Elementary science classroom learning with wireless response devices implementing active and experiential learning

Abstract

Active learning enables learners to actively engage in learning. Learning not only transfers material to students for learning, but also encourages greater mental engagement and more extensive student-student and student-instructor interaction than does a typical lecture class. Peer instruction (PI) engages students in active learning by achieving continuous instructor-student interaction in a physics lecture. However, the methodologies and the effectiveness of implementing PI for elementary school students have seldom been clarified. This study explores the possibility of adopting PI in an elementary science classroom. The research considerations of the study are as follows: (1) how wireless technology can enhance PI in elementary science classroom; (2) how a teacher can engage students in pre-class reading, and (3) whether elementary school students have sufficient social skills to perform a PI discussion? These questions are examined by observing how the PI pedagogical model worked with a wireless response system in elementary science classroom. Based on the observation, this study also proposes a way of improving the PI learning experience of elementary school students by adding experiments and observations during peer discussion to explain concepts and phenomena in physics.