PBI1@SCHOOL: DEVELOPING AND IMPLEMENTING AN INQUIRY-BASED CURRICULUM FOR SPEED AND DENSITY

Physics by Inquiry (PbI) by the Physics Education Group at the University of Washington is a research-validated self-contained, laboratory-based curriculum designed to help teachers teach physics in a way that engages students in the process of science. But could the success of the PbI curriculum and approach for teacher preparation be transferred to effective learning of physics for the secondary students in our local context? This paper describes our attempt to do so in the research project PbI1@School. It outlines the development and trial implementation of a guided inquiry curriculum and approach adapted from PbI for delivering lessons on Speed and Density in the secondary one science classroom in Singapore. The 3-year project to be done in three phases take into account factors such as the existing syllabus content, the availability of time, identified student learning difficulties from specially-designed pre-tests, students’ and teachers’ experiences in learning and teaching by inquiry, and school resources. The paper also discusses the challenges and modifications made to the pilot curriculum package to support the research site school’s effort to implement the curriculum package for all its 11 secondary one classes with about 440 students. Redesigning Pedagogy 2011 3 PBI1@SCHOOL: DEVELOPING AND IMPLEMENTING AN INQUIRY-BASED CURRICULUM FOR SPEED AND DENSITY