Subsections
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For completing the minor in Science Education it is mandatory for students
to undertake this full semester, field experience based, 4 credit course. The students will be eligible
for the field experience course only after completing at least one of the courses of the Science Education minor.
- One of the main objectives of this course is to enrich students’ understanding of science,
society and education relationship through field experience. Therefore, during the field
work semester, the students will be required to do a project or a participatory study in
science education or in any other science and society interface related issue of their choice.A
possible time period for the field work could be the fourth or the fifth year of the BS-MS
programme.
- An example of field work could be studying the functioning of a government school or
its classroom processes with respect to science education. Alternatively, the students can
also choose to associate with organisations that are working in the area of school sci-
ence education. The other option could be joining an institution that is working directly
with the community. The issues of involvement in such a case could includehealth, pollu-
tion,environment, agriculture and so on. There is also a possibility of taking up issues of
utilisation and access of natural resourcelike water, soil and forests and understanding the
prevalent practices. With students understanding of science and peoples real life experi-
ences, students and the community could jointly find new ways, perhaps more scientific, of
managing the resources. The objective of such an exercise is also to create opportunities
for the students to learn from the community by closely interacting and working with it.
- The field work would be done under the mentorship of the faculty and the members
of the chosen school/ organisation /institution. To facilitate such a partnership, the
schools/institutions/ organisations could be identified in consultation with the IISER’s
outreach programme organisers and made a part of this course.
- It is important to underline that to ensure rigour there should be a formal system/procedure
in place for an organised field work. Also, there should be allocation/provision for the field
work related expenses, disbursal of which should be facilitated seamlessly through an ap-
propriate mechanism.
- 1. To familiarise the students with the specific science and society and, science and
education issues;
- 2. To identify an area for an in-depth and organised study on the basis existing sec-
ondary sources such as reports, films andresearch literature.Meeting the people from
the institution may also help in making a decision.
- 3. To make a working plan for the field work execution, its documentation and analysis,
in consultation with the course teacher/teachers.
The course would require some introductory sessions with the students to help them un-
derstand the purpose, the underlying philosophy and the dos and donts regarding the field
work. During these sessions the students would be given an overview of the course and sug-
gestions about the possible options. Based on these interactions the students are expected
to decide about the area they want to explore. Further details regarding the work would
be developed after a few visits by the students to the institution of their choice. Based on
their experiences each student would be required to write a reflective journal. To share and
discuss their experiences there would be fortnightly sessions with all the students where
the confusions and bottle-necks would also be dealt with.
The field work could be done in teams or individually depending on the student’s choice
and also, institute’s requirement. While the work may be done collaboratively or indi-
vidually, each student will be required to submit a analytical report. Additionally, they
are also expected to make a visual presentation of the work which will be followed by a
question-answer session with the assessment team.During the presentation, students may
be asked questions based on their written report as well. Therefore, the final assessment
will be based on both, the written report and the presentation.
In brief, for assessment purposes the students are required to do following two tasks:
1. Submit an analytical individual report, and
2. Team or individual visual presentation of the work.
