Deepening Student’s Understanding of Charles’ Law Using Theory of Didactic Situation: A Lesson Study

Abstract

This study explored the use of Theory of Didactic Situation (TDS) in planning and teaching Charles’ Law to Grade 9 students. A Lesson Study was conducted to seek how the notion of TDS would enable students to construct meanings out of the milieu designed by the researchers. A science experiment and a hot-air balloon puzzle were used as the milieu. The following results and recommendations transpired: (1) science experiments could be used as powerful milieu, however, it requires a careful planning and considerations on the feedback to allow students’ deeper conceptual understanding; (2) given a powerful milieu, the teachers’ role is still be significant such as in giving emphasis on the relationships of variables (say, volume and temperature), and providing practice exercises as well as initiating discourse to ensure students’ ability in solving problems; and (3) an effective milieu requires meticulous and critical planning that is time-bounded and focused on lesson’s objectives. This Lesson Study provided the researchers substantive and insightful conversations on designing and creating milieu for classroom learning which led to revising the milieu to provide students with didactical feedback that would facilitate deeper understanding of science concepts.