TALULAR

During PST they taught us about TALULAR, which stands for "Teaching and Learning Using Limited Resources". As PCV teachers in the poorest schools in Malawi, which is the poorest country in Africa, TALULAR is a necessity.

For the Mock Physical Science exams last term, I was in charge of setting up a practice experiment for the students according to guidance provided by our local education cluster. For the experiment we needed a clamp stand, string, a metre ruler, a stopwatch and several masses (50g, 100g, 150g). Looking through our supplies, I found three clamp stands, four rulers, a couple working stopwatches, plenty of string and enough masses for three experiments. So basically I could do three setups. At 30 minutes per experiment x 65 kids, that meant it would take about 11 hours for them all to finish. However we only had one day to do the mock practicals, as they had different practicals scheduled the next day, Plus it gets dark pretty early here. But have no fear, TALULAR to the rescue!

The setup with the original equipment:

The TALULAR setup for the experiment:

We used the ubiquitous blue jumbos (plastic bags that are used to sell produce in the village markets) filled with the correct masses of dirt and suspended them from whatever we could find, like a shovel. The teacher helping me had just bought some watches for his kids, so he lent us those for the experiment to use as makeshift stopwatches.

With the TALULAR setups, we were able to set up an additional four stations, so we finished while it was still daylight. The TALULAR versions worked great, and allowed all the students to practice this experiment for the Mock Exam. Now if this practical comes up on the National MSCE Exams in June, they will be prepared.

It's Quiz Time

I just gave the first quiz of the term in my Form 2 Physical Science class. The topic was acids and bases.

Continual assessment is something that both PC and the Malawian Ministry of Education encourage. I assign weekly homework which I collect and mark, and then try to give a quiz at the end of each unit. Then there will be an end of term exam on all the topics we covered throughout the term.

I have a rewards system where the top three students get maprizes (in Chichewa the plural of something often has "ma-" at the beginning of the word). Usually I give school supplies, like pens or pencils or notebooks. This time I gave a small notebook and a little certificate. Aren't they cute? My Mom sent those to me, along with the stickers. Thanks, Mom!

I try to structure my quizzes this way:

- at least one question on a basic concept that we repeatedly covered in class

- about 10-15% percent of the questions require critical thinking and cover the more complex material we covered

- about a quarter of the questions require the student to apply the knowlege they learned, such as a word problem or calculation

- the rest of the questions can be answered by memorizing concepts from the lectures (definitions, properties, etc)

That is based on the traditional bell curve and the Malawian grading scale, which is different than the U.S. grading scale:

A 80-100%

B 70-79%

C 55-69%

D 40-55%

F 0-39%

The mode of my quiz was 5, or about 37%, and more than half the students failed, even with the more lenient grading scale here. Also, about a third of the class was absent. This is all pretty typical for a CDSS, the rural, underfunded schools that all PCVs teach at. Still, I was encouraged that a few students got the critical thinking and applied knowlege questions correctly, and I had some new high performers this time around. Hopefully they liked the certificates and stickers and this will keep then motivated to do even better next time.

Observations by Malawian Students

In my Form 1 Chemistry class this week we discussed the Scientific Method of Investigation. This topic is near and dear to my science-loving heart. In Malawi they used to teach the nine steps of Scientific Investigation, which was kind of confusing for the students. It's much better now though as the new curriculum teaches the six steps, which closely align to the Scientific Method that we all grew up with in the U.S.A.

Step 1 is State the Question. As we discussed this week, a question usually arises from an observation. We talked about what an observation is and how we use our five senses to make them. For homework I assigned them the task of making one observation that night.

These two were my favorites:

You can see my grading method in the photo. I borrowed this from another PCV because I just don't have time to assign points to every homework question and track them all. This way I still correct them, but it saves me some time. A check means the answer is correct. A star at the top means they did a very good job on the assignment as a whole. Both students went above and beyond because they not only made observations, but they used them to formulate questions. Success!

Science Labs

It's Week 4 of the school term here in Malawi, and we are moving at full speed. I picked up an extra class this year, so now I teach ten periods of science a week between Forms 1, 2 and 3. (That's equivalent to 9th through 11th grade in the US System.)

We have a laboratory at my school so I try to make use of it as much as possible.

On Tuesday my Form 2 Physical Science students determined whether substances were acidic or basic using litmus paper. We tested vinegar, baking soda, Coca-Cola and milk.

Today my Form 1 Chemistry class used the lab to measure physical quantities. They measured the length of leaves using rulers, the time it took for an object to go from point A to point B using a stopwatch, and the volume of water in a graduated cylinder (called a measuring cylinder here).

We have a pretty well stocked lab, but usually only one or two of something. So I formed groups in all my classes and set up stations for them to rotate through. With my larger class of ~80 kids it is still a challenge, but it is so important for them to actually get to do these things and see them up close.

Tomorrow we will be using universal indicator to find the pH of different substances. Like all our chemicals, the indicator is expired, so I am going to try to test everything out first and see if it will still work. Usually it sort of works, but I have to make some adjustments. That's teaching in Malawi-- you have to be flexible and creative.

Maprizes for Students

School is still going here in Malawi, but term three is almost over. They have more of a year-round schedule here, so thre is only a six week break at the end of the year. I taught my last classes of the 2014-2015 school year already, and now all that is left is the terminal exams. I'll be giving those next week.

During my last Form 1 Physical Science class I gave awards to the students that completed every homework assignment. Seven students (out of around 87) came up in front of the class to receive their masweeties (candy) and maprizes. I gave them a pencil, a notebook, two candies and a big sticker of their choice. There were a lot of homework assignments this term so I was really proud of them for turning them all in.

I also used stickers as a homework incentive a few weeks ago. We were learning about physical and chemical changes. I told the students if they could give an example of a physical and chemical change I would put a sticker in their notebook. As I hoped, I had a higher rate of homework submissions than usual, and I was able to give out quite a few stickers.

Thanks for the stickers, Mom. I'm putting them to good use!