TEACHERS' EVALUATION OF THE 5E INSTRUCTIONAL MODEL IN ACARISS PROJECT

In secondary schools there is a progressive decline in motivation and interest in learning and attending science lessons. Teaching methodologies based only on frontal lessons are not effective anymore and the use of new tools and materials seems more and more attractive for the students. Nevertheless, an exacerbating home work is required from teachers which always need to searching for new inputs and new tools. A further issue is represented by the school curriculum which is more flexible only in lower grades of school. In this context, the team of Acariss project, has proposed the use of the 5E Instructional Model for teaching in science education, with special focus on current environmental issues. Eleven didactic modules were elaborated and piloted in the first year of the project. Then, the final agreed versions were spread in the second year of the project, during which teachers were asked to evaluate their own behavior during the five phases of the model, through a very short questionnaire. This took into consideration the indicators developed by Needham et al. (1994). The simple questionnaire allowed to get interesting results on what the teachers do and if they feel confident during the module application: teachers have the important role of facilitators in each phase. They introduce the phenomenon or environmental issue to be explained, they guide students into the discussion through questioning and causing doubts or disequilibrium among students. They do not teach but rather guide students in the exploration phase asking questions and posing doubts. Teachers help students to design, carry on the experiment and elaborating data to find conclusions. They also help students to clarify their findings and explanations, suggesting alternative methods of exploration and stimulating the extension of concepts through suggestions, providing resources, making further questions. Finally, since the students have to show their findings, teachers are fully involved showing examples and giving suggestions for the preparation of the final presentations. The 5E Instructional model was appreciated by the teachers especially for its effectiveness in students' understanding of the proposed environmental issue and in stimulating the students' interest and curiosity.