THE INVESTIGATION OF STUDENTS' SKILLS IN THE MANAGEMENT OF LABORATORY WORK FOR STUDENTS AGED 15-16 YEARS

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Aditya

Pilot study investigating factors affecting students’ experimental performance after completing the learning unit “Movement and rest” in the ninth-grade Romanian physics curriculum, within classical mechanics. Students’ tasks supported the design and development of laboratory activities and emphasized the investigation of relevant factors using specific physics methods during classroom work and homework. Results focus on how experimental skills and approaches develop through structured learning stages, culminating in evaluation sequence.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages9

Reading Time23 min

AccessFree to download

1. Introduction

2. Materials and methods

THE INVESTIGATION OF STUDENTS' SKILLS IN THE MANAGEMENT OF LABORATORY WORK FOR STUDENTS AGED 15-16 YEARS Aurelia-Daniela FLORIAN, Gabriel FLORIAN, Sorin TROCARU Abstract: In this paper is presented a pilot study for the investigation of the relevant factors within some experimental works carried out by students, after going through the learning unit "Movement and rest", which can be found in the chapter "Principles and laws in classical mechanics", from the physics curriculum for the ninth grade in Romania. Through the proposed work tasks, the design and the development of the experimental works carried out by students were highlighted. At the same time, special attention was paid to the results obtained by the students in investigating the relevant factors through specific physics methods, not only during the classes but also within the homework. Key words: Laboratory work, stages, students aged 15-16 years, experimental skills 1. Introduction In current practice, the activities carried out in the laboratory can be: laboratory work, observational (experimental) activities, exploration activities and experiments. Those activities substantiate the strategies called experimental. The activities within the physics laboratory classes are intended for the development of the students'interest and for the understanding the experimental physics by them (Wilcox & Lewandowski, 2017) . The purposes of these activities are various: to realize detailed observations on objects or phenomena; conducting an investigation in which one variable is modified while all other variables are kept constant; the establishment of cause-effect relationships; illustrating or exploring the relationships that may exist between objects or phenomena in order to identify legalities; explicit theoretical constructs; the use of the properties of objects, materials or phenomena to classify, to identify or to construct concepts; elaboration of models based on scientific properties or principles (Aston, 2017 ; Trocaru, 2016 ; Sokołowska & Michelini, 2018) . The present study is based on the cyclical teaching-learning model based on the investigation proposed by Ciascai (coord.), Eşanu & Haiduc (2016), which had as a starting point the classical models proposed by Atkin & Karplus (1962), Kolb (1984), Bybee [et. al](et. al). (1989) and Eisenkraft (2003). The aforementioned cyclical model is structured in four stages of learning (evocation – anticipation, exploration – experimentation, reflection – explanation and application – transfer), followed at the end by a sequence for evaluation (Ciascai, Eşanu & Haiduc, 2016) . The laboratory works were integrated in the teaching activities along with the generalization of the systematic teaching of science in schools. They are based on deductive reasoning and their role is that of illustrating and applying the theoretical knowledge acquired. The replacement, in school practice, of laboratory works with experimental activities aimed at building new knowledge by students is attributed to the reforms undertaken worldwide in education after 1960. These reforms changed the optics of teaching and learning the sciences, by imposing the inductive approach "The inquiry laboratory became the core of the science learning process" (Shulman & Tamir, 1973, cited by Hofstein, Kipnis, & Abrahams, 2013) . The study conducted by Kuhn & Vogt (2013) highlights the fact that smartphones can be used as tools for carrying out experimental physics work. The models of physical systems facilitate the explanation or prediction of phenomena, while models of measurement systems facilitate the interpretation of data (Dounas-Frazer & Lewandowski, 2018) . The results obtained by Kalthoff, Theyssen & Schreiber (2018) highlight the fact that the type of training cannot significantly influence the acquisition of experimental skills and the acquisition of content-related skills, but differences in experimental skills can be observed in the lea

FAQs

What is the main purpose of the pilot study?

To investigate relevant factors influencing students’ performance in experimental works after completing a specific physics learning unit in classical mechanics.

Which learning content and age group does the study focus on?

The study focuses on “Movement and rest” from the ninth-grade physics curriculum and targets students aged 15–16 years.

How were the laboratory works and experimental activities organized?

The study is based on a cyclical teaching-learning model with four learning stages (evocation–anticipation, exploration–experimentation, reflection–explanation, application–transfer) followed by an evaluation sequence.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Aditya