially immersed in water?

This picture will be shown to them using a projector. Right answers will be praised and wrong answers will be clarified by the teacher. Students will be asked to note down in full sentences the clarification of the teacher. Lecture method
1) The definition of refraction will be given to the students. The terms involved like

angle of incidence denoted i and angle of refraction denoted r, will be explained to the students.

2) A ray diagram (as shown below) will be drawn by the teacher on the white board to

illustrate refraction of light as it passes from air to glass. The students will be asked to drawn the diagram in their copybook and to distinguish what the letters (a, b, c and d) represent as well as to find where the normal is. While d will be completely unknown to them, attention will be focus on this answer.

3) Right answers will be praised, wrong answers will be corrected and will be given

explanations. Students will have the opportunity to discover what a refracted ray is. Students will be given the definition of the 1st law of refraction and later they will discover the 2nd law through experimentation. Discovery through experiment Grouping method
4) Among the 24 students there are 4 high flyers, 16 middle achievers and 4 low

achievers. They will be grouped into groups of 2. There will be no real movement (disturbance) here since the students sit in groups of two in the physics lab. The grouping choices will be according to the teacher, he shall make sure that no 2 low achievers or 2 high flyers land in the same group. Thus the groups will be asked to perform the experiment below.

Experiment to investigate the relationship between the angle of incidence and the angle of refraction. Variables in the experiment: Manipulated variable: Angle of incidence, i Responding variable: Angle of refraction, r Fixed variable: refractive index, denoted by n Materials required: pins, glass block, white paper (A3 size), protractor, ruler, pencil, graph paper, scientific calculator In the experiment the manipulated variable (angle of incidence) will be controlled and the responding variable (angle of refraction) will be measured. Students will follow the procedures in the same order as mentioned below.

a) Put the glass block in the middle of a sheet of white paper and outline its form

(A,B,C,D) as shown in the figure above. b) Draw a normal somewhere at the upper left-hand corner of the block.
c) Measure

with the normal and draw the path of the incident ray.

d) Set up 2 pins, one at the point of intersection of the incident ray, the normal and the glass surface and the other one on the path of the incident ray at a distance of about 4 cm from the first pin. e) Sight through the glass block in the bottom right corner. The 2 pins will be visible, align them in a straight line so that 2 other pins can be set up in the same straight line but on the other hand of the glass block. f) Draw a line through the 2 pins, until the line meets the outline of the glass block.
g) Remove the block and draw a third line joining the incident and emergent rays. h) Measure the angle of refraction with the protractor and record it in table 1(nearest

degree).
i) Repeat and record the above procedures for rays incident as from

to

Question: Which safety measure should be taken while using the protractor? [Answer: parallax error]
j) Plot a graph of

against

5) While the experiment is being carried out, the teacher will walk through the class to see if there are any problems encountered by the students. Teacher will help them if they require help. After the experiment the students will be invited to a discussion to what they have notice on their final diagram when all the values have been recorded.

Questions will be asked about what they have observed:

i.

How you would verify if you have drawn the emergent ray accurately? [Answer: The emergent ray should be parallel to the incident ray for one particular angle of incidence]

ii.

What happens to the angle of refraction when angle of incidence increases? [Answer: Angle of refraction increases]

6. Right answers will be praised and wrong ones will be given explanations with the

help of a final diagram from a students work and the table in which values have been recorded. They will be asked to write these answers in full sentences in their copy books.
7. The students will be asked to plot the graph on excel if there is enough computers

available (Appendix). If there are no computers then the teacher will take a random reading form a group and will plot the graph on excel using his laptop so that the students can view it. But the students will have to plot the graph on graph paper since there might not be computers available.
8. They will be asked to draw the line of best fit, calculate the gradient of the slope and

to write a conclusion on the ratio of

9. After they have written the conclusion which is

which is a constant. then they

will be told that this conclusion is actually the 2nd law of refraction know as Snells law.

10. They will have to write this law in words in their copybooks. They will also be asked

to think what the constant means. After the intervention of the teacher, he will tell them that the constant is the refractive index of the medium (where in this case the medium is water). 11. Students will now be introduced to the relation between refractive index and the speed of light. Teacher will ask them to respond to this question:
i.

What happens to the speed of light when it travels from vacuum (air) into an optically denser medium such as glass or water? [Answer: The speed of light decreases]

Students will take note that the refractive index is the ratio of the speed of light in vacuum to the speed of light in the medium. Then they will be given the relation between the refractive index and the speed of light which is

12. After the completion of the topic, the students will be asked to handle all materials to

the lab attendant so that he can store them.

13. Meanwhile the teacher will be distributing worksheet ONE (see appendix) to all

students, where they will have to answer all the questions 1 up to 10. Starting the work in the class and to continue at home. They will have to submit the worksheet by tomorrow morning before 08 30. Students will be also informed that this worksheet is an individual work. The questions are designed in such a way that there are questions for all type of abilities. Assistance will be given to students encountering difficulties.

The teacher will correct these worksheets in his free time, he will be able to spot the weak points of the students. This student-centered learning activity is designed to help the student discovery about what is Snells law. A hands-on activity will tend to make the student remember this law. 14. Before the class ends the students will be given some exercises to do as homework from their classified physics book. Also that there will be a test which will be counted in the final exams marks, this will ensure that the students are going to keep in-touch with their books and copybooks. Summary Five minutes before the class ends the teacher shall choose a group randomly to do a small summary of what have been done in front of the class. The chosen group will have to act as a teacher and explain to their other peers what has been done and what they have learned in todays class. The teacher will draw a concept map to illustrate what has been done so far.

Evaluation The types of evaluation used are placement, formative and summative evaluation. Placement evaluation is a brief evaluation of prior knowledge about the topic. It is done through question techniques. Formative evaluation occurs during the conduction of the lesson through observation, questions asked by students, etc. Summative evaluation takes place in the form of a test or examination on completion of a topic/chapter to evaluate the understanding of the students on the whole topic/chapter.

Follow up Follow up actions are used to improve the lesson by using different strategies/techniques that have not been used and could have been used to perform the lesson. Among the follow-up actions that can be dealt with, we have: Explanation of the topic using different teaching strategies Briefing on the wrong answers given by the students in the test (all information shall be kept anonymous) Showing some video clips concerning teaching of the topic Repeating key words Demonstrating the refraction of light in glass block by simply having a concentrated source of light being incident on the glass block.

Reflection
After having discussed with my friends, they told me that I should have change the grouping method. Instead of making 12 groups with 2 students in each, I should have grouped them in groups of 4 thus there would be 6 groups. The reason behind this is that there would have been more minds working together. More minds working together means better cooperative learning taking place and more concrete answer since there will be 4 students to finalise an answer. Also it will be more flexible for me to manage the class. Dealing with 12 groups is not an easy task but with 6 groups the work shall appear a bit easy. Conclusion The learner-centered approaches should be implemented in most of the science concepts as from lower classes in order to make the students aware that learning has to take place. However, no specific strategy is perfect for all the physics concepts. The teacher is responsible to uphold the interest and motivation of the students, which are the main factors favouring learning process. He must keep pace with the modern pedagogy to be able to adapt with the changing attitude of the students.

References In Search of Understanding: The case for Constructivist Classrooms, by J.G. Brooks & M.G Brooks, 1999, Alexandria, VA: ASCD The power of groups: Solution Focused group counselling in schools, by Cooley, Leslie, 2009 How to differentiate instruction in mixed ability classrooms, by Tomlinson Carol A, 1995 Charles Chew, Leong See Cheng and Chow Siew Fong, 2000, Physics A Course for O level.
Physics Insights O Level 2nd Edition, by Loo Wan Yong, Loo Kwok Wai, published

by Pearson Longman http://cet.usc.edu/resources/teaching_learning/docs/teaching_nuggets_docs/1.3_Learn er-Centered_Teaching.pdf

http://edtech.kennesaw.edu/intech/cooperativelearning.htm

http://tlc.ousd.k12.ca.us/~acody/5c.html
http://keterehsky.wordpress.com/2010/02/27/5-2-lights-refraction/

APPENDIX