STARTING THIS month, for the new school year 2008-2009, selected private schools from the different regions of the country (Regions 1 to 12, ARMM, CAR, Caraga and NCR) will use the instructional materials of the Learning Physics as One Nation (LPON) Project of the Fund for Assistance to Private Education (Fape), under a grant of the Department of Education (DepEd).
The materials include the Physics Essentials Portfolio (PEP), with 120 Learning Activities for Part I and 80 Learning Activities for Part II, which we designed and wrote to address identified problems in high school physics education.
The Portfolio of Activities to be accomplished by the students is supplemented by videotaped lectures on DVD.
Feedback from students and teachers, and responses by lecturers will be by e-mail, speaker phones and fast courier services. Full-term evaluation will be conducted by the Center for Educational Measurement (CEM).
We will also conduct quarterly evaluation to monitor progress of learning. Implementation has been simulated for teachers during the Training Workshop on May 15-16, 2008 at the Central Visayan Institute Foundation (CVIF) in Jagna, Bohol.
The project is an offshoot of the article, ?Learning as One Nation,? published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer?s Talk of the Town on Nov. 20, 2005.
Carolina C. Porio, Fape executive director, strongly supported the idea and initiated brainstorming and planning sessions with representatives of the Science Education Institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Samahang Pisika ng Pilipinas and the CEM.
In spite of difficulties with schedules, we decided to implement as soon as feasible in view of the dire situation of physics education in the country.
Consider the numbers. 1998 DOST-SEI survey: only 16 percent of physics teachers had majored or minored in physics, increased to 27 percent if in-service training is included; but by 2003, a decrease to 8 percent. We may be graduating a staggering number of over 700,000 high school seniors with substandard physics education, with the numbers increasing every year.
Poor high school preparation leads to poor performance in early college physics and math courses. This could be a factor in lowered output in college Natural Science (Nat Sci) and Engineering (Eng) courses.
Statistical bulletins of the Commission on Higher Education indicate that, for academic year 2004-2005, there were 22,194 Nat Sci and 271,700 Eng enrollees, but only 4,042 Nat Sci and 38,171 Eng graduates. Assuming conservative attrition rates arising from socioeconomic conditions (e.g., 20-percent completion), such statistics should be disturbing for a poor country trying hard to increase numbers in Science and Technology, as multinational technology-based companies demand Ph.D. level expertise and move out to countries with better numbers.
Sadly, while big budgets are spent on attracting young people to the sciences and engineering, many are weeded out and disillusioned in college as they helplessly flounder in physics and math requirements for engineering courses. (Note, a number of graduates of science high schools also fail in early college calculus and basic physics.) The other option, so nonchalantly joked about in social circles, is to cheat one?s way through physics.
Unfortunately, in the global arena, loopholes in education starkly show up. And it is no surprise to hear university administrators lamenting that only around 20 percent of the Philippines? engineering graduates meet international quality standards.
To solve the problem of lack of teachers, big budget direct approaches have been applied: more teachers? seminars and training, and more scholarships for post-graduate education. However, improvement has been too slow for our country to be competitive in a knowledge-based 21st century. Moreover, after training, many science and math teachers opt for better pay in the United States and rich Asian countries. Meantime, the population of Philippine school children needing to be taught continues to increase.
The LPON project is an example of a relatively low budget, large-scale, indirect approach. We use two analogies: (1) Highways in the alpine regions of Europe do not always wind around mountainsides. Instead, tunnels are built through mountains thereby cutting travel time, cost and energy; (2) Gravity dominates in everyday life, obscuring the possibility of flight.
However, knowing the principles of aerodynamics that override gravity allows transoceanic cargo transport with jumbo jets. The key in solving problems of education is to apply principles of learning that may not be obvious, or may be counterintuitive.
The LPON project addresses the question: Can 4th year high school students learn the essentials of physics effectively, even if their teacher has little or no background in physics?
The answer is yes, with the appropriate strategy. The LPON strategy is based on the Dynamic Learning Program (DLP) of the CVIF high school. In the DLP, teacher-dominated classroom activities and lectures occupy only 30 percent of the time, while 70 percent is for doing Learning Activities.
In a high school with no physics teacher, what is needed is only a Teacher Facilitator for classroom management during Learning Activity time. For the LPON project, we have carefully designed Activities that a typical high school student can independently accomplish.
Indeed, a student who diligently does all the Learning Activities and listens attentively to all the videotaped lectures of selected Ph.D.s and educators should learn enough background for college physics and technical courses even in the worst case scenario in which the school has no qualified physics teacher. Of course, the DVD lectures can be replayed as many times as necessary.
We are working to realize a shared dream?that majority of our young people will totally be at par, or even at an intellectual advantage, compared with those of the advanced countries in terms of aptitude in physics and the other sciences and in rigorous mathematical analysis. The dream is quite lofty considering present-day realities and so we dig very deep to build a strong solid foundation. The Learning Activities in the PEP are thus designed such that:
Each PEP Learning Activity is limited to one printed page and will be accomplished one at a time. This allows focus on a specific physics principle and skill to be learned.
Simple Learning Targets are stated below each Activity title. This should motivate a naturally target-oriented brain and lessen time wasted on peripheral motivators.
Each Learning Activity can be copied by hand by the student. Visual plus psychomotor activities sustain attention and allow the brain to slowly digest the topic at hand.
The habit-forming daily routine of doing the Learning Activities can develop stamina and discipline required to master and excel in physics and the other sciences.
Starting from the basic and simple, the series of Learning Activities gradually, in a step-by-step manner, reaches a point where some topics surpass basic college physics. Sloppy bravura in problem solving is strictly discouraged. Instead, the Activities shall develop the habit of patient crystal-clear analysis and systematic solution starting with the simplest examples. (We maintain that students should not be given advanced material unless the brain has been prepared for it.)
So far as possible with high school mathematics (without calculus), step-by-step derivations show where equations come from. This should help correct the wrong impression that physics is just a bunch of formulas. Moreover, this allows review and mastery of high school mathematics and the training of the mind in the analytical methods of physics.
Markers indicate review of, or connection with Math, Chemistry or Biology lessons, or whether the Activity is for advanced students, or for remediation. Some markers indicate that an Activity may be done in Music, Art, Health, English and Technology and Livelihood Education.
This should connect physics with these subjects while allowing more time for mastery of mathematically rigorous topics. (For example, son et lumičre in Music, Art and Culture is spiced up with 21st century physics of high-technology-sound and -light effects.)
Some Learning Activities prepare students for Science Research Projects.
The LPON project addresses not only the students. An advantage of using the PEP and DVDs is that attentive Teacher Facilitators have year-long, in-classroom training for mastery of various physics topics. This real-world apprenticeship is better than out-of-classroom short-term training.
With feedback from teachers and students, the PEP Learning Activities and lectures on DVD will evolve as refinements are introduced. There should be improvement every year, with each batch accomplishing more and reaching higher levels.
Then it can be confirmed that millions of young Filipinos can excel in the sciences and engineering, with the right education, training and opportunities, and less of the useless terrorism in physics and mathematics.
Finally, we note that it is easy to make physics difficult. It is also easy to make it simple and enjoyable by decreasing mathematical analysis. The challenge is to make physics easy or at least manageable to the majority of students (not just a select few) without sacrificing mathematical rigor required for global competitiveness in the 21st century.
