More tuition centres helping students learn via experience

Over 60 now include activities such as experiments and games - up from about 30 five years ago, say observers

Children using a circuit diagram and magnets during class at EduFirst Learning Centre. Science specialist tutor Ephrem Chong conducting a hands-on activity with his pupils at Science Studios Learning Centre. Each two-hour lesson at the centre involve
Children using a circuit diagram and magnets during class at EduFirst Learning Centre. ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR
Children using a circuit diagram and magnets during class at EduFirst Learning Centre. Science specialist tutor Ephrem Chong conducting a hands-on activity with his pupils at Science Studios Learning Centre. Each two-hour lesson at the centre involve
Science specialist tutor Ephrem Chong conducting a hands-on activity with his pupils at Science Studios Learning Centre. Each two-hour lesson at the centre involves some experiment, such as dissecting flowers to study parts of their reproductive system. ST PHOTO: DESMOND WEE

One evening in a tuition class in Bukit Timah, a group of Primary 6 pupils were spending a good 30 minutes releasing toy cars on ramps.

The pupils, who were having tuition at Science Studios Learning Centre, were learning about the conversion of potential energy to kinetic energy as the toy cars moved down the ramps.

Science Studios is among an increasing number of tuition centres that are including hands-on activities in their classes - such as experiments and games - to help their charges pick up concepts in subjects such as science and mathematics.

There are more than 60 centres that conduct hands-on activities, up from about 30 five years ago, say observers. This comes at a time when schools are encouraging applied learning to make learning more relevant.

The activities can include dissecting a cow's heart to learn about the circulatory system, building a mirror maze to observe how light travels, and assembling a solar-powered toy car to learn about the sources of energy.

Such activities can take 15 to 45 minutes to complete and are integrated into the tuition lessons.

While some centres conduct games and experiments every lesson, other centres do so a few times each term.

At Science Studios, each two-hour lesson involves some experiments, such as dissecting flowers to study parts of their reproductive system, as well as observing brine shrimps through a microscope to learn about the characteristics of living things.

These activities, which come with worksheets for students to record observations, break up a lesson into portions, which keeps students engaged.

Mrs Calla Chiang, director of Science Studios, said that science concepts come alive for her pupils in Primary 3 to 6.

"This is in contrast to typical tuition classes in which students simply copy notes from the whiteboard, do repetitive drills and practices... where science concepts are shown only through diagrams in worksheets," she said.

"Students are unlikely to take in much information if they were sitting down continuously over a period of two hours."

Secondary 4 student Jamie Soh, who attends Thinkscience enrichment centre, remembers testing for the presence of starch in leaves during her lessons.

"We did not really get to do it in my school but it will be tested in our examinations, so we have to remember the experimental procedures and results," said the 15-year-old, adding that the activities are more interesting compared with rote learning.

Educators said exam questions these days tend to assess students' application of the concepts, and having such experiences gives them a head start over their peers.

Thinkscience director Gabriel Tan said students can recall the concepts and analyse experiment-based questions better.

Mr Justin Leow, head of teaching network at The Learning Lab, said such activities also help students connect what they learn in the classroom to the real world.

Hands-on activities spark kids' curiosity, say parents

Several parents told The Straits Times that such activities spark curiosity in students, spurring the desire to learn more.

Service ambassador Jefri Chong, who sends his nine-year-old son Sydney for maths and science classes at EduFirst Learning Centre, said: "When he does the hands-on activities, he can visualise what is being taught in the textbooks. He gets excited and can learn better."

The 61-year-old has seen his son's maths grades jumped from Band 3 to Band 1 since the Primary 3 pupil joined the centre. Mr Chong began sending the boy for science tuition this year.

Observers believe students remember better when they are involved in activities.

National University of Singapore economics lecturer Kelvin Seah said: "By sparking a genuine interest in students, these activities can induce them to proactively explore beyond the material taught.

"The typical chalk-and-board method of instruction, where students are drilled on concepts to prepare them for exams, might improve grades in the short term. However, it might not benefit longer-term learning because, often, the information acquired this way tends not to be retained."

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on January 29, 2018, with the headline More tuition centres helping students learn via experience. Subscribe