First-year municipal Christmas students observed chemical reactions from household items and took fall and bounce measurements with pingpong balls.
Possession of scientific knowledge allows us to understand the reality in which we live and our country is at a stage of development in which scientific and technological innovation is necessary for progress. Hence the importance of awakening young people to interest in science and asking questions and answering them with practical experience.
In this spirit, racing Pedagogy in chemistry and science, s Pedagogy in Physics From the University of Playa Ancha (UPLA) open the doors of their laboratories to schoolchildren and high school students from the country, to live together in engaging experiential activities in a university space where knowledge is generated.
Such was the case of 25 first-year students from Liceo Pablo Neruda in Navidad, O’Higgins, who, in the UPLA chemistry lab, witnessed various chemical reactions made by future discipline teachers, finding facts with household items such as vegetables, vinegar, and detergents. Meanwhile, in the Laboratory of Mechanics and Waves, in a playful way, they made measurements and relations between the velocity of a ping-pong ball’s fall and its rebound, and obtained mathematical equations through the senses.
“A very nice experience”
High school student Hector Geria actively participated in the activities, inclined to his preferences towards physics. “It feels good and fun, because basically we learn and experience what they teach us in class. What we write in a notebook we do in the lab, and it’s a very cool experiment. I like it too, because we share experiences with students from the university, who explain to us what they know and what they have learned. If I had the opportunity to study at a university, what would attract my attention the most would not be chemistry, but physics, because what interests me most is the physics lab‘, is detained.
Partner Melanie Silva He stated that this type of experience provides them with new options for pursuing post-secondary studies. “This helps us open up new horizons, because one does not think of chemistry or physics as the first alternative. This helps to see the breadth of another and broaden your options for the future.“.
The students were accompanied by high school chemistry and physics teachers, Loreto Castro and Carlos Aravena. This latter teacher was trained at UPLA and expressed that the prospect of his students being able to gain scientific experience in a university setting is astounding.
Few hours in school
The Director of Pedagogy in Chemistry and Science, Catalina Rojas, expressed her satisfaction with this initiative in a context where reducing the hours of Chemistry and Physics in the existing curricula of the Ministry of Education makes it more difficult to motivate schoolchildren early on.
“These types of activities are essential to bring high school students closer to university settings. Unfortunately, chemistry and physics have been affected in the school, according to the curriculum of the Ministry of Education. There is little proximity to students with these branches, and also with biology also because of their low enrollment rates, and science in general“, He said.
For his part, the Director of Physics Pedagogy, Luis Carrasco, seeks a playful look at his specialty to capture the attention of students.
“We are accustomed, and unfortunately this is what happens in physics, to think that this discipline is just equations. Here they show that not only is it, but it is clear to them that you have to think, relate and analyze many situations in order to understand. We have physics everywhere, we live it all the time and it’s entertaining. So we have to get out of their minds that physics is an equation and that it’s hard. Physics is fun when the teacher makes it fun‘ the academic concluded.
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