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Activity kit analysis using Instructional design

Anuradha.V.Reddy In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Post-Graduate Diploma Progamme in Design, New Media Design

National Institute of Design August, 2011

Project Advisor Dr. Jignesh Khakhar Co-ordinator, New Media Design

Copyright statement
This text represents the submission for the degree of Post-Graduate Diploma Programme in Design* at the National Institute of Design. This copy has been supplied for the purpose of research for private study, on the understanding that it is copyright material, and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement.

Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Dr. Jignesh Khakhar, my project guide, under whose guidance I was able to develop an understanding of the subject. I am also grateful to my in-house mentor, DePaul Kannamthanam, for his constant support, freedom and perseverance. I am deeply indebted to my family, especially my mother and brother for numerous hours that were spent in piecing my project together. Sunil Vallu, Sumit Pandey and Siddharth Mankad for still making it all fun. Thanks for being patient with my quirky discussions and providing me with valuable feedback. I would also like to thank Ishwari Vakhariya for taking interest in my work. Utsav Biswas, thanks for everything. Lastly, I offer my regards to everybody who supported me in any respect during the course of the project.

Image credits
Figure 1.1: Jitter bug activity session in class VII of St. Joesephs
Public School, Habsiguda, Hyderabad

Figure 2.2.1: Chemical activity at St.Josephs school,Hyderabad (Image source: Yardstick Educational Initiatives Pvt Ltd) Figure 2.2.2: Glued assemblies of activities at Yardstick (Image source: Yardstick Educational Initiatives Pvt Ltd)

(Image source: Yardstick Educational Initiatives Pvt Ltd) Figure 2.1.1: The Blooms taxonomy, the revised taxonomy of the cognitive domain following Anderson and Krathwohl (Image source: Big Dog and Little Dogs Juxtaposition of Performance, Learning, Leadership and Knowledge) Figure 2.1.2: Yardstick models their activity kits that are used
for learning scientific concepts in a classroom

(Image source: Yardstick Educational Initiatives Pvt Ltd) Figure 2.1.3: BaLa, Building as a Learning Aid, using the door
clearance as a protractor to learn geometry in schools

(Image source: BaLA, OpenIDEO) Figure 2.1.4: LEGO education, the We Do construction set,
enables students to build and program simple LEGO models

(Image source: LEGO education)

Abstract
The current scenario in Indian education has recently seen a shift from factual knowledge to hands-on methods of learning. As private firms tap into the business of activity-based initiatives for schools, existing drawbacks of Indian education are overshadowed underneath the excitement of new perspectives. These drawbacks further make it difficult for incorporating activity-based methods in formal education. Firms, eventually become a part of the education system and work with every stakeholder to target desired learning outcomes. This project attempts to investigate learning through activity-based methods for the Indian context by determining the current state and needs of the learner. It examines issues related to activity kits, methods of delivery and prevailing complications in Indian activity-based education. Research in the field of Instructional design highlights the need to make sure that learning does not become an automated process by using materials in an activity. To address this issue, the study of knowledge objects in Component Design Theory is utilized to analyse activity-based learning with a focus on materials used in activities. Knowledge objects help in representing cognitive thought processes aiming at problem solving and classification. Juxtaposing materials in activities as knowledge objects derives a deeper understanding of material usage. It results in the functional integration of these objects through an assimilation of manipulation and basic functionality. The final outcome is a technique to interpret data acquired from the material analysis. This analysis is transitioned into development of tangible modules within limitations of material costs and production. It also provides scope for triggering questions using the formulated manipulations. Modules and questions developed for activities are together tested in a school for implementation. It is evaluated against several factors that determine the effectiveness of an activity. Activities are assessed based on feedback received from student testing procedures and direct observation. The benefits and limitations of this intervention are context dependent and it does not apply to activities from all subject domains. A culmination of this research project evolves an understanding of knowledge through activities which can be appropriately used by private firms, instructors and learners to assist learning processes. The generated outcome may be of use for further interpretation and analysis. However, it provides scope for inquiry and free exploration of materials which is not currently practiced in activity-based education in India.

Table of contents
1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................13 1.1 THE SPONSOR ...................................................................................................................13 1.2 DESIGN BRIEF ...................................................................................................................14 1.3 BACKGROUND ..................................................................................................................15 1.4 PROJECT SETTING ............................................................................................................16 2 PRELIMINARY RESEARCH .....................................................................................................17 2.1 REVIEW OF LITERATURE .................................................................................................17 2.1.1 EDUCATION IN INDIA ...........................................................................................17 2.1.2 ACTIVITY-BASED LEARNING ...............................................................................19 2.1.3 KNOWLEDGE OBJECTS IN INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN.....................................21 2.2 FIELD STUDIES ...................................................................................................................22 2.2.1 ACTIVITY SESSIONS ...............................................................................................22

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2.2.2 SCHOOL SESSIONS ................................................................................................23 2.2.3 TARGET GROUP .......................................................................................................24 2.2.4 OTHER STAKEHOLDERS ........................................................................................27 2.3 PROBLEMS ..........................................................................................................................28 2.4 POSSIBILITIES .....................................................................................................................29 2.5 SCOPE ...................................................................................................................................29 2.6 SCENARIO ...........................................................................................................................29 3 DESIGN PROCESS .....................................................................................................................30 3.1 METHOD ..............................................................................................................................30 3.2 ANALYSIS ............................................................................................................................35 3.3 PROCESS OUTCOME .........................................................................................................39 3.4 PROCESS ANALYSIS ..........................................................................................................45

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3.5 DEVELOPMENT ...................................................................................................................47 3.6 TESTING ...............................................................................................................................61 4 CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................71 4.1 SYNTHESIS ..........................................................................................................................72 4.2 FUTURE OUTCOMES .........................................................................................................73 4.3 REFLECTION ........................................................................................................................73 APPENDIX A APPENDIX B APPENDIX C APPENDIX D BIBLIOGRAPHY

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01 Introduction

instructed guidance, activity kits and worksheets, assessment modules and teacher training. Methodology Hands-on learning is a widely accepted pedagogy that helps children learn concepts and connect their learning to real-life phenomena. This entails hands-on experiences with objects, organisms, and systems. For these reasons, Yardstick is committed to providing the best possible materials and the most effective procedures for enabling students to immerse themselves in scientific concepts and expand their knowledge. Yardsticks curriculum engages students to investigate, experiment, gather data, organize results, and develop conclusions using their own actions. The information gathered in such activities is guided by questions. At Yardstick, the concept is broken down into discrete sub-questions that can be explored effectively. In pursuing answers, students begin with free exploration of materials, followed by a discussion of their discoveries. Often new questions arise while students seek answers, leading to additional student-motivated inquiries with materials to reinforce and extend concepts. Reflection on activities takes

1.1 The sponsor Yardstick Educational Initiatives is a three-year old startup firm in Hyderabad, India. Their services are targeted in the education sector with clients across 14 locations in India and one in Dubai. Yardstick designs and implements science learning programs for children; engaging their keen, inquisitive and imaginative minds via hands- on educational activities (Fig 1.1). They believe in celebrating children, so they too can become knowledge creators instead of passively acquiring information from textbooks alone. Yardstick provides specific services to all stakeholders in a childs education from parents, teachers and administrators to students. Their activity-based curricula is mapped to school syllabuses encouraging children to understand, appreciate and apply the subject being taught. The team attempts to give personalized attention to each child by scaffolding the process through

Fig 1.1 Yardstick models their activity kits that are used for learning scientific concepts in a classroom

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several forms with Yardstick i.e. through focused discussions and inquiry sessions that address each part of an investigation. Discourse in the form of student activity sheets help students collect and organize data and discuss results in thoughtful ways. These student sheets are designed for either an individual or a group effort. They also provide necessary feedback to Yardstick as a kind of student assessment. Working Yardstick houses approximately 40 employees in the organization which is divided into four teams- content and delivery, sales, procurement and administration. At the end of the academic year 2010-11, Yardstick entered its second phase of implementation with a program management division in addition to the company structure. This phase aims to complement its previous delivery methods by training teachers to take up activities during classroom sessions, thus eliminating the delivery team. The company therefore altered its organization structure to five teams i.e. content development, program management, sales, procurement and administration respectively. With the organization in place, Yardstick offers school

partnering programs through in-school and after-school sessions. The School Partnering Program encompasses all of Yardsticks efforts to ensure holistic development of a school into an activity-based learning center. The entire curriculum i.e. science through classes 4th -10th is mapped to activity-based learning. It primarily focuses on equipping and empowering schools and teachers to take up activity based learning. They enable collaborative discussions among teachers and encourage their contribution towards enhancing learned experiences.

of teaching and learning. In order to tackle these issues, schools look for alternative pedagogys such as hands-on learning. Not surprisingly, these hands-on approaches have also not achieved its full potential due to similar limitations in costs, time, dedicated spaces, ratios and mindsets. Direct instruction prevails to a large extent in spite of launching activity-based approaches to learning. My design goals were to investigate the application of activity-based learning in an Indian context. This encompassed gaining an understanding of instructional practices while scrutinizing for problems in hands-on learning within the current scenario. The task assigned was to tackle these issues by introducing new forms of mediation into the existing system in order to improve efficiency of delivery and achievement of desired learning outcomes.

1.2 Design brief The quality of education in India is under perpetual tension with enormous number of students absorbed into schools every year. With every student comes the responsibility of providing them with adequate attention, guidance, space, time, and companionable environments. As schools try to maintain the expected standards, several factors like space constraints, time-bound schedules, large numbers, and over-burdened teachers inhibit them from reaching anticipated educational goals. Subsequently, these factors together surface into rote methods

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1.3 Background In the context of India, quality of education has diverse connotations in literature that is written on education and development. The key to actualize these connotations is held by those stakeholders-schools, parents, teachers, children and private organizations- who play a major role in the education system. Imparting basic education requires a purpose, content and method that caters to individuals from their childhood to adolescence. Primarily, parents play an important role in a childs education by entering him or her into a school of their choice. Consequently, they depend on schools for their childs overall development. Formal educational institutions are responsible for a students accumulation of knowledge through a structured syllabus. By the time a student enters middle school, concepts of higher-order begin to be taught. Teaching these subjects becomes more and more difficult as concepts become too abstract to be concretized by a student. If a subject is not taught well, the students attitude towards learning changes drastically. They end up settling for rote methods of learning. In such a situ-

ation, the child may be physically present but mentally absent in a classroom. It results in a grand disconnect between the school and the home environment; driving the child to dislike school itself. Moreover, in a competitive society, parents pose heavy expectations out of their children based on marks as a criterion for judgement. In the process, millions of children attending formal schools are constantly over-burdened owing to pressure from parents, schools, teachers and peers for achieving desirable performances. With increase in age, learning directly reflects on their loss of creative and intellectual abilities which is detrimental to the aims of education. According to the National Curriculum Framework 2005[1], there is a visible shift away from the focus on factual knowledge. This shift also depicts a willingness to try new methods of instruction focused on hands-on activity based learning to aid the existing curriculum. Hands-on learning practices provide scope for children to acquire knowledge from sources beyond the teacher and the textbook. It gives primary importance to their observations, interpretations, and thoughts, hence permitting children to take responsibility for their own learning. The growing popularity of activity-based education has given

rise to its adoption by a number of schools across the nation. In fact, some schools are even deemed incompetent without their compliance. This trend has also triggered the rise of multiple businesses in this domain of hands-on learning. These businesses, regardless of their aims, work with schools without giving due consideration to basic requirements of activity-based learning i.e. space, time and freedom. Their efforts to bridge activitybased learning with school syllabuses also consistently fails due to inadequacy of basic requirements that are largely ignored in our current education system. Despite the reduced quality of delivery, schools continue to implement these services to maintain their reputation of acceptance and broad-mindedness. Sadly, methods of direct instruction and learning continue to prevail underneath these weak practices. The struggle encountered by firms to meet expectations of children, teachers, schools and parents are contested against their effectiveness of delivery. But contrarily, the impact of delivery is dependent upon collective efforts among all the stakeholders in education and not just defined by the efforts of private firms alone. Thus delivery of activity-based learning is increasingly problematic

[1] National Curriculum Framework, (National Council on Educational Research and Training, 2005), p.20.

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without pro-active disposition of each stakeholder in education. Lastly, activity-based education is widely accepted as one of the most effective forms of learning[2]. Its need is of utmost importance in the rapidly declining quality of Indian education. Application of activity-based methods should aim at its best practices to improve the nature of delivery. Even though it is easier said than done, the change has to occur slowly and in steps, that should be systematically targeted by achieving one goal at a time. Planning these goals and managing a multitude of stakeholders requires copious efforts to bring about changes in this huge industry.

making observations on the field by playing a part in the content and delivery team of Yardstick. These insights were to help in diagnosing problems in Yardsticks methods of delivering hands-on learning. Based on the diagnosis, a problem with a feasible scope for intervention had to be chosen for analysis. The project aimed to abstract meaningful methods to resolve issues by the application of research findings to practice.

1.4 Project setting Interventions to address activity-based education were initially set out for a thorough re-examination of current approaches while comparing it to other methods of delivery. This had to cover a preliminary research of collecting information from various sources and assimilating the findings. A section of this research also involved

[2] Hodson, D. (1990). A critical look at practical work in school science. School Science Review, 70, 256, 33-40.

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02 Preliminary Research
2.1 Review of Literature Research in the field of education spans vast areas with multiple interdependent parameters to be studied and reflected upon. A review of literature was beneficial for this study, although there was a tendency to get lost in the expanse of its content. To address this, a balanced combination of literary foundation and field study was chosen to be the most effective way for understanding the application of activity-based methods in the current education scenario. A field study consisted of meeting the stakeholders and taking part in several roles played by them in the education system. Under the blanket of activity-based hands-on learning, insights were drawn from experiences with Yardsticks activity sessions, regular school sessions, the target group and the remaining stakeholders.

2.1.1 Education in India Schools in India are established with common educational aims of independence of thought and action in various subjects underneath a landscape of social and democratic values[3]. The aims are translated into subject contents that are delivered using different methods within a school infrastructure. In the Indian context, the most commonly known methods of acquiring knowledge are from the teacher and the textbook. Keeping that aside, students are exposed to library facilities, labs and excursions based on subject requirement. These facts may seem to be doing justice to the aims of education but sadly this is not the case. The curriculum, at its top, is fragmented into three kinds. Each curriculum gives importance of different aspects of learning. The CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) curriculum takes a holistic approach to education insisting on a childcentered pedagogy[4]. Importance is given to mental capacities and structured approaches to learning with room for experimentation. The ICSE (Indian Certificate of Secondary Education) focuses on building a strong concept base but with less attention to its structure and degree of detail. Lastly, the SSC (Secondary School

Certificate) curriculum delivers content with respect to the state government objectives. Collectively, a common aspect of these three curricula is their overlapping syllabus content. In spite of differing approaches, the method of delivery in any school remains the same. Thus any intervention to improve the quality of education is equally applicable to any of the three curricula. All the three syllabi are overloaded with information, burdening both the teachers and the students alike. Moreover, the syllabi render subject areas to become closed compartments and as a result, knowledge seems rather fragmented[5]. In their efforts to integrate learning, teachers find relating complicated concepts to a class of forty students to be a herculean task. Students subsequently perceive the same concepts as facts as ends in themselves as they are beyond their capacity to understand. Further, teachers are held responsible for results-to provide those resources needed by the student to meet the learning objectives set for the subject. This places a lot of pressure on teachers to ensure learning in a classroom. Instructional tools such as the Blooms taxonomy can be used to categorize these learning objectives against its set of six principles- remembering,

[3][4][5] National Curriculum Framework, (National Council on Educational Research and Training, 2005), p.10, p.13, p.29.

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understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating and creating- that will help teachers progressively assess levels of learning. Taxonomy simply means classification, so the well-known taxonomy of learning objectives is an attempt (within the behavioural paradigm) to classify forms and levels of learning. It identifies three domains of learning (Fig 2.1.1), each of which is organised as a series of levels or pre-requisites. It is suggested that one cannot effectively or ought not try to address higher levels until those below them have been covered (it is thus effectively serial in structure). As well as providing a basic sequential model for dealing with topics in the curriculum, it also suggests a way of categorising levels of learning, in terms of the expected ceiling for a given programme. Thus in the Cognitive domain, training for technicians may cover knowledge, comprehension and application, but not concern itself with analysis and above, whereas full professional training may be expected to include this and synthesis and evaluation as well[6]. Cognitive is the most-used of the domains, refers to knowledge structures (although sheer knowing the facts is its bottom level). It can be viewed as a se

Fig 2.1.1 The Blooms taxonomy, the revised taxonomy of the cognitive domain following Anderson and Krathwohl

[6] Atherton J S (2011) Learning and Teaching; Blooms taxonomy [Online] Available at: <http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/bloomtax.htm>

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quence of progressive contextualisation of the material. As opposed to simple recall of information and tests that solely assess knowledge, the taxonomy allows educators to incorporate higher levels of learning into lesson plans and tests. This has to be addressed as a process of building higher-order mental representations and manipulation of objects as levels progress. This approach to knowledge necessitates a focus away from these facts as ends in themselves and instead move towards locating facts in the process which they come to be known[7]. This is one of the aims of activity-based learning. With these realizations, activity-based education came to be widely accepted among numerous schools across the country[8]. 2.1.2 Activity-based learning Activity-based learning initiated as a Rishi Valley practice in 1944 by David Horsburgh. In modern times, ABL is the method of education followed in the Corporation schools of Chennai, from 2003, as an effort to provide special schools for children who had been freed from bonded labour. As of today, there are too many connotations to activity-based learning, although it is tradition-

Fig 2.1.2 Jitter bug activity session in class VII of St. Joesephs Public School, Habsiguda, Hyderabad

[7] National Curriculum Framework, (National Council on Educational Research and Training, 2005), p.29. [8] Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. Activity based learning. [online] Available at: <http://www.ssa.tn.nic.in/Docu/ABL-Report-by-Dr.Anandhalakshmi.pdf>

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ally a method of learning by-doing (Fig 2.1.2) which engages students in in-depth investigations and helps them draw meaning from those experiences. There are other alternative methods of ABL that are practised in India. BaLa (Building as a learning aid) is one such initiative (Fig 2.1.3). It is a form of learning where the building and its elements such as the floor, walls, tiles, doors, corridors etc are used for teaching subjects such as science and mathematics in innovative ways. This method also makes it possible to allow a variety of learning materials accessible to children outside the classroom, and even after school hours. Activity-based learning, in general, is applied to science since it involves manipulation of concrete objects to understand real-life phenomena. It helps reinforce a teachers discourse by an approach of observation, manipulation and self-analysis. Alternately, activity-based learning can also be understood from a toy-making approach. Inventor of educational toys, Arvind Gupta, creates simple toys out of trash and everyday goods where principles of science and design are illustrated in a hands-on fashion. Another toy maker-designer, Sudarshan Khanna designs toys for children that engage

them in scientific play and story-telling. This activity-asa-toy approach aligns with the developmental theories of Vygotsky. According to Vygotsky, learning precedes development. The gap between learning and what one can accomplish with the help of others, through proper instruction, raises our ability as we internalize new information and skills[9]. From a traditional viewpoint, these toys sadly do not satisfy the goals of activity-based learning within an Indian context. The constructivist approach of these toy-based activities has no scope for entering our goal oriented education systems which are dominated by behavioural and cognitivist approaches to learning. On the other hand, toy-legends like LEGO, provide a focus point for innovation and creativity in schools by facilitating core subject teaching centered on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). They also provide classroom solutions comprising of the equipment, training, teaching resources and technical services through the LEGO education innovation studios (Fig 2.1.4). On similar lines, there exists research groups such as the SMALL LAB and the Lifelong Kindergarten group at the MIT Media Lab. Their focus lies in using

Fig 2.1.3 BaLa, Building as a Learning Aid, using the door clearance as a protractor to learn geometry in schools

Fig 2.1.4 LEGO education, the We Do construction set, enables students to build and program simple LEGO models

[9] justburrus, 2009. Piaget & Vygotsky in 90 seconds Full. [video online] Available at:<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yY-SXM8f0gU> [Accessed 23 June 2011] [10] Resnick, M. (1998). Technologies for Lifelong Kindergarten. Educational Technology Research and Development, vol. 46, no. 4.

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computing technology and digital manipulatives for learning[10]. Teaching and learning methods in western countries are more constructive in nature by giving priority to project-based and active-learning methods. Addition of active learning methods to activity based methods provides a greater edge to students as it will increase their level of understanding and retention while performing activities in a classroom environment. Active learning consists of components like class discussions, peer instruction, collaborative group learning sessions and debates that necessitate students to be cognitively active during classroom sessions. 2.1.3 Knowledge objects in Instructional Design While there is no question that learners should be engaged during learning (active-learning), several researchers have noted that being behaviourally active and cognitively inactive can be detrimental to schema acquisition. According to David Merrill, a professor of Instructional design, people think in terms of knowledge structures or schema. Thus, a student who cannot apply his or her thinking to learning is said to be cognitively inactive. Activity-based methods consisting of mate-

rial components have to make sure that learning is not just a behaviourally active process. Failure to do so can leave learners less competent than when they began the activity. The importance of roles played by materials in activities as learning objects directly links to how people understand objects using their inherent knowledge structures. Merrills work on Component Design Theory (CDT)[11] suggests that all cognitive subject matter content (knowledge) can be defined through a framework of knowledge objects- entity, kind, part, action, property, and process. Entities are things and actions are procedures that can be performed on the entities or their parts. Processes are events that occur as a result of some action. Properties are qualitative or quantitative descriptors for entities, actions or processes. Lastly, the kind of an entity defines a class of properties via entities, actions and processes. An understanding of material entities in activity-based learning through this framework of knowledge objects will benefit both representation of knowledge for purposes of instruction and use of knowledge by learners to create mental-models[12]. One of the unique capabilities of human beings is the ability to conceptualize or place entities, actions, func-

tions and processes into categories. Each of these categories corresponds to relationships among knowledge objects. These relationships are described by knowledge structures namely, the concept knowledge structure (classification) and the process-entity-action knowledge structure (process flow). Cognitive psychologists postulate that these schema (knowledge structures) are forms of memory structures that learners use to represent knowledge. In order to solve a problem, a learner will not only require the schema but also a mental-model with a process flow for manipulating information in the schema. But if the required information (knowledge objects) itself and the relationships among them are incomplete, then the learner will not be able to efficiently solve problems requiring this knowledge. These knowledge representations can be traced back to their concepts for an improved understanding of the subject. This method is advantageous as its effectiveness is measurable against the required cognitive skills of the learner. It can be eventually connected back to the Blooms taxonomy to assess level of learning attained by the learner using this knowledge framework.

[11][12] Merrill, M. D. (2002). Knowledge objects and mental models. In D. A. Wiley (Ed.), The Instructional Use of Learning Objects (pp. 261-280). Washington DC: Agency for Instructional Technololgy & Association for Educational Communications and Technology.

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2.2 Field studies 2.2.1 Activity sessions Yardstick works with regular to very expensive schools through their School Partnering Program. Each school is unique in terms of the syllabus, expertise of teachers, the school infrastructure, religious biases and the culture enforced upon their students. A more liberal school consists of students from well-off backgrounds with broader mindsets when compared to a religiously oriented school that necessitates discipline based on the culture they follow. Yardstick keeps these factors in mind and provides their services accordingly. A list of schools visited and the sessions attended is provided below. 18th January 2011: St. Joseph Public School, Malakpet, 90 minutes, class VI- microbial organisms 19th January 2011: St. Joseph Public School, Habsiguda, 90 minutes, class VI- pin-hole camera, class VII- cabbage chemistry 21st January 2011: Chinmaya Vidyalaya, Begumpet, 90 minutes, class IV- paddleboat 24th January 2011: Chirec Public School, Kondapur, 90

minutes, class VIII- light dependent resistor circuit 25th January 2011: Chirec Public School, Kondapur, 90 minutes, class VI- air car 27th January 2011: Mothers Integral, Vidyanagar, 45 minutes, class VI- sun and the zodiacs 28th January 2011: Geetanjali Public School, Paradise, 45 minutes, class VII- jitter bug 1st February 2011: Meridian School, Banjara Hills, 60 minutes, class V- solar cooker, class VI- air car Yardstick mandates that every student performs the activity by providing individual kits to them. Their philosophy maintains that every child should get a chance to appreciate science as an important and exciting subject (Fig 2.2.1). The reason is that most children refrain from learning science due to their inability to understand and relate to its underlying concepts. Activities help in connecting concepts in theory to real-life phenomena that can engage a students interest towards the subject. These activities are performed in the classroom, despite the fact that activity-based methods require sufficient room for experimentation and exploration. It was observed that students become energized during activity sessions as it takes away the boredom of direct instruc-

Fig 2.2.1 Chemistry activities at St.Josephs school, Hyderabad

Fig 2.2.2 Glued assemblies of activities in Yardstick

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tion methods. In hind sight, excessive amounts of excitement was troublesome for instructors as students began to dislocate from their benches and disturbed the school atmosphere. This resulted in classroom mismanagement accounting for lack of seriousness towards an activity. Due to large number of students (average of 40) in a single classroom, it was difficult for an instructor to support the requirements of every individual student during an activity session. Yardsticks activities are mostly a stand-alone assembly of materials put-together by gluing parts to maintain its sturdiness (Fig 2.2.2). This is a deliberate practice as Yardstick promotes take-home activity models as a part of their selling strategy. But at the same time, construction of the model called for close attention to each student. Without multiple instructors following up a group of students, the sessions could not be taken up effectively. Students who were not provided with sufficient assistance from the instructor ended up feeling suppressed and uncared for. Owing to their complete dependence on the instructor, they either left the activity incomplete or took it home unfinished. Very few students used the support of their peers to model the activity. Yardstick utilises classroom environments to

gain maximum outreach to thousands of children. This also helps them gauge if every student has attempted the activity in a session. In addition, activity-based learning is a very timeconsuming method as children of different age groups and motor-skills perform activities with varying levels of dexterity and attention spans. It takes several tactful instructors to take up an activity appropriately within a given time-slot. An average classroom session lasts for 40 minutes and the same time-limit applies to activitysessions as well. In such a scenario, the focus of an activity rides on construction of a model rather than engaging students in scientific inquiry. The instructor rushes with an activity model to describe the concept and provide a closure for the session. In the process, time is insufficient for discussions and inquiry based sessions. Subsequently, students remain cognitively absent during the course of the session even though the activity may be complete in its physical form. Assessment models evaluating a students understanding of the concept through the activity is a colossal challenge for Yardstick. Activity sheets are provided to stu-

dents in order to reinforce the connection between the activity and the concept. The sheets consist of questions for students to draw upon their observation and analysis during the activity. Unfortunately, it was observed that the sheets were misused while activities were being performed. The students indifference to these sheets can be reasoned by their resistance to read and write. It was an added burden on students who were already dispirtited from rote methods of teaching and learning. 2.2.2 School sessions During the field study, it occurred that formal educational institutions were structured in their approach to education. They followed a prescribed syllabus, provided the necessary infrastructure, hired capable faculty to run the school and scheduled time-tables and periodic sessions to build a complete system around their students. In most schools, classes were structured by prioritizing the importance of the subject, its necessity, difficulty levels, breadth of the subject and avoidance of overlaps. These classes are taken up inside a classroom where students gather almost throughout their school day.

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Science as a subject is treated as a whole until middle school. It is then split into physics, chemistry and biology for high school students. Usage of science labs is encouraged only for high school students in most syllabus structures. Until then, science is mostly taught using direct instruction methods with the textbook as its core supporting material. Teaching high school science with abstract concepts becomes very tedious for a teacher as he or she has to use supporting diagrams, analogies and multiple examples to bring sufficient clarity to the concept. It was observed that most teachers dictated notes and provided hints to students, alerting them about topics that were important for an examination. Classroom sessions were usually consumed by taking notes from the blackboard. Students are taught to remain silent while the teacher teaches and were allowed to question only when asked. Most teachers were not well trained in handling classroom dynamics for taking up discussions and engaging students in constructive debates about the subject. This could be the reason for undue importance given to inquiry based methods. In some schools, labs were used for taking up science lessons where students sat in groups and performed

experiments. The scenario was completely different in schools that lacked infrastructure and facilities for a lab itself. In such schools, science lessons were completely handled within the classroom with minimum exposure to experiments and scientific demonstrations. These schools were more likely to take up activity-based hands-on learning modules into their curriculum. 2.2.3 Target group Children are the primary focus of education and the other stakeholders are facilitators of it. Yardstick works with children between 10 to15 years of age. Understanding children and their behaviour is a difficult task unless one spends sufficient amount of time with them. In the context of the project, it was important to understand how children connected their learning in school to experiences outside the school premises. This included not just concepts of science but relationships between objects and people, usage of language, critical thinking and general attitude towards education. In a school setting, students are behaviourally active but they are forced than voluntarily doing so. Most children

study and act from fear of their superiors and their voices are crippled under the load of education. Children are not allowed to speak freely in school or during activity sessions. Despite the fact that peer instruction is essential during activity sessions, teachers made students sit far apart from each other in order to curb them from making noise. Moreover, students are over-burdened by the amount of material to be studied on a daily basis to satisfy their parents or teachers expectations. Continuous hours of rote teaching and homework make it very tough for children to enjoy a free childhood. Parents also encourage schools by home tutoring their children which clearly reflects in the downfall of their creativity and intuition. Until the age of 12-13, it was found that children are still playful and their reflexes exhibited natural creative thought processes. Around adolescence, children were conscious of themselves and their behaviour was dependent on their peer group mentality. Their ideas were no longer discrete and their memories were less instinctive and more photographic in representation (Fig 2.2.3,4,5,6). Perhaps the challenge for activity-based learning is to maintain the same level of originality while exercising their minds with connections to knowledge making.

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Fig 2.2.3 Finished version of a nine-year old childs drawing task-to complete a picture that intially contained two boxes. The boxes were transformed into a book and a pencil indicating an instinctive and natural response to shapes.

Fig 2.2.4 Finished version of a twelve-year old childs drawing task-to complete a picture that contained four circles. The circles were represented in a photographic form of the game LUDO.

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Fig 2.2.5 A nine-year old childs drawing task- to illustrate a process of her choice. The chosen drawing shows the process of digestion using imagination

Fig 2.2.6 A twelve-year old childs drawing task- to illustrate a process of her choice. The drawing tries to instruct the process of switching on a computer and opening MS-paint reliying on her memory than imagination.

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In an after-school setting, children liked to play outdoors through some form of physical activity. This harboured their excitement in many ways. For example, while playing games, children enjoyed role-playing and felt responsible for their actions. It provided them with a sense of accomplishment and pride. This could be applied to learning as well in a beneficial manner. Play-way methods of teaching are already popular in elementary schools but these methods have not extended to higher grades above due to fear of lack of seriousness. 2.2.4 Other stakeholders Parents, teachers and schools are by far the most important facilitators in a students life. In an Indian context, a teacher assumes the role of a knowledge giver and the student, as a knowledge consumer. This is a common misconception as their ideal roles ought to be of a knowledge guide and knowledge creator respectively. It was found that teachers were trained (B.Ed) to teach in formal institutions where they blindly followed the rules laid out to them. However, they are also forced to abide by the conduct of the school in terms of discipline and stature.

Experiences shared by many teachers from elementary levels to high school helped in realizing that fresh teachers in the field were more open to new methods of teaching and learning compared to older experienced teachers. Despite their passion for the subject, they believed that the right way to educate students was by rote methods of teaching. In addition, it was noticed that teachers who were too comfortable with their teaching methods showed utmost resistance to contribute extra efforts in bringing about changes. Such rigid attitudes would not help the learner explore subjects beyond the set boundaries and students would forever be constrained by what the teacher knows. School boards are currently making efforts to broaden the scope for dialogue between students and teachers. Student and teacher relationships are necessary to measure student performance in not just academic contexts but their overall development as well. To initiate such relationships, schools under the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) have recently altered their assessment procedure by allotting a fifty percent consideration to Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE). These assessments heavily depend on classroom activities

such as student-teacher interactions, student instruction, classroom projects and so on. Activity-based learning effortlessly fits into this new system where students are provided with a feedback of their performance. Consequently, this lowers the dependency on examinations to judge their performance. These CBSE schools now find it more suitable to incorporate activity-based education into their curriculum. There are many other private organizations providing activity-based services but each of them differs in their approaches. There are several well established pedagogys but there is no right or wrong method of teaching. While Yardsticks methodology focuses on hands-on activity based learning, another sister organization called Butterfly Fields teaches using activity-based methods outside the school premises. They either conduct sessions after-school hours or as summer camps during vacation periods. Xseed, one of the biggest competitors in this field, is comprised of well-trained instructors with their own customized curriculum and textbooks. Their method focuses on both hands-on learning and effective instruction.

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2.3 Problems Studying from literature and the field brought together an integrated understanding of what was written in theory and the manner in which it was put to practice. Insights on Yardsticks methods of delivering hands-on learning within a larger context of education led to the identifying problems of three kinds. The first kind was of constraints posing against activity-based learning in the current scenario. The second type of problems were related to the activity kit and the supplementary work sheets. Finally, the third kind was regarding the method of taking up activity sessions. These problems were sequentially categorized for easier comprehension. Constraints 1. Time-limit for activity sessions 2. Insufficient space to carry out activities 3. Students with varying levels of dexterity, motor skills and attention spans 4. Students resistance to read and write on worksheets 5. Noise-levels during activities 6. Intolerance and disinterest of teachers to activity based methods

Problems related to the kit 1. Unfamiliarity with materials in the kit 2. Non-reusable materials in the kit 3. Unsustainable materials and unstable activity models 4. No room for making mistakes during construction of the model 5. Dependency on the instructor 6. Unguided situations during the construction of the model 7. No scope for manipulation, repair or deconstruction after materials were glued together 8. Scope for automated learning; 9. Time consumption during activity sessions 10. Misuse of activity sheets 11. Indifference to the activity sheets Problems related to the method 1. Children spaced out and not allowed to talk during an activity session 2. Less inquiry and more instruction during an activity session 3. Incapability of teachers to question and handle classroom dynamics 4. Active-learning methods were not incorporated

5. No suitable assessment model The first set of constraints comprised of facts that could not be altered immediately. These facts had to be kept in mind while finding solutions for problems related to activity-based learning. Based on the list above, it was evident that plenty of unresolved issues were lurking around the activity kit. Most of them focused upon materials in the kit and showcased problems that emerged with it. The manner in which these materials were assembled and the amount of time consumed in constructing the model were directly responsible for the learning outcome. In that process, students were likely to lose interest in the activity and become indifferent to its purpose and the worksheet. The method of approaching activity-based learning also highlighted several problems. These problems were mostly addressed to those teachers who were taking up activity sessions. Incapability to handle classroom dynamics and their subsequent reaction to by spacing out students weakens the effectiveness of activity-based learning.

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2.4 Possibilities The problems mentioned above threw light upon three aspects of activity-based learning that were distinctly inter-related to each other. The first attempt was to explore working through the given constraints. Decisions to alter issues of time-limits and space constraints were beyond the scope of this research. Another possible option was to work around noise-levels by understanding students behaviour in a classroom scenario. Be that as it may, this intervention was not specific to activity-based learning and could not support the other larger problems faced in activity-based education. All the more, there was very less scope for using technology through this mediation. The next set of possibilities was related to the activity kit. The list of problems identified through the research gathered that activity kits were not given due precedence while designing for activities. There emerged number of problems due to its ignorance. It was necessary to make sure that learning is not an automated process when using material components in activity-based learning. This highlighted the need to give due importance to

materials itself when designing an activity-kit. Integrating the functionality of the activity kit by making it reusable, sustainable and manipulative would minimize a students dependency on the instructor. Subsequently, the instructor could concentrate on inquiry-related sessions incorporating meaningful questions through the kit usability. An investigation into the activity kit and its associated methods of usage seemed like a feasible direction that could help in delivering meaningful outcomes for activity-based learning. The chosen target therefore was to improve the activity kit as it provided scope for incorporating design methods of building a scenario followed by an analysis. This intervention was aimed to benefit all the stakeholders who used activity-based methods for educational purposes.

assessment model was assumed to be beyond the scope of this intervention. Forms of mediation that demanded learning new technology was discouraged. Moreover, designing a kit was limited to low-cost materials to suit to Yardsticks methods.

2.6 Scenario Intervention into the process of designing an activity kit required a setting for performing the analysis. This meant that a specific subject domain was to be chosen in order to identify activities and its associated materials for speculation. These activities were to be initially scrutinised by well-known methods of assessment before analyzing its material for deeper abstraction. The aim of the process was to investigate and implement changes into the existing process of designing an activity-kit and find effective methods to combine the requirements of several activities into one comprehensive kit.

2.5 Scope The problem identified for rectification was restricted to the activity-kit and not the entire activity itself. The focus of this analysis rested on the materials and their usage. A complete evaluation of an activity with an

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03 Design Process

The activity kit consists of low-cost materials that are required to perform activities. Every activity kit is supported by a worksheet focused on conceptual understanding of the subject. The nature of activity kits and the worksheets emerge from a process of syllabus mapping and identification of topics. Topics are further investigated for an activity intervention to understand a concept. These activities are then shortlisted and tested by a team of subject experts for its relevance to the topic, activity turnover, ease of assembly, material costs and level of excitement. If certain parts of the assembly are not satisfactory, the team finds alternate materials to suit to the activity. These selected activities are briefly documented upon by stating an activitys learning goals along with several external resources to provide better knowledge about the activity in place. This document is distributed among the remaining team members through a content management framework inside the firm. Using

the references, the content team builds upon the activity using an activity sheet format. The format is organized in this manner- objectives, pre-assessment, checklist, safety measures, experimentation and observation, assessment, scientific principles, real-life applications, extensions, and fun facts. The first draft of an activity sheet undergoes several rounds of reviews within the content team before it reaches a subject matter expert. Each subject team exchanges worksheets at the second or third stage of review for widespread validation. When sheets are ready for printing, the procurement team purchases materials required for an activity and delivers it to schools for taking up activity sessions. This explains the existing process for arriving at activity kits in Yardstick. However, the process limits itself as there is no common structural dialog amongst the team members and external resources are given more credibility than human intellect. The following method explains the process undertaken in this project for arriving at a comprehensive kit. It begins with choosing a subject domain for selecting activities followed by a rudimentary evaluation of its current performance in schools. The method ends with a basic initiation of analysis on the activity-kit.

3.1 Method Choosing the domain Choosing the domain topic required a preliminary selection of a syllabus structure. To suit to this research, the chosen syllabus belonged to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) since it is best known for its systematic content organisation and is compiled to match a childs mental capacity to accumulate knowledge. The syllabus also provides room for learning by experimentation. Science textbooks through grades 4 to 10 were then scanned for related topics under the CBSE syllabus. They were examined within and across grades. Subsequently, it was found that grades 4 and 5 focused on environmental science. These concepts relied more on observing nature and man-made environments around children. It aimed to provide them with a basic grounding to differentiate between various categories of animals, birds and plants and introduced them to a world beyond their own natural surroundings. It resulted in removal of these two grades from consideration.

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Science textbooks of grades 6 through 10 consisted of various topics ranging from biology to physics and chemistry. These topics were revisited at a higher grade with increasing conceptual complexity. Topics of electric ity and magnetism were found to be one of the few that were taught in progression from grade 6 to grade 10. General difficulty in understanding electricity and magnetism provided scope for using activity-based learning to effectively absorb these concepts. The chosen domain for analysis therefore was electricity and magnetism. Understanding the domain Physics is dominantly perceived as an abstract, tedious and fundamentally irrelevant subject. An overview of how general science is taught in Indian schools has shown that teaching of physics was done verbally without using demonstrations, experiments and problem solving methods[13]. The most common problem was that students already had preconceived ideas about how physics works. When actual physics was taught, students got lost in relating what was taught to what they know. In middle school physics, topics of electricity and mag-

netism require additional methods of instruction since verbal discourses may lead to partial understanding of the subject. This was disadvantageous as it resulted in misconceptions and negligence from the student. In practical experiments with electricity, students struggled to identify terminals, remember components and their corresponding symbols and terminology. This made it tough for students to map a circuit schematic to a physical circuit. Concepts of varying voltage, current and resistances were difficult to understand unless they were explained using proper analogies. The underlying problem with electricity, and most other physics concepts is that it is invisible and students are prone to misconceptions. Schools avoid practical experiments in electricity due to tiny component sizes and its vulnerability to get damaged. Despite the fact, in order to get a fully grounded understanding of electricity, students must be able to go beyond the classroom lecture to functionally visualize current flows and circuit assemblies. Magnetism was another topic that students enjoyed but lost interest as it delved deeper into concepts of magnetic fields, magnetic flux and its directions. The main problem in basic magnetism was to identify the position

of poles in a magnet and its corresponding direction. Plotting magnetic fields on paper using a compass is an exercise taught to almost every student in school. But most students fail to gather the concept easily. The ability to visualize magnetic fields is highly important for studying further into the subject. It leads to concepts of electromagnetism and electromagnetic induction which are key to understanding real-life applications such as the working of a door bell or powering transformers. The syllabus content within the topics of electricity and magnetism cover static electricity, direct current, magnetism, electromagnetism, and electromagnetic induction. Each of these sub-topics requires an understanding of charges, their direction of movement and the forces acting upon them. The challenge was to help students understand these concepts using activities and inquirybased techniques to achieve the learning goals. Identification of activities and materials Each sub-topic consisted of activities corresponding to its concepts. 19 activities were identified by Yardstick under the domain of electricity and magnetism within

[13] Margolis, A.A., Teaching of physics (UNESCO). [online] Available at: <http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0000/000085/008512EB.pdf>

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the selected syllabus. These 19 activities were sorted into sub-topics and their material requirements were listed for testing each kit. 1. Electrostatics: Electroscope 2. Direct current: Electric quiz, automatic letter box, traffic signal, testing conductors and insulators, salt water tester, effects of electric current, Mr.Beans game, electric torch, series and parallel circuits, resistance pencil 3. Magnetism: Crazy magnet, magnetic car, magnetic levitation 4. Electromagnetism: Electromagnet, telegraph, DC motor, speakers 5. Electromagnetic Induction: Syringe generator These 19 activities under electricity and magnetism were already implemented in schools by Yardstick. The activity kits were therefore pre-evaluated for understanding students familiarity with the material, their dependency on the instructor, ease of assembly and re-usability and sustainability of the model. Familiarity with material

Students were able to identify materials in an activity kit but they could not figure out its usage in the activity. It was a persistent occurrence in spite of being familiar with usage of similar materials in previous activities. This was because the same materials were used for different purposes in activities. Hence, its utility was unknown with each new activity to be performed. In addition, middle school students had difficulty in remembering electronic symbols and their terminologies. Dependency on the instructor As students had trouble figuring out the usage of these materials, they were heavily dependent on the instructor to guide them through the activity. Materials such as insulated wires required stripping or burning off the insulation. This was an impossible task for most children to practice in spite of being given instructions and sample demonstrations. As a result, these unguided situations left students with incomplete or badly finished models that did or did not work. Due to uneven student instructor ratios, help could not be lent to all students who demanded it. Moreover, during the activity, students were clueless about the next possible step in the activity and thus, waited to be instructed.

Ease of assembly During assembly of a kit, students consumed a lot of time in fixing parts together. These parts were made of low-cost materials like ice-cream sticks, toothpicks, thread etc. Some students glue these materials together in odd ways resulting in a model that does not work. There was a need to identify different types of fixtures required for assembling an activity and appropriately design them for achieving standardized models. Students, all the more, connected the wrong terminals, the wrong components or made loose contacts leading to damage of the circuit and its components. In addition, electronic components are tiny in size and students motor skills at that age are not adept enough to handle such objects. Students also found it difficult to map representations of circuit schematic diagrams to physical components. Re-usability & sustainability of the model Students unfortunately had difficulty in reconnecting or reassembling the activity model if its parts were removed from their fixed positions. In electricity and magnetism activities, the idea of a take home model is against the purpose of doing the activity since learning electron-

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ics lies in the practice of making the right connections. Regarding sustainability, electronic components are generally reusable for a long time unless damaged and rubber sheets get easily damaged owing to its softness and flexibility. Other parts of the model had to also be re-designed to sustain multiple alterations without causing damage to the material. Application of Blooms taxonomy After performing a basic evaluation, the next step was to understand the activity kits place in the selected domain. In other words, how does each activity fit into lesson structures of electricity and magnetism? How can materials in the kit be utilized to study electricity and magnetism? In order to gain insights to these questions, lessons from grades 6 to 10 in electricity and magnetism were measured against the learning objectives of Blooms taxonomies by using activities at various levels of learning. The exercise was performed to understand how each stage of learning corresponded to different ways of using materials. As seen in the table (Table 1), material

explorations were more predominant in the applying column. The analysis and evaluation section, as expected, required room for manipulation of material in order to analyse concepts practically. These manipulations were common to both activities and general topics. This exercise brought clarity in understanding the purposes of materials by deriving manipulations. It helped in differentiating supports and tools from components of electricity and magnetism. This differentiation emphasized on the roles played by materials in activities. Based on these roles, manipulation led to uncovering modularity. Modularity The functionalization of material components based on its purpose for ease of assembly, repair or flexible arrangements is modularity. Modularity evolved by identifying possible manipulations from the above exercise. It occurred as a result of understanding the roles of materials for two reasons. Roles played on materials: Action Most manipulations in activities necessitate alternating, shifting or removing or parts off a model and remodel-

ling them into various arrangements. For example, the height of a stand may need to be elevated from its original position to observe a different consequence in the activity. Another situation may demand rearrangement of electronic components from one circuit configuration to another. This would require unplugging connections and changing component orientation. Sometimes, the manipulation may also need multiple components in an assembly to observe its impact on the activity outcome. This kind of material adaptations were to be made feasible through the kit. In order to consume lesser time during assembly, a plug-and-play technique was most suitable for a modular design. The purpose of this approach was to provide a simplified way to repair and rework parts of the model according to specific requirements. Roles played by material: Purpose The purpose of each material in the activity played a part in modularizing the design for an overall kit. For example, two vertical stands with purposes to suspend and lend support to an object could be redesigned to take the form of a single stand that provides both suspension and support mechanisms. This method is commonly known as integrating functionality in modular design. These

Table 1. Application of Blooms Taxonomy, Right

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Grade- Lesson title

Class VI- Fun with magnets

Remembering What students already know Magnets

Understanding Teachers explain new terms, facts and concepts Magnets, poles, directions, attraction, repulsion, magnetic and nonmagnetic materials

Applying Students support their learning by material exploration and activities Exploration with magnets

Class VI- Electricity and Circuits

Current

Class VII- Electric currents and its effects

Electric cells, bulb, current, switches, Material exploration, object identiconductors and insulators, fuses fication- bulb, filament, connectionbattery, terminals- wires, insulation, switches- terminals, fuses, insulating material , testing conductors and insulators Use of electric connecCircuits, symbols, circuit diagrams, Mapping diagram to circuit (vicetions, identification of heating effect and magnetic effect versa), open-closed circuit, materials terminals, use of switches of current, open and closed circuits withstanding heat- fuses, protection, short-circutis, magnetic effect- electromagnet, compass deflection, electric bell- effects of electric current

Analysis & Evaluation & Creation Students analyse concepts using activities and its materials, manipulations, questions for evaluation and extensions Behaviour of magnets- under suspension- crazy magnet, on wheels- magnetic car, balancing magnetic forces- magnetic levitation (Sizes, shapes, number of magnets, positioning, placement, arrangement, magnetic materials-solids, liquids, gases) Multiple connections- electric quiz, switching between circuitstraffic signal, conduction- Mr. Beans game (Misplaced arrangments, placements, positioning, battery power, number of batteries, bulbs, types of bulbs-colours, sizes, number of bulbs)

Class VIII- Chemical ef- Reading and connectfects of electric current ing circuits, conductors, insulators, physical effects of current, uses and applications Class X- Electricity Connecting circuits, current flow, physical and chemical effects, uses and applications

Class X- Magnetic ef- Building own circuits, Identification of magnetic field direc- (Shapes, sizes, number of magnets, change the magnetic field, fects of electric current using multimeter, testing tions (poles) in a magnet, FBI rule, using compass- verification, FBI-placement, direction of forces, components, magnetism, DC motor, electromagnetic induction, change of materials, shape of magnets, length of coil, changing magnetic effects of cursyringe generator current, voltagr values, batteries- power, number, arrangements, rent, use of an electroshapes of coil) magnet Supporting material: Pins, paper clips, plastic glass, pipes, straws, shaping cylinder, plastic container, icecream sticks, jacks, battery holders, thread, terminal connectors, flat base, wheels; Tools: Wire strippers, pliers, cutters, tape, glue, stickers, multimeter

Precautionary measures, liquidsgood/bad conductors, testing for conductivity, conduction of distilled or tap water, electrodes-materials, electroplating Definition of electric current, flow of charges, direction, units of current, voltage, resistance, energy, power, resistance in series and parallel, ohms law, joule heating, resistive circuits, power calculations, measuring devices, metals and alloys Magnetic lines of forces, directions, magnetic field in a current carrying conductor, FBI rule, right hand screw rule, DC motor, electromagnetic induction, generator

Testing water (pure/tap)- salt water tester, methods of testing- LEDs, sound,magnetic compass, chemical reactions-carbon electrodes, electroplating- effects of electric current Series and parallel circuits, Calculation of various parameters w.r.t materials and properties, understanding laws by physical measurements of ammeter and voltmeter, resistance pencil

Form of the switch-open and closed circuit- automatic letter box, using electromagnet as a switch- telegraph, Making of an electric torch, (Direction of current flow, placement of symbols, orientation, wires- color indication, insulation, length, thickness, strands batteries-number, power, switches-types, number, short circuit-fuses, heating, overloading, coil-length, windings, magnetic strength, compass directions, screw- magnetic material types, threads, number, size) Flow of charges- electroscope (Different testing leads, different liquids (acids, bases and salts), chemical reactions- different electrodes, number of electrodes, strength of liquid, batteries- power, number) (Changing material properties- length, area of cross-section, calculation based on various positions of the leads, changing inputs based on units, testing components requirements with multimeter- LEDs, buzzers, resistances, controlling the outputpotentiometer) Designing own circuits

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stand-like forms were to be reused in other activities without the need to build a new stand for every activity that required it. It occurred that arriving at modules required one to gather the purpose of each individual material and the actions performed upon it to eventually produce modules that satisfied multiple purposes. But it was found that the process was tedious and prone to disorganization and clutter. Moreover, information gathered about each material in this method was limited to its usage in the activity. As a result, it reduced the scope for manipulations. The materials, therefore, were to be understood from an overall viewpoint and not just through the eyes of the activity. Hence, a more elaborate and standardized method was required to analyse materials and consequently arrive at modularity as a by-product of the analysis. Material Analysis Having gained sufficient insights on the roles materials play in an activity, it was necessary to go beyond the activity to lay out the possible implications of each ma-

terial irrespective of its usage in any activity. Application of this method was designed to increase the scope for further manipulation by engaging oneself in analysing materials to uncover new permutations and combinations of viable manipulations. Materials as knowledge objects The knowledge object theory penetrates deep into how humans think and create mental models. It directly associates itself with behavioural and cognitive learning theories. The knowledge object theory suggests that all cognitive subject matter content can be represented as types of knowledge objects. These are entities, kinds, parts, actions, properties and processes respectively. Materials played the role of entities when it was applied to knowledge object theory. An entity was subjected to analysis by describing it in terms of its kind, its parts (part of), its associated actions, functions and properties. This process exposes the manner in which one applies knowledge from the grounding of ones own existing knowledge. Subsequently, it provides a method of understanding how materials may be used in activities depending on what one already knows about those materials. This method is supported by literature based on

David Merrills work in Component Design Theory (CDT). Material analysis provided closure for the section on methodology. The process of analysis is discussed in the next section following which the outcome of the process is specified in detail.

3.2 Analysis The steps that were performed for material analysis are described below. These steps are better understood through a sample activity. The electromagnet activity was chosen to illustrate the process of analysis. A part of the analysis was done using a digital spreadsheet format as it required a tabular structure to organize data for storage and easy access. As every activity fitted into this format, performing actions on its text content such as copy, paste, size, change of colour and fonts were feasible for simplifying the process of analysis for each activity. This was necessary because materials often recurred in different activities. As the generic description of each material was always the same, it was possible to copy its description from a previously analysed activity into the current activity. Moreover, digital spreadsheets

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consist of provisions to sort and filter activities based on keywords in each cell. The use of digital spreadsheets also conformed to the comfort levels of Yardsticks employees to work with technology. Step 1 Firstly, learning goals for the chosen activity were set out in two parts i.e. skills and concepts. Also, materials of the activity were listed out before beginning the procedure of analysis. Skills: Winding closely, wiring connections, removing insulation, measuring magnetic strength Concepts: Magnetic effect of electric current, factors affecting magnetic strength Materials: Copper coil (28 gauge; insulated), sandpaper, base, batteries (1.5V), battery holder, jumper wires (22 gauge), switch, iron screw, bolt, paper clips, scotch tape Step 2 The second step was to define each material in simple words without any link to the activity. It was observed that a detailed description evolved a richer analysis. Step 3

The following step was to identify keywords (bold) within the written description. These included the type of material, actions, properties, parts, functions and descriptions. As batteries, wires and switches are all part of a circuit, describing a circuit was beneficial to understand its usage. In addition, the insulation was also described as a sub-entity as it is a part of a wire assembly. Material descriptions are listed below. Copper coil This is a kind of wire made of copper metal. It is insulated to protect and channel electricity without shorting or direct contact. It is flexible and its length and thickness are variable. The thickness of this coil was 28 gauge. Sandpaper This is a coarse material made of sawdust and paper. It is used for smoothing or scraping off over an object. It comes in different grades of smoothness. Base This is a flat platform over which objects are mounted, fixed or arranged. It supports and holds objects when

they are arranged over it. Batteries These are electric power sources (1.5V) that conduct elec tricity when connected to conductive materials. It has two terminals i.e. one positive and one negative and its voltage is variable. It is usually a part of the electronic components in a circuit. Its power drains out on usage. Battery holder This is a casing that supports two batteries inside it. It has two wires of red and black coming out of it which are the two terminals that connect to rest of the circuit. It is made of plastic, an insulating material. Jumper wires This is a kind of metal wire (22 gauge) with a plastic insulation to protect the inner wire from shorting. It is flexible and its length and thickness are variable. They are used to channel current inside a circuit. Switch A switch is an electronic component that changes its state/toggles from one to another when it is pressed or

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moved. It is usually connected to other components in a circuit. It conducts electricity in one or two states depending on the number of terminals. It may have two or three terminals with no polarity. Iron screw An iron nail is a part of an assembly of fixtures that holds or binds two or more objects together using a bolt. It is made of iron and has multiple thread-like ridges on its outer-body that allows a bolt to ride over it and bind objects together. Bolt A bolt is a part of an assembly of fixtures that holds or binds two or more objects together using a screw. It is made of iron and it rides over the body of a screw to bind objects together. Paper clips They are light-weight metal objects that bind or hold papers together. They are flexible and their shape can be altered. Scotch tape

Scotch tape is a kind of sticky plastic sheet-like material that is used to bind or hold objects together by cutting, pasting and wrapping it over the object. The tape can be single or double sided. Insulation It is a type of material that is made up of insulating material which is used to cover and protect conductive material from shorting. It helps in channeling electricity and is usually coated in or inserted over metal wires. It comes in different colours for identification. Circuit A circuit is an assembled configuration of electronic components that are arranged in various series or parallel arrangements. They are usually designed based on required specifications. Step 4 The bolded keywords within the descriptions were then transferred into a tabular format as shown in the table (Table 2). This was to be filled appropriately under suitable categories by referring to the descriptions. It was not mandatory to fill each cell in the table.

Step 5 Since the procedure to perform the activity was already available, the next step was to mark keywords (bold) in the table that indicated its prior usage in the activity. This helped in revisiting and realizing the importance of what was already being done in the activity. Step 6 The proceeding step was to identify keywords (title case) that could alter a consequence in the activity if that material was manipulated. For example, insulated wires were already used in the activity but the consequence of the activity would change if the insulation was removed. This was a useful manipulation to understand the behaviour of an electromagnet. It is necessary to add missed portions of an activity if it is not a part of the written description. The structure that emerges from this process is a digital database of all kinds of materials used in every activity. Any changes to the material can be instantly updated. It helps in broadening our understanding of the usage of materials in order to perform a better analysis. This step marks the end of material analysis.

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Material entities Copper wire Sandpaper Base Battery Battery holder Jumper wire Switch Iron-screw Bolt Paper clip Scotch tape Insulation Circuit

Type Conducting wire Paper Platform Power Source Holder Conducting Wire Circuit Device Fixture Fixture Binder Sticky tape Insulating material Assembly

Part/ Part of Insulation, sandpaper

Description Made of copper metal, flexible, 28 gauge Coarse material, sawdust Flat, mobile

Function Conduction Smoothen, scraping Support, hold Source electricity Support, hold Conduct Switch states Fix, hold Fix, hold Bind, holding together Stick, fix, support, bind, hold Protection Channel current flow

Action Connect, Wind, disconnect, switch Scraping Mount, fix, arrange Identify symbol, connecting Insert, connect Connect, DISCONNECT, switch, wind Identify symbol, toggle, press, connect Screw-in/out Screw-in/out Slip on, insert Cutting, pasting, wrapping Coating, inserting, slipping in, identifying colour ARRANGE, design, connect, mapping circuit schematic

Property (value) Insulated (TOGGLE), LENGTH, THICKNESS (VARIABLE) Grades of sandpaper (variable)

Circuit Battery, Jumper wires Insulation, stripper Circuit Bolt Screw Paper

Symbol, 1.5V, AA, two terminals, DRAINS OUT Two wires- black and red coming out, plastic Made of metal, flexible, 22 gauge Symbol, shifts between paths, 2-3 terminals Made of iron, threads (out) Made of iron, threads (in) METAL, LIGHT WEIGHT, stiff, bendable Sticky material on one side, transparent Made of insulators, flexible Configuration of components

Terminals (CHANGABLE), VOLTAGE, NUMBER (1,2, 3) Number of batteries Insulated (TOGGLE), LENGTH, thickness (VARIABLE) Terminals (CHANGEABLE), SPDT, DPDT, no-polarity SIZE, threads, number Size Size, NUMBER Size, length of tape, stickyness Colour (VARIABLE) Series, Parallel

Table 2. Material Analysis Structure for the Electromagnet activitiy

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3.3 Process outcome An organised tabular structure of material descriptions, at this point, consisted of a rich set of manipulations for interpretation. It also included related actions and functionalities of materials in the activity kit. With this data, there was scope for extracting redundancies of actions and purposes for various materials to arrive at multi-functional modules. Also, the sheer number of manipulations paved way for generating questions that were subjected at the learning goals. The material analysis, thus had two major outcomes through its process i.e. generating questions through manipulations and arriving at modules. An added adavantage of this process was that both outcomes could be combined for effective learning in a classroom environment. The manner in which they were applied are discussed in further detail. Generating questions through manipulations Manipulations formulated through material analysis provided easy triggers for generating questions. These questions were to help in comprehending the learning goals of an activity. The potential of the analysis to draw

compelling questions from this exercise also exhibited its strength as an activity. These manipulations are hence an important judging factor for evaluating an activitys efficiency. Plenty of questions of different varieties were raised using manipulations as references from the electromagnet material analysis structure. What would happen if a part of the material was removed from its body? Reference manipulations: Removing insulation, removing the switch from the circuit How would the consequence vary if a descriptive property were replaced or changed? Reference manipulations: Light weight paper clips to heavy weight objects, iron screw to non-metal objects, a fully charged battery to a drained out battery What would happen if values of the material varied? Reference manipulations: Battery voltage values, colour of insulation, coil thickness and length values How would one reason a failed function? Reference manipulations: A non-conducting copper coil,

non-sourcing battery What would happen if the arrangements were misplaced? Reference manipulations: Misplaced series connections (battery-coil-switch-battery), interchange of battery terminals, interchange of switch terminals Likewise, questions can be generated for any activity analysis. The sample reference manipulations need to be initially checked against the learning goals before framing questions for the activity sheet. The effectivenss of an activity is maxiumum if these questions were designed to be answered by manipulation of materials. Arriving at modules It was discovered earlier that it is possible to achieve modularity by identifying two types of targets. The first was that of actions performed on materials and second was the purpose of materials itself. Assuming that analysis is performed on all activities, data was then ready for interpretation inside a definite structure of a spreadsheet. This was followed by an extensive survey for

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redundancies among several activities in order to arrive at modules with integrated functionality. In order to clearly illustrate the technique, modules were derived from a selected set of five activities. They are the electric quiz, traffic signal, series and parallel circuits, electromagnet and the DC motor. A preliminary step was to make sure that material analysis is performed on each of these activities (See Appendix A). With each activity arranged one below the other in a digital spreadsheet format, the process of deriving modules was made easier. The first step was to enable filters for each column title as shown in the figure (Fig 3.3.1). It is assumed for the purpose of explaining this technique that the keyword support is under scrutiny for the set of five activities. The process of sorting is done by inserting a new column beside the function column. The new column is also enabled by the filter. In order to begin searching, the first step was to title the new column with the keyword. The next step was to apply a search formula in a blank cell under the new column against the keyword support from any cell in the function column (Fig 3.3.2).

Fig 3.3.1 Material Analysis with drop-down filters

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Fig 3.3.2 Search formula on a new column against the word support

Fig 3.3.3 Result of the search formula

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=ISNUMBER(SEARCH($ColumnAlphabet$ColumnNumb er, RowAlphabetRowNumber)) Example: =ISNUMBER(SEARCH($G$1, F4)) The applied formula searched for the word support within the cell F4 and returned TRUE (Fig 3.3.3). The formula was then copied along the entire column till the bottom-most row where each cell displayed TRUE if the keyword support was found against a corresponding cell in the function column (Fig 3.3.4). It was evident through the resulting structure that many kinds of support mechanisms were utlilized (Fig 3.3.5). A filter could then be used to sort each type of support or the process can be repeated for another word within the results obtained. This technique of searching, sorting, and filtering was used to arrive at modules. The procedure for development of modules is discussed in the next section. Application of the material analysis by the Yardstick employees are available for reference in Appendix B. Evaluation of an activity Through adequate understanding, it is found that there are four factors influencing the effectiveness of an activ-

ity. The two fold outcome of the process discussed so far were found to be two of the four factors that aided in evaluation of an activity. Mapping representations It is necessary for an activity to be able to map repsentations from physical objects, diagrams or schematics. Failing this attempt was prone to unsustained learning outcomes. For instance, an activity has to appropriately maps directions of currents and fields as it were discussed in textbook material. This helps in practically reinforcing theoretical concepts. Accuracy of the outcome The final working model of an activity had to be accurate in exhibiting desired scientific phenomena. Students were misguided if an activity did not work properly. To site an example, the syringe generator activity requires continuous rapid movements to light up an LED through induction. Students sadly could not achieve the outcome due to less energy levels. The activity was thus rendered weak in its effectiveness. Questions through manipulations

An activitys strength is dependent on the number of manipulations that can be performed through its kit. These manipulations have the potential to trigger questions that address the learning goals of an activity. In the crazy magnet activity, for example, understand magnetic forces of attraction and repulsion required re-arrangment of magnets from their initial positions. Pre-decided arrangements such as manipulating magnets could therefore be used as questions in the activity sheet. Modularity Modularity is one of the most important factors during delivery of an activity. It increases the scope for manipulation, repair and deconstruction. All the more, lesser time is consumed in construction and consequently, plenty of room is provided for inquiry and concept related discussions. It also encourages creativity and curiosity to try out new methods of assembly to achieve a variety of outcomes, apart from the main learning goals. Student assessments play a final role in evaluation of an activity. It supplies a combined effect of all the above mentioned factors that influence an activitys efficiency.

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Fig 3.3.4 Search formula copied along rows of the analysis structure

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Fig 3.3.5 The search word support filtered out to find materials

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3.4 Process Analysis The analysis peformed on materials used in activities follows a covert transformation of cultural aspects of human thought into digital data. This undergoes a process of collecting and organizing data before it is transferred to a digital form. Actions performed on this digital data is inturn reflected in human thought. In the figure (Fig 3.4.1), one can see how culture and computerization are interdependent for representation and manipulation of information in order to extract meaning from the gathered data. As stated by Lev Manovich in his book The Language of New Media, The ways in which computer models the world, represents data and allows us to operate on it; the key operations behind all computer programs (such as search, match, sort, filter); the conventions of HCI in short, what can be called computers ontology, epistemology and pragmatics influence the cultural layer of new media: its organization, its emerging genres, its contents. (Manovich 2001, p.64)

How humans think?

-------->

Data representation layer (Knowledge objects)

-------->

Data transcoded into a digital format

-------->

CULTURAL LAYER COMPUTER LAYER

Fig 3.4.1 Process analysis diagram

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-------->

-------->

Meaning making

Variability in representational forms of data

Operations performed on data

-------->

When digital data is concerned, knowledge objects in the analysis structure are treated as independent entities with seperate identities. They are no longer inter-related to each other and are transformed into modular objects of new media that are subject to access, modification and substitution. This opens scope for performing multifarious operations on a single or multiple entities. The digital storage format, in this case, the spreadsheet becomes a database for an entire collection of knowledge objects over which operations are performed. Based on the software and its existing algorithms, low-level automations are possible before the user deliberately modifies the data. For example, in Microsoft Excel, the user can easily enable filters for cells in the spreadsheet and just as easily locate data through the search algorithm. Based on the need, users may also choose to create their own algorithms from scratch or use others algorithms to manipulate the structure of data objects inside the spreadsheet. These algorithms are generally simple programs that are robust, modular and scalable. The manner in which they are used also affects how the user conceives data contained in the document.

....The result of this composite is the new computer culture: a blend of human and computer meanings, of traditional ways human culture modeled the world and computers own ways to represent it. (Manovich 2001, p. 64) Inside a grid-like structure, applying a search criterion opens up possibilities of sorting, seperation or distribution of rows and columns according to the anticipated outcome. Depending on the logic of data organisation, the outcome of these operations are interpreted for further analysis. As there is no particular sequence of organisation, automation of the search formula becomes tricky. Therefore, in order to make meaning from the structure, human intervention is a necessity. The approach for this intervention is heavily dependent on representation of data and the requirement. In the process of meaning making, one may find the need to classify data, in a randomized database structure, and model it for the objectives. This involves segregation of various levels of mental processes to view a representation that helps engaging in further investigation of the subject. For example, in the case of material analysis,

one needs to modify the representation of data objects i.e. keywords or text into bolded, italicized or underlined forms to differentiate between keywords that are already tapped in an activity and the ones that bear potential to change consequences in an activity, if applied. When the procedure is completed, the user views that same data in a different form but with specified classifications that help understand and decode it. The extent of meaning making from such modified data is not always a perpetually dynamic process but has dead-ends. Within a specified context, such inert data representations can be further investigated for a larger purpose of the research undertaken. Database creation and manipulation, is therefore not an end-in-itself but a combination of mental operations in the form of computerized programs and ongoing cognitive processes in a larger context of subjective research or study. The utility of technology is thus justified for purposes of collecting data, its archival, manipulation and modification. To summarize, its ease of variability and extraction of meanings helped in the development of modules and led to deeper understanding of activitybased learning within the scope of this research.

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3.5 Development The technique of sorting purposes and actions in the material analysis structure was applied to five selected activities as mentioned earlier. It was done to result in design explorations for multi-functional modules that cater to most activities under electricity and magnetism. Producing modules It was observed in the analysis structure that most materials required a fixing action. The keyword fix was therefore looked up in the action column. The figure on the top right (Fig 3.5.1) shows materials that needed fixing onto the base. From the results, it was easy to sort these materials into two types. The first were electronic components and the second was a safety pin that was used as a support in the DC motor activity. In order to fix these materials, fixtures or fasteners were required. By searching for a fasten function, it was found that objects such as screws, bolts, paper clips and safety pins were used in activities to fix materials together (Fig 3.5.2). It was therefore found that screw and bolt mechanisms were most feasible for holding electronic components

Fig 3.5.1 Searching & filtering the word fix in the actions column

Fig 3.5.2 Searching & filtering the word fix in the function column

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over the base. However, holes were needed in the base to avoid any damage while using such a fixture. The safety pin functioned as a supporting metal stand that conducts electricity. Therefore, integrating the support mechanism with the base was put on hold. Certain materials were also bound together with the base. The function keyword bind was hence looked up in the analysis structure. The results showed that (Fig 3.5.3) scotch tape and glue were the materials used for binding. These were responsible for irreversibility of the model and provided no scope for repair or manipulation. Thus, cable-ties were introduced as new modules into the activity kit. Accounting for its ease of tying and untying, students had to simply assemble the kit and wind cable-ties around those components through holes in the base for binding support. Apart from fixing and binding materials, a unique feature of electronic components was identification of its corresponding symbols. The keyword identify was sorted to result in the battery, switch and the LED as components that needed to be identified while performing the activity (Fig 3.5.4). In order to reinforce component symbol

Fig 3.5.3 Searching & filtering the word bind in the function column

Fig 3.5.4 Searching & filtering the word identify in the action column

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mapping onto circuits, symbol modules were produced that were to help middle school students in linking circuit schematic diagrams to practice. Electronic components that needed fixing also required connections to be made to other components. The function to connect was common to all kinds of wires. Instead, sorting the connect action showed that electronic components, jumper wires, copper wires, battery holders and circuits utilized the action (Fig 3.5.5). As electronic components were held onto a base using screw and bolt mechanisms, connections by wires had to merge with this mechanism. To accomplish this, screw terminal connectors were introduced into the activity-kit. These terminal connectors were fixed using a screw and bolt fixture and it accomodated wire connections through an enclosure. This enclosure provided scope for fitting maleto-male wires into itself in a plug-and-play fashion. These male-to-male wires were thus introduced to the kit with red and black coloured insulation to indicate positive and negative terminals in a circuit. Several other modules were proposed for the activity-kit. Unfortunately, these modules were not prototyped due
Fig 3.5.5 Searching & filtering the word connect in the action column

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to lack of production facilities. A stand as a support for suspending and bridging objects was one of the proposed modules. The safety pin used in DC motor as a bridging support was replaced by another stand-like metal rod with a loop on one end that fitted directly into the terminal connector enclosure to conduct electricity. Another addition was to create a provision for adding wheels to the base. The modules that were finally selected for the kit were the prototyping base, terminal connectors, male-to-male wires, cable ties and symbol modules for the battery, LED and the switch. Design explorations for each of these modules are exhibited in the next section from initial sketches to final prototyped outcomes. Design Explorations Explorations in module design were pursued after having gained knowledge about necessary specifications to achieve modularity (Fig 3.5.6). These specifications were drawn from the activity kit analysis procedure that led to arriving at modules. While designing for these modules, several pointers were kept in mind.

Fig 3.5.6 Initial activity sketches and design explorations of modules

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1. Alignment of sizes, shapes, volume, holes and fixtures. 2. Mapping representations from schematics to reinforce circuit symbols and connections. 3. To harbour reusability in the activity kit, the degree of detail or context of the module had to be carefully incorporated. 4. Stackability of modules for modular assemblies and packaging was required in the design. 5. The modules were to be designed with smooth edges to avoid injuries. 6. The choice of material for modules had to be sustainable and withstanding wear and tear. 7. The modules had to be designed ergonomically. 8. Sizes of modules were to be large enough to accomodate motor-skills of different age-groups. The figure in this page (Fig 3.5.7) shows design explorations for symbol modules from its initial phase to its final production. These modules consisted of two holes to provide for electronic components that have shorter leads. Later, the design changed to single holes on either side of the component. Polarities were also indicated over the modules to direct students to make right connections.
Fig 3.5.7 Design explorations of symbol modules in phases

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Symbol modules, terminal connectors and wires Electronic component symbol modules were prototyped for a battery, LED and a switch. These rectangular oval shaped modules were made to map representations of circuit schematic diagrams. The aim was to reinforce a students mental relationship between the component and its standard symbol. These modules were provided with a line on either side of the symbol indicating the presence of current flow (Fig 3.5.8-3.5.11, 14)). To its either ends were holes for inserting terminal connectors. These terminal connectors provided a screwing mechanism to connect multiple wires including male-to-male wire cables into its enclosure (Fig 3.5.12, 13). These oval shaped modules were required only until students familiarized themselves with symbols of each component. Replaced objects: Screws, washers, insulated multistrand wires, use of wire strippers, screw drivers Replaced actions: Piercing screws, touching wires, Purpose: Mapping circuit diagrams, conducting electricity, making and removing connections

Fig 3.5.8 First prototype of a symbol module

Fig 3.5.9 Second prototype of a symbol module

Fig 3.5.10 Third prototype of an LED symbol module

Fig 3.5.11 Final prototype of a battery symbol module

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Fig 3.5.12 Male to male wires

Fig 3.5.14 Design explorations of symbol modules in progression Fig 3.5.13 Screw terminal connectors

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Prototyping board The prototyping board was made with alternating holes to plug in circuits with or without the usage of symbol modules (Fig 3.5.15). The alternating hole structure can accommodate up to 10 components at one time for building circuits in the classroom. Traffic signal, automatic letter box, and electric quiz, series and parallel circuits, resistance pencil are some activities that can be easily performed using the symbol modules and the prototyping board as a base. The board is also provided with four tiny extensions to its four sides with holes in each of them. This was provided for activities such as magnetic car that require a moving assembly. Plenty of other physics activities dealing with Newtonian laws require wheel assemblies as well. Hence, the prototyping board was multi-purposed across most physics activities. Replaced objects: Rubber sheet base, scotch/doublesided tape, hot-glue Replaced actions: Cutting, pasting, gluing, piercing Purpose: Platform for fixing arrangements, wheel frame

Fig 3.5.15 Prototyping base with alternating hole structre

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Support stands Activities such as the crazy magnet, FBI rule or DC motor required rod-like support modules (Fig 3.5.16) that could withhold suspension or bridge across materials. These stands needed to be of different heights and some required a loop to one end to serve an activitys purpose. Moreover, stands made of metal could be directly inserted into terminal connector enclosures to conduct electricity. The terminal connectors passed electric current into these rods and inturn into wires connected to them. Such interventions aided activities such as Mr. Beans game or the DC motor. Non-metal stands were to be fixed onto the base using the screw and bold mechanism or by inserting the stand through a hole of the base and into a tight enclosure that supports the weight of the rod. The tight enclosure could be a rubber wheels center into which the axle is inserted. The figure on the top shows types of stand-like rods that were explored to suit to activities. The final prototype could not be manufactured due to lack of facilities. Replaced objects: Rubber sheets, kabab sticks, safety-

pins, tooth-picks, scotch/double-sided tape, hot-glue Replaced actions: Cutting, pasting, gluing, piercing Purpose: Providing support for mounting, suspension, bridging Cable-ties Cable-ties were new additions to the kit (Fig 3.5.17). They performed the function of holding or binding objects (magnets, screws etc) together by tying them through the holes of the prototyping board. Cable-ties drastically changed the assembly of activities such as electromagnet and magnetic levitation. The ability to bind and un-bind the cable effortlessly without losing out on binding strength provided an advantage for constructing the model. Replaced objects: Rubber sheets, scotch/double-sided tape, hot-glue Replaced actions: Cutting, pasting, gluing, piercing Purpose: Holding, binding, tying, supporting
Fig 3.5.17 Explorations of reusable cable-ties

Fig 3.5.16 Explorations of stand-like support modules

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Series and Parallel Arrangements This activity attempts to connect three bulbs in series and parallel respectively to a battery. They are fixed over a base permanently to observe changes in brightness of the bulbs when the circuit is connected. While the bulbs glow dimmer in series, in a parallel connection, they all glow equally bright. (Class VII) (Fig 3.5.18, 19)

Fig 3.5.19 Proposed kit model, Series and Parallel

Fig 3.5.18 Yardsticks activity model, Series and Parallel

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DC Motor The DC motor activity tries to explain the effect of magnetism on a current carrying conductor. It follows the FBI (Force-Magnetism-Current) rule using similar directions as represented in the textbook. (Class X) (Fig 3.5.20, 21)

Fig 3.5.21 Proposed kit model, DC Motor

Fig 3.5.20 Yardsticks activity model, DC Motor

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Electric Quiz This activity attempts to reinforce concepts of open and closed circuits in the form of a game. The game is of the match-the-correct answer type where a correct match results in the bulb glowing. The circuit is internally connected by wires to the associated matches. When the right match is identified, the circuit is complete and the bulb glows. (Class VI) (Fig 3.5.22, 23)

Fig 3.5.23 Proposed kit model, Electric Quiz

Fig 3.5.22 Yardsticks activity model, Electric Quiz

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Electromagnet This activity demonstrates the working of a simple electromagnet by passing current into a copper coil that is wound around an iron screw. (Class VII) (Fig 3.5.24, 25)

Fig 3.5.25 Proposed kit model, Electromagnet

Fig 3.5.24 Yardsticks activity model, Electromagnet

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Traffic signal The traffic signal is a fun activity that reinforces the concept of open and closed circuits through the action of switching. Here, the circuit is connected to 3 LEDs represented by the colours of traffic lights i.e. red, yellow and green. A student has to switch a conductor between the leads of any one of the 3 LEDs to indicate the status. (Class VI) (Fig 3.5.26, 27)

Fig 3.5.27 Proposed kit model, Traffic Signal

Fig 3.5.26 Yardsticks activity model, Traffic Signal

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3.6 Testing

This process needed an activity for testing the outcome. Manipulations were initially extracted from the chosen activity by performing an analysis on its material usage. These manipulations were later translated into question forms addressing the learning goals of the activity. These questions were then verbalised to be incorporated in the activity sheet. Meanwhile, materials required for performing the activity were procured and packaged for a class of 40 students. In order to test the effectiveness of the activity, it was tested against several factors that influenced the session. Using the Blooms taxonomy, an assessment of six questions was also included in the session to measure students level of learning in the session. The entire process is broken down into sections to elucidate its nuances. Choosing the activity The activity chosen for testing was Series and Parallel Circuits. This decision was based upon maximum usage of the new proposed modules in the kit. It was

also chosen due to its challenged complexity in making and removing multiple connections across the base. The activity was pre-evaluated against four factors that were discussed earlier in this research. Mapping representations The Series and Parallel activity sufficiently mapped circuit schematic diagrams using a combination of symbol modules and the base. Accuracy of the outcome Materials used in the activity, such as the bulbs and wire connectors, were practical for performing manipulations in order to understand the concept of series and parallel arrangements. The type of bulbs were especially chosen for observing levels of increasing and decreasing brightness which is extremely critical to the activity. Questions through manipulations Several insightful questions were drawn upon this activity using the material analysis structure. With the help of a subject expert, these questions were verbalized and incorporated in the activity sheet. Moreover, an assessment sheet was also prepared using these questions.

Modularity Materials in the activity were designed to be modular in their assembly. It enabled construction and deconstuction with room for exploration. It supported multiple arrangements and also incorporated multiple functionalilties. Material Analysis Analysis performed on the activity saw that plenty of manipulations were feasible from the structure (Fig 3.6.1). Keywords that were already in use in the activity were coloured in red and keywords that showed scope for manipulation, in blue. These keywords were then checked for their relevance to the activity by measuring them against the learning goals. Eventually, they were modified into questions for the activity sheet. A list of statements derived from manipulations is given below. Removing a bulb from the series or parallel arrangement Reference manipulation: Bulb-light On/off Batteries in series or parallel arrangement, brightness Reference manipulation: Battery arrangement

Fig 3.6.1 Material Analysis for Series and Parallel activity (right)

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Switching battery terminals- positive-->negative and negative --> positive, light on/off Reference manipulation: Interchange of terminals Shapes of circuit arrangements on the base Reference manipulation: Circuit arrangements Types of series and parallel arrangement Reference manipulation: Description of series (one common terminal) and parallel (both common terminals) arrangements Adding and removing bulbs Reference manipulation: Number of bulbs, brightness Replacing bulbs within the same circuit/replacing bulbs to form new circuit arrangements Reference manipulation: Arrangements (replacements) These statements were translated into question formats for the activity sheet. The questions were generated to help students critically analyze the activity while performing manipulations. The sheet can be referred through Appendix A.

Assessment Based on questions designed for the activity sheet, an assessment was prepared to test the level of learning attained by students who underwent the activity. The assessment was structured into six levels, as designated by Blooms taxonomy to measure their learning. The assessment sheet is available for reference in Appendix B. Procurement, production and packaging The materials required for this activity are: 1. Prototyping base (1) 2. Bulbs (7) 3. Bulb symbol modules (5) 4. Batteries (4) 5. Battery symbol modules (2) 6. Battery holders (2) 7. Red terminal connectors (2) 8. Black terminal connectors (8) 9. Red male-to-male wires (2) 10. Black male-to-male wires (2) 11. Cable ties (2) Prototypes of the base and symbol modules were de-

signed and lazer cut using acrylic sheets. This material was temporarily chosen for its sturdiness, availability of colours and ease of cutting. The colour scheme of the kit was changed to appeal to children. The base and bulb modules were chosen orange and yellow respectively. Due to unavailability of red acrylic, green was chosen for the battery modules. The colour scheme was intentionally made analogous. Due to unavailability of male-to-male wires, single strand wires were utilized for the kit. In addition, reusable cable-ties were replaced by permanent ones. The kits were then packed into plastic covers assuming a maximum class strength of 40 (Fig 3.6.2). The kits were initially assembled for a pre-test before delivering them to a school (Fig 3.6.3). The activity session was scheduled in Richmonds High School, Hyderabad for grade 7. The school followed a SSC syllabus but it also included series and parallel circuits as in the case of CBSE syllabus. A background study of the school revealed that it was of a mediocre standard with students of average competency levels. Before the activity was carried out, an initial lesson plan was devised. This was neces-

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Fig 3.6.2 Packaging of materials for the activity kit

Fig 3.6.3 Pre-test of the activity kit

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sary as the syllabus structure of the lesson Electricity was scheduled for the 3rd term of the academic year. As the new academic year had just begun, it was necessary to revise their prior knowledge before introducing the activity. In this process, students were also taught to assemble a simple circuit to familiarize them with materials in the kit. Activity session The session was scheduled after lunch hour for a classroom of 40 girls. There was one instructor and an assistant from Yardstick to guide students during the session. A science teacher from the school was also present for monitoring the classroom. At the beginning. students were alert and showed keen interest in the lesson. Positive answers to a few pre-requisite questions confirmed their previous knowledge about the subject. The first task to assemble a simple circuit was easily put together and removed with the help of detailed instructions delivered by the Yardstick instructor. This was an important part of the session since familiarity with materials had to be ensured before carrying out the actual activity (Fig 3.6.4). It was observed that construction and decon-

Fig 3.6.4 Activity testing, students familiarizing themselves with materials

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struction of the assembly was easily comprehended by students but they found it physically tough to perform certain actions. For instance, students struggled with the instability of loosely or tightly held screwing mechanisms. Consequently, insertion of multi-strand bulb wires into the terminal connectors consumed large amounts of time and effort. In addition, the visual clutter due lengthy wires also affected the students concentration on the subject (Fig 3.6.5). It was also noticed that several students were not attentive when the instructions were laid out and eventually had badly assembled models. As a result, manipulations were not carried out effectively as barely half the classroom had performed the activity without much difficulty. The assessment sheets were distributed after all the necessary manipulations were discussed or performed. Due to consummation of time in excess during the activity, very less time was alloted for the assessment. The result of assesssment showed that about 70 percent of students had touched upon levels of application, having succeeded at remembering and understanding the activity (Fig 3.6.6,7). The analysis section was poorly attempted and left un-answered as the session

Fig 3.6.5 Activity testing, students display their modelled assemblies

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crossed the stipulated time limit. The questions related to evaluation and synthesis were not at all attempted as they require some amount of critical thinking and self-analysis. However, the instructor made it a point to discuss these questions after the assessment sheet was collected. Students were able to answer the evaluation and synthesis questions with the help of the discussion by the instructor. This proved that students were reluctant to answer questions on the assessment sheet as it gave them a feeling of being tested and marked for their learning. It also showed that students prefer verbal inquiry and discussions compared to reading and writing from sheets. In hindsight, the session turnover was not completely successful as students barely achieved the required expectations within the given time slot. The reason was addressed to unstable screw terminal connections and difficulty in its removal and re-connection. Therefore, the activity kit necessitated the need for better fixing and connecting mechanisms to simplify the process of wire assembly. There were no specific issues addressed to the instructor and the students.

Re-testing The same activity was tested again at another school by modifying screw terminal connectors into an assembly of screws and bolts combined with alligator clips to make connections. The re-worked model is shown in the figure (Fig 3.6.8). This revised kit made it simpler for students to perform manipulations of removing and replacing bulbs from the circuit. The activity was taken up in Pragati Vidya Niketan School, Hyderabad for grade 7. The kit was well received and instructions were followed by the students to perfom the activity (Fig 3.6.9). Inspite of changing the assembly, it was again found that connecting bulbs to the alligator clips consumed considerable amount of time (Fig 3.6.10) However, once the connections were made, it helped in fastening the process of manipulations and provided time for discussions. Results from the assessment indicated a drastic improvement compared to the previous test. Although, in order to further reduce the time consumed, an argument was raised whether the bulbs need to be pre-connected to the clips or if students were to do it themselves according to the demands of hands-on learning. As a result, an alternate pre-connected arrangement for a simple

Fig 3.6.6 Activity testing, student preparing the model

Fig 3.6.7 Activity testing, model assembled by a student

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Fig 3.6.8 Modified prototype for second round of testing

Fig 3.6.9 Activity testing in a school with the modified prototype

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plug-and-play mechanism was also proposed for the activity kit. This kit catered mainly to those schools with time-bound schedules. The bulb wire leads were converted into male-to-male wire assemblies (Fig 3.6.11)). A tiny through-and-through hole in its form gave way for modular connections using the same entity. Due to market unavailability of these male-to-male wires, they had to be manually produced using individual parts. Insufficient man-power to produce these objects prevented the scope for testing this proposed kit in a classroom. Sample models are shown in the figures (Fig 3.6.12, 13). The kit was then evaluated with children in smaller groups. The results were favourable as children provided the desired answers on assessment. It was also noticed that in an informal setting, children posed a number of questions regarding the arrangements and material assemblies. They even tested their questions using the kit. However, this kit was not accepted due to its plug-and-play methods and low cost-effectivity. To summarize the outcome of testing the activity, a tabular form (Table 3) is prepared to wholly grab the degree of change affected from the previous activity kit to the new proposed kit.

Fig 3.6.10 Activing testing, students assemble the modified prototype

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Fig 3.6.11 Bulbs leads converted to male-to-male assemblies

Fig 3.6.12 Proposed prototype, series connection

Fig 3.6.13 Proposed prototype, parallel connection

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Criteria Familiarity with materials Reusability Sustainability and stability Room for mistakes Dependency on the instructor Unguided situations Manipulation, de-construction & repair Automated learning

Previous Activity Sessions Material affordances did not suggest its usage. Materials are non-reusable and easily damaged. Materials are not long-lasting and unstable during and after assembly. No room for making mistakes during construction of the model Assembly of unfamiliar materials demanded assistance of the instructor Recurrent unguided situations during assembly left students models incomplete or wrongly assembled No scope for manipulation, de-construction and repair once materials are glued together. Students remain behaviourally active and cognitively absent, giving scope for automated learning. Activities consumed time due to construction of the model by gluing parts together and dependency on the instructor for instructions. Activity sheets were treated as additional material and misused for making paper rockets or playing games Students were indifferent to activity sheets as they are not utilized during an activity.

Current Activity Sessions Materials are suggestive and intuitive. Materials are re-usable and are not damaged unless broken. Long-lasting materials chosen for the kit and intact assemblies. The kit provides scope for making mistakes and corrections. Familiarizing students with materials reduced their dependency on the instructor Students already knew how to assemble and therefore reduced occurrences of unguided situations. Materials are not glued or stuck together. Removable and manipulative mechanisms are incorporated. The activity is designed for discussions and manipulations. It subsequently reduces the scope for automated learning. Activities comparitively consumed lesser time for assembly with modular components and allocated the remaining time for manipulation and discussions. Activity sheets are not misused as they are a part of performing the activity. Activity sheets are utilized while performing the activity.

Time consumption during activity sessions

Misuse of activity sheets Indifference to activity sheets

Table 3. Comparison of the previous and current outcomes

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04 Conclusion

4.1 Synthesis This research attempted to target issues in a particular area of activity based learning by intervening into Yardsticks methodologies. This was done by understanding the barriers posing against their successful implementation of activity-based education in Indian schools. The area of focus was subjected to activity kits due to several unaddressed issues pertaining to it. The process investigated materials in a kit for deriving questions and acheiving modularity through a stepwise analysis. The outcome of the process was two fold which, in-part, determined the effectiveness of an activity. The stepwise manner by which the process is undertaken seemed

to have successfully altered Yardsticks existing methods of arriving at activity kits. It mostly affected the content team by empowering employees to play active roles in content generation by sharing a common structural dialogue (spreadsheet) between the content developers and the subject experts. The digital form of representing content facilitated easy access and storage, sharing and modification among the team members. Therefore, the lengthy process from activity selection to worksheet review is greatly compressed into a simple four step procedure. The first is the identification of materials and stating their knowledge objects. This is followed by a material analysis as the second step. The third step is to derive questions from manipulations identified in the analysis and the final step is to search for redundant functionalities to arrive at modularity. The job of procuring modified materials for the kit is then transferred to the procurement team. Based on the complexity in modification of the design, a product designer is a must for production of custom manufactured parts of the kit. Apart from Yardstick, the process also attempted to significantly affect roles played by teachers and students in their teaching and learning processes. Teachers are given

a set of questions that necessitate manipulations to be performed on materials of the kit during the activity. It aims to actively involve teachers in discussions and inquiries during an activity, and shift their focus from rote methods of teaching. This continuous dialogue between teachers and students would eventually enhance the relationships they share with one another. Moreover, it empowers teachers to take responsibility of their students learning as students depend on them for guidance. Students using kits in the classroom are familiarised with materials before the activity is begun. Therefore, it relieves them from being dependent on the teacher for instructions. Meanwhile, their mental capacities are shifted from constructing assemblies to thinking about questions related to the concept taught. Moreover, questions in the activity sheet are tactfully designed to trigger their thought processes and exercise their problem solving abilities. Despite these efforts, the process remains ineffective if teachers are incapable of handling classroom dynamics or are incompetent in the art of questioning and being spontaneous to students actions.

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4.2 Future outcomes The next phase of this research fathoms an ever-changing assembly of materials that continuosly evolves as more activities are added to the existing lists. As a result, a suggested practice would be to perform a modularity review on a quarterly or a half-yearly basis for an organized modification of materials in the kit. However, it should be clarified that this research has only been specific to electricity and magnetism and does not extend itself to other subject domains. Even so, it can still be applied to other branches of physics in a similar fashion. Subjects like chemistry and biology cannot be analyzed as in the case of physics because of its emphasis on procedures, classification and observation. Therefore, the process followed in this research cannot be directly applied to other subjects beyond the phase of identifying knowledge objects. Instead of locating manipulations, the stucture needs to be modified for incorporating classifications of various sorts. Despite the differences between characteristics of various subjects, activity based education has plenty of advantages as it provides students with the required

skills and abilities that is evidently ignored in the current system of Indian education. Apart from activity-based education, another under-practiced area in this field is the potential for incorporating active-learning exercises in schools. As activity-based initiatives are already in place, an effective combination of activity-based learning and active-learning exercises will largely benefit students and teachers in their teaching-learning experiences. Here, technology can play an imminent role in improving communication between each student and a teacher. Student response systems help teachers in gauging levels of understanding in the classroom by providing immediate feedback using communication technologies. Questioning tactics, management of classroom dynamics, immediate assessment and provision of individual attention are all feasible using these response systems. Communication technologies help in reassuring that each student is cognitively active during an activity session. Moreover, digital screens and projectors eliminate the need for activity sheets and reduce the time spent in printing and distribution. It may seem like only a matter of building the infrastructure but schools also need to provide supporting facilities for its maintenance such as spacious environments, cooling systems, child-friendly

interfaces, safety measures, technical support etc. Inspite of ICT initiatives by the Indian Government, schools in India are still less equipped for such changes, rendering delivery of teaching-learning experiences to be continued through traditional ways of using blackboards, chalks, notes and textbooks as the supporting material. It will take several years before Indian schools are economically and culturally ready for containing such technical infrastructure without constraints of spaces, maintenance, numbers and technological expertize.

4.3 Reflection This project began as an investigation for New Media interventions in the existing Indian education system. A brief field study and literature review came to understand that the system is not well-equipped and reluctant to changes in prevailing methods. This included changes to mindsets, usage of media and control mechanisms. Such reluctance brought upon heavy challenges for finding potential areas for intervention. Hence, it was important to identify and target areas that needed issues to be resolved. The manner in which these issues were

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tackled brought in the use of new media and elaborated upon how it affects the quality of the outcome. Therefore, the essence of this project was in its indulgence of the method rather than the final outcome. As a consequence, it showed that media interventions can be found in-between processes. From a subjective viewpoint, incorporation of activitybased education in Indian education is a huge challenge as its demands are not met in todays education scenarios. This research helped in raising primary questions regarding the importance of hands-on learning skills in the midst of time-bound schedules and result-driven mindsets. An attempt to resolve this issue was one of the guiding purposes of this research. Experimental solutions by incorporating modularity within activity-based learning were tested in the current system. However, if activity-based learning has to be implemented in its actual sense, time-bound schedules need to be revised for longer periods of material exploration and projectbased learning. Constraints of space also need to be re-considered for such initiatives. Without these basic requirements, activity-based education will continue to be a struggle among schools and private firms.

To conclude, this project brought the realities of Indian education to light and challenged the need for change. It deliberately enforced the need for working through existing constraints and to find solutions for self-identified problems with appropriate evidence. This bottom-up approach for a design intervention progressively taught how to sort relevant literature, collect and document data, eliminate unnecessary information, analyze, argue and emerge from mistakes, implement, revise, and arrive at meaningful consensus. The project also touched upon topics of modularity, cultural behaviour, cognitive and psychological development-- which were essential for this research. Insights from these subjects can be carried forward and applied to other fields, therefore serving a larger purpose of this study. Above all, the project provided scope for immense learning with unrestricted freedom for exploration and engagement with people of similar mindsets. It indefinitely satisfied the desire for experimenting within the field of education using the required design skill sets.

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Appendix A

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Appendix B

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Material analysis performed for the Jitter Bug activity

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Material analysis performed for the Fire Alarm sensor activity

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Appendix C

Series and Parallel Circuits


Materials Base, 7 bulbs, 5 bulb symbol modules, 4 batteries, 2 battery holders, 2 battery symbol modules, 2 cable ties, 8 black and 2 red terminal connectors,1 black and 1 red wire

1. A B C B C

What happens if you remove bulb B from the circuit? (a) Bulb A still glows (b) Bulb C still glows (c) Bulb A and C glow (d) Bulb A and C do not glow Case B

Case A

2.

Case A

Case B

Case C Experiment and observe with case A, case B and case C using the material given. True/ False (a) Case B shows the bulb brighter than Case A (b) Case C shows the bulb dimmer than Case B (c) Brightness of the bulb in Case C is similar to Case A

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3. A B B A If another bulb was added to Case A as shown in Case B(a) Bulbs A and B become brighter (b) Bulbs A and B become dimmer (c) Bulbs A and C remain the same (d) All bulbs stop glowing Case A Case B A If another bulb was added to Case A as shown in Case BCase A A B (a) Bulbs A and B become brighter (b) Bulbs A and B become dimmer (c) Bulbs A and C remain the same (d) All bulbs stop glowing B 4. Case B 5. Interchange positions of Bulbs A-->B, B-->C and C-->A (a) Brightness of C = Brightness of A (b) Brightness of A = Brightness of B (c) Brightness of B = Brightness of C (d) Brightness of A = Brightness of B = Brightness of C A B C
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6. A B C C What happens if Bulb C was replaced from its initial position to a new position? (a) Bulbs A and B remain the same (b) Bulbs A and B become dimmer (c) Bulbs A and B become brighter (d) All bulbs stop glowing
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Appendix D

Assessment
1. What are the kinds of circuit arrangements you have learned in this activity? 2. A series arrangement is(draw your answer) A parallel arrangement is(draw your answer)

3. A C B

In this circuit, can you identify which bulbs are arranged in series and parallel? (a) Bulb __ and bulb __ are in series. (b) Bulb __ and bulb __ are parallel to bulb __

4. A B C A B C

Case A

Case B Can you distinguish between Case A and Case B if bulb B is removed in both cases? (a) In Case A, bulbs A and C will be ..................... (on/o ) when bulb B is removed. (b) In Case B, bulbs A and C will be ..................... (on/o ) when bulb B is removed. (c) is is because Case A is in ................. and Case B is in .................. (series/parallel)

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5. A B C D C B D A Case A Case B What happens if the bulb D is replaced from its previous position in Case A to the current position in Case B? True/false (a) Bulb D becomes dimmer (T/F) (b) Bulbs A, B, C become brighter (T/F) 6. You are given 4 bulbs A, B, C and D. All are of the same kind. Design a circuit where bulbs A and B glow brighter than bulbs C and D. Use only one battery in your design. A C B D 7. A fan, light and lamp are connected in series with a battery. It was found that all the three components were not working properly. Do you think there is a better solution to this? You cannot include more batteries in the circuit. Fan Lamp Light
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