Τρία υποδειγματικά ψηφιακά διδακτικά σενάρια για τη Φυσική Γυμνασίου στην πλατφόρμα “Αίσωπος”

Abstract

The AESOP (Advanced Electronic Scenarios Operating Platform) was developed by the Greek Institute for Educational Policy as part of a co-funded European project and is a modern platform for the design, evaluation and exploitation of digital didactic scenarios. Its design and development took into account the transition plan for education in the digital age. It is a platform aiming at multiple target groups, such as teachers and students. In the context of the development of the AESOP and the platform’s enrichment with digital didactic scenarios, exemplary scenarios were designed and created for almost every compulsory education’s subject. Today (April 2018) the platform contains: 268 exemplary scenarios, 331 optimal scenarios and 172 simple scenarios. 37 of them are about secondary education’s physics. The main technical feature of the scenarios’ construction was the use of modern digital web tools, operationally available and compatible with every computing system -- the only equipment requirement being that of connecting the terminal to the internet and a modern browser. Among these scenarios, three scenarios for the lower secondary education Physics were developed. The first one is entitled "Refraction and the principle of least time", the second "The electrical short circuit - dangers and safety" and the third "Electrical circuit, resistance, voltage and intensity". As these scenarios would also be used as exemplary and indicative, their creator has chosen to design three flexible scenarios, with a different degree of difficulty (moderate (difficulty), difficult and very difficult). A variety of tools and teaching approaches were put into use, aiming to offer to candidate scenario-authors and users exemplary quality scenarios, with the maximum possible variety. All scenarios are flexible, in order to be implemented by the teacheruser according to the students’ needs and abilities and/or to be used by students according to their own needs. The three scenarios’ common core feature is the motivation for constructive and student-centered use of modern, tested and reliable digital material and tools, minimizing the lectures during teaching time.  This article summarizes the rationale for the three scenarios’ design and gives a brief description for each of them. The first scenario (Refraction and the principle of least time): as the light refraction phenomenon is a basic one for the field of Optics, the scenario’s aim is for the students to understand and predict the phenomenon of light refraction (and related phenomena observed in nature), starting with the principle of least time (facing the 

lifeguard’s problem). Lab experiment is combined with virtual experiments and digital tools are used. Students are asked to work collaboratively, using worksheets. The second scenario (The electric short circuit - Dangers and "Safety") focuses on understanding electrical short circuit, prediction, risks and deterrence, and acquiring the relevant knowledge that is considered necessary for the students, both for the needs of their studies and for everyday life. During the activities, students are sometimes asked to work individually and sometimes collaboratively. A digital multiple choice questionnaire to highlight pre-existing knowledge and perceptions, a real experiment and a virtual experiment are proposed. Teaching is based on inquiry based and constructive learning. Worksheets are also used. The third scenario (Electric circuit, resistance, voltage and intensity) is the most difficult and complicated one. As the students’ practice on real electrical circuits (for the negotiation of concepts such as resistance, voltage and intensity, laws such as Ohm’s and rules such as Kirchhoff’s) and the use of measuring instruments (such as voltmeter and ammeter) in the laboratory is usually limited due to lack of time amd/or equipment, measurement difficulties etc., the virtual electrical circuit lab can - in addition to the real lab - support this exercise and teaching, in general. The scenario proposes a real workshop at school and a virtual lab as an extension, as homework. Teaching is based on inquiry based and constructive learning, with peer instruction elements. Students work collaboratively, using worksheets. The first worksheet is used for the detection of the students’ misconceptions (according to students' mental models for the electric circuit). The second worksheet is about the virtual lab’s activities. In addition, web 2.0 tools and optional blended learning elements are proposed to be used. The collection of the AESOP is - for the educator interested - a significant digital repository of qualitive scenarios that may - if necessary - be selected, adapted and applied to the classroom. In addition, it offers the choice and utilization of digital tools, media and learning objects that are now available in relatively sufficient quantity and quality. Especially for the subject of Physics, digital didactic scenarios help to complement and extend the real lab with the virtual one, as well as their interconnection. The three scenarios described in this article have had the above objectives and, three years after their publication continue to offer digital sources and ideas to the educators interested, still being as up-to-date and as helpful as when they were created. We believe that the AESOP could be improved in the future by: enrichment with more scenarios, external evaluation, use within teachers’ training programs and its inclusion in official teaching guides by the ministry of Education.