Science teachers' workshop on experiential learning in Physics

Birla Vidya Niketan school held an interactive workshop, designed for middle school science teachers on the 18th September'24. Labhanshu Bharti and Sumi Dennis Simon of the science department at our School got the opportunity to be a part of this enriching experience. The programme targeted equipping teachers with the tools to create more engaging and insightful classrooms through captivating demonstrations and dynamic discussions.

Ms Pragya Nopany, experiential learning expert, is a science educator and founder-coordinator of BVN-IAPT Anveshika (New Delhi), a space for teachers and students to learn Physics through experimentation. She commenced the session by throwing a challenge to all teachers to solve a Physics problem. This was followed by a simple set up to show the strength of a neodymium magnet by making a pair of scissors stand alone and then oscillating them, using a simple iron rod. Another activity involved the addition of boiling water to a freshly plucked leaf. This facilitated the study of stomatal presence on the leaf epidermis. Ms Pragya pressed on the emphasis of bringing in variations to this activity by changing various factors.

To increase the curiosity of the teachers present, she did another interesting activity to figure out the calorific value of a peanut. It looked like an effortless way to teach this concept to middle schoolers.

Through all the brainstorming and the solutions discussed during the two hour session, Ms Nopany  kept motivating the audience to think differently and to work on different variables to arrive to a solution. A series of phenomenal experiments were performed and explained by her. It was overwhelming to journey the various branches of science and enjoy the fun of integration. 

It was highlighted that a lesson plan must begin with an emphasis on the experiences of a child and it should be further moulded in a manner that the child is facilitated to learn something as abstract as the concept of ‘force’. She pressed on the fact that students must always be motivated to counter-question. She accentuated the need for a thoughtful and well-presented activity that ignites a spark for critical thinking. 

The event ended with a question answer session.