STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVING
SCIENCE EDUCATION PRACTICES

IN VIEIHAHESE SECONDARY SCHOOLS - .

Thesis for the Degree of M.‘ A.
MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
' NGUYEN THI DU
1971

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STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVING SCIENCE EDUCATION PRACTICES

IN VIETNAMESE SECONDARY SCHOOLS

Approved:

a/W ,-

Dr. WangTaylor,K%rofessor

Science and Mathematics
Teaching Center

Michigan State University

ABSTRACT

STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVING SCIENCE EDUCATION PRACTICES
IN VIETNAMESE SECONDARY SCHOOLS

By

: t
Nguyen thi Du

Although studies about Vietnamese secondary school
curriculum have been done, no one has yet systematically
treated the problem of science teaching in Vietnamese sec-
ondary schools and offered realistic ways to improve it.

This study was designed to investigate that problem,
by analyzing the Vietnamese secondary school science pro-
gram and making recommendations for possible changes based
on research and current thought.

A historical review of science teaching practices
in Vietnamese secondary schools was made, followed by a
proposal of a new set of goals and objectives for Viet-
namese education. Science education objectives were also
developed, based in part on Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational
Objectives.

The second part of the study surveyed textbook re-
vision, integration of audio—visual materials in science
teaching, extensive use of demonstrations and laboratory
experiments, and possible research strategies to improve

science education practices in a concrete manner. A plan

X ‘L
Nguyen thi Qu

of equipping Vietnamese secondary schools with audio-visual
materials and equipment--within the framework of the low
economic level of the country, considering the wartime dif-
ficulties and other regression factors common to all de-
veloping nations, was proposed.

In the conclusion, a set of standards for a profes—
sional science teacher was outlined as a step in a compre-

hensive science education program for Vietnam.

STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVING SCIENCE EDUCATION PRACTICES

IN VIETNAMESE SECONDARY SCHOOLS

By

g» 1
Nguyen thi Du

A THESIS

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

MASTER OF ARTS

Department of Secondary Education and Curriculum

1971

To my parents,

who have done so much for me

ii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The writer wishes to express her appreciation to
all those who assisted, advised and encouraged her in the
development of this thesis.

Particular appreciation goes to her major professor,
Dr. Wayne Taylor, whose guidance and direction was a source
of continuing inspiration and encouragement.

For the help and firm support that Dr. August Benson
gave to the total effort, the writer is grateful.

Many thanks are also due to all of the Vietnamese
people at Michigan State University who provided material
and moral support throughout this study. And for the
Vietnamese at home who struggle and suffer for a better
future, this work is dedicated.

Finally, no words can describe the writer's gratitude
to her husband, whose guidance and loving care made this

work possible.

iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter Page
I 0 INTRODUCTION 0 O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0 1

Statement of the Problem
Significance of the Study
Scope of the Study
Limitations of the Study
Related Studies
Definition of Terms

II. GENERAL HISTORY OF VIETNAMESE EDUCATION . . . 7

Prior to 1900
Education in the First Half of Twentieth
Century
Search for a National Education (1945-1959)
Present Vietnamese Education System
1. Educational structure
2. Curriculum
3. Student enrollment: elementary,
secondary, technical education
4. Distribution of school population by
sex
5. Organization of the Ministry of
Education

III. OBJECTIVES OF SCIENCE EDUCATION IN VIETNAM. . 62

Philosophy of Vietnamese Education
General Goals of Vietnamese Education
Set of Specific Educational Objectives for
Vietnam
Analysis of Specific Educational Objectives
Cognitive domain
Affective domain
Psycho—motor domain
Specific Objectives Applied to Science
Education
Functional Concept of Critical Thinking and
Problem Solving

iv

Chapter Page

IV. PRINCIPLES AND GUIDELINES FOR THE PREPARATION,
SELECTION AND USE OF TEXTBOOKS IN SCIENCE
TEACHING O O O O O O O O O C O O O O O O O O O 8 2

Textbook Role in Vietnamese Secondary
Schools

Arguments in Favor of the Use of Textbooks

Arguments Against the Use of Textbooks

Guiding Principles for Science Textbook
Writing

Guiding Principles for the Selection and
Use of Textbooks in Science Teaching

Methods of Evaluating Textbooks

Teaching with Science Textbooks

V. IMPROVING SCIENCE TEACHING THROUGH DEMONSTRA-
TION AND LABORATORY WORK. . . . . . . . . . . 98

Introduction: Conditions for Demonstration
and Laboratory Experiments in Vietnamese
Secondary Schools

The Demonstration Method (functions, advan-
tages, limitations, criteria for good
demonstrations, planning and presenting
a demonstration)

The Laboratory Approach (functions, ways of
using the laboratory, suggestions for
using the laboratory approach)

Conclusion

VI. AUDIO-VISUAL (A-V) MEDIA AS TOOLS FOR IMPROV-
ING SCIENCE TEACHING IN VIETNAM . . . . . . . 130

Introduction and Classification of A-V
Media

Characteristics of A-V Media

Contribution of A-V Media to Pedagogy

Limitation of A-V Media

Important Consideration Regarding the Use
of A-V Materials in Classrooms

Audio-Visual Materials for Science Teaching

Planning the Use of A-V Media in Vietnamese
Schools

A Plan for Equipping Vietnamese Schools with
A-V Instruments

Chapter Page

VII. RESEARCH AS A MEANS FOR IMPROVING SCIENCE

EDUCATION IN VIETNAM. . . . . . . . . . . . . I72

Types of Research

The Understanding of the Research Process
and the Developing of Necessary Skills
Rationale for Systematic Research in Sci-

ence Education in Vietnam
Suggested Areas for Science Education
Research in Vietnam

VIII. CONCLUSION.

. 187

vi

LIST OF TABLES
Table Page

1. Time-table for General Secondary Schools in
Vietnam: First Cycle (before June, 1970) . . 26

2. Time-table for General Secondary Schools in
Vietnam: First Cycle (after June, 1970). . . 27

3. Time-table for General Secondary Schools in
Vietnam: Second Cycle (before June, 1970). . 28

4. Time-table for General Secondary Schools in
Vietnam: Second Cycle (after June, 1970) . . 29

S. Enrollment in Elementary Schools, Public and
Private (from 1960 to 1970) O O O O O O O O O 32

6. Number of Children Admitted into First Grade
Versus Demands for Admission. . . . . . . . . 34

7. Public Secondary Education Enrollment in
Vietnam from 1960 to 1970 . . . . . . . . . . 36

8. Number of Students Admitted into First Year of
Public Secondary Schools (Grade 6). . . . . . 38

9. Girls' Enrollment in General Secondary Educa-
tion (from 1965 to 1969). . . . . . . . . . . 43

10. Percentage of Girls' Enrollments in Vietnamese
Secondary Schools, First and Second Cycles. . 44

11. Girl Student Enrollment in Elementary Education
in Vietnam. 0 O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0 45

12. Degrees of Freedom Available to the Teacher
USing the Laboratory 0 O O O O O O O O O O O O l 22

vii

LIST OF CHARTS AND FIGURES
Chart Page
I. Educational Structure in Vietnam, 1949-1950. . 22
II. Educational Structure in Vietnam, 1965-1966. . 23
III. Educational Structure in Vietnam, 1969-1970. . 24

IV. Organization of the Ministry of Education in
Vietnam. 0 O 0 O 0 O O 0 O O O O O O O O O O 51

Figure Page
1. Dale's "Cone of Experience". . . . . . . . . . 132

2. The Shannon-Weaver Communication Model . . . . 135

viii

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

Statement of the Problem
This study is an analytical examination of Vietnamese
Secondary Science Education, designed to provide a set of

guidelines for an improved implementation model.

Significance of the Study

Educators in Vietnam today are faced with thecdiffi—
cult task of providing Vietnamese youth with a relevant sys-
tem of education which must take into account the severe
conditions created by the war, the low economic level of
the country, and limited facilities and equipment.

Although great improvements have been made in sec-
ondary education during the last decade, in Spite of the
creation of new schools and classrooms and the addition of
new teachers, the demands far exceed the capabilities; the
student-teacher ratio remains constant and young men are
still being taken from the teaching ranks into the battle-
field,l making the shortage of teachers even more acute.

This study is, then, specifically concerned with
the task of developing both quantitative and qualitative

<guidelines for improving science education practices in

Vietnamese secondary schools, using the resources provided
by modern findings in educational psychology and by apply-
ing advances in the field of educational technology at the
same time. Also, this study is designed to establish guide-
lines for the use of these new media and approaches, both

to alleviate the shortage of teachers in Vietnam, and to

improve the science instructional program.

Scope of the Study

The statement of the problem raises questions of
applicable areas to be examined in the study. Included are
the following:

a. Science textbook revision

b. Demonstration and laboratory experiments

c. Audio-visual media in science teaching

d. Research in science education.

For each means the questions are the following:

1) In what form should textbooks be written in order
to motivate and heighten the interest of the students? What
are the guidelines for the selection and use of textbooks
in science teaching?

2) How can demonstration and laboratory science ex-
periments be improved?

3) What kind of audio-visual instructional media
can be used effectively in science teaching for high schools
without making exorbitant expenditures?

4) Finally, how can Science Education be improved

and developed through research?

In answering these questions, Chapter II gives a
historical review of the Vietnamese educational development
as background for this study.

Chapter III states the philosophy and goals of the
Vietnamese Education System, gives an analysis of behavioral
objectives in science teaching, and examines functional con-
cepts of critical thinking and problem solving.

Chapter IV deals with the establishment of princi-
ples and guidelines for the preparation, selection and use
of textbooks for effective science teaching.

Chapter V deals with improvements in the ways of
using demonstrations and laboratory work in science teach-
ing.

Chapter VI describes different types of audio-visual
media which may contribute effectively to teaching and learn-
ing science in secondary schools in Vietnam. Preliminary
conditions to be met before implementing a program of using
audio-visual media in Vietnamese high schools are also dis—
cussed. A plan of equipping Vietnamese high schools with
audio-visual equipment and materials is also proposed.

Chapter VII develops the rationale for systematic
research in science education, including both basic research
and action research.

Conclusions constitute the last portion, Chapter

VIII.

Limitations of the Study_

1. It is not within the scope of this study to dis—
cuss the results of the current experiments in extensive
audio-visual teaching or to elaborate on such expensive
audio-visual media as closed circuit television or video
tape recorders.

The object of this study is, rather, to investigate
the possibilities of using new and inexpensive means to teach
science more efficiently in secondary schools.

2. This study does not deal with general procedures
such as administrative measures, financing problems, school
construction, teacher training and foreign aid.

The study focuses on general secondary education

with special emphasis on science teaching.

Related Studies

So far, there have not been any studies of this
nature.

There were only annual reports from Vietnam for each
school year, presented as documents at each session of the
International Conference of Education in Geneva, held by
UNESCO. These reports appear annually in the International
Yearbook of Comparative Education. They are brief descrip-
tions of Vietnamese educational development, one to five
or six pages long and do not form the rationale or recom-
mendations developed in this study.

There is another kind of report, published by the

Ministry of Education, Bureau of Statistics.2 This kind
of report is statistical in nature and rarely includes a

commentary as the reports mentioned above.

Definition of Terms
"Secondary education": the teaching of children
from grade 6 to 12 or from approximately 11 to 18 years
old.
"Science education practices": all types of sci-
ence teaching activities, e.g., lecture, demonstration
experiments, laboratory work, and other common teaching

procedures.

FOOTNOTES FOR CHAPTER I

lLester Mills, "Science Education in the Republic
of Vietnam," The Science Teacher, XXXIV (January, 1967),
37.

2The Ministry of Education of the Republic of Viet-
nam, has been publishing since 1958, a statistical yearbook
called Annuaire Statistique de 1'Enseignement, which allows
educators to make judgments about progresses made by the
Government in the educational field during a particular
year.

CHAPTER II
GENERAL HISTORY OF VIETNAMESE EDUCATION

Vietnamese Education prior to 1900 A.D.
1) General development: The Vietnamese nation had reached,
before the arrival of the French, a certain degree Of intel—
lectual culture and already possessed a true school system.
The Chinese domination over the country during the first
ten centuries of the Christian era had brought into the
Vietnamese society the elements of a very aged culture.
Thus, at the end of such a long domination period, the
Vietnamese people were able to assimilate the best elements
of this culture and then to sketch an education system of
their own.
2) Examination system: At the beginning of the eleventh
(XIth) century, under the monarchy of Ly, thénh Tan, the
first examinations were organized, and those periodical
examinations had prevailed until the beginning of the nine-
teenth century. They played an important role in the Viet-
namese schooling organization: they allowed the royal gov-
ernment to control the level of the schooling system, to
grant diplomas giving access to mandarinate, and finally,

to recruit government officials, necessary for the function—

ing of the government System.

Revised many times under the La and1particularly
under Lg thgh Tan at the end of XVth century, and under
Lg’Hi T6h in 1678, those examinations took under the Nguyég’
the final shape which endured until the nineteenth century.

The students took triennial examinations in large
centers of big cities. If they passed them, they would be
granted the title of "TS Tai".or "Clehgn." Finally, su-
perior examinations were organized in the Capitol, under
the Emperor's supervision,which allowed superior students
to get hold of the "Tién sin or doctoral degrees. The names
of the most brilliant laureates were engraved in gold and
stored in the "Van Miéu."

The tests consisted of numerous compositions (essay
types), either in prose or versification, whose topics were
drawn from the two basic sets: "Ngfi Kinh" (the Five Canon-
ical Books) and_”TG Th3" (the Four Classical Books) of Con-
fucianism. The literary degrees so obtained could only lead
to administrative careers. However, because of the highly
competitive character Of these examinations, hundreds of
thousands of students Spent their whole life in study, at-
tempting to pass them.

3) School grganization and_curriculum: There were only a

L -
-giéH, the Thai—hgc and the Lan-kha-

/
few schools (the Quac—td
tu-vign) run by the government, in the capital or big cities,
reserved for very bright students selected from all over

the country, and for sons of mandarins. A-great number of

private schools were scattered throughout the country; these
were one-teacher Confucian schools set up and taught by
scholars without official job and by retired mandarins.

The children were taught to read and write Chinese
characters, to learn "Tam tQ’Kinh." After this elementary
period, they would learn to read and comment "Kinh Th3"
(joint name of the Canonical and the Classical Books).

Then they only had to practice their writing.

Besides learning of the basic materials they also
had plenty of opportunities for creative thinking. For
instance, talented scholars should know how to combine
present facts and historical events, to relate them to
the basic principles of Confucianism and, in light of ver—
sification rules, could quickly produce meaningful poems.

Once they succeeded in the superior examination and
were appointed mandarins they would be able to formulate
their projects for administration planning, for military
tactics or for foreign affairs policy . . . to bring to
the king and the court for approval.

Those who failed these examinations.either hadito
wait and retake the examinations at a later time, or go back
to their native villages and open a small school for their
subsistence.1

In summary, the major purposes of education and
examination under the Chinese influence was to provide man-

darins for the court and government officials for administrative

10

positions. Nothing had been done for the teaching of sci-
ence and technology to students, although their developments
are essential for the growth and progress of the nation.
Such an education system obviously would not meet the true
needs of the country, but only has the merit in bringing

the stabilization of the society through the Confucian prin-
ciples which constituted a major part of the school curricu-
lum in those days.

Such an educational system-~dedicated almost too
exclusively to the study of classics, literature, and ver-
sification, at the expense of a more scientific education
oriented toward economic progress-~would certainly be a major
cause of defeat before the invading armies of imperialistic
France. As a Vietnamese historian has put it:

In the past,_the goal of the scholar was the
knowledge of virtue which enables him to distinguish
good from evil, and at the same time the character
training which gives him the high moral traits nec-
essary for conducting public affairs. . . .

Gradually, as a result of the daily struggle
for existence, these studies were aimed simply to—

ward passing the examinations which permitted the
successful candidates to become mandarins.2

Vietnamese Edugation in_£heFi£st
Half of the Twentieth Century
1) General lines: The present educational system of Vietnam
originated from the end of the previous century, when the
French almost finished their conquest of Indochina in 1884.3
.Alongwith the new administration system, they set up in

‘Vietnam a scholastic system, so-called "franco-native,"

11

using French and Vietnamese as vehicular languages, in order

to abolish the Chinese influence in the Vietnamese society.
'The romanization of the native language, introduced early

Vin seventeenth century by the Catholic missionaries (Alexandre
de Rhodes) for evangelizing purposes, did help the franco-
native System.to be workable. The "quéc ngé:--the Vietnamese
national language uSing Roman characters as alphabet elements--
soon became compulsory for all schools. Thirty years after

the French conquest, the substitution of franco-native

studies to traditional studies was almost complete.

With efforts to develop the "franco-native" educa-
tional system using the "quoc n91}, " the French administrators
finally came up to the abolishment of the triennial competi-
tive examinations in 1915,5 and to the closure of classical
Confucian schools by 1919.6 Beside the “franco-native"
system for Vietnamese children, there was a system of
"French schools," following corresponding programs of
schools in France; these French schools were reserved
for French children and native students wishing to continue
their studies in the universities or technical schools in
France. I
2) The structure of education in Vietnam duringfithe French
Colonial Period (1858-1945): The common principle underly-
ing any French eduCational systeme-whether it is entirely

FrenCh or Franco-native--is the separation of the masses

from the elite: only the elite could pursue further their

12

studies in universities or other establishments of higher
education. This principle--well summarized in this sentence:
"Instruire la masse et dégager l'élite"7-—reflected in these
following aims set up by the colonial regime at the begin-
ning of the 20th century regarding the education of the
Indochinese people:
1. First, it hopes to assure, through elemen-
tary education given in the native languages, the
acquisition of a minimum amount of indiSpensable
knowledge by the masses. This training is to em-
phasize ethics, physical education, and hygiene.
2. Second, the elite are to be instructed in
the French language and the oriental humanities.
3. Third, all students showing ability will
be encouraged to enter professional and technical
schools.8
There were various levels and types of education
during this period:

a) Elementary education: French authorities began to build

 

elementary schools in 1879 after the "qua; n93“ (the Viet-
namese national language) was made compulsory in all ele—
mentary schools. There were three kinds of elementary
schools:

1) Preparatory schools (écoles primaires élémen-
taires) in villages, giving 3 years of education of the
-"three R's,“ using purely the native language.

2) Elementary schools in chief towns of cantons
(small districts), offering 6 years of schooling with the
last year in the French language.

3) Primary schools (écoles primaires) in chief-towns

of provinces, dispensing an education purely in French

13

language by French teachers who themselves ran the schools.

The degrees granted at this level of education in-
cluded the "certificate of elementary studies" (certificat
d'études élémentaires) and the "certificate of primary stud-
ies" (certificat d'études primaires).9
b) General secondary education: General secondary education
in Vietnam during the French period was developed more slowly
than elementary education.

Around 1900 A.D., there were only eight secondary
schools in all Indochina (today, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia),
which adopted the standard French curriculum. Thus, the
education provided by these schools--for example, the Lycée
d'Hanoi and the College Chasseloup-Laubat at Saigon--was
entirely French.

It was not until 1918, that the French Governor
Albert Sarrault signed the Order,instituting the "Franco-
native" system of secondary education, designed for the
intellectual and moral education of the Indochinese people.
Its curriculum included Vietnamese classical literature
(ngc v53). The Indochinese diplomas were equivalent to
the French ones and could give access to institutions of
higher education.10 .

Secondary education--whether French or Franco-native--
was given in two kinds of schools: the "colleges" and
"1ycées."

"Colleges" were four-year schools following elementary

14

schools. "Lycées" provided with seven years of education
beyond the elementary level. Usually after a number of years,
the "colleges” grew up into "lycées" as the number of stu-
dents increased. Such was the case of the Chasseloup—Laubat
"College," which later became the "Lycée" Chasseloup-Laubat.

"Colleges" prepared students for the Diploma of
Primary-Superior Studies (diplame d'études primaires su-
périeures) but could not prepare them for the Baccalauréats
(Part I and Part II) whereas "lycées" could prepare students
for both of these diplomas.

c) Normal education: The preparation of teachers designed
to carry out the teaching job for a new system of education
is very important.

The normal schools were for prOSpective elementary
teachers, providing a four-year education at the "college"
level. The first normal school was created in 1871. The
one for girls was opened in 1919.11

The normal courses annexed to "college" also gave
"college" graduates certificate of proficiency in teaching
after one year of training. A program of training in phys-
ical education in the summer of 1931 attracted 50 teachers,
although physical education had not been part of the tradi-
tional training.12

The School of Pedagogy of the University of Hanoi
was given the task of preparing teachers for "lycées" and

“colleges."

15

Competitive entrance examinations were organized
to select the most able students into these normal schools.
d) Vocational education: Vocational education was developed
even later than secondary education. The construction of

technical schools only began in 1918.13

By 1924, there were six schools of practical industry14
training students for a number of occupations such as fit-
ting, carpentry, casting, ironworking, electrical trades,
combustion engines. Among these six schools, the School
of Asiatic Mechanicians (Ecole des Mécaniciens Asiatiques)

was considered to be a first-rate vocational school.15 There

were also five schools of applied arts16 in all Indochina, re-

sponsible for training qualified workmen and artisans cap-

able of reviving traditional Indochinese arts and crafts,

as well as designers or technicians capable of assisting

heads of undertakings and becoming talented decorators.
Vocational education was also provided in schools

for apprentices at Saigon, Sontay and Sonla.l7

e) Higher education: Higher education was first given in

the French-speaking University of Hanoi, which was founded

in 1902 for the Indochinese people18 and which was attached

9 By 1917, it included schools

to the University of Paris.1
of medicine and pharmacy, law and administration, pedagogy,
agriculture and forestry, commerce and public works. A school

of fine arts was added in 1924 and, in 1931, a school of

. 20
sc1ence.

16

The University aimed at standards equivalent to
European universities;21 it results that the percentage of
those students who graduated each year was very small.

Instead of sending their daughters and sons to this
University, wealthy parents could have another choice: send-
ing their children to France for higher studies in Univer-
sities or Grandes Ecoles.

f) Girls' education: A remarkable work of the French ad-
ministrators in Vietnam in scholastic reforms was the de-
velopment of girls' education. Before 1906, the girls in
Indochina hadn't had the opportunity to go to school; they
only received the education of the family. By 1929, there
were about 30,000 girls attending schools in Vietnam, Laos

and Cambodia.22

The Search for a National Education System
(1945—1954)

The two systems of education--French and Franco—
native--continued to function side by side until 1945, when
the Japanese invaded the Indochina peninsula and overthrew
the French colonial regime. The Vietnamese Nationalists
profited from the situation to speed up their struggle for
the independence of Vietnam from the French domination. A
Vietnamese nationalist government was formed and the scholar

Tran Trong Kim became Premier.23 The new government, along-

24

side with important reforms--e.g., fiscal reform --also

reorganized the Vietnamese system of education, using

17

Vietnamese as vehicular language for instruction. The first
Vietnamese curricula for secondary school were introduced

in North and Central Vietnam in the school year 1945-1946.
In the South the situation was more critical--the French
attempted to return to Vietnam and considered South Vietnam
as a good base for invasion--to produce similar changes in
education.

From 1949 on)successive Decrees and Orders brought
progressive changes into the Vietnamese system of education.25
The most important of these was the "Departmental Order"
promulgated on October 14, 1953, which systematically re-
organized the Vietnamese system of secondary education.26
According to this "Order," Vietnamese secondary education
comprised two steps (called "cycles").

The first cycle,which lasted for four years, was
the same for all students and was designed to give students
who left school after this stage, an education as adequate
as possible. The first cycle certificate (Brevet d'Etudes
du premier cycle-~BEPC) was granted to those students who
pass an external examination organized twice a year with a
time interval of approximately three months.

The second cycle was established to provide a solid
background for further studies in universities or other in-
stitutions of higher learning. This second cycle,which lasted

for three years,was divided into three sections: Section A,

experimental sciences; Section B, mathematics and physical

18

sciences; Section C, literature. At the end of the second
year of the second cycle, students were required to take

the “Baccalaureat I" examination, a prerequisite for the
"Baccalaureat II" examination. The latter is taken at the
end of the second cycle. Both types of examinations were
external examinations; they were organized twice a year with
a time interval of approximately three months.

Deepite the establishment of national curricula for
Vietnamese secondary schools, the French influence on the
intellectual and cultural life of the country was far from
being extinct during this period (1945-1954). Middle-class
parents--not all of them of course--continued to send their
sons and daughters to those "French" schools (mentioned in
above sections) or those private schools which followed the
standard French curriculum. This was not going unnoticed
by the French Government who hoped that this influence might
last forever. This resulted in France's attempt to re-
establish colonial control. French troops in fact, landed

in the south of Vietnam on October, 1945.27

Thereafter they
began to move further north to "re-conquest“ the whole coun-
try. However, they failed to affect the nationalists and
Vietminh (the popular front) who had been gathering forces
and organizing movements designed to end French rule. The
French restored Bao Dai who had been emperor during a short-

lived regime under Japanese rule,28 in order to weaken the

Vietminh and nationalist movements by separating the two

19

groups. They hoped to pull the nationalists to the Bao Dai's
side but they failed, and from 1946 on France incurred huge

1..
losses and was finally defeated at Dian Bién Phu, May 8,

1954.29

The Geneva Agreement signed on July 21, 1954, divided
Vietnam along the 33h Hgi River.30 The withdrawal of French
troops led to the end of France's direct participation into
the government as well as in the educational system of Vietnam.
In summary, the period from 1945 to 1954 was char-
acterized by the struggle for national independence. In
the educational field it was marked by the seeking of a new
system of education, purely Vietnamese,that would fully grow

in the next fifteen years.

Present Vietnamese Education System
1. Educational Structure in Vietnam
The structure of the educational system in Vietnam
has been changed many times both before and after 1954.
This evolution, based on the three typical structures, is
summarized in the following charts:
Chart I (1949-1950)
Chart II (1965-1966)
Chart III (1969-1970)
Elementary education consisted of five years in pri-
mary schools. The village "primaire elementaire" schools
offered only three years of schooling, then the children

were transferred to primary school. Between 1954-1955 and

20

1965—1966, there were schools called "pilot community schools"31

that are also at the primary level.

The secondary level is seven years and divided into
two phases called cycles. The first cycle is four years
and the second, three years. There are mainly two types
of secondary schools: the general and the technical ones.

In general education, pupils finishing the first
cycle, before 1954, took the national examination to get
the "Diplome d'Etude Primaire Complementaire Indochinoise”
or DEPCI if they attended the "Franco-native" section. After
1954, the students passed the examination of the first cycle
of secondary education, got the diploma "Trung Hoc De Nhut
cap.” In 1965-1966, this examination was abolished, and
two years later, was reopened just for adult candidates.

The young students could only get a certificate of completion
of the first cycle.

In the second cycle, the students have to pass two
examinations called "Baccalaureats" I and II (part one and
part two) after the second and third year in the second cycle.
To attend the "Baccalaureat I" the candidates should be hold-
ers of the Baccalaureat I and have one year of school in
the terminal class of secondary education.

The Baccalaureat II is required for entrance to
the universities and higher schools as a standard proof of

high school completion.

In technical and vocational education the degrees

21

are of comparable level but more specialized in technical

and vocational skills. Before 1955—1956, secondary technical
schools offered only four years of schooling,32 but in 1965-
1966 they extended to a full scale of seven years education,
thus serving as the intermediate between elementary and higher
technical schools for engineers.

There was another type of secondary school, the Agri-
culture, Forestry and Animal Husbandry school33 that existed
for a short period covering 1965-1966. It prepared tech-
nicians in these areas.

The School of Fine Arts consists of a separate kind
of vocational school; students cannot transfer to the other
two types of vocational schools previously mentioned. It
offered 4 years of study in secondary level and 3 years at
the higher level.34 In 1965-66 there were secondary schools
of Decorative Arts offering full scale of 7 years, then the
students could go on to 1 year of higher education in Fine
Arts.

The School of Music and Dramatic Arts, presently in
action, offers education to students having an academic back-
ground equal to those who have completed the first cycle of
secondary education.35

Higher education. Before 1954, there were only the
basic faculties at the university level such as Faculties
of Law, Letters, Sciences, Pharmacy, Dentistry, Architecture,

Medicine and a higher School of Fine Arts.36 Demands for

22

CHART I

EDUCATIONAL STRUCTURE IN VIETNAM

1949-50

 

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23

CHART II

EDUCATIONAL STRUCTURE IN VIETNAM

1965 -66

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24

CHART III

EDUCATIONAL STRUCTURE lN VlETo NAM

 

    
    

      
        
    
  

1969-70
6A9‘8) 404,4 42451419 45 41 43+ _.
11111 llllNon-nal
on

 

2

   

General
4 Z 5 ll 5

 

8 94041

     

mimic-l
8 9 40 44

     
  
  

   

  
    
   
   

423

Technician
AgricUll’ur‘ul

8940444

ll
“helm

o Entrance Examinations C. — Faculties of National Unie
versitiea:
e Examinations (Baccalaureate —- Pedagogy
l and ll) - Medecine
— Pharmacy
- Dentistry

A. — National Administration _ Architecture

Institute — Letters
- Law -
B. - NetionelTechnicel Center -— Sciences
(SChOOl Oi CiVil Engineering, D. — National Agricultural
School ol Electrical Engiv Center
neering, School of Chemical (School of Agriculture, School
Engineering, School ol In; of Forestry, School of Ani'

dustrial Engineering) mal Husbandry).

25

technical education had increased and higher schools of
engineering were built in the complex in Phu Tho, the north
suburb of Saigon, called National Technical Center, to pro-
vide the country with engineers. There are 4 schools in
this type including the schools of Civil Engineering, Elec-
trical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, and Industrial
Engineering. Each one provides 4 years of study.

The National Administration Institute has been in

38 It provides administrators of high

operation since 1955.
rank for all areas of government administration. It is under
the direction_of the Ministry of Interior because of its
importance for producing graduates to fill key posts in the

government.

2. Curriculum Evolution (before and after 1970)

The following time-tables may give an idea of how
Vietnamese secondary school curricula have been developed
and undergone changes during the period 1955-1970 (see Tables
1, 2, 3, 4). The changes in Vietnamese secondary school cur-

ricula from the period before June, 1970,39

to the period
after June, 1970, were the following:

a) Emphasis was put on History and Geography; an
increase of one hour was given to the former two hours of
History and Geography throughout secondary level to form
a total of three hours per week.

b) Physics and chemistry are now scheduled separately

and more time was added to the sciences section (second cycle)

26

TABLE 1

TIME-TABLE FOR GENERAL SECONDARY SCHOOLS:
FIRST CYCLE (BEFORE JUNE, 1970)
(in hours per week)

 

Class‘
Subject VII VI V IV

 

1. Vietnamese and

 

 

Chinese characters 5+1 5+1 5+1 5+1
2. History and Geography 2 2 2 2
3. Civics (theory and practice) 2 2 2 2
4. Foreign Language 6 6 5 5
5. Natural Sciences 1 l 2 2
6. Physics and Chemistry 2 2 2 1/2 2 1/2
7. Mathematics 3 3 3 1/2 3 l/2
22 22 23 23
Drawing 1 1 l 1
Music 1 l l 1
Physical education 3 3 3 3
Handicraft (for boys) 1 l l l
Home economics (girls) 1 l l l

 

 

Total (for boys and girls) 28 28 29 29

'The classes VII, VI, V, IV were equivalent to to-
day's grades 6, 7, 8, 9 of the First Cycle.

Source: Vietnam (Republic), Ministry of Education, Chddng
trinh Trung—hoc (Secondary Education Curriculum
(Saigon: Ministry of Education, 1965), p. 7.

27

TABLE 2

TIME-TABLE FOR GENERAL SECONDARY SCHOOLS:
FIRST CYCLE (AFTER JUNE, 1970)
(in hours per week)

 

Grades
Subject 6 7 8 9

 

1. Vietnamese‘

(and Chinese characters) 6 6 6 6
2. History and Geography 3 3 3 3
3. Civics l l l 2
4. Foreign Language 6 6 5 5
5. Biology (Natural Sciences) 1 1 1/2 1 1/2 2
6. Physics 1 1 1 1/2 1 1/2
7. Chemistry 1 l 1 1
8. Mathematics 3 3 3 1/2 3 1/2

 

 

Total 22 22 1/2 22 1/2 24
Electives" 6 6 6 6
Grand Total 28 28 1/2 28 1/2 30

 

'Including Vietnamese language, literature and cul-
ture.

HThe electives or optional subjects include:
-—physical education (3 hours/week)

--drawing (gymnastics, sports, youth
--craft activities)
--sewing

--child care

--home economics (foods, clothes, farming, family
--music (1 hour/week) planning)

Source: Vietnam (Republic), Ministry of Education, Chuon
trinh Trung-hoc (Secondary Education Curriculum),
(Saigon: Ministry of Education, 1970), p. 5.

28

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29

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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30

for these two subjects. One hour is reserved for chemistry
each week during the four years of the first cycle. In the
second cycle, literature sections, physics and chemistry
are broken down into half and half of the total one hour
before 1970.

In the Sciences sections, a total of half-an-hour
was added to the former schedule of physics and of chemistry
for grades 10 and 11 and one full hour for grade 12. The
new schedule shows three hours of physics, one-and-a-half
hours of chemistry for grade 10 and 11, compared to the for-
mer 4 hours of physics and chemistry. In grade 12 it results
in five hours of physics and two hours of chemistry versus
a total of six hours of physics and chemistry before 1970.

This change was to underline the importance of chem—
istry as a science to be taught independently from physics.
The reason was that teachers used to neglect the teaching
of chemistry, regarding chemistry as a subject for memor-
izing.

c) Modern mathematics was introduced toggrades 12,
sciences sections by the order No. 88 GD/QD/PC/HC on
February 24, 1970. One hour increase for the schedule of
math was added to the eight hours of math in math section
and to the four hours of math in Exp. sc. section set theory,
probability and descriptive statistics ... were included.

d) There is more flexibility for students to choose

minor subjects that become the electives. Besides Physical

31

Education, Drawing, Music, high school students can have
craft, sewing, child care, home economics to select. The
last three subjects for girls used to go together, called

domestic sciences, now break out into different specialized

 

subjects for more details and practices. The girl students
can take this advantage to become more qualified in home-

keeping.

3. Students' Enrollment During_the Last Decade

a) Students' enrollment in Elementary Education
Public education

Public elementary school enrollment in Vietnam dur-

ing the school year 1969-1970 was about two millions—-actu-

40

ally 1,949,352. It resulted from a 16.8 per cent increase

1

of the previous year--1,682,904 in 1968-1969.4 In the last

ten years, it has doubled: from about one million in 1959—

196042

to almost two millions in 1969-1970. Table 5 gives
a historical picture of enrollments since 1959-1960.
Back in 1954-1955, public schools only had about

330,000 students;43

ten years later, the number increased
to almost 1,263,000, and the year after (1965-66), it rose
to 1,340,000. A slight decrease in public school enrollment
was found in 1964-1965.44

Private education

Private elementary school enrollment increased con—
stantly about 24,000 each year. The number has also doubled

in the last ten years: 220,833 in 1959-1960 and 456,912 in

32

TABLE 5

ENROLLMENT IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS IN VIETNAM
(PUBLIC AND PRIVATE)

 

 

Type of

school
School year Public Private Total
1954-1955 329,598 71,267 400,865
1959-1960 1,001,757 220,833 1,222,590
1960-1961 1,034,393 243,409 1,277,820
1961-1962 1,092,490 264,683 1,357,173
1962-1963 1,174,020 276,659 1,450,679
1963-1964 1,292,125 282,554 1,574,674
1964-1965 1,262,651 301,105 1,563,756
1965-1966 1,339,779 321,265 1,661,044
1966-1967 1,436,618 349,223 1,785,841
1967-1968 1,627,018 396,875 2,023,893
1968-1969 1,682,904 400,736 2,083,640
1969-1970 1,949,352 456,912 2,406,264

 

'This table is compiled from the following sources:

a) Annuaire Statistique de 1'Enseignement, 1958-1960,
1965-1967, 1967-1968, 1968-1969 (Saigon: Ministry of Educa-
tion, Republic of Vietnam, 1960, 1967, 1968, 1969), p. 12
(1958-60); pp. 12, 91 (1965-67); p. 20 (1967-68); p. 20
(1968-69).

b) Situation de l'Enseignement au Vietnam, 1969-1970
(2nd trimestre) (Saigon: Ministry of Education, Republic
of Vietnam, 1970), p. 2.

33

1969-1970.45

Its magnitude was a little higher than one-
fourth of the correSponding public elementary education
enrollment. Looking more closely at the number enrolled
in each class, from the first year up to the fifth year in
elementary, one can see the rapid drop off in both private
and public education. The number of pupils in fifth grade
was about one-third of the number enrolled in the first
grade; for example, 1967-1968. These numbers are as fol-
lows: 533,833 (first grade), 366,365 (second grade), 303,686
(third grade), 232,984 (fourth grade), and 183,074 (fifth
grade) in public schools.46 In the same year, in private
schools, there were 146,711 first graders, 85,781 second
graders, 71,607 third graders, 45,763 fourth graders and
43,367 fifth graders.47 The decreases were more serious
in early grades than they were in the last classes in ele-
mentary.

Admission into the first_year public elementagy school

Each year the percentage of children admitted into
the first grade of elementary school was around 90% in each
of the last five years. Although the number admitted every
year kept increasing, the percentage increased very slowly
because the population has been going up and more and more
people wanted to send their children to school. Table 6
gives an idea of the number of children admitted and the

percentage of children admitted versus the number of demands

for admission into public elementary schools, from 1964-1965

34

TABLE 6

NUMBER OF CHILDREN ADMITTED INTO FIRST GRADE
VERSUS DEMANDS FOR ADMISSION

 

Number of children admitted

 

School year into first grade Percentage
1960-1961 252,886 89.6
1961-1962 255,126 90.1
1962-1963 235,245 83.8
1963-1964 272,217 83.9
1964-1965 300,058 89.7.
1965-1966 332,294 87.1
1966-1967 357,367 91.5
1967-1968 447,446 94.2
1968-1969 439,051 90.7
1969-1970 528,429 94.28

 

v—

This table is compiled from the following sources:

~ a) Annuaire Statistique de l'Enseignement, 1960-61,
1961-62, 1962-64, 1964-65, 1965-67, 1967-68, 1968-69 aigon:
Ministry of Education, Republic of Vietnam, 1961, 1962, 1964,
1965, 1967, 1968, 1969), p. 50 (1960-61); p. 58 (1961-62);
pp. 36, 70 (1962-64); p. 21 (1964-65); pp. 37, 94 (1965-67);
p. 21 (1967-68);-p. 21 (1968-69).

b) Situation de 1'Enseignement au Vietnam, 1969-1970
(2nd trimestrel, (Saigon: Ministry of Education, Republic
of Vietnam, 1970), p. 2.

35

to 1969-1970. From these numbers, one can see the effort
of the country to admit children for free education in ele-
mentary level.

b) Student enrollments in Secondary Education

The Special feature of the secondary education en-
rollments in Vietnam is the importance of private schools
that enrolled almost two-thirds of the total secondary edu-
cation population in the last few years. This fact marked
an acute shortage of public secondary schools and teachers.

In private schools previously mentioned included a
type of schools called semi-private (or semi-public) where
students pay about one-half of the tuition fees currently
charged to private school students of the same grade. There
is a small number of these compared to the great number of
public and private schools of the country.

.In 1969-1970, the public secondary education enroll-
ment was 229,181 and 403,040 students were enrolled in pri-

48 Table 7 lists the range of similar numbers

vate schools.
from 1959-1960 to 1969-1970. The percentages of increases
over the previous years show that private schools grew very
rapidly compared to public secondary schools.' In fact, in
1955-1956 the private schools enrolled only 25,870 students
while the public schools carried a greater number--27,69l--

students of secondary level.49

36

TABLE 7

ENROLLMENTS IN SECONDARY EDUCATION IN VIETNAM
(PUBLIC AND PRIVATE)

 

Private schools

School year Public schools (and semi-private) Total

 

1955-1956 27,691 25,810 53,501
1959-1960 62,130 101,806 163,936
1960-1961 73,681 130,079 203,760
1961-1962 85,554 142,926 228,480
1962-1963 98,749 166,117 264,866
1963-1964 112,606 183,087 295,693
1964-1965 123,271 205,958 329,299
1965-1966 132,885 237,783 370,668
1966-1967 145,875 283,753 429,628
1967-1968 164,895 334,524 499,419
1968-1969 189,285 367,633 556,918
1969-1970 229,181 403,040 632,221

 

'This table is compiled from the following sources:

a) Annuaire Statistique de 1'Ensei nement, 1965-1967,
1967-1968, 1968-1969 (Saigon: Ministry of Education, REpublic
of Vietnam, 1967, 1968, 1969), pp. 13, 112 (1965-67); p. 43
(1967-68); p. 43 (1968-69).

 

b) Situation de l'Enseignement au Vietnam, 1969-1970
(2nd trimestre), (Saigon: Ministry of Education, Republic
of Vietnam, 1970), p. 3.

37

Admission into Public Secondary Schools--
The Competitive Entrance Examination

The reason for the very large number of students
enrolled in private secondary education was that they could
not get into public schools. Children completing elementary
education can all apply to the Entrance Examination of any
public high school (secondary). Unfortunately, the number
admitted was strictly limited by the capacity of public
schools of classes they have, of teachers paid by the na-
tional budget, of facilities and funds the schools possess.

In 1968-1969, the number of students admitted into
the first year of secondary public schools (grade 6 today)
was 41,380 out of 169,528 children who took the national

High School Entrance Examination.50

That means only 24.4%
admitted. Some other numbers are listed in Table 8, show-
ing that the percentage of students admitted into public
high school is on the average 19.0% during the four school
years from 1961 to 1969.

c) Enrollment in Technical and Vocational Education

In 1969-1970 the student enrollment in Vietnam in
technical and vocational education was, in total, 18,619
including primary, secondary teacher training, higher level
and engineering training. The distribution was 17,691 at
the second level and 928 at the university level.51

The enrollments in general education for 1969-1970

were distributed as follows:

38

TABLE 8

NUMBERS OF STUDENTS ADMITTED INTO THE FIRST YEAR
OF PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN VIETNAM

 

 

School year Admitted Percentage
1961-1962 17,944 19.6
1962-1963 19,821 17.2
1963-1964 22,285 16.5
1964-1965 23,947 16.1
1965-1966 36,602 17.8
1966-1967 29,070 19.3
1967-1968 33,964 21.3
1968-1969 41,380 24.4

 

‘This table is compiled from the following sources:
Annuaire Statistigue de l'Enseignement, 1961-1962, 1962-1964,
1964-1965, 1965-1967, 1967-1968, 1968-1969 (Saigon: Ministfy
of Education, Republic of Vietnam, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1967,
1968, 1969) p. 84 (1961-62); pp. 51, 84 (1962-64); p. 41
(1964-65); pp. 59, 116 (1965-67); p. 45 (1967-68); p. 45
(1968-69).

Primary level: 2,406,26452
Secondary level: 632,22153
University level: 46,02254

The total is then 3,084,507 versus 18,619 in tech-
nical and vocational education.

0n the average, then, there is only one student in
technical and vocational education for every hundred and
sixty-six students in general education. The correSpondence

was clearly uneven.

39

Therefore, the urgent need to reorient the national
education into technical and vocational field has been claimed
many times. Many projects are being undertaken to build
more technical schools and train more teachers in these fields.
The process has been very slow, due in large part to shortage
of budget, of teachers, of administrators, and to societal
bias against manual careers.

In 1969, the Regional Center for Educational Innova-

tion and Technology (INNOTECH) was founded as a part of the

 

South East Asian Ministers of Education Organization55 (SEAMEO).
The purpose of this organization is
to promote cooperation among the South East Asian
nations through Education, Science and Culture, in
order to further reSpect for justice for the rule
of law, and for the human rights and fundamental
freedoms which are the birthrights of the people
of the world.56
To accomplish this purpose, a council (SEAMEC), whose
members are the ministers of education from the member coun-
tries (Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore,
Thailand and Vietnam) with a population of over 200 millions,57
was established. The council has for its executive arm a
secretariat (SEAMES) which is financed half by the member
countries and half by the Ford Foundation.58 The organiza-
tion was established on February 7, 1968, and came into force

only in March, 1969.

The functions of INNOTECH are mainly training and

research. It provides key educators who know how to use

the systems approach in education and research methodology

40

as well as application of operative educational technology.
It also aims at providing prototype solutions to selected
educational problems developed by these key educators during
their training, “ready for trial, further experimentation
and eventually implementation of the national programs.”

Besides the Center for Educational Innovation and
Technology (INNOTECH) in Vietnam the organization (SEAMEO)
has other centers scattered in the member countries:59

--the Regional English Language Center (RELC) in
Singapore

--the Regional Center of Graduate Training, Research
and Post-graduate Study in Tropical Biology (BIOTROP) in
Bogor, Indonesia

--the Regional Center for Education in Science and
Mathematics (RECSAM)

--the Regional Center for Graduate Stugy and Research
in Agriculture (SEARCA) in the Philippines

--and the Tropical Medicine and Public Health Project
(TROPMED) whose office is in Thailand and which gives courses
in Bangkok, Manila, Kuala-Lumpur, Djakarta.

It is hoped that not only technical and vocational
education in Vietnam will be develOped through the SEAMEO
activities in the INNOTECH center but also that the entire
system of national education will have chances for a tremen-

dous impact by interaction and help of the developing Asian

countries and of UNESCO.

41

4. Distribution of School Population by Sex
It was stated, in the Educational Developments Re-
port 1968-1970, that "so far as education is concerned, there

60 It is true, in-

is no sex discrimination at any level.“
deed, that there is not any judgment for educational oppor-
tunities based on sex. Moreover, the rules of examination
are the same for boy-candidates as well as for girl-candi-
dates.

However, there are schools for girls in Vietnam.
In big cities such as Saigon, Hué, CSn-thd, etc., public
high schools for girls separate them from boys of the same
age. This isolation of the girls from their male peers in
schools has advantages and also disadvantages. Parents pre-
fer to send their daughters to girls' schools, so they do
not have to worry about the unwanted problems of boy-friends
of their daughters. Traditional education forbids girls
to have a boy-friend until they formally get married. Aca-
demic records usually are higher and the schools often keep
the girls away from problems of drop out by early marriage,
unwanted pregnancy, etc.

a) Girls' enrollment_in secondary education

The secondary enrollments of school-girls are given
separately for the two cycles, and in each cycle, for each
of the 3 types of schools: public, semi-public (or semi-

private) and private. There are, then, six numbers to be

considered each year. Each number is preceded by the total

42

enrollment where it was drawn, and is followed by the per-
centage of girl-enrollment versus that total enrollment cor-
responding of the type of school and the educational level
considered.

Table 9 gives an idea of the numbers of girls' en-
rollment versus the total enrollments of the same year, same
cycle and same type of school.

In the first cycle, the number of girl students was
higher in private schools, but the percentage in public school
washigher. The semi-private schools only enroll a relatively
small number of girl-students but the percentageums relatively
high.

In the second cycle, the percentage was also higher
in public schools than in private and semi-private schools
of the same year. In 1964-1965 the percentage was 33.0%
for public secondary against 30.3% in private and 31.5% in
semi-private schools. In 1967-1968, it was 36.9% versus
34.1% and 34.7%.

The same results were drawn from the other years
(Table 10). In other words, girls' enrollments have been
higher in public than in private secondary education (espec-
ially at the second cycle); it was also higher at the first
cycle than at the second cycle level. Table 10 summarizes
both results.

b) Girls' enrollment in_elementary education

In elementary level, girls' enrollment kept increasing

43

TABLE 9

GIRLS' ENROLLMENT IN GENERAL SECONDARY EDUCATION
PUBLIC AND PRIVATE

FIRST AND SECOND CYCLES

 

Cycle

 

Total

Type of school Enrollment Girls Percentage

 

1964-1965:

 

 

 

 

Public 87,959 31,869 36.2
First cycle Private 147,464 52,763 35.8
Semi-private 26,809 8,808 32.8
Public 353312 11,639 33.0
Second cycle Private 29,008 8,815 30.3
Semi-private 2,704 853 31.5
1967-1968:
Public 120,949 47,220 39.0
First cycle Private 236,548 92,796 39.2
Semi-private 38,546 14,669 38.0
Public 43,946 16,223 36.9
Second cycle Private 51,393 17,549 34.1
Semi-private 5,515 1,566 34.7
1968-1969:
Public 141,087 55,898 39.6
First cycle Private 256,152 101,566 39.6
Semi-private 41,848 17,360 ,41.5
Public 48,198 19,464 40.4
Second cycle Private 61,613 20,933 34.0
Semi-private 4,577 1,741 38.0

 

‘This table is compiled from the following sources:
Annual Statistique de l'Ensei nement, 1964-1965, 1967-1968,
1 8-1 6_ aigon: Ministry of Education, Republic of Viet-
nam, 1965, 1968, 1969), pp. 34, 36, 35, 37 (1964-65); pp.
38, 40, 39, 42, 41 (1967-68); pp. 38, 40, 39, 42, 41 (1968-69).

 

44

TABLE 10

PERCENTAGE OF GIRLS' ENROLLMENT IN VIETNAMESE
SECONDARY EDUCATION, FIRST AND SECOND CYCLES

 

 

 

Girl enrollment in: Secondary education

School year First cycle Second cycle
1964-1965 35.7 32.0
1965-1966 37.4 33.6
1966-1967 38.0 34.1
1967-1968 39.1 35.4
1968-1969 42.1 37.2

 

‘The figures in this table are computed from the
data listed in the following sources: Annuaire Statistique
de l'Enseignement, 1964-1965, 1965-1961, 1967-1968,‘I968-I
1 aigon: Ministry of Education, Republic of Vietnam,
1965, 1967, 1968, 1969), p. 38 (1964-65); pp. 55, 112
(1965-67); p. 43 (1967-68); p. 43 (1968-69).

 

 

 

and the percentage of girls also was higher at elementary
than was the percentage at the secondary level. These two
main characteristics may be deduced from Table 11 that lists
the enrollments of girls and the total enrollment of the
year in elementary level, from 1959-1960 to 1967-1968.

First, the rate of increase of girls' enrollment
in elementary education was positive, raising from 39.2 to
43.9 from 1959-1960 to 1967-1968. Although the total enroll-
ment has increased, the girls' enrollment has increased much
more rapidly than the boys'. In 1959-1960 the number of
boys enrolled in elementary level was 741,923 and it increased

to 1,134,401 in 1967-1968.

45

TABLE 11

GIRL STUDENTS IN ELEMENTARY EDUCATION IN VIETNAM

 

Total
School Year (boys and girls) Girls Percentage
1959-1960 1,222,590 480,667 39.2
1960-1961 1,277,808 509,114 39.7
1961-1962 1,357,173 542,757 39.8
1962-1963 1,450,679 593,188 40.8
1963-1964 1,574,679 651,252. 41.5
1964-1965 1,563,756 659,632 42.1
1965-1966 1,661,044 717,562 43.0
1966-1967 1,785,840 779,610 43.6
1967-1968 2,023,893 889,492 43.9
1968-1969 2,083,640 927,324 44.5

 

‘This table is compiled from the following sources:
Annuaire Statistigue de l'Enseigpement, 1965-1967, 1967-1968,
1968-1969 (Saigon: Ministry of Education, Republic of Viet-
nam, 1967, 1968, 1969), pp. 12, 36, 91 (1965-67); p. 20 (1967-
68); p. 20 (1968-69). '

 

c) Girls' distribution in school--women population
in the society_

It is also interesting to make a comparison between
the percentage of girl students in the Vietnamese school
population and the masculinity ratio in the society of Vietnam.

The sex distribution, estimated for the "Long-term
Projection for Education in Vietnam," 1960-1980, assumed for

the whole country the following masculinity ratio: 48% for

46

men and 52% for women in 1965; 49% and 51% in 1970. There-
fore in 1967-1968 school year it is likely to be, for women,
a ratio above 51%.

In the meantime, the percentage of girls enrollment
in education, at any level, was far below 51%. Table 10
gives 39.1% girls in the first cycle of secondary, 35.4%
in second cycle. The highest percentage of girls was for
elementary and equal to 43.90 In higher education, the en-
rollment of girls was 9,171 against a total of 33,062 in
1967-1968 or equivalent to a percentage of 27.7. In agri-
cultural-technical education, at the same time, there were
474 female students in a total enrollment of 2,349, a ratio
of 20.2. In technical and vocational education the ratio
was 17.8 (1,917 girls out of 10,783 students enrolled).

The following table summarizes all statistics pre-
viously mentioned about the percentage of girls' enrollment

in 1967-1968:

Elementary Education: 43.9
Secondary {first cycle: 39.1
education second cycle: 35.4
Higher education: 27.7
Agricultural education: 20.2
Technical and Vocational: 17.8

The overall view consists of rec0gnizing the decrease
of girls' enrollment from elementary through secondary, high-
er, agricultural to technical and vocational education that
was the lowest number. At any level of education, girls'

enrollment ratio is far below the women's proportion in the

47

society. The traditional bias, the national customs, the
duty of women in the family impose psychological barriers
on the way to school of the Vietnamese girls, just like most

developing countries.

5. Administration of the Vietnamese Education System

a) Evolution of administrative measures

The main feature of the Vietnamese educational system
is its centralization. Thus, after the nation gained its
independence in 1954, efforts were made to centralize the
administration of the system. The grouping of all parts
of the Vietnamese educational system, under the control of
the Department of National Education, started in 1957, was
completed in 1958-1959.61

The major change consisted of the following adjust-
ment: Regional Directorates of Education were abolished
and replaced by the Directorate General of Education, lo-
cated in Saigon. The authorities of the latter extended
over all parts of the country, including the central area
with 13 provinces, the Highland area with 8 provinces and
the South.62

The Directorate General of Education then consisted
of 2 directorates: one for secondary education, the other
for elementary education, and a new division of popular and
fundamental education, created in June, 1958. In the same

year, two additional divisions were established: the Text-

Book Publication Division, April (1958) and the Planning

48

and Statistics Division, June (1958).63 The latter included
three bureaus for research, statistics and documentation
and libraries.

To meet the needs of the growing educational system,
more and more new directorates, services, and divisions have
been created: the Directorate of Fine Arts was established

in November, 1959,64

65

and the Service of Educational Research,
April, 1960. The latter was responsible for studying docu-
mentation concerning various education systems, their cur-
ricula and teaching methods currently used in other countries,
in order to make Specific recommendations adaptable to Viet-
nam.66 It later became part of the Educational Affairs Serv-
ice (in the school year 1961-1962, including educational
research and scholarship) and recently grew into the Educa-
tional Research and Planning Directorate (1967-68).

Similarly, other services grew and became director-
ates: the Service of Private and Mass Education became a
directorate in 1961-62 because of its increasing importance;
the Service of Scholarship and Overseas Studies was changed
into a directorate in March, 1967.67

However, adjustment has also occurred in the reverse
direction. The Directorate of Inspection and Examination,
as its activities decreased because of the lack of inspectors
and the abolishment of some kinds of examination, became
the service of Inspection and Examination in 1966-1967.68

Reorganization of the Ministry of National Education

49

in 1963-64 divided it into five directorates.69 They were the
directorates of Research, of Higher Education, of Secondary
and Primary Education, of Technical and Vocational education
and the Directorate of Cultural Affairs transferred from
another ministry.

The center for scientific research, including the
Vhatrang Institute of Oceanography and the Atomic Energy
Agency, was under the reSponsibility of the Ministry of
Education from that time.

Another project of reorganizing the structure of
the Central administration was implemented in the school
year 1966-1967. Its aim was for a tightening of the co-
ordination that would permit a better handling of the grow-
ing number of problems facing education.7O Therefore, steps
have been taken in view of a decentralization of educational
authority. The Prime Minister has issued a decree for the
establishment of School Districts, and studies are being
conducted to define the geographical areas.71

Furthermore, participation of students' parents is
being taken into consideration. Regional Educational Co-
ordination and Development Councils in each school district
will be established in the near future. These School Boards
and Regional Councils will assume the reSponsibility for
educational planning and administration in their own dis-

72

tricts. Also a new law (May 2, 1969) established the

National Council for Culture and Education as an advisory

50

body for the Government in educational planning and policy.73

Educational planning has been especially emphasized
due to the help of UNESCO. A two-week workshop in education
was organized in Saigon from July 28 to August 9, 1969, with
the advice of two UNESCO Specialists sent for this purpose.
Two staff members of the Directorate of Educational Planning
and Legislation were sent abroad to attend UNESCO-sponsored
courses in New Delhi and Paris. Another one will be sent
to the United States for one year's study in educational
planning under Ford Foundation sponsorship. These steps
give hope for even more planning to improve Vietnamese edu-
cation in the future.74

b) Structure of the administrative pystem in Viet-
namese education

The present organization of the Ministry of Educa-
tion is the one simplified and shown in the chart (I) issued
on January 2, 1970, along with the "arrété" implementing
the organization of central agencies of the Ministry of
Education.75 An examination of the chart gives the reader
a general view of those agencies directly placed under the
control of the Ministry of National Education.

The Prime Minister, concurrently Minister of Educa-
tion, is assisted by two Deputy Ministers of Education: one
for secondary, elementary and popular education, the other
for technical and higher education.

Directly under the authority of the Minister of

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52

Education are the director of Cabinet, the Secretary-General
and a large number of Heads of directorates, centers, and
agencies. Detailed discussion of each follows.

Director of Cabinet

The Director of Cabinet supervises a team of Special
InSpectors and a Chief of Cabinet who is in charge of two
services and two directorates:

—-Service of Information and Protocol

--Service of Circulation

--Directorate of Planning and School Legislation

--Directorate of Scholarship and Overseas Studies.

The Directorate of Planning and School Legislation,
recently reorganized, has two services, the Service of Plan-
ning with three bureaus: the Bureau of Planning, the Bureau
of Statistics, and the Bureau of Specialists. The latter
consists of a team of five to seven specialists, comparable
to inspectors in educational experience and administrative
status, devoted to the study of the current curriculum,
the examination system and plans for activities of the Min-
istry of Education; the Service of School Legislation is
composed of three bureaus: one for legislation, one for
educational affairs and one for the control and evaluation
of various kinds of diplomas.

The Service of Circulation, with three bureaus, takes
care of the mail circulation within the Ministry of Educa-

tion and its dependent agencies, of printing, sending,

53

receiving all kinds of decrees, arrétés, orders, cooperating
with the Ministry of Interior in giving permission to requests
for establishing all kinds of associations for educational
purposes. It also includes the Bureau of Archives and Li-
braries which stores all kinds of serial publications and
documents, and administers the public libraries of the country.

Secretary General

The Secretary General, assisted by the Deputy Sec-
retary-General, is responsible for the two directorates of
vital importance for educational activities. These are the
Directorate of Finance and the Directorate of Personnel.

The Directorate of Finance includes three different
services: the Accounting Service, the Foreign Aid and the
Service of Construction and Materials.

The Directorate of Personnel is divided into two
different services: one for the recruitment of new person-
nel, classification and appointment for the whole range of
teachers and staff members of the whole system of education;
the other is the Service of Population (of the educational
system) and Mobilization (of young men teachers and person—
nel). The latter Service has the reSponsibility for the
attempt to legally keep young teachers, eligible for mili-
tary service, or to bring them back into the teaching ranks
after a nine-week training period.76

Other Operational Units

The group of eleven directorates-general, directorates,

54

centers, institutes, etc., serve as the links between the
high authority of the Minister and the activities of estab-
lishments in education, including schools and universities.

Some of them appear more cultural than educational,
such as the:

--directorate of International Relations

--directorate of School Youth Activities

--directorate of School Health and Social Activities

Some concern with research purposes like the Atomic
Energy Agency, the Nha trang Institute of Oceanography.

The Instructional Materials Center, relatively young,
grew from the "Textbook, Translation and Publication Serv-
ice," first created in 1958. From 1963 it included an audio-
visual section and a printing plan became "Instructional
Material Service"77 and in 1966 it took the present name
with the addition of two new activities: Radio Education
and Educational television. Generous support has been pro-
vided. The Center has given top priorities to textbook pro-
duction and in the last few years, there has been emphasis
on production of inexpensive "teacher's kits" for elementary

schools.78

Further discussion concerning textbook produc-
tion will be in the next chapter.

Besides the Instructional Materials Center, there
are two other centers: the National Agricultural Center

and the Technical Center. The latter is the grouping of

four schools of Engineering in Phu tho, a suburb of Saigon.

55

The structure of the educational system will be discussed
in greater detail in subsequent sections.

The Directorate-General of Secondary, Elementary
and Popular Education is the largest and its activities are
assigned to five different directorates. They are: (1)
the Directorate of Private Education, (2) Directorate of
Elementary and Popular Education, (3) of Secondary education,
(4) of Examination and (5) the Directorate of Pedagogy, In-
service training and Adult Education.

The other directorate-general is the Directorate
General of Technical and Vocational Education that adds
variety to the system of education by its "directorate of
Fine Arts and Vocational Studies" and the directorate of
Agriculture, Forestry and Animal Husbandry education.

Finally, the Directorate of Universities controls

 

all the universities, both public and private. Although
they belong to the Ministry of Education, these universities
recently possess the autonomy of administration, finance
and curriculum regulations.79 Each university has its own
Board of Trustees for administrative and financial policy
determination, and a University council for developing cur-
riculum and setting regulations.80

At the present time, there are three public univer-
sities, one in Saigon, one in Hué and one in Cénthdh The
University of Saigon was transferred from Hanoi in 1954,

I

the University of Hug was created in 1957 for the central

56

\

part of Vietnam and the University of Canthofl was established
in 1965 for the Mekong delta of the South. Other universi-
ties are private and there are three of them in operation:
the University_of Dalat built in 1958 by Catholic mission-
aries; the University of Van Hanh in Saigon run by the Budd-
hists; and a quite new one in the Mekong delta, the Univer-
sity of Hoe-H36 of another Buddhist denomination, opened
for the school year 1970-1971.

Plans are being made for the construction of more
universities and community colleges to meet the demands for

professional and higher learning in Vietnam.

FOOTNOTES FOR CHAPTER II

lHenri Gourdon, "L'oeuvre Sociale et Intellectuelle,”
in Un Empire Colonial Francais: l'Indochine, II, ed. by
M. Georges MasperOTParis et Bruxelles: Editions G. Van Oest,
1930), pp. 88-91.

. . 2Tr§n Trong Kim, ViétNam Su Luoc (Saigon, Vietnam:
Tan Viet, 1958), p. 484.

 

 

3Jacques Garnier, "La Conquéte" in Histoire Populaire
des Colonies Francaises: l'Indochinp, ed. by Albert De
Pouvourville (Paris: Editions du VEIin d'Or, 1932), p. 124.

4This term franco-native was used in UNESCO, World
Survey of Education, III (New York: International Documents
Service, Columbia University Press, 1961), 1454.

 

5Gourdon, o . cit., p. 92.

6Direction Générale de l'Instruction Publique,
L'Annam Scolaire (Hanoi: Direction Generale de 1'Instruc-
tion Publique, 1931), p. 92.

7Statement attributed to Governor-General Carde of
French West Africa by Lord Hailey in his book, An African
Survey (London: OUP/RHA, 1945), p. 1263.

 

8Thomas E. Ennis, French Policy and Developments in
Indochina (Chicago, Illinois: The University of Chicago
Press, 1936), p. 173.

9Gourdon, op. cit., p. 92.

10UNESCO, World_§urvey of Education, III (New York:

International Documents SerViceifltolfimbia University Press,
1961), p. 1454.

11M. Poirier, "La Politique d'Education en Indochina,"
L'Asie Francaise, June, 1913, pp. 265-71.

12Ennis, o . cit., p. 174.

. 13Comité de l'Asie Francaise, "L'Enseignement Su-
perieur en Indochine," L'Asie Francaise, January-April, 1918,
pp. 28-300

14

 

Ennis, op. cit., p. 170.

57

58

15Albert Sarraut, "Les Cinq Pays de l'Union," in
Histoire Populaire des Colonies Francaipgs: l'Indochine,
ed. by Albert De Pouvourville (Saris: Editions du velin
d'Or, 1932), p. 236.

16Ibid.

17Ennis, op. cit., p. 175. Also, Sarraut, o . cit.,
p. 236.

18

Dennis J. Duncanson, Government and Revolution in
Vietnam (New York and London: Oxford University Press, 1968),
p. 106.

9Nghiém Dang, Vietnam: Politics and Public Admin-
istration (Honolulu: East-West Center Press, 1966), p. 358.

20UNESCO, World Survey of Education, IV (New York:
International Documents Service, Columbia University Press,
1966), p. 1404.

21Duncanson, o . cit., p. 106.
22Gourdon, op. cit., p. 93.
23

Joseph Buttinger, The Smaller Dragon: A Political
History_of Vietnam (New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 19587,
p. 443.I'

24Ibid.

25See footnote 10, p. 1452.

26Ibid.

27Buttinger, op. cit., p. 448.

28Buttinger, o . cit., p. 442.

29Bernard B. Fall, The Two Vietnams: A.Politica1
and Military Analysis (2nd rev. ed., New York: Frederick A.
Praeger, 1967), p. 127.

3OIbid., p. 129.

31See chart on page 9 of: Annuaire Statistique de
l'Enseignement, 1965-67 (Saigon: Ministry of Education,
Republic of Vietnam, 1967), p. 9.

321bid.

33Ibid.

59
34Ibid.

351bid.

 

36Vietnam (Republic), Ministry of Education, Some
_Features of the Universityyof Saigon, 1917- 1971 (Saigon:
Ministry of Education, 1970), pp. 1- 2.

37Ibid., p. 3.

38Nghiém D539, Vigtnam: Politics and Public Admin-
istration (Honolulu: East-West Center Press, 1966), p. 337.

39Vietnam (Republic), Ministry of Education, Chuong-
Trinh Trung-Hocypl965 (Secondary Education Curriculum, 1965),
p._6..

4OVietnam (Republic), Ministry of Education, Situa-
tion de l'Enseignement au Vietnamy_1969- 1970 (2nd trimestre)
(Saigon: Ministry of Education, 1970), p. 2.

41Vietnam (Republic), Ministry of Education, Annuaire
Statistigue de l'Enseignement, 1968- 1969 (Saigon: Ministry
of Education, 1969), p. 20.

42Vietnam (Republic), Ministry of Education, Annuaire
Statistiqge de l'Enseignementy,1965-1967 (Saigon: Ministry
of Education, 1967), p. 12. ‘

43Vietnam (Republic), Ministry of Education, Annuaire
Statistiqye de 1'Enseig_ement, 1958- 1959 and 1959-1960
'(Saigon: Ministry of Education, 1960), p. 12.

44Vietnam (Republic), Ministry of Education, Annuaire
Statistigue de l'Enseignementy,1965-l967 (Saigon: Ministry
of Education, 1967 7), p. 12.

45Vietnam (Republic), Ministry of Education, Situa-
tion de l' Enseignement au Vietnam, 1969-1970 (2nd trimestre)
(SZigon: Ministry of Education, 1970), p. 2.

46Vietnam (Republic), Ministry of Education, Annuairg
Statistigue de l'Enseignement, 1967- 1968 (Saigon: Ministry
of Education, 1968), p. 18.

47

 

 

 

 

Ibid.’ p. 19.

48Vietnam (Republic), Ministry of Education, Situ tion
de l'Engeignement au Vietnam, 1969-1970 (2nd trimestre)
(Saigon: MiniStry of Education, 1970), p. 3.

60

49Vietnam (Republic), Ministry of Education, Annuaire
Statistique de l'Enseignementyp1965-1967 (Saigon: Ministry
of Education, 1967), p. 13.

50Vietnam (Republic), Ministry of Education, Annuaire
Statistique de l'Enseignement, 1968-1969 (Saigon: Ministry
of Education, 19697, p. 45.

51Vietnam (Republic), Ministry of Education, Educa-
tional Developmenty 1968-1970 (Saigon: Ministry of Education,
1970), p. 50.

52Ibid., p. 48.

53Ibid., p. 49.

54Ibid., p. 52.

55SouthEast Asian Ministers of Education Organization
(SEAMEO), Education...the Challen e and Promise of_SouthEast
Asia (Bangkok, Thailand: SEAMES, c/o Ministry of Education,
I970). .

561bid.

571bid.

581bid.

591bid.
6OVietnam (Republic), Ministry of Education, Educa-

tional ngelopmentypl968-l970 (Saigon: Ministry of Educa-
tion, 19707, p. 45.

61UNESCO, International Yearbook of Education, Vol.
XXI, 1959 (Paris and Geneva: Unesco and International Bureau
of Education, 1959), p. 490.

62Vietnam (Republic), Ministry of Education, Annuaire

Statistique de l'Ensei nement, 1965-1967 (Saigon: Ministry
of Education, 1967), pp. 107-109.

63UNBsco, International Yearbook of Education, Vol.
XXI, 1959 (Paris and Geneva: Unesco and International Bureau
of Education, 1959), p. 490.

64UNESCO, International Yearbook of Education, Vol.
XXII, 1960 (Paris and Geneva: Unesco and International Bureau
of Education, 1960), p. 456.

61

651bid.

66Ibid.

67UNESCO, International Yearbook of Education, Vol.
XXIX, 1967 (Paris and Geneva: Unesco and International
Bureau of Education, 1967).

68Ibid.

69UNESCO, International Yearbook of Education, Vol.
XXVI, 1964 (Paris and Geneva: Unesco and International
Bureau of Education, 1964), p. 382.

70Vietnam (Republic), Ministry of Education, Progress
of Education in Vietnam During the School Year 1966-1967
aigon: Ministry of Education, 1967), p. 10.

71Vietnam (Republic), Ministry of Education, Educa-
tional ngelopments, 1968-1970 (Saigon: Ministry of Educa-
tion, 19707, p. 32.

721bid.

73Ibid.

74Ibid.

755cc Chart Iv.

76The nine-week military training period is recently
applied for teachers.

77Vietnam (Republic), Ministry of Education, Instruc-
tional Materials Center (Saigon: Ministry of Education,
October, 1970).

781bid., p. 8.

79Vietnam (Republic), Ministry of Education, Educa-
tional Developments, 1968-1970 (Saigon: Ministry of Educa-
tion, 1970), p. 32.

8oIbid.

CHAPTER III
OBJECTIVES OF SCIENCE EDUCATION IN VIETNAM

The purpose of this chapter is to establish specific
objectives for science education in Vietnam at the present
time. An examination of the philosophy and goals of Viet-
namese education will be made first. Thereafter, a new set
of educational goals will be proposed, which best reSpond
to the present needs of the country. Specific objectives
of science education in Vietnam can then be derived from

those general educational goals just proposed.

Philosgphy of Vietnamese Education

The Philosophy of Vietnamese Education reflects the
following three fundamental principles:1
1) "Education in Vietnam must be humanistic"

A humanistic education must stress the value of the
human being, regard man as an end by himself, not as a means,
_and search for ways to develop man to his full potential.
2) "Education in Vietnam must be nationalistic"

A nationalistic education must respect all tradi-
tional values and preserve the valuable ones. It must em-
phasize the harmony of man with his environment (family,

society, country). It must preoccupy itself with the task

62

63

of collective progress and the prosperity of its people.
3) "Education in Vietnam must be an open education"

An open education must value the scientific attitude
as a factor of progress. It must also cultivate the socia-
bility and the democratic spirit of its people. The capacity
of understanding other cultures must also be developed.

These three principles constituted the guidelines
for the reformed curriculum proposed during the First Na-
tional Education Congress (July, 1958) whose purpose was
to apply those principles into Vietnamese education.

The 1958-1959 school year was marked by the study
of these main objectives on Vietnamese education, and the
creation of an education system which met these objectives.
This year was crucial in shaping up the future of Vietnamese
education based on these basic principles; it was said that
it "has marked a period of great reform which will guide
the prospects of Vietnamese education for many years to
come.“2

Attempts have been made by the Ministry of Education
after this important date to bring amelioration for the
Vietnamese education system. The National Education Coun-
cil, composed of 175 representatives from 45 provinces, 228
districts, met for two weeks. They discussed democratic
freedom, national discipline, community education, vocational
and technical education, teacher training, literacy and adult

education, and organization of school system.3 They also

64

'reviewed the three fundamental principles of 1958 and gave
recommendations to reaffirm the objectives of Vietnamese
Education to be humanistic, nationalistic and scientific.

They also emphasized moral, intellectual and physical develop-

ment as other important aims of education.

General Goals of Vietnamese Education

The four following broad objectives or goals can
be confirmed by inspection of the three fundamental prin-
ciples of Vietnamese education:4

1. Education in Vietnam should be concerned with
the Development of the Learner, including his use of funda-
mental tools of learning, his health, his recreation, and
his personal conception of life. These purposes of educa-
tion can be referred to as the objectives of self-realization.

2. Education in Vietnam should be concerned with
Home, Familypand Community life where immediate, person-to-
person contacts of everyday set up and smooth the relation-
ship between members of homes and communities which consti-
tute the basic units of democracy: i.e., objectives of Human
Relationship.

3. Education in Vietnam should be concerned with
economic demands. This requires from each person a safe
career to assure his basic needs: the objectives of eco-
nomic efficiency.

4. Education in Vietnam should be concerned with

civil and social duties that involve his relationship with

65
his government objectives of civic responsibility.

Set of Specific Educational Opjectives for Vietnam

Educational objectives in Vietnam have so far ap-
peared in the form of instructional directives conveyed from
the Ministry of Education to the teachers, through the school
principals or along with the new curriculum printed materials.
Therefore, they have not been studied and stated systemat-
ically. Teachers in general have not clearly delineated
objectives and have tended to depend heavily on textbooks
and government curriculum guides.

It seems reasonable, therefore, to attempt to spec-
ify objectives in some details and the following discussion,
based on Bloom's taxonomy, is such an attempt. Bloom's
three general categories, listed below, form the basis for
this rationale:5

1) the cognitive objectives, including the objectives

 

of knowledge and intellectual abilities.
2) the affective objectives covering emotion, likes
and dislikes, and appreciations.

3) the psychomotor objectives, related to skills

 

and habits, pertinent to physical activities in execution,

manipulation and performance.

Analysis of Specific Educational Objectives

The Cognitiye Type6

The acquisition of knowledge or information has been

66

the basis for most traditional objectives. Thus, one judges
the acquisition of knowledge by the degree of retention of
facts and ideas. However, this manner of acquiring knowledge
is not the only objective sought under the cognitive label.
There exists a wide range of cognitive objectives, varying
from simple behavior such as recalling facts and ideas to
more complex ones such as the ability to combine and syn-
thesize new ideas or materials.

7

The different cognitive levels are as follows:

1.00. Knowledge

 

This forms the lowest level of learning involving

only recall and memory: recall of ppecifics (facts, events,

 

symbols, terminology) and also of universals and abstractions
in a field (principles and generalizations, theories and
structures). Also included in this level is knowledge of
ways and means of dealing with specifics (conventions, trends
and sequences, classifications and categories, criteria and
methodology).
Knowledge as defined here includes those be-
haviors and test situations which emphasize the
remembering, either by recognition or recall, of
ideas, materials, or phenomena. . . . The process
of relating and judging is also involved to the ex-
tent that the student is expected to answer questions
or problems which are posed in a different form, in
the test sétuation than in the original learning
situation.
1.10. The first level of knowledge is knowledge
of specifics, defined as "the recall of specific and isolable

bits of information, . . . by the virtue of their very

67

Specificity, that is, they can be isolated as elements or
bits which have some meaning and value by themselves."9

Specifics can be terminology or Specific facts.
Examples that follow will illustrate these two kinds of
knowledge of specifics concerning terminology and specific
facts.

1.11. Knowledge of terminology: the student knows
the vocabularies such as atom, element if he is to study
the periodic table.

1.12. Knowledge of specific facts: the learner
knows that Marie Curie and Pierre Curie codiscovered radium
in France in 1898 and later, its use for treatment of disease
(cancer).

1.20. The second level of knowledge is knowledge
of ways and means of dealing with specifics, defined as
"knowledge of the ways of organizing, studying, judging
and criticizing ideas and phenomena...ways and means will
refer to process rather than products."10

This level includes:

1.21. Knowledge of convention--for example, con-
vention about the definitions of the two kinds of electric-
ity: positive and negative.

1.22. Knowledge of trends and sequences--such as
the Water Cycle, the Carbon and Energy Cycle in Biology.

1.23. Knowledge of classification and categories.

At this level the student can recognize elements in the

68

family of inert gases located in column 0 or 8 of the Per-
iodic Table.

1.24. Knowledge of criteria. The knowledge of
criteria by which facts, principles, opinions, and conduct
are tested or judged. The utilization of the criteria in
the actual problem situations will be found in the evalua-
tion objective.ll

1.25. Knowledge of methodology: This is defined
as "knowledge of inquiry, techniques, and procedures employed
in a particular subject field as well as those employed in
investigating particular problems and phenomena."12

The student knows the method of attack relevant to
a problem in Dynamics: first consider forces applied to
the moving object, its mass, its orbit, then apply Newton's
second law of motion (F = ma) to determine its acceleration
a; hence, the characteristics of the motion.

1.30. The third and last type of knowledge is the
knowledge of the universals and abstractions in a field,
including two following objectives:

1.31. Knowledge of principles and generalizations
such as the Action-Reaction principle or the Universal At-
traction law.

1.32. Knowlegge of theories and structures such
as theory of Relativity of Einstein, or structure of the

atom, its electron configuration.

The higher level of Cognitive Domain is composed

69

of intellectual abilities and skills, ranged from comprehen-
sion to Application, Analysis, Synthesis and evaluation.

2.00. Comprehension is the first skill required
from the learner. At this level he is able to understand
directly the materials learned without relating them to other
materials (translation and interpretation). He may also
be able to draw inferences by thinking beyond the data
(extrapolation). A science student can draw conclusions
from a simple demonstration at his class level.

3.00. Application involves the application of ab-
stract ideas to concrete situations. Abstract ideas include
concepts, laws, principles or theories underlying phenomena.

A science student, at this level, is able to apply
basic principles of science to relate or analyze experiments
or scientific phenomena.

4.00. Analysis. This consists of dividing into

 

specific elements and making relationships. The purpose
is to uncover the hidden meanings and understand the basic
structure.

The science student must distinguish between rele-
vant and extraneous materials in exploring experimental phe-
nomena, or detect unstated assumptions. In studying gravity,
Galileo used the inclined plane to demonstrate the uniformly
accelerated movement of an object on the earth; the student,
in order to understand the process, has to consider the

forces influencing the ball.

70

5.00. Synthesis. This is an operation of putting

 

ideas together to form new or creative ideas not previously
stated. Ideas do not need to be related to the particular
problem under study. Instead, they may come from different
sources in addition to the problem under investigation.
Production of a plan or proposed set of operations is in-
cluded.

Synthesis of new organic compounds in chemistry is
an example very often seen.

6.00. Evaluation involves making judgments in the

 

information when conceived in relation to the problem-solving
process, or selecting one of the possible processes over
all the rest. Judgments can be in terms of internal evidence

(subjective) or external criteria (objective).

The Affective Domainl3

1.0. Receiving (or attending). At this level the

 

individual simply becomes conscious of different aSpects
of his environment: facts, ideas or processes. He may also
assume a more active role by directing his attention to
others' communication without being wavered by distracting
stimuli.

There are three different levels of receiving, de-
pending on how active the learner is:

1.1. Awareness is the primary stage of receiving

 

where "the learner will merely be conscious of something—-

he may not be able to verbalize the aspects of the stimulus

71

which cause his awareness."l4

Consciousness at this level is the lowest level of
learning. It is different from the knowledge level in the
cognitive domain because the latter requires a high degree
of consciousness.

The science student can realize the importance of
laboratory work for his science course, but he might not
know how to explain that importance to his classmates, nor
can he perform an experiment of the series required for that
course.

1.2. Willingness to receive. This level is defined
as follows: "He (the learner) is willing to take notice
of the phenomenon and give it his attention."15

Appropriate terms describing his attitude are amen-
able to, diSposed toward, inclined toward, tractable, with
reSpect to, etc. He is ready to sign up for an optional
laboratory session to show his willingness to receive in-
struction from the teacher.

1.3. Controlled or selected attention. "The per-
ception is still without tension or assessment, and the
student may not know the technical terms or symbols with
which to describe it correctly or precisely to others."16

However, he can recognize different periods of the
perception.

The science student looks carefully at a demonstra-

tion experiment, performed by the instructor, and remembers

72

the successive phases of the experiment.

2.0. Responding. At this level, instead of merely
perceiving the phenomenon, the learner shows an interest
in it and may reap thereby, a feeling of pleasure or satis-
faction which can be expressed by such statement as "reading
science lectures for personal pleasure."

There are three subcategories "to illustrate the
continuum of reSponding as the learner becomes more fully
committed to the practice or phenomena of the objective."17

2.1. Acquiescence in responding. There is the ele-
ment of compliance or obedience at the first level, of will
at the second level and of emotion, pleasure or enjoyment
at the third level.

"The student makes the response but he has not fully

18 For example, he

accepted the necessity for doing so."
tries to solve the physics problem, just because his teacher
assigned it for tomorrow's class meeting. He does the work
passively.

2.2. Willingness to reSpond. There is at this
level, a "willingness" with its implication of capacity for
voluntary activity."19 By this voluntary basis, the student
is able to cooperate with peers in formulating a science
project for his class. Without willingness to reapond,
class discussions cannot be fruitful, even if only to eval-

uate a science film after viewing it.

2.3. Satisfaction in reSponse. This step goes

73

beyond the voluntary reSponse, and is accompanied by a feel-
ing of satisfaction, an emotional reSponse generally of
pleasure, zest or enjoyment. The student enjoys reading
about new scientific developments from books he checked out
voluntarily from the school library.

3.0. Valuing. Beyond pleasure and satisfaction
of responding, the learner tends to accept for himself a
belief or to take an attitude reflecting his own criterion
of worth.

There exist three levels of valuing, "each represent—
ing a stage of deeper internalization."20

3.1. Acceptance of a value. This is the lowest
level of certainty regarding the "belief" that is still
"somewhat tentative . . . , not yet firmly founded."

The desire of the science student for participating
in every laboratory session of his class (including the
optional ones) reflects his acceptance of the following
value: "Laboratory teaching is basic for science education.“

He got this belief without any previous experience;
he might have got the idea from the teacher, from his book
or from friends.

3.2. Preference for a value. This is the inter-
mediate stage between mere belief and commitment to the value
previously conceived.

As the student goes on in the course he makes prog-

ress, gets more self-confidence in skills of handling

74

laboratory equipment. He then decides to participate actively
in the value previously cited; this time more positively.

3.3. Commitment. Then comes the last stage where

 

the belief assumes a high degree of certainty. At this level
"the action is the result of an aroused need or drive. There
is a real motivation to act out the behavior."21

The science student finally develops fully his skills
and decides to be a scientist.

At this upper end, he tries to persuade other people--
friends, students-~of his conviction.

4.0. Organization. At this level, the individual
is able to conceptualize a value and then organize a value
system, which serves as basis for his decision-making proc-
esses.

The child can think that science is good (conceptual-
ization of a value) and is able to answer the questions.

"What are the aims of scientists?"22

(4.2. Organization
of a value system).
5.0. Characterization byya value or value complex.
Here the learner has integrated his values into a broader
and internally consistent system of all traditions and values.

He is described as having a well defined philosophy of life.

He can be confident in his ability to succeed.

The Psycho—motor Type of Objectives

These objectives are traditionally known as skills

and habits. However, the range of objectives extends far

75

beyond these latter and include the following:

1.0. Observipg. The learner at this level may be
asked to observe activity or read the directions related
to this activity. Thus, the beginning science student may
watch his instructor perform a very simple experiment, that
he already has read in the laboratory guide.

2.0. Imitating. At this level, the learner imitates
the model, which can be his instructor or a picture in his
manual. What he could do is follow directions and sequences
under close supervision.

3.0. Practicing. By the time the learner has ad-
vanced to this level, he has gained for himself a certain
sense of sequential order in his act. As the performance
is repeated, less effort in performing the act is required
from the learner.

4.0. Adapting. This terminal level involves adapt-
ing minor details which give "greater perfection" to the
acquired skill. This is the process by which a scientist
becomes an expert.

There is also in this psychomotor realm a gradation
which goes from simple to complex, and which must be taken
into account by the instructor in his planning of instruc—
tional activity so that grade effectiveness may be obtained.23
3 The three types of objectives-—cognitive, affective
and psychomotor--are not mutually exclusive; they overlap.

However, the attainment of one does not guarantee the attain-

ment of the remaining.

76

Those specific objectives can be further integrated
into a body of broader aims in science education.

1) The fi£§£_type of aims deals with the content
or subject matter of science. Although science facts are
indispensable to science teaching, they are not the ultimate
aims of science. The ultimate aims of science can be called
the understanding of science generalization, i.e., an under—
standing of generalization which make clear the relationship
of a number of facts to the interpretation of a natural phe-
nomenon.

2) The second type of ultimate aims of ggience teach-
igg includes the development of critical thinking, of problem
solving ability_involved in the process of "sciencing."

3) The EEE£Q type of ultimate aims in science teach-
ing is developing ability to apply scientific methods to the
solution of everyday problems and thepggowth of scientific
attitudes: raising questions about things that are not
understood, the search for valid explanation, the attitude

of waiting for more reliable data before elaborating judgments.

Critical Thinkipg
1) Definition
Among other important aSpects of thinking such as
associative thinking, concept formation, problem-solving,

creative thinking and reflective thinking, critical think-

ing is necessary for acquiring knowledge and skills. It

is defined in the Educator's Encyclopedia as a way to make

77

good judgment.
"Critical thinking may be described as good, unemo-

tional judgment that results from an analysis of the material

or a situation."24

It is closely related to problem-solving, necessary
for problem-solving and can be developed through problem-
solving, but it has a broader field of use:

Closely allied to the scientific attitude, crit—
ical thinking can be developed as the result of the
problem-solving approach to learning, but it is in-
volved also in a more personal analysis of a situation
or of a written or oral presentation.

2) Aspects of Critical Thinking
A complete concept of critical thinking was carefully

explained and proposed by Robert Ennis for Research in the

Teaching and Evaluation of Critical Thinking Ability in 1962.26

He listed the different aspects of critical thinking, cover-
ing the basic notion of the latter as "the correct assessing
of statements." To the various kinds of statements, there
correSpond twelve aspects of critical thinking as follows:

1. Grasping the meaning of a statement.

2. Judging whether there is ambiguity in a line
of reasoning.

3. Judging whether certain statements contradict
each other.

4. Judging whether a conclusion follows necessarily.

5. Judging whether a statement is specific enough.

6. Judging whether a statement is actually the ap-
plication of a certain principle.

7. Judging whether an observation statement is re-
liable.

8. Judging whether an inductive conclusion is war-
ranted.

9. Judging whether the problem has been identified.

10. Judging whether something is an assumption.

ll. Judging whether a definition is adequate.

78

12. Judging whether a statement made by an alleged
authority is acceptable.27

From this proposed concept, he distinguished three
basic analytical dimensions: a logical dimension, a cri-
terial dimension and a pragmatic dimension.

The logical dimension, roughly speaking, covers
judging alleged relationships between meanings of
words and statements. . . . [For this purpose, the
thinker has to know] the meaning of basic terms in
the field in which the statement under consideration
is made.

The critical dimension covers knowledge of the
criteria for judging statements, except for the log-
ical criteria.

The ppagmatic dimension . . . covers the decision
as to whether the statement is good enough for the
purpose.28 '

 

An analysis of the aspects of critical thinking showed
that items 1, 3, 4, 10 involve only logical dimension, items
7 and 9 involve only criterial dimension; items 5, 6 involve
both logical and pragmatic dimensions; the rest (items 2, 8,

ll, 12) involve all of the three dimensions.

Problem-Solving

It is defined by Mills and Dean as both a way of
thinking and a method of teaching. This is a type of think-
ing that occurs when the situation presents "a difficulty
that cannot be met by other means."

Steps involved in problem-solving are:

a. A difficulty is recognized.

b. The problem is clarified and defined.

c. A search for clues is made.

d. Various suggestions are made and are evaluated

and tried out.

e. A suggested solution is accepted or the thinker
gives up in defeat.29

79

The problem-solving process differs from the crit-
ical thinking because it applies to more Specific problems
that students try to get the answer.

Science teachers can well apply the problem-solving
method, either in demonstration or a class discussion, a
field trip, and especially in the laboratory where his stu-
dents learn the way a scientist does. Brandwein3O distin-
guishes between problem-solving of the scientist (concept
seeking) and the problem doing of the pupils (concept con-
firming); although both can have a proper place in the sci—

ence courses 0

FOOTNOTES FOR CHAPTER III

‘ lVietnam (Republic), Ministry of Education, Chdong-
Trinh Trupngoc (Secondary Education Curriculum), (Saigon:
Ministry of Education, 1958), pp. 5-6.

2UNESCO, International Yearbook of Education, Vol.
XXI, 1959 (Paris and Geneva: Unesco and International Bureau
of Education, 1959), p. 490.

3UNESCO, International Yearbook of Education, Vol.
XXVII, 1965 (Paris and Geneva: Unesco and International
Bureau of Education, 1965), p. 399.

4These objectives are set up according to the three
fundamental principles of Vietnamese Education, with addi-
tional consideration to the present situation (war time con-
ditions, low economic level, etc.).

5Benjamin 5. Bloom, ed., Taxonomy of Educational
Objectives. Handbook I: Cognitive Domain (New York:
Longmans, Green and Co., 1956), p. 7.

6

 

Ibido, ppo 8-90

7Ibid., pp. 61-200.

81bid., p. 62.

9Ibid., p. 63.

lOIbid., p. 68.

llIbid., p. 72.

lzIbid., p. 73.

13David R. Krathwohliy Benjamin S. Bloom, and
Bertram B. Masia, Taxonomy of sducational Objectives.
flgpdbookyll: Affective Domain (New York: David McKay
Company, Inc., 1964), pp. 12-14.

14Ibid., p. 100.

15Ibid., p. 107.

80

81

lerid., p. 112.

17Ibid., p. 118.

lerid., p. 119.

lgIbid., p. 124.

201bid., p. 139.

211bid., p. 149.

22Louis T. Kuslan and A. Harris Stone, Teaching Child-
ren Science: an Inggipy Approach (Belmont, California:
Wadsworth Publishing Company, Inc., 1968), p. 356.

23Kenneth H. Hoover, Learning_and Teaching in the
Secondary School (second edition; Boston: Allyn and Bacon,
Inc., 1968), pp. 54-550

24Edward W. Smith, Stanley W. Krouse, Jr., and Mark M.
Atkinson, The Educator's Encyclopedia (Englewood Cliffs,
New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1961), p. 615.

25

 

 

 

 

 

Ibid.

26Robert H. Ennis, "Concept of Critical Thinking,“
Harvard Educational Review, XXXII, No. l (1962), pp. 81-111.

27

 

Ibid.

28Ibid.

29Lester C. Mills and Peter M. Dean, Problem-Solving
Methods in Science Teaching (New York: Bureau of Publica-
tions, Teachers College, Columbia University, 1960), p. 12.

30Paul F. Brandwein, Fletcher Watson, and Paul F.
Blackwood, Teaching High School Science: A Book of Methods
(New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1958), p. 27.

 

 

CHAPTER IV

PRINCIPLES AND GUIDELINES FOR THE PREPARATION,
SELECTION AND USE OF TEXTBOOKS IN SCIENCE TEACHING

In Vietnam, the shortage of up-to-date science text-
books for the schools is almost as critical as the shortage
of teachers. It has been felt at almost all levels--whether
elementary, secondary or higher education.

At the university level, there have been some efforts
in the production of textbooks, problem books for freshmen
and sophomores. However, those efforts are rather modest,
limiting themselves to the translation of foreign texts--
French or English—~into the Vietnamese language.

There has been no attempt to write textbooks adapted
to the thinking behavior of Vietnamese students. This is
due, first of all, to the lack of specialists and responsible
persons in various fields of knowledge. It happened very
often in the past that authorities in science were absorbed
by the administrative and executive sectors of the educa—
tional system. They then no longer devote themselves to
the teaching task and, consequently, to the production of
materials needed for teaching.

On the other hand, some teachers really want to pub-

lish textbooks which might help their peers in their teaching

82

83

duties. However, they fear that their books will not be

very welcome by the public, due to their lack of authority,
whether it may be a Ph.D. degree or some other experiences

in their subject area. Another big stumbling block is author—

ization from the Ministry of Education.

Textbook Role in Vietnamese Secondarnychools

Textbooks are a major factor in the formation of
Vietnamese school curricula: in the majority of Vietnamese
schools today, the textbook is the curriculum in many class-
rooms.

Most Vietnamese teachers nowadays still consider
the textbook as a necessary companion in their teaching work,
regardless of whether they use them alone or supplement them
with monographs, pamphlets or magazines. Foreign textbooks--
French or English--are considered as cherished treasures.

Another aSpect of this importance can be seen in
the sending of personnel of the Instructional Material Cen—
ter to Japan to be trained for Book Publication in a Special
eighty-day course, Sponsored by UNESCO.1

In summary, for a long time to come the influence
of textbooks will remain--as it is now and as it has been
in the past--powerful and will be welcome by the public in
Vietnam at large, particularly by Vietnamese teachers in

their daily work.

84
Arguments in Favor of the Use of Textbooks
in VietnameseISecondaryASChools

.Teachers and laymen who agree on the necessity of
using textbooks in Vietnamese schools present their arguments
as follows:
1) Economic Reasons

Vietnam is a developing country. Most of the child-
ren who go to schools come from poor and rural areas where
the only learning resource available for them is the pupil's
textbook. To enrich their studies and readings, the child-
ren have practically nothing: no periodicals, no supple-
mentary texts, no radio or television! Also there is a lack

of libraries in some communities.

2) Usefulness of Textbooks for the Learner

The main advantages provided to the pupil by the
use of textbooks are as follows:

a. Textbooks are organized in learning sequences,
sometimes in order of increasing difficulty of the subject.
This is not necessarily true with supplementary texts and
materials a teacher may use in his teaching.

b. Textbooks allow students to study at their own
pace, which is determined by their intellectual abilities
or interest. They enable them to repeat their studies as
many times as they want, at convenient moments. This indi—
vidualism of instruction offered by textbooks is particularly

adequate with textbooks in programmed form, which are not

85

available in Vietnam yet.

c. The textbook may be considered by the student
as an ”assistant teacher in printed form." It may be used
as a teaching device, regarding teacher's instruction in
class, whether his equation and formulas written on the
blackboard are correct: the teacher sometimes may make
mistakes by wrong memorizing;

The textbook also offers a rich source of learning
experience that the teacher could not provide himself, due
to time limitations. Abundant illustrations in the book--
color flat pictures, charts, diagrams-—enhance learning and

add pleasure to it.

3) Usefulness of Textbooks for the Teacher

Teachers who use textbooks in their classroom gen-
erally found that:

a. Textbooks give to the teacher a sense of security
and self-confidence. This is particularly true for the in-
experienced teacher wno is just beginning his career.

b. Textbooks are considered as practical means to
improve teacher's skills in handling various instruction
problems, through rich suggestions in teacher's manuals,

prepared by experienced teachers or experts.

Arguments Against the Use of Textbooks
On the other hand, the arguments criticizing the

use of textbooks are not lacking. They are:

86

1. Textbooks become outdated as soon as they come
off the press. This problem is more serious for some fields
than for others. Financial reasons area major cause for
the delay of textbook revision.

2. There are wide disagreements among textbook authors
regarding the content of the book, the goals and objectives
to be achieved. Also, textbook writers show neglect in fol-
lowing recommendations of national committees regarding changes
to be made in textbook content and presentation.

3. The presentation of information as it has been
done so far in narrative form in textbooks does not invite
students to use their thinking creatively, to discover truth
by themselves, by their own efforts. Then, reading becomes
for students an act of “remembering" rather than a process
of using data from the book to solve problems. This "arti-
ficial linearity"2 characteristic of most printed materials
today can also be said about textbook presentation.

4. The teacher, by relying too much on the book,
limits his own growth of creative teaching, i.e., of find-
ing more than one alternative to solve certain problems or
to teach difficult concepts and principles.

5. Textbooks are unable to handle controversial

issues and topics that periodicals can do very well.

Conclusion: One can learn a great deal from both

 

of these types of arguments. They may help in the differ-

entiation between good and bad textbooks.

87

In summary, there are no reasons why one should not
use textbooks in teaching, providing they are accurate and
well written, and used along with other instructional mate-
rials. And, if all books are used wisely to meet group and
individual needs of pupils, they are good and effective tools.
For Vietnamese schools, textbooks are not likely to disappear

for at least some time.

Guiding Principles for Science Textbook Writing

1) Necessity of Textbook Guidance Committee

 

The preparation or writing of textbooks for science
teaching and learning in Vietnam should be placed under the
supervision of committees, each committee being in charge
of one area of science: biology, physics or chemistry.
Textbook authors should comply to the rules and guidelines
set up by their respective committees so that there is some
uniformity in the work of many individuals: uniformity in
the terminology and in the notations or symbols used, uni-

formity in the style and organization of content.

2) Suitabilipy of Objectives

Books which are newly prepared should present facts
and principles of science in such a way that the objectives
of science education in Vietnam could be met. For instance,
if we agree that one of the general goals of science teach-
ing is to teach understanding of generalizations (know-

ledge of universals and abstractions) we should not organize

88

our textbooks in the traditional way, the "encyclopedic"
way with a large number of scattered and fragmented topics,
without any liaison between each other. Instead we should
try to relate one topic with another, make comparisons be-
tween them, combine various topics into a short number of
well developed units of instruction. The following example
illustrates the idea discussed:

There are many incidents in which one animal
may be observed eating some form of plants. There
are many incidents in which one specific animal may
be observed eating or otherwise using another animal
to maintain itself. One may read that green plants
use carbon dioxide in manufacturing food. Further-
more, one may read or observe through indirect means
that human beings give off carbon dioxide as a waste
product.

Each of these may be considered a fact of sci-
ence and possibly an interesting fact. But these
facts individually have little meaning or signif-
icance in understanding the environment, or in
solving problems related to the use of our biotic
resources.

On the other hand, they can have meaning when,
through guided learning experiences, they are re-
lated to an important generalization of Biology:
Living things are interdependent. This generali-
zation in turn has significance when it is applied
with understanding in making decisions regarding
such questions as: should we kill off the hawks
in our community?

3) Incorporation of Critical Thinking

A good writer also leaves room for critical think-
ing and discovery of scientific principles by the students
themselves. He should also induce trying several approaches
to a given problem which may be different from the one pro-

posed by the teacher. Thus, "textbook writers are including

89

many aids to learning such as student activities which will
provide that element of 'discovery' for the student rather
than 'tell all' before the student has a chance to find out

for himself."4

4) Inductive Approach to Science

Inductive teaching in science uses particular or
actual cases to develop concepts and principles. Whenever
the development of an understanding of a principle or a con-
cept is the main objective of a lesson, the inductive method
should be used. Science textbooks should provide illustra-
tions.to this approach in science teaching. For instance,
the effective way to teach students the simple lever prin—
ciple is starting with the observation "in moving an object
with a lever, the farther away from the fulcrum the force
is exerted, the less the force needs to be."5 Photographs
or pictures in the book should help the students correctly
perform the experiments.

Guiding Principles for the Selection and Use

of Textbooks in Science Teaching

Recommendations regarding the selection and use of
textbooks should be based upon research done on textual mate-
rials in general. Some of these research findings are:6

1) More learning is obtained if more than one medium
is used: textbooks with lecture, textbooks with slides or
pamphlets, etc.

2) However, real supplementation should be insured

90

through such coordinated use. No gains could be achieved
if the added medium does not give the added interpretation.

3) Virtually no experimental research has been done
on how students read and understand different forms of written
reasoning or exposition. Some evidence, however, points out
the fact that a writing style in which examples or particu-
lar cases are subordinated to general explanatory principles
developed in the text, bring out more meaning and appeal to
the students than a style in which examples and principles
have the same emphasis.

4) The use of color results in gains of attention
and interest, but there is no evidence that greater learn-
ing is obtained inevitably when color itself is not integral
to concepts or principles to be learned.

5) A relationship exists between the redundance of
textbook language and the extent to which it will be remem-
bered. Repetition seems to be beneficial to comprehension
but the most appropriate amounts and kinds of such repeti-
tion for different instructional purposes are still unknown.

These research findings are helpful in establishing
a set of guidelines for the selection of science textbooks

for use in secondary schools.

1. Content

Science textbooks that are chosen should be in line
with the goals and objectives of science teaching in Vietnam.

The most important factor is in the undertaking of the content

91

analysis of any science textbook by the teacher. Also the
specific objectives for the teaching of the course must be
taken into account in this analysis.

Other factors worth considering in the evaluation
of textbook contents include the following:

a) The content should be suitable to the students'
maturity and their past experiences in science.

b) The content should meet students' needs and in-
terests.

c) The statements in the textbooks must be accurate.

2. Readability

The teacher must also pay attention to the reada-
bility of the books used. A standard literary style for
science textbooks should have these characteristics:

a) The length of sentences as well as the number
of ideas per sentence must be well balanced. Long sentences
should be avoided.

b) Irrelevant thought should be absent.

c) There should be a continuity of thought through-
out a given topic by the use of connection sentences between
paragraphs.

Readability depends also on vocabulary itself.

The excessive use of technical terms as well as non-
technical ones in science textbooks reduces the students'
interest in reading science, since their trends of thought

are likely to be interrupted by frequent consultations of

the dictionary.

92

3. Illustrations

Illustrations in science textbooks should have eye
appeal. Shading techniques should be appropriately used
to enhance the attractiveness of illustrations. These tech-
niques can adequately serve the purpose of using color in
illustrations which is not widely used in Vietnam, due to
the high cost.

Ratings of illustrations in science textbooks should
not be made solely on their attractiveness alone. Other
factors should also be considered, e.g., the extent to which
illustrations are related to the topic of interest. Illus-
trations should be placed in proximity to the worded part
of the topic with captions closely related to the surround-

ing paragraphs.

4. Detailed Indexes and Tables of Content should be pre-
ferred to succinct ones. A glossary may be useful in pro-

viding a quick reference to important concepts learned.

5. Physical Appearance

The physical appearance of a science textbook should
not be neglected. An attractive cover design and a well
proportioned size-—neither too thick nor too thin--imparts
to the book an attractive overall appearance.

The ease and pleasure with which the text is read
depends largely on the size and legibility of type used.

The type used should be sharp and big enough for a person

93

with normal eyes. Legibility is further enhanced by pro-
viding ample Spaces between lines.

Relatively low importance factors in selecting a
textbook are:

(1) Not all well-known science educators are neces-
sarily good writers. Therefore, the educational rank and
prestige of the author should not be considered as important
factors in determining the quality of a science textbook.

(2) There are some other factors which should not
be considered as good criteria for selecting textbooks:7

a. The widely used textbook can meet the needs of
students in many schools, but may not serve well in some
other particular schools. Thus, wide use of a text does
not necessarily guarantee its usefulness in every particular
situation.

b. The cost of a textbook should be carefully stud-
ied. An apparently expensive textbook which can be used
for several years actually costs less than a cheap textbook
which has to be thrown away after a short period of use,

due to its poor academic value.

Methods of Evaluating Textbooks
Various methods of evaluating textbooks employ score
cards or rating sheets. A score card consists of a list
of major items considered important for the evaluation.
The importance of each item, relative to all others, is

established by the number of maximum points given to it.

94

An example of a score card for evaluation of textbooks was

provided by Hunter.8

1. Educational rank of author 50
2. Mechanical make-up and cost 100
3. Psychological soundness 300
4. Subject matter 250
5. Literary style 110
6. Learning exercises 140
7. Teacher's help 50

1000

The rating of textbooks is based upon this list;
the total score obtained for a particular textbook may then
be compared to that of other books.

Another evaluation method, the "Vogel's spot check
method,"9 also uses a score card, in which each item has
been assigned a maximum value of two points.

The main purpose of score cards or rating sheets
is to make the selection of textbooks as objective as pos-
sible. To be meaningful score cards or rating Sheets Should
be developed by a textbook selection committee (at the re-
gional level) composed of educators from various types of
Schools in the region. Although each region will have its
own method of seleCting science textbooks, the following
points are worth keeping in mind:

1. Have a written form stating policies and

procedures for Selecting textbook materials.

2. Establish criteria based upon the course

of study.

3. Select a representative committee to partici-

pate in the study.

4. Have as many titles as are available from

which to make a selection.

5. Obtain reactions from as many people as seem

appropriate such as pupils, teachers, librarians,
principals, and in some cases, qualified laymen.

95

6. Be objective in making the selection. Use a
rating sheet.

7. Introduce new materials to the teachers through
a planned in~service training program.10
Teaching with Science Textbooks

Science teachers should be flexible in using text-
books. They should adapt them to the particular group of
students and the specific classroom situation. Thus, the
sequence of presentation may be modified. They may, for
instance, start out by lessons on Newton's laws rather than
tedious introductions to units of measurement.

Another aspect of adaptation consists of omitting
content which does not suit the purpose of the lesson or the
comprehension level of most of the students in the class.

To make textbook learning more meaningful, more "real
and alive," science teachers should provide various supple-
mentary instructional materials along with textbooks. For
example, seeing films or slides, using models and mock-ups,
organizing science exhibits and diSplays, visiting industrial
plants, may help in making more meaningful what students
read in textbooks. Readings are most beneficial when they
are used as follow-up activities to real life or audio-visual
learning experiences.

Science teachers should also place stress upon the
importance of visual contents--charts, diagrams, flat pic-
tures--in facilitating comprehension and learning of the

verbal parts in science textbooks. They should help students

96

read and interpret these visual contents which constitute

valuable resources for classroom teaching.

96

read and interpret these visual contents which constitute

valuable resources for classroom teaching.

FOOTNOTES FOR CHAPTER IV

lVietnam (Republic), Ministry of Education, Re ort,
1970 UNESCO In-Service Training_for Book Publication in Asia,
SEp. 11_: Dec. ly_l970 (Saigon, Vietnam: Ministry of Educa-
tion, 1970).

2Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media: The Exten-
sions of Man (2nd ed., New York: New American Library, 1964),
pp 0 Vii-Xi o

3J. Darrell Barnard, Teaching High-School Scienge,
What Research Says to the Teacher, No. 10 (Washington, D.C.:
National Education Association, Association of Classroom
Teachers, 1956), p. 7.

4Archie M. Owen, "Selecting Science Textbooks," The
Science Teacher, XXIX (November, 1962), 21.

5Nelson B. Henry, ed., Science Education in American
Schools, Forty-sixth Yearbook, of the National Society for
the Study of Education, Part I (Chicago: The University of
Chicago Press, 1947), p. 49.

6Wilbur Schramm, "The Publishing Process," in Text
Materials in Modern Education, ed. by Lee J. Cronbach (Urbana,
Illinois: University of Illinois, 1955), pp. 145-55.

 

7Guy Montrose Whipple, ed., The Textbook in American
Education, Thirtieth Yearbook of the National Society for
the‘Study of Education, Part II (Bloomington, Illinois:
Public School Publishing Company, 1931), pp. 306-307.

8George W. Hunter, Science Teaching at Junior and
Senior High School Level (New York: American Book Co., 1934),
pp. 252-55.

9Louis F. Vogel, "A Spot-check Evaluation Scale for
High-School Science Textbooks," The Science Teacher, XVIII
(March, 1951), 70-72.

10

 

 

Owen, op. cit., 23.

97

CHAPTER V

IMPROVING SCIENCE TEACHING THROUGH
DEMONSTRATION AND LABORATORY WORK
Introduction

The most widely used method of science teaching in
Vietnam is lecturing. With a textbook and a chalk board,
the secondary school science teacher tries to transmit his
knowledge of the day's lesson to his students. He also makes
detailed plans to cover the whole program of his subject
by the end of the academic year.

Science teachers sometimes use demonstrations along
with their lectures whenever conditions permit. They may
set up laboratory sessions for their students of tenth grade
once in a while. Scarcity in demonstration and laboratory
work is due to the various following reasons: lack of lab-
oratory facilities and scientific equipment, lack of ade—
quately trained science teachers in laboratory teaching,
serious pressure of the national examinations on students'

and teachers' activities, too large class size, etc.

1) Lack of Laboratory Facilities and Scientific Equipment
In large cities in Vietnam, each public secondary
school--of two or three thousand students--has only one lab-

oratory, a small and all-purpose laboratory for all science

98

99

subjects. There is neither darkroom for optical work, nor
workshop where equipment can be made or repaired. Most of
the laboratories do not have fume-hoods for chemical experi-
ments producing poisonous gases.

Basic services such as water, gas, and electricity
are not always available. Some school districts do not pro-
vide clear, pure water all the time due to erosion of the
pipes or their disconnection. Electricity supply is even
in worse condition. During the last five years, there has
been partial power shortage in Saigon and not any school
has its own generator to provide electricity. Some schools
cannot afford to buy gas tanks for burners and teachers have
to use alcohol lamps that usually cannot give high tempera-
ture for some experiments.

Scientific equipment is limited and sometimes not
appropriate for any science course. Chemicals needed by
science teachers for classroom demonstrations usually cannot
be bought on time because of the lack of funds from a restrict-
ed budget of the school itself.

Preservation and maintenance of scientific equipment
gives rise to much difficulty due to the high humidity in
the atmoSphere, especially during the rainy season. For
example, science teachers fail in performing demonstration
experiments in electrostatics quite often because the pith
balls have captured too much moisture and become heavy con-

ductors.

lOO

Deterioration of apparatus which has not been espec-
ially constructed for the tropical climate of Vietnam cannot
be prevented or stopped despite the various precautions taken
by science teachers and laboratory assistants.

There is also a general lack of well-trained labora-
tory assistants. Only a few of laboratory assistants are
former science teachers of first cycle classes, and most
of them keep the position very loosely and temporarily.
Therefore, in some cases science teachers themselves are
responsible for the supervision of the laboratories; they
make arrangements and set up equipment for their own demon-
strations and students' laboratory work, without receiving

much help from the laboratory assistants.

2) Lack of Well-Trained Science Teachers

All science teachers in Vietnam are fully aware of
the need of using experiments in their teaching. They surely
agree that:

"Science is not 'chalk talk'; it is experience in
search for meaning. . . .

"The fruits of science are developed in the deed.
Brain and muscle, mind and hand are in constant collabora-
tion."1

However, not many of them are well trained in lab-
oratory work. Those who graduated from the Faculty of Peda-
gogy (College of Education) were taught in the traditional

way of viewing science as content rather than as process.

101

This is reflected in their way of handling of demonstrations
and experiments in class. They expect the students "to ac-
cept the idea because the demonstration is proving it or
because it is in the textbook."2 For occasional laboratory
sessions, they expect the students to proceed by following

a ”cookbook type of laboratory manual"3 and fill out the
blanks.

Today's scientists and science educators give greater
attention to the understanding of science as a process.
Teaching science as inquiry, for discovery, by using crit-
ical thinking and problem solving process, etc., are the
main features of science teaching. Therefore, prOSpective
teachers need to be well-prepared, in-service science teach—
ers need to be trained quite often in order for them to over-
come difficult Situations and to acquire effective teaching
practices.

3) Pressure of the National Examinations on Teachers' and
Students' Activities

The teaching in secondary schools in Vietnam is too
much directed toward the national examinations. Success
of students in these examinations determines the performance
of their teachers. This way of evaluation is indeed inap-
propriate and challenges the teachers to prepare their stu-
dents for the kind of test students will take in the exam-
inations rather than for students' own growth in thinking

and creativity.

102

Therefore, to cover the whole science program by
the end of the academic year is the main concern of science
teachers of grades eleven and twelve. National science syl-
labuses for these grades are loaded, especially with physics
and biology, hence, require a great part of the class time
to be covered. Furthermore, only Specific facts and prin-
ciples will be tested in the examination, in the form of
essay questions; only what is in the textbook will be needed
for students. Laboratory skills apparently are not required
to pass the Baccalaureate I and Baccalaureate II and to get
out of high school.

For these reasons, laboratory work is not as neces-
sary as practicing physics problem-doing and reviewing the
whole textbook a number of times before the examinations come.

As long as the national examination system in Vietnam
remains, it is difficult to reorient the science courses
from the examination-directed nature into the laboratory-
oriented goal which must be the immediate objective that
"leads students to modify their behavior to face problems
in a scientific manner, not only in laboratory but in life

situation as well."4

4) Too Lapge Class Size

Class size in Vietnamese secondary schools is too
large. With an average of 58 students5 in one classroom
the science teacher can give lectures, but can hardly Show

demonstrations (visibility problem for students) and it is

103

almost impossible to set up and guide laboratory sessions
for the whole class at the same time.

Laboratories in secondary schools in Vietnam are
actually built to provide facilities for an average of thirty-
pupil groups. One teacher alone--no matter how good he is--
can hardly supervise experiments for individuals of the whole
class.

Possible solutions can be the following: divide
the class, randomly-~50 that there will be no students'
complaint-~into two groups (25 to 30 students) and set up
two separate laboratory sessions for them. Two ways can
be used for scheduling:

a. Laboratory session during class hours: one group
having laboratory work while the other takes the test of
control (quiz) and then reads or does its homework, and
vicenversa. However, the problem of discipline (order)
bothers the administrator staff (principal, his assistants,
etc.) and possibly other classroom teachers in the class
neighborhood.

b. Laboratory session out of class hours: this would
be on Sundays, if the teacher did not intend to occupy these
place of the other shift classes in the laboratory.6 This
solution creates problemsof extra work for teacher and stu-
dents and also requires parents' permission.

Therefore, science teachers gradually give up the

idea of organizing laboratory work for individual students:

104

the idea they conceive as the most interesting and creative
before they actually confront reality in getting the first

teaching job.

The Demonstration Method

In planning to teach a lesson of a particular unit,
the science teacher usually checks the availability of ap-
paratus or chemicals, instruments needed for the experiments
that can be given as demonstrations for the lesson.

The demonstration method is preferred by some science
teachers because "it is accepted by science teachers as an
effective and economical means of helping students to visual-
ize, memorize and understand specific kinds of Specific in-
formation."7

Furthermore, a demonstration can also be given in—
ductively by the instructor who asks several questions to
stress inquiry. It involves thinking and motivation of the
students and gives the teacher "immediate feedback" from
their answers.8

Despite its many advantages, the demonstration method
has its own limitations. In order to successfully apply
this method, one has to be fully aware of its functions,
advantages and limitations. Criteria for good demonstra-
tions and the different ways to present a demonstration should

be considered when one plans and makes the presentation of

the demonstration.

105

1) Functions of the Demonstration Method

The demonstration has many possible functions; six
of them are the following:

a. To set a problem. A demonstration can be pre-
sented without previous discussion to initiate a new unit.
The traditional "water to wine" trick is shown to introduce
the study of chemical coloring indicators for acid and base
solutions: the water, containing a little phenolphtalei “‘
from a bottle, when poured into a drinking glass having
traces of sodium hydroxide, becomes bright pink.9 In the
interest and surprise of the students, the teacher can, then,
begin his lecture successfully.

b. To solve ayproblem. Discussion or reading in
science sometimes results in common problems of general
interest. At the request of the students, the teacher can
arrange and show a demonstration that gives a satisfactory
answer to the problem.

c. To illustrate appoint. This is the most common

 

use of the demonstration. For example, during an eclipse,

the teacher can arrange to demonstrate the relative position

of the sun-moon-earth system to illustrate the phenomenon.10
d. To show method and techniqges. In the teaching

of acid-base titrations,demonstration of the method based

on Le Chatelier's principle of the reaction:11
OH“ (aq) + H... (aq)-—+'H20“

as well as the technique of using the burette is necessary

106

for the whole lesson.
e. To verifyyyto substantiate and to review. A dem-
onstration to show that, in the absence of sunlight, no starch

is formed on the leaf,12

can be performed by testing starch
with iodine in a leaf partly covered with a piece of cord
or black card.

f. To evaluate student achievement. This can be
done when a student is designated, by the teacher to inter-
pret a new demonstration of a familiar principle, or to jus-
tify the application of a general scientific law to particu-
lar cases.

Students can explain the principle of a kaleidoscope
after they have lessons about light reflection and the image
of an object given by a plane mirror. Also, when they thor-
oughly understand the principle of a kaleidoscope with three

angles, students can explain one with five, six or more

angles.

2) Advantages of the Demonstration Method

Advantages of demonstrations are various; major ones
include the following:

a. Direction of class thinking by the teacher. A
demonstration guides the thinking of all the students into
approximately the same channel. The whole class follows
the teacher's activity in raising the problem, performing
steps of the demonstration, collecting data, proposing solu-

tions, testing them and drawing final conclusions. All the

107

pupils may gain approximately the same understanding.

In teaching "composition of water," the teacher first
shows the demonstration on electrolysis of water.13 He starts
by setting up the necessary apparatus, filling up the tubes
with a dilute solution of sodium sulfate; then he sets up
the circuit, starts the current, watches the bubbles coming
up and waits for a while. When the amounts of gases collected
are sufficient, he cuts the current, reads their volumes,
identifies them by combustion tests. Then comes interpreta-
tions where conclusions are drawn and the reaction written.

The next demonstration would be combining hydrogen
and oxygen, and then a series of experiments similar to the
second one using different simple ratios of the combining
volumes. The students follow the teacher through all these
steps and gain the knowledge he wants them to get.

b. Economy of materials. A demonstration is econom-
ical in materials. Equipment and materials are needed only
for setting up one experiment. When the school cannot af-
ford to buy materials for the whole class laboratory session,
the demonstration is used instead.

Expensive materials such as a silver or a platinum
coil to be used as catalyst in the oxidation of ethanol can-
not be provided for each student, then the teacher shows
the demonstration to the class; only one coil is needed.

c. Economyyof teacher time and energy. A demonstra-

tion can be economical in teacher time and energy. It is

108

faster and easier for the teacher to prepare materials for
one demonstration than for sixty duplicate experiments or
even for thirty (in case he can afford to give two labora-
tory sessions to the halves of the class).

d. Economy in class time. A demonstration may be
economical in class time because the teacher, being more
experienced than the students, can perform the demonstration
experiment more satisfactorily and more quickly than students.

This is particularly applicable to the situation
of classes that are going to have the national examinations
at the end of the year. It helps to save the class time,
which is very limited for the coverage of the academic pro-
gram.

e. Students' safety. The demonstration allows the
teacher to carry out experiments that would be too dangerous
for students to perform by themselves, even under teacher's
supervision. For example, in the case of experiments involv-
ing inductive coil of high voltage or those using too strong

chemicals such as the sodium that decomposes water.

3) Limitations of the Demonstration Method

Although demonstrations have many advantages pre-
viously discussed, teachers should realize their numerous
limitations to avoid possible failures in teaching with the
demonstration method.

a. Visibility. This is an important problem teachers

 

have to be aware of. Class size in Vietnam is too large

109

and teachers do not have "giant size" test tubes or big
balloons, etc., to make all details of the experiment vis-
ible for students in the back rows. Audio-visual materials
such as the overhead projectors, which can help to solve
this problem, are unfortunately not available in Vietnamese
high schools at the present time.

Furthermore, the color of the background of the ex-
periment setting should be in contrast to the color of the
materials and liquid or vapor in operation. Teachers usu—
ally forget this detail that is indeed more important than
most of them realize.

b. Students have little opportunity_to get acquainted
with the materials.14 In order to be confident in what they
learn from an experiment, the students need to see clearly
every part of the equipment, to touch it, to work with it.
In a demonstration experiment most of the students sit far
away from the desk; they could not even take a close look
at the materials, hence, they are not likely to be enthusi-
astic about what is going on.

For example, in the demonstration "electrolysis of
water," students need to be familiar with the tiny silver
electrodes by looking closely at them. Then, they can re-
alize the importance of the electrode presence in the elec-
trolysis process.

c. Results can be collected not only by observation.

Odors (alcohol, vinegar, etc.), textures, forces should be

110

assured by students themselves, but they usually could not
for the same reason with the previous limitation.

d. A demonstration happens at a rapid pace that not

 

all of the students can follow the steps and can have time
to raise questions. Reactions in inorganic chemistry are
usually rapid and it is hard to get the attention of all
the students at the same time; for example, at the instant
where the change of color occurs in the titration of an acid
solution demonstration.

e. Duringythe demonstrationy most of the students
remain inactive.15 They only have interest in work they
can involve in; and attention cannot be held long if there
is no interest. A demonstration that happens too long with-
out students' involvement (in any way) is subject to class
distraction.

A failure in the teacher's demonstration is usually
accompanied by a loss of confidence in the students if he

does not know how to handle the situation.

4) Criteria for Good Demonstrations

 

The previous discussion about advantages and limita-
tions of the demonstration method enables us to set up cri-
teria for good demonstrations. Among the principal criteria
are the following:16

a. Trying out in advance. It is suggested that the

 

teacher try out the demonstration in advance. He should

be certain that the necessary apparatus and supplies are

111

available. In going through the techniques of planning and
in trying out the demonstration at least one time, he will
be able to realize some possible and unexpected problems

he might confront.

Even if he will let the student perform the demon-
stration, he also has to try it out, so that he will be in
better position to guide the students in case some problems
develop that do not permit a successful demonstration.17

b. Clear purpose. The purpose of the demonstration
should be clear either at the beginning or during the pre-
sentation. The techniques of presenting a demonstration
are indeed very important in the way the teacher directs
and guides the thinking of students in the class.

c. Visibility. The demonstration should be visible
to everyone in the room. Attention should be given to the
size and clarity of the apparatus when the planning process
takes place; a large class needs large scale apparatus.

An overhead projector can serve well to solve this problem
in some cases.

Lighting is also an important factor: well-lighted
apparatus captures more students' attention and permits
clarity of the results obtained.

d. Simple apparatus. Apparatus used should be as
simple as possible. Complex apparatus either attracts too

much attention of students or discourages understanding its

function.

112

In case the teacher has to use a complex machine,
such as the oscilloscope, to record the form of various
sounds, the teacher should limit the curiosity of the stu-
dents who try to understand the principle of the machine.
Since the latter is not the object of the lesson, it should
not be thoroughly discussed in class at that time.

e. Along with other methods. The demonstration
should be used along with other teaching methods such as
lecture, discussion, field trip, etc., whenever appropriate,

in order to fully develop the science teaching objectives.

5) Planning and Presenting a Demonstration

Techniques of planning and presenting a demonstra-
tion are necessary in order to meet the criteria for a good
demonstration.

a. Planning‘techniques. Different and successive
steps must be taken in planning an efficient and effective
demonstration:

1. List concepts and principles one wishes to teach
by the demonstration, then set up a design for the experi-
ment.

2. Break the concepts that are too complex into
simple ones.

3. Select sources of reference, either in textbooks,

demonstration books, or suggestions in magazines, foreign

books or other printed sources.

4. Gather necessary equipment.

113

5. Try out demonstration once or many times until
results are satisfactory.

6. Outline questions to ask students during the
steps of the demonstration.

7. Consider the audio-visual materials that may be
employed.

8. Consider the time Spent for the demonstration,
the average time needed. Adjustment will be made during
the time it is presented, according to the students' reac-
tion and the success of the demonstration.

b. Presentingya demonstration. The success of a
demonstration depends on how the demonstration is presented.
The teacher should keep in mind the following hints if he
wants to make the demonstration method an effective teach-
ing device:

1. Never give too much information about the demon-
stration, but rather ask careful questions to provoke pupils'
thinking.

2. Focus attention of pupils on the demonstration
by introducing the items needed one at a time. First put
them in a tray at one end of the table, and take out as soon
as they are.introduced. If the apparatus must be assembled
beforehand, the teacher should cover it and unveil gradually
as its parts are introduced.

In a demonstration of "How is water purified?“ the

Water is purified by evaporation and condensation of its

114

vapor. The equipment takes time to be set up. The teacher
can introduce the assembled apparatus by unveiling three
different parts: evaporating device, condensing device with
a cold water stream and pure water in a collecting device.

3. Pacing the demonstration according to the audi-
ence speed of comprehension to get maximum effectiveness.
Usually a demonstration is in a short time but occasionally
it is good to extend a certain length of time for students'
interest or relaxation, or for formulating an answer.

4. Use the chalk board to describe the purpose of
the demonstration, to collect data, to infer conclusions.

A beginning teacher often fails to realize or even to consider
how the chalk board can complement the learningactivity.18

5. If, unfortunately, something "goes wrong“ the
teacher has to turn the situation into a learning opportunity
for students by leading them to infer deductions and analyze

a given problem.19

6) Ways to Present a Demonstration

The most frequent way to present a demonstration
is by the classroom teacher himself, but to get more stu-
dents' involvement, there can be other ways, also very
effective. There are five ways in which a demonstration
can be presented:20

a. By the teacher alone. When the demonstration

is a dangerous one, when time is limited, or when the ex—

periment requires accurate measurements.

115

Burnett emphasizes this method as a good one to
=illustrate a scientific principle:

The teacher

has a mature understanding of the principle or phe-
nomenon, whereas the student is at the learning stage
where there are many hazy aSpects. The teacher is
experienced in handling the equipment and in inter-
preting and explaining it to others, whereas the
student tends to be inept and confused about the
best means of clarifying for others points of dif-
ficulty or ambiguity. It is for these reasons that
every science class should have the opportunity of
observing many clean-cut, clear demonstrations by
the teacher.2

b. By the teacher and student assistant who helps
him in many ways; either to read the temperature of a liquid
from a thermometer in a measure concerning calorimetry; to
read the graduation in an ammeter of an electric current;
to read the volume of a gas collected; or to light a bunsen
burner; to carry the result of a chemical reaction around
to show to students who sit too far from the desk.

More attention is given to the demonstration because
students prefer to watch their peer working with the teacher.
By this process, the teacher enjoys training his assistant--
usually a good student he likes--and is relieved from too
much busy work.

c. By a group of students. This group approach in-
volves more students' activities than the previous ones.

In planning and preparing the demonstration, the group learns,

not only how to perform the experiment, but they also learn

how to work together, how to collaborate, to cooperate in

116

their daily work. The group process will consequently lead
to effective laboratory work organization if the teacher
can get help from these students.

The teacher should be careful in selecting students
for group members in such a way that all the members of the
group are productive. He also should be aware that the group
approach is only appropriate for demonstrations that are
not dangerous, and easy to carry out. Examples are some
experiments in mechanics or magnetism such as the free fall-
ing body, characteristics of magnets, etc.

d. pygindividual student. Demonstrations of this]
type can be very effective. They can be presented by a stu-
dent of high status among his peers or by a student of an
upper grade.22

The latter is usually a classroom teacher's former
assistant or'a very good student of another science class
introduced by his own teacher. The demonstration presented
may be the student's favorite one he showed last year. It
can be one of the series he learns by himself to prepare
for his future career.

For example, a boy student in senior class (grade
12) had learned the whole series of basic electricity and

basic electronics lessons.23

He usually came to his former
teacher to get help at the beginning, but now that he has
mastered the content of the course, the teacher invites him
to Show a demonstration for his class about the diode and

its functions.

117

This student is in a position that helps him to an-
swer some detailed questions of the curious students in the
class. Questions can be about discovery of the diode, elec-
tron emission, or why a diode is called a valve or rectifier,
how.current flow in a diode is formed, how twin diode recti-
fiers are arranged, difference between indirectly heated
and directly heated rectifier tubes, how does the half-wave

24

vacuum tube rectifier work, etc.

e. py a guest. A guest can be another science teach-

 

er, a professional scientist or a college professor. The
guest demonstration gives to the class something new and
exciting to break the routine of the other methods of teach—
ing, although the teacher has the least control of the class
and of the demonstrator. He has to make careful arrangement
about the schedule and prepare his students for what is going
to be shown.

This kind of demonstration can successfully lead
to field trips, visits to factories or college laboratories

and museums.

The Laboratory Approach
1) Introduction
The demonstration method cannot be a substitute for
the laboratory work.25 "Learning by doing" is an efficient
maxim and the laboratory approach is the most appropriate

means to apply it. Warren Weaver comments that the scien-

tific inquiry in the laboratory is a very natural tendency:

118

It seems to me absolutely essential students
do something more than listen to lectures, look at
demonstration experiments, study a textbook, recite
a lesson. The students simply must do something
on their own, with their own minds and with their
own hands. They must have a scientific experience,
even if it is so simple as swinging a bunch of keys
hanging on a string and timing this pendulum with
their pulse.

The idea is psychologically sound because it satis-

fies the urge for activity which is a fundamental drive in

human beings.27

Another scientist expresses the idea that the lab-
oratory approach is the heart of the teaching of science

as follows:
Demonstrations, science clubs, science fairs,
audio-visual devices, field trips, textbooks and
other aids have a place in the resourceful teaching
of science. But when the laboratory and its empha-
sis on the investigative or research-type exercises
disappears from day-in, day-out science teaching,
then the heart and chief inSpiration of science as
a form of human endeavor have been lost.28
The contributions of science laboratory to science
courses are tremendous. It deepens the students' understand-
ing that scientific and technological concepts and applica-
tions are closely related to his own natural environment.
In the laboratory "the student can be taught to be discrim-
inating in observation, to evaluate evidence or data and
to sense the importance of care and skill in the taking of

29 He also develops the contemporary view

measurements."
of the limitations of measurement; hence, he will have an
application for the continuing utility of such measurements.

New programs should place major emphasis on laboratory

119

work and have the prOper equipment and facilities. The lab-

U

or

S

.tory then becomes a place to gather data, to observe, to
experiment. It is used just as a scientist would use it.
Students do not know answers ahead of time nor does the
teacher.30
2) Functions of Laboratory Activities
Considering laboratory activities as individual or
small group activities where a subject topic of concern in
science is selected and a teacher provides the necessary
guidance, research reveals the following findings as func-
tions of the laboratory activities:
1. A means of securing information
2. A means of determining cause and effect rela-
tionships
3. A means of verifying certain factors or phenom-
ena
4. A means of applying what is known
5. A means of developing skill
6. A means of providing drill
7. A means of helping pupils learn to use scien—
tific methods of solving problems
8. A means of carrying on individual research.31
Each functicn is important and directly related to
the nature of the desired learning outcomes or objectives
of the course.J4 For example, the first function corresponds
to the understanding of the course content of science; the
two last functions prepare the student to think and act as
a scientist, or at least, give him the understanding of the
scientist's role in our society.

Sund and Trowbridge considered the laboratory as

the right place to acquire all kinds of skills: acquisitive

120

skills (such as listening, observing, searching, investigat-
ing); organizational skills (recording, comparing, classify—
ing, outlining, analyzing, etc.); creative skills (planning
ahead, designing new problems, synthesizing); manipulative
skills (using instrument, caring for it, repair, construc-
tion); and the communicative skills (asking questions, dis-
cussion, reporting, graphing...)33

In using the inquiry approach, Schwab points out
only three main functions of the laboratory: the first one
is the replacement of illustrations only of conclusions by
illustrations of problem situations; secondly, it provides
occasions for an invitation to the conduct of miniature but
exemplary programs of inquiry; the third one is that it erases
the artificial distinction between classroom and laboratory,
between mind and hand.34

3) Ways of Using the Laboratopy_

The laboratory approach provides the students with
a learning situation somewhat in contrast and opposition
to the demonstration method. Laboratory techniques have
been set up in such a way that there are maximum pupil ac-
tivities and where the potentialities forlearning are high.35
For this reason, too often laboratory work degenerates into
mere busy work on the part of the student.36

However, the result achieved by the laboratory does

37

not depend on the amount of "students' busy work," 1 but

it depends upon the way the laboratory is used. The way

121

the laboratory is used depends on the assumed position of
the teacher in the teaching-learning process. The teacher
may take either one of the two opposed positions or a com-
promise with some position between the two extremes.
At one extreme, the teacher assumes a position
as the dispenser of knowledge with the laboratory

serving the function of drill (reinforcement) or
verification.

At the opposite extreme, the teacher assumes

the position of a guide to learning and the labora-
tory as a place where knowledge is discovered.38

The first one is the traditional teacher, the second
one uses the modern approach of problem—solving to teach
inquiry and discovery. The position of the teacher in the
laboratory teaching process can become apparent if one con-
siders the common steps in the process of problem solving
in the means of securing information through the laboratory:

1. Statement of problem

2. Formulation of hypotheses

3. Developing a working plan

4. Performing the activity

5. Gathering of data 39
6. Formulating of conclusions.

It is necessary that all of these steps are taken
into consideration. Schwab considers only three steps (prob-
lem, method and answer) which serve as criteria for three
different levels of openness and permissiveness for labora-
tory inquiry. At the first level only the answer is open,

at the second level both answer and method and at the third

level, all factors: problem, method and answer are left

open to the students' investigation.4O

}_J
l\)
[\J

However, if we consider the sequence of the six
steps in the securing of information, there are five degrees
of freedom available to the teacher; the more steps the stu-
dents can carry out, the higher the degree of freedom of
the procedure followed by the teacher. In procedure 1,
students carry only two steps, 4 and 5, and they have the
least freedom in their laboratory activities. The teacher
states the problem, formulates the hypotheses, sets up the
working plan, and draws the conclusions (steps 1, 2, 3, 6)
from the data gathered by students after they perform the

experiment (steps 5, 4).

TABLE 12

DEGREES OF FREEDOM AVAILABLE TO THE TEACHER
USING THE LABORATORY

 

 

 

Steps in Procedure I II III IV V
1. Statement of Problem T T T T P
2. Hypotheses T T T P P
3. Working Plan T T P P P
4. Performance P P P P P
5. Data Gathering P P P P P
6. Conclusion _T P P P P

T--Teacher Pm-Pupil

More freedom is given to the students in Procedure
II where the students go on to formulate the conclusions.

In Procedure III, they can also decide their working plan

123

(step 4). In the last two procedures, IV and V, the teacher
gives the students the opportunity to formulate the hypoth-
eses (Procedure IV) and also to state their own problem
(Procedure V). These two procedures give students practice
in the scientific method of problem—solving; the last one
(Procedure V) is used for individual research of scientists.

Procedures I and II identify themselves with the
traditional use of the laboratory, regarding the laboratory
as a place to verify previously known facts (II) and to
learn manipulative skills (I).

For these reasons, the teacher, in supervising or
guiding the laboratory, should try to proceed to the pro-
cedure of a higher degree of freedom, i.e., from I toward
V. However, before taking the next superior procedure,
the teacher should have evidence that most of his students
are performing a good job of successful laboratory work.

4) Suggestions for Usipg_the Laboratory Approach

Many factors contribute to the effectiveness of
laboratory work. Students can learn more valuable things
in the laboratory only under favorable conditions. It is
strongly suggested that the teacher make careful plans for
each laboratory session, use open-ended questions, direct
orientation before and discussion after the laboratory ses-
sion. He should know the general and specific rules of
laboratory safety to protect his students from possible

accidents because he is the one that is officially responsible

124

for the students' safety during the laboratory session.

Suggestions are discussed in details in the following lines:
a. The laboratory manual. For a class of large

size (over twenty), the teacher may need the laboratory

manuals to help him direct the work. These manuals, if

used, should be well prepared, and written in such a way

that problems proposed for study have a minimum of explicit

41 where

instruction. They are called open—ended experiments
students have opportunities for real "experimentation." A
higher degree of freedom is available to the teacher in
using the laboratory.

b. Orientation and discussion. An orientation ses-
sion is necessary at the beginning of the school year. It
is important for the teacher to give explanations and rec-
ommendations to the students regarding the laboratory work.

He first states the objective of the laboratory
work; this is an opportunity for them to perform their own
experiments, exactly like a scientist would use the labora-
tory for his scientific research. Then, he shows them how
to use the laboratory manual and the best way to write a
laboratory report. He also acquaints the students with
the laboratory safety rules that are essential to be kept
in mind every laboratory session.

Discussions are also needed after every laboratory

session. Laboratory guides where students perform the as-

signed tasks do not give enough information. Students usually

125

need further information to explain their observations.

This is the time they learn through sharing knowledge with
their peers, or through receiving it from the teacher; in
the laboratory they learn through discovering or pursuing

42 All these new concepts of learning

individual inquiry.
experiences they can apply for one laboratory session.

Hence, the discussion clarifies the students' ob-
servations in the laboratory that may not be clear to them.

The teacher, in participating and leading the dis-
cussion, can also get feedback of his teaching through ob-
serving students' interaction and questions.

Follow-up activities such as extra reading, science
projects, tests, and demonstrations are important in moti—
vating the students in laboratory work. The teacher's
presence is needed.

"The need for the teacher to ascertain the accuracy
of the learned concepts, to correct misconceptions and to
promote maximum learning is usually greater than in a con-
ventional course."43

c. Laboratory_safety. The teacher should be sure
the students understand the laboratory safety rules and
emphasize the importance of respecting these rules. The
danger of possible accidents must be treated seriously:
safety should be kept in mind all the time, not only in

the laboratory, but also at home, play and work; research

shows that fatal accidents at home rank second to highway

126

deaths,44 and it has been suggested that a number of pioneer
chemists died as young men due to inhaling poisonous chem-

icals.45

Also, forty per cent of the accidents occurred
among students who were above average in scientific inquis-

itiveness.46

Conclusion

There is no way to compare the demonstration method
and the laboratory approach. The suitability of the method
to be employed by the teacher is determined by the objectives
of the course and the conditions under which the science
course is being taught. Each method has its own advantages.

Due to the limited number of laboratories and equip-
ment available in Vietnamese secondary schools at the pres-
ent time, it is suggested that the priority in using labora-
tory is for students of second cycle. But as soon as the
schools can provide enough facilities and equipment, younger
students of the first cycle should also be given the oppor-
tunity to engage in laboratory experimentation.

Nevertheless, both can be used with success by a
good teacher who is capable of good planning and who is
aware of the level of his students as well as the avail-

ability of the laboratory and material in his school.

FOOTNOTES FOR CHAPTER V

1Alexander Joseph and others, Teaching High School
Science: A fiSourcebook for the Physical Sciences (New York:
Harcourt, Brace and World, Inc., 1961), p. xxx introduction.

2Nathan S. Washton, Science Teaching in the Secondapy
School (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1961), p. 214.

31bid., p. 217.

4Robert B. Sund and Leslie W. Trowbridge, Teaching
Science by Inquiry_in the Secondary School (Columbus, Ohio:
Charles E. MerrillI Books, Inc., 1967), p. 10.

5Vietnam (Republic), Ministry of Education, Situa-
tion de 1'enseignement au Vietnam, 1969-1970 (secondw semes-
ter), (Saigon, Vietnam: Ministry of Education, 1970), p. 3.

 

6Secondary schools in Vietnam function with two shifts
of classes: morning classes from 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
or 12:30 p.m.; afternoon classes from 1:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
or 6:30 p.m.; Monday through Saturday.

7Washton, o . cit., p. 214.

8Sund, op. cit., p. 112.

9Walter A. Thurber and Alfred T. Collette, Teaching
Science in Todayfs Secondapy School, 2nd ed. (Boston: Allyn
and Bacon, Inc., 1965), p. 130.

10

 

Ibid.’ p. 130.

11George C. Pimentel, ed., ChemistrnyAn Experimental
Science (CHEMS) (San Francisco: Freedman and; Co., 19677,
p. 188.

12John Richardson, Science Teaching in Secondu _y
Schools (Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1957),
p. 78.

 

13Physical Science for Nonscience Student (PSNS)
Project Staff, An Approach to Physical Science (New York:
John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1969), pp. 421-28.

127

128

l4Thurber, op. cit., p. 132.

l51bid., p. 133.

16Richardson, 0 . cit., pp. 80~82.

l7Washton, o . cit., p. 216.

18Sund, op. cit., p. 117.

19Nathan S. Washton, Teachin ng Science Creatively in
the Secondary Schools (Philadelphia: W. B. S—unders Co.,
1967), p. 117.

ZOSund, O o Cite, pp. 117-189

21R. Will Burnett, Teaching Science in the Secondary
School (New York: Rinehart and Co., 1957), p. 200.

22Sund, 0p. cit., p. 118.

23Van Valkenburg, Nooger and Neville, Basic Electric-
ity (5 vol.) and Basic Electronics (6 vol.) (New York: Rider
Publisher, Inc., 1953-55 and 1955-59).

24Van Valkenburg and others, Basic Electronics (New
York: Rider, 1955), Vol. 1, pp. 24-33.

25Paul F. Brandwein, Fletcher G. Watson, Paul E.
Blackwood, Teaching High School Science: A Book of Methods
(New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1958), pp. 476-77.

26Arthur G. Hoff, Secondary School Science Teachipg_
(Philadelphia: Blakiston Co., 19477, p. 159.

27Alfred Novak, "Scientific Inquiry in the Labora-
tory," The American Biology Teacher, Vol. 25, No. 5, May,
1963, pp. 342-46.

28Robert H. Carleton, "Physics Hazard, Math Hazard
or Teacher Hazard," The Science Teacher, XXII (September,
1955), 175.

29National Academy of Sciences, National Research
Council, Guidelines for Development of Programs in Science
Instruction (Washington, D. C., 19637, p. 3.

30Eugene C. Lee, New Develgpments in Science Teach-
ing (Belmont, Ca1if.: Wadsworth Publishing Co., Inc., 1967),
p. 48.

 

129

31Milton 0. Pella, “The Laboratory and Science Teach—
ing," The Science Teacher, XXVIII (September, 1961), 29.

321bid., p. 29.

33Sund, op. cit., pp. 93-95.

34Schwab, o . cit., pp. 52-53.

35Elwood D. Heiss, Ellsworth S. Obourn, Charles W.
Hoffman, Modern Science Teaching_(New York: McMillan Co.,
1950), p. 117.

36Ibid., p. 117.

37George W. Hunter, Science Teaching at Junior and
Senior High School Level (New York: American Book Co., 1934),
p. 171.

38Pella, op. cit., p. 31.

39Ibid., p. 235.

4OSchwab, o . cit., p. 55.

41Sund, o . cit., p. 98.

42Lawrence W. Downey, The Secondapy Phase of Educa-
tion (New York: Blaisdell, 1965), pp. 24-26.

43Sund, o . cit., p. 101.

44George M. Rawlins, Jr., "Safety in High School
Chemistry," School Science and Mathematics, Oct., 1964, pp.

45Walter Wingo, "More Chemists Die Young," Science
Newsletter, LXXXIV (September, 1963), 199.

46Robert D. Macomber, "Chemistry Accidents in High
School," Journal of Chemical Education, XXXVIII (July, 1961),
367-68.

CHAPTER VI

AUDIO-VISUAL MEDIA AS TOOLS FOR IMPROVING
SCIENCE TEACHING IN VIETNAM '

Introduction and Classification
of Audio—Visual Media

Students learn science through seeing, hearing,
smelling, tasting and touching. Thus, the odors of chem-
icals in the laboratory, of roses in the garden, the taste
(of sugar or vinegar are typical examples of how students
make use of their five senses in learning science. Real
things found inside or outside of the classroom provide the
best resources for science teaching.,

However, it is not possible to provide at all times
first-hand experiences. Teachers in Saigon cannot afford
to take their students to the plateaus of Dalat to contem—
plate majestic pines. A biology student cannot watch a bud
while it opens. ~A physics student cannot seethe movement
of particles inside a semi-conductor tube.

In those cases just mentioned, either the actual
resources are very expensive or physically so constituted
that they cannOt lend themselves to direct sensory observa-
tions. It is then that teachers must provide substitutes
for real experiences. These substitutes are commonly called

"audio—visual aids" (or AV materials). Most of these

130

131

substitutes predominantly involve vision and/or hearing.

The great variety of audio-visual materials suggests
a systematic classification which allows us to see the rela-
tion of one kind of audio-visual material to another.

A practical classification based on the type of
sensory channel involved in the use of these audio-visual
materials includes:

a) Materials addressipg only to vision. Photo prints,
flat pictures, chalkboards, flannel boards, magnetic boards,
posters, charts, diagrams, maps, slides, overhead transpar-
encies, Silent films fall under this category.

b) Materials addressing onlygto hearipg, Radio pro-
grams, discs (monoaural or stereo), magnetic tape recordings
which are easy to edit and convenient to use.

c) Materials involving both vision and hearipg,

These include sound motion pictures and television programs.

Other classifications stress more the respective
position of each of the audio—visual materials in the peda-
gogic complex. The most original of these belonged to Dalel
who arranged them in terms of concreteness and abstractness
into a cone-~the "Cone of Experience“--whose top is occupied
by the most abstract of these experiences and whose bottom
is occupied by the most concrete ones.

From the bottom, the three first levels involve
"Epipg" in order of decreasing directness:

(1) Direct, Purposeful Experiences

132

erbal
Symbols

 

Visual
Symbols

 

Radio . Recordings
Still Pictures

//H Motion Pictures j\\
// Television \\
/ Exhibits \
// Field Trips \\
// Demonstrations \\
Z/ Dramatic Participation \\

Contrived Experience 5 , \

 

 

Direct, Purposeful Experience

 

Fig. l: Dale's Cone of Experience

133

(2) Contrived Experiences

(3) Dramatized Experiences

The next five levels involve "Observing” in order
of decreasing directness:

(4) Demonstrations

(5) Field Trips

(6) Exhibits

(7) Television/Motion Pictures

(8) Recordings--Radio--Still Pictures

The two last levels involve "Symbolizingfl in order
of increasing abstractness:

(9) Visual Symbols

(10) Verbal Symbols.

Characteristics of Audio-Visual Media

Science teaching as well as other teaching activities
involves communication between students and teacher._

In order to improve this communication teachers should
first understand the structure and functions of a basic com-
munication process. A good communication model has been
proposed by Shannon in his "Mathematical Theory of Communi-
cation."2

The function of the information source (see Figure 2)
in this model consists of selecting a desired message, which
may be words, visual symbols or music.

The transmitter-~men and machines in symbiosis--

encodes the message, i.e., changes this message into the

134

signal which is actually sent over the communication channel
to the receiver.

In the case of telephony, the channel is a wire,
the signal a varying electrical current on this wire;
the transmitter is a set of devices (telephone trans-
mitter, etc.) which change the sound pressure of the
voice into the varying electrical current.

In telegraphy, the transmitter codes written
words into sequences of interrupted currents of
varying lengths (dots, dashes, Spaces).

In oral speech, the information source is the
brain, the transmitter is the voice mechanism pro-
ducing the varying sound pressure (the signal) which
is transmitted through the air (the channel).

In radio, the channel is simply space (or the
aether, if anyone still prefers that antiquated and
misleading word), and the signal is the electromag-
netic wave which is transmitted.3

The receiver acts like an inverse transmitter, de-
codes the message (i.e., changes the transmitted signal back
into a message), and hands this message on to the destina-
tion.

"When I talk to you my brain is the information
source, yours the destination; my vocal system is the trans-
mitter, and your ear and the associated eighth nerve is the
receiver.“4

Unfortunately, while being transmitted certain things
are added to the signal which were not intended by the in-
formation source. These undesirable additions may be dis-
tortions of sound (in telephony) or static (in radio), or

distortions in shape or shading of picture (television), or

errors in transmission (telegraphy or facsimile), etc.

135

All of these changes in the transmitted signal are called

noise.

Information
source Transmitter Receiver Destination

\

’—

 

 

 

Signal received

signal

Message Message

Noise source

Fig. 2. Shannon-Weaver Communication Model

In the diagram of the transmission of an audio-visual
message described above one can see that a channel clear of
any noise would be an ideal condition for the transmission
of an undistorted message. Unfortunately, such an ideal
channel rarely exists in practice, and one would always find
some noise or interference in any kind of learning situation.

There are two types of interference to classroom
learning:

a) Extra—school interference brought about by home
life, commercial and entertainment media (public radio and
television programs, movies).

b) “Within classroom“ interference, arising from
psychological barriers generated within the classroom itself.

5

Wittich and Schuller listed these barriers as follows:

136

verbalism, referent confusion, day dreaming, limited per-
ception and physical discomfort.

Both of these interference types lie in the channel
area and hinder clear classroom communications. It is the
task of the teacher to clarify the channel area of these
hindrances. He must

. . . bear the burden of achieving clarity in class-
room communications, and he must be ever alert for
such interference. The teacher must not only recog-
nize interference possibilities, but also must know
the means by which a clear channel of communication
may be established and maintained with efficiency,
for he is usually the only one who can improve the
nature and strength of the messages or remove the
barriers to receiving these messages. As long as
messages are transmitted with clarity, as long as
they are transmitted unchanged or uninterrupted by
interfering factors, pupil-teacher communications
will proceed efficiently.6

If the teacher fails to understand the basic com-
munication process itself, the existence of barriers to it
and the means by which these barriers may be removed, he
is the only person who must be accountable for those aspects
of classroom failures such as pupil non-participation in
learning activities, low level of comprehension and eventual
school drop—out. We shall see that a large proportion of
classroom failures due to poor communications between teach-
ers and students can be avoided by improving teaching prac-

tices through utilization of audio—visual media in the

classroom.

137

Contributions of Audio—Visual Media to Pedagogy

What can we say about audio-visual media as a whole?
Do they actually improve learning? An important body of
research7 on this subject has confirmed the fact that in?
struction can be significantly improved through the proper
selection and use of audio-visual materials in teaching.
These are the following claims made by audio-visual the—
oreticians and practitioners:

1. They supply a concrete basis for conceptual
thinking and hence reduce meaningless word-reSponses
of students.

2. They have a high degree of interest for stu-
dents.

3. They make learning more permanent.

4. They offer a reality of experience which
stimulates self-activity on the part of pupils.

5. They develop a continuity of thought; this
is especially true of motion pictures.

6. They contribute to growth of meaning and
hence to vocabulary development.

7. They provide experiences not easily obtained
through other materials and contributed to the ef-
ficiency, depth, and variety of learning.8

These seven fundamental points are shaped in a
rather condensed form. In what follows, we will therefore
elaborate more on some points, re-state some others or add
possible implications which may be drawn from each of these

points, wherever necessary. Audio_visual materials, if

wisely used, can do the following:

138

a) Audio-visual materials arouse the students'
interest,

Educational psychologists insist that the most ef-
fective learning takes place when the learner is interested
or wants to learn. The old saying "You can lead a horse
to water, but you cannot make it drink" can also be applied
to the learning act. One may expose a child to a learning
situation but one cannot make the child learn unless he is
really interested and wants to learn.

Interest may arise from innate drives or from en-
vironmental experiences. It is an innate tendency to be
curious, to explore, to perceive and to know. Children out
of curiosity like to look at new objects and strange things.
Thus, the whole array of audio-visual media-—slides, film-
strips, posters, charts, motion pictures--can best arouse
their curiosity or help to satisfy it. Moreover, these aids
can offer to children opportunities to find out or do things
for themselves: an opportunity to touch a model, to press
a button, or to fix a sandpaper item on the flannel board.

Audio-visual materials are so effective in arousing
interest that many teachers make the mistake of over stimu-
lating the class and of turning the lesson into mere enter—
tainment. This can be avoided by making use of a few care-
fully selected pictures or objects, suitable for the purpose
of the lesson, thereby helping the students not to be confused

by a flood of new concrete experiences-~this is especially

139

applied to motion pictures, field trips-~but to concentrate
only upon the lesson of the day.
One may also say with Dale:
Properly utilized, the involvement that many
sensory techniques foster contributes invaluably
to the learning experience. Indeed, one of our
continual concerns is to transform those experiences
that can be merely observing into experiences that
also involve doing (covert as well as overt doing).9
b) Audio-visual media make learninggmore meaningful.
Research on the psychology of learning has shown
that “meaningful materials and meaningful tasks are learned
more readily than nonsense materials and more readily than
tasks not understood by the learner."10 Audio-visual mate-
rials, by adding picture and sound, make words stand for
something and give meaning to facts and concepts that are
vague when stated only in words. .
A teacher verbally attempts to give his students
an idea of an animal they have not seen before. He gives
them its height, describes its color, head, legs, ears and
some other characteristics. Each of the students will con-
ceive a different concept of the animal and none of them
will be able to form the correct image of the animal. Under
such situation, verbalism is helpless and can be confusing.
Then, audio-visual materials fit the role and play it ef-
fectively.
For the same purposes of giving meaning to facts

and concepts, audio-visual materials can bring the faraway

in time and place into the classroom or enlarge what is too

140

small to see with the naked eye. In doing so, they reduce
verbalism, a very frequent interference to effective class-
room communication.

"Hence, they offer the best anecdote available for
the disease of verbalism, which plagues contemporary learn-

11

ing situations.“ And it is reasonable to conclude that:

"If they offered this and nothing else audio-visual materials
would be entitled to a place of importance in education."12

c) Audiofvisual media make learnipg;permanent.

When we have taken interest in a topic and have
understood it clearly, we are likely to remember it for a
long time, hence, to make it permanent. Other things being
equal, material will be remembered in proportion as it is
meaningful.

d) Audio-visual media allow a broader perception of
the world.

Although direct experience is the basis of all ef-
fective learning, the world of learning is such that it can—
not be lived on a direct sensory level. A real thing may
be too complex, too big or too small, too fast or too slow.
Learning through a model, a film or a filmstrip is much
easier and more convenient than learning through direct
experience that much of the time is not possible.

A model of a factory is often more helpful from the
point of view of study than a visit to its various depart-

ments and sections Spread over a large area. We often make

141

use of models to emphasize the key points or basic mechan-
isms by leaving out distracting details.

Real things may be too far to see. Students of the
eleventh grade in Vietnam, while studying "Copper" cannot
afford to go to Sudbury, Canada, to visit one of the world's
largest copper and nickel factories. TranSportation facil-
ities, time limits, leadership are the common obstacles to
world travels. A sound—motion picture would be satisfactory
for them to know about the processes of preliminary treat-
ment of the ore, purification, molding and solidification
of copper before it is delivered to the customers.

Lippmann points out that,

man has invented ways of seeing what no naked eye
could see, of hearing what no ear could hear, of
weighing immense masses and infinitesimal ones, of
counting and separating more items than he can in-
<iividually remember. He is learning to see with
Iris mind vast portions of the world that he could
ruever see, touch, hear, or remember. Gradually,
lue makes for himself a trustworthy picture inside
Iris head of the world beyond reach. 3

Audio—visual media help us not only to see things
that.are limited by physical obstacles, but also those that
are.linuted by time. Film reconstruction can give a vivid

image (of how our ancestors have lived and fought for inde-

pendence and liberty, of how great civilizations of the past
have decayed and died.
.Limitation of Audio-Visual Media

The limitation common to all audio-visual media is

their lack of realitY-

142

Flat_pictures (photographs, drawings, ...) have only
two dimensions. Students who have never seen a tri-dimen-
sional object represented by the picture may not be able
to add the third dimension to it. Besides, flat pictures
lack motion. This lack of motion explains why students
prefer watching a movie rather than looking at the pictures
in a book.

Models not only suffer from size distortion but may
also give wrong impressions due to the nature of the mate-
rials of which they are constructed. No type of material
however perfect and closely similar to human muscle, can
convey a true image of a human heart--vibrant, pulsating.

Sounds can also be distorted. Recording equipments
are limited by their range of sounds, which may not cover
the whole range found in nature. Too high or too low a fre-
quency vibration may be lost during recording or reproduc-
tion. Moreover, cheap equipment usually found in public
schools is even less faithful in reproduction. It results
in sounds which may be identifiable to a person who has al-
ready known them but can be a cause of confusion to others.

Important Considerations Regarding the Use of

Audio-Visual Materials in Classrooms
(Guidelines for:SZlection and Use of
Audio-Visual Material in Teaching)

 

Audio-visual instruction should not be regarded as
a method of teaching in itself. Audio-visual materials are

of value only when they fit into the instruction process

143

in general. One of the fundamental goals of science teach-
ing should be the incorporation of all devices--including
audio-visual media which may help the students learn better
every science topic.

Audio-visual materials usually do not serve as sub-
stitutes for first hand experiences in any event. Labora-
tory experiments are needed to illustrate scientific prin-
ciples and concepts. A film on Interference of Light can
only serve as a supplementary introduction to the experiment
on light interference in the laboratory, but can never re-
place the experiments themselves. A visit to a dairy farm
involving eventual students' participation in the farm activ-
ities (milk extraction, etc.) should be preferred to a film-
strip on the topic.

Another important consideration to be made here is
to be certain that students can really benefit the most from
a specific audio-visual medium. Diagrams or charts may be
difficult to interpret unless teachers give extra help.

Even pictures, to be readable by students, sometimes re-
quire cues from teachers.

The presence of a teacher in a classroom is always
necessary for the teaching process deSpite the claims that
some day modern technology could entirely replace teachers.
Technology has its own limitations and one of the chief
limitations of technology or modern gadgetry is that it

cannot inspire and stimulate students. It is the task of

144

the teacher to inSpire his students, to instill in them
enthusiasm for learning. The modern school always needs
those kinds of teachers, teachers who can stimulate students,
who are constantly seeking better means to improve their

teaching procedures.

Audio-Visual Materials for Science Teachipg_

In this section, we will discuss those audio-visual
materials which are now available in Vietnam, or which will
be available in a very near future. Other audio-visual
materials whose utilization has been proved to be efficient
for science teaching in other countries will also be pre-
sented.

1) Motion Picture Films

Motion picture films constitute a most valuable
device in Science teaching Since they achieve closeness to
reality more than any of the other audio-visual media.

The chief values of motion picture films (besides
being good substitution for reality) could be stated as
follows:

1. Motion of plants and animals in their nat-

ural environments can be shown.

2. Motion of processes too slow to be seen

normally may be viewed.

3. Motion of processes too rapid to be seen

normally may be viewed.

4. Motion of objects too minute to be seen

without a microscope can be shown.

5. Operations and actions too complex to be
understood easily may be explained by animation.l4

145

Motion picture films are available in almost all
scientific subjects. Although most of the films produced
for school use are 16 mm in width, major film companies have
also developed 8 mm sound films which produce bright, sharp
pictures and are run on less expensive projectors.

Most classroom films now have sound. Old silent
films have recently found a voice with the invention of mag-
netic stripe on film on which a sound track may be recorded
as it is on a tape recorder. It is now possible to add mag-
netic sound to film of all sizes.

Another development in motion picture film is the
film loop. This consists of a continuous loop of film con-
tained in a cartridge which protects it from dust and finger-
prints. The film loop needs no rewinding and is always ready
for showing. Simple and relatively inexpensive cartridge-
loading projectors are portable and easy to operate. Most
film loops are silent and run for only three or four minutes,
so they are quite inexpensive. They are used to show experi-
ments or phenomena, usually dealing with a single concept15
which students would not ordinarily see in the classroom.
Students can replay the short loop as often as they wish,
thus giving them the opportunity to view the contents of
the loop as often as it is necessary. Quality of single
concept film loops can be increased every year because they
wear out each year and producers have to re-edit. Longer

sound film loops (of 20 to 30 minutes) are also becoming

available.

146

a) Ways of using films. There are several ways of
using films in science teaching besides providing vicarious
experiences to students. Film can be used for introducing
a science unit, obtaining information during the unit, and
reviewing and summarizing.

When used to introduce a science unit, the main pur-
pose of the film is to arouse interest in the science topic
to be studied and setting problems to be solved. Therefore,
the film to be used for this purpose should be general in
nature. It should deal with situations and materials already
familiar to pupils, calling attention to the phenomenon they
have already known and awakening their curiosity about it.

Since most films contain both general and specific
information, only the portion of the film that shows the
general information should be shown to the students whenever
the film is used to introduce a unit of science.

Films can also be used to obtain many kinds of in-
formation during the unit. They can help the children to
answer questions to solve prpblems, and to check previous
experiments, reading, discuSSion and conclusions.

A film may sometimes provide a satisfactory substi-
tute for a field trip. When teachers do not have adequate
facilities and apparatus for performing experiments and
demonstrations, could they use a film related to the topic
of these demonstrations or experiments?

This answer could be partially found in Smith'sl6

147

comparison between teacher demonstrations and related motion-
picture films. Three sections of general Science in each
of five schools were involved in this study. The three films

used were: Magpetism, Sipple Machines and Properties of

 

nggp, Smith found that sound motion pictures and teacher
demonstrations are equally successful in teaching and that
the intelligence quotient of the students has no influence
on the effectiveness of either method.

When films are used as summarizing and reviewing
the important understandings of the science tOpic, they help
students get a clearer and more vivid picture of the facts
and phenomena they have learned and read about because films
operate in real life situation in proper proportion and en-
vironment.

b) Sugggstions for using films in science teachipg.
The science teacher should have specific objectives in show-
ing a particular film. He Should acknowledge those objec-
tives to students so that students will look upon the film
as a learning situation and not simply as a means of enter-
tainment.

Previewing the film is an important step in the
selection of the film to be shown. In previewing the film,
the teacher becomes completely familiar with its content.

He then decides whether the whole or only a part of the film
should be shown, and which parts may be complicated or im-

portant enough to warrant repeating.

148

[He] may determine what preparation pupils need to
benefit from viewing the film. He may decide upon
preliminary experiments to be provided. He may list
words that need careful introduction. He is able

to decide upon follow-up activities that should come
immediately after the showing.1

In selecting the film, the science teacher should
try to answer these questions: Is the film suitable for
the students' grade level or ability? Is the film too simple
or too complicated? Does the content of the film bear di—
rectly upon the science topic being studied, and will it
yield the desired information or producesthe intended effect?
The major criteria for selecting a film for class-
room science teachers should be:

What does this film offer in presentation of content,
illustrations, and explanations that go beyond what
is possible for the science teacher to do in a given
period? For example, the biology teacher cannot
show in a 45-minute period how changes occur in a
seedling over a period of three months. This can

be shown very effectively by a motion picture film
within a few minutes. The chemistry teacher may
wish to demonstrate the formation of crystals of

a particular salt. The physics teacher may wish

to have animated pictures of nuclear fission. The
earth science teacher is concerned with portraying
significant changes in the face of the earth. How
can a volcano or an earthquake be demonstrated as
effectively as with actual motion picture films?

How can the science teacher portray a falling
meteor, a solar eclipse, and other natural phenom-
ena as well as they are depicted in good education
motion picture films?l

Extensive use should be made of science films which
depict processes that are not easily studied. For example,

a plant's growth from seed to fruit, which take months in

actuality, can be shown by time—lapse photography in minutes.

149

Other actions can be shown in slow motion--the beating of
the heart or a rapid chemical change.

Much of the value of a film results from follow-up

 

activities taking place right after the film has been shown.

 

The answers to the questions assigned to individuals and
small groups can be given and put on the chalkboard in a
logical sequence. Discussion is an important part of the
follow-up. Discussion is needed to establish understandings,
to develop relationships and to draw conclusions. During
the follow-up discussion, new questions may be raised and
will lead to further study in the same science topic or ex-
ploration into a new one.

The teacher "may be surprised by some of the atti—
tudes fostered by the film--effects which he never antici-
pated but which emerged during the discussion."19

He then has a great flexibility to decide the kind
of activities needed, either further reading, written re-
ports, field trips or other films, and possibly a second
showing of the film.

2) Slides and Filmstrips

Filmstrips and slides could be used in place of
motion pictures whenever motion is not necessary for the
understanding of concepts and science principles. The sug-
gestions for using films are also applicable for using film-
strips and slides.

There are many advantages in using slides and

150

filmstrips in science teaching. They are first of all rela-
tively inexpensive. Moreover, slides or filmstrips projectors
not only are less expensive than movie projectors, but they
are easy to operate and there is less chance of anything

going wrong with them.

In addition, filmstrip or slide viewers which do not
need a screen are now available and they could well serve
as tools for individualized instruction. Another important
advantage of slides is that they can be easily produced by
students and teachers alike. Only a reliable 35 mm camera
is required to produce beautiful, relatively inexpensive
slides. With tripod and inexpensive close-up lens, teachers
are able to make close-up pictures of rocks, flowers, insects,
leaves, etc. They may also copy posters, charts, diagrams,
pictures.

The use of slides and filmstrips along with tape
recorders could adequately achieve most of the purposes of
science teaching. This is an example of an inexpensive
multi-media approach, which most of the developing countries
could afford.

3) Three—Dimensional Materials: Models, Mock-ups

 

Models are replicas of real things except the size.
Mock-ups are working models of an apparatus or a machine.

Materials that are too small or invisible for study
can be visualized through the use of models. An atom, a

molecule would be difficult to teach in a meaningful manner

without the use of models.

Other materials, not necessarily too large or too
small, would teach us very little when we examine them as
they appear. Thus, merely observing a human eye teaches
us nothing about its functions. We should use enlarged
models together with drawings, diagrams, or charts that
show the hidden organs, muscles, tissues, nerve connection
and processes.

A real storage battery cannot show the parts of the
apparatus that produce electricity but an appropriately
labeled cut-away model could.

Models for science teaching can be purchased from
scientific supply companies. However, students and teacher
can make their own models or mock—ups. Thus, models of
electronic structures of the elements or of any molecular
or crystalline structure could be constituted by using cork
balls for atoms and double ended pins to join them.20

A model that demonstrates nuclear fission can be
made with a series of mouse traps.21 School-made models
are less expensive than commercial models. Moreover, spe-
cific Situations require specific models which supply com-
panies could not provide.

For example, an earth science teacher may prepare
a relief model of the area within the school surroundings,
which he could not get from commercial companies.

Students who make their own model for learning have

152

opportunities to develop their artistic aptitudes and prac-
tice scientific thinking and reasoning.
Students should know how to choose the right kind
of modeling material in making their models. Thus, in the
biological and earth sciences, modeling clay would be very
useful. It may be used for figurines illustrating evolu-
tionary development, for models of anatomical structures,
and for illustrations of land forms. Mechanical models are
usually made of wood and metal. Supplies of these materials
and the tools needed to work with them should be a part of
every science classroom.
When models and mock-ups are used for science teach-
ing, their limitations should be clearly stated.22
A Cornthwaite points to the possible danger which may
result from the teaching of the solar System with a model
constituted of baling wire for the orbits and clay models
for planets and their satellites.23
Not only the differences between the model and the
reality it represents must be made clear, but the likenesses
between the contrived experience and the real thing must
be emphasized as well. This is what Dale has pointed out:
In contrived situations we resort to an analogy,
and "all analogies are dangerous." But without them,
much of our thinking would be impossible. Though
analogies are dangerous, they are necessary. We
can make good use of analogies offered by contrived
experiences if we prevent misconceptions by remind-

ing students of both the similarities and the dif-

ferences between the contrivance and the real thing.24

153

4) Chartsy_Mapsy Posters

The gpgpp is "a generic term for any systematic
arrangement effect in graphic or pictorial form, presenting
for convenient reference comparisons of quantity distribu-
tion, trends, summaries, etc."25

Scientific charts are relatively inexpensive and
stimulating for learning. They are used when certain sci-
ence tOpics or concepts are to be taught regularly and pic-
tures or illustrations of the concepts are desirable. The
following are some examples of charts which can be used for
science teaching purposes: The Periodic Table, the various
systems of common plants and animals that are studied in a
science or biology class, the microscopic world of molds,
the bacteria that cause disease, simple machines.

A wide variety of charts are available from scien-
tific supply houses and educational publishers. But the
teacher and students in science classes can profitably make
their own charts. In making charts as well as in purchasing
them from commercial sources, one must pay attention to the
design of the chart, which should be well-balanced and at-
tractive in order to be effective.

The following is an example of highly attractive
charts for boring science topics:

a blank periodic chart painted on plexiglas was
equipped with electric circuits, a bulb being placed
in each Space of the periodic chart. Separate cir-

cuits were provided for groups of elements, for col-
umns of elements, for each of the rows and for each

154

of the single elements. Thus, for purposes of dis-
cussion before a class, individual elements or groups
could be highlighted by throwing the appropriate
switches.

Making mgpp and posters could well serve as indi-
vidual student projects. The poster is a pictorial design
which should have eye appeal and communicate a major scien-
tific principle or concept in seconds. Examples of posters
which could be made by science students are the following:

The Human Digestive System, Circulation of Blood,
the Nervous System in a Frog, the Life History of
the Grasshopper, the Electromotive Series, the Alka-
line Earth Metals, Radioactive Decay, Ionization

of Salts, the Electromagnetic Spectrum, How Machines
Work, Photosynthesis, Food for the World, Purifica-
tion of Water, Making a Radio Receiver, Principles
of Direct Current, and Applications of the Electro-
magnet.27

5) Chalkboard

 

When the material to be presented to students is
not to be used on a permanent basis, the chalkboard tech-
nique is appropriate.

The chalkboard may be used to write down chemical
equations and formulas or to visualize scientific concepts
through illustration. The reasons why effective teaching
could be made by having students solve science problems on
the chalkboard are given by Washton:

In physics and chemistry classes where consid-
eration is given to problems such as gas laws,
calorimetry, and other topics that require the
use of mathematics, it is effective teaching to

call on the students to solve problems by writing
on the chalkboard.

This procedure enables the teacher to evaluate
the learning of a sample of a class by having perhaps

155

five to six pupils work at the board. It also per—
mits the teacher to make a rapid diagnosis of what
specific part or parts of the problem may cause undue
difficulty in learning situation. While the pupils
are working at the board, the remaining members of
the class should be working at their desks. It is
likely that student error on the board may also ap—
pear at the desks of other students. Thus, the sci-
ence teacher can use the board work by some students
as a basis for correction to help all students under-
stand the way of solving the problem.28

Several suggestions could be made regarding the use
of the chalkboard in science teaching:

a) Avoid overloading the board with too much infor-
mation——chemical reactions, formulas, principles, drawings,
etc. Use an eraser as often as possible.

b) Teachers can save a lot of time by using templates
of frequently drawn objects such as bunsen burners, beakers,
flasks, condensers, etc. These templates can be made easily
from plywood or heavy cardboard.

Science teachers should also investigate modern tech-
niques of using the chalkboard. The topic is thoroughly
described in Wittich and Schuller's book.29

c) Colored chalk should be used for clarity, emphasis
and contrast. However, too many colors may distract students

from the learning task.

6) Overhead Projectors

 

The overhead projector is one of the most versatile
audio-visual media for teaching purposes. It can be used
as a chalkboard (for this reason, it is called the "lighted

chalkboard") if equipped with tranSparent plastic Sheets on

156

which the teacher writes information with a grease pencil.

The writing can be erased easily with a dry cloth
so that the same plastic sheet may be used over and over
again.

Permanent "transparencies" for the overhead pro—
jector canbe easily prepared by using different techniques.30
They are also commercially available.

To make their presentation effective teachers may
use several techniques that are impossible with slides or
filmstrips.

l. The use of a pointer—~visible on the screen--
focuses the students' attention on a particular detail in
the transparency.

2. Teachers can add details or underline important
statements on the tranSparency during projection by using
a grease pencil.

3. The teacher can control the rate of presenting
information by various masking and revealing techniques.31
The simplest of these techniques consists of covering the
tranSparency with a piece of cardboard and then exposing
one item at'a' time.

4. Scientific processes or complex ideas are better
understood by using overlay techniques. These techniques
consist of superimposing several additional transparencies

on a base transparency so that one step of the process or

one component of the complex idea is shown at a time.

157

Instances of using overlays could be found on teach-
ing photosynthesis, water cycle, etc.

5. Teachers can simulate motion on parts of a trans—
parency by using the effect of polarized light with a polaroid
spinner or a polaroid sheet. Motion of electrons in an elec-
tric circuit could be seen on the screen with this technique.

Also, the impression of gears rotating, liquids flow-
ing, gases exploding could be imparted to students with this
technique.

The overhead projector is most useful when it is
used for lecture demonstration purposes, especially before
a large audience.

A series of articles in the Science Teacher on the
use of the overhead projector in the teaching of chemistry
has been published. The first part describes fourteen simple
devices which can be made inexpensively by the teacher and
which can be used to perform over 1000 different experiments
‘viewed through the overhead projector.32

The potentialities of the overhead projector are
ennormous, and the author hopes its use will be generalized
ill a near future in all Vietnamese schools.

Planning the Use of Audio-Visual
Media in VietnamesefiSchools

The need of using audio-visual media in Vietnamese

SCfllools is urgent, due to the critical shortage of teachers

$lffered by the schools all over the country. Moreover,

158

the lack of scientific equipment and facilities for "decent“
laboratory teaching calls more for the use of simulated ex-
periments which can best be provided by audio-visual media.
How can we go about planning a program of using audio-
visual media in Vietnamese schools-~for science teaching as
well as for other subject area teaching? The use of audio-
visual media in Vietnamese schools is impossible unless some
preliminary conditions are met. In other words, we must
overcome some problems inherent to the integration of audio-
visual media into schools so that the use of such media
becomes not only possible but also inevitable. Let's there-
fore discuss these problems first before proposing a plan
of equipping Vietnamese schools with audio-visual materials
and equipment.

1) Classroom Structures

 

The major part of school buildings in Vietnam are
old and-non-fitted to the use of audio—visual media. But
this does not mean that we should avoid using them: we could
if we would, if we would look at the problem more realistic—
ally. What we ought to do is to know how to differentiate
between minor problems and major problems. Major problems
in this case are "electricity" problems as well as "acous—
tics" problems. We ought to make sure that we always have
good electric installations, because such installations are
prerequisite to good lighting and good acoustics. To cor-

rect for bad acoustics——the room is not soundproof enough,

159

for example--we can add a curtain here and there or nail
cheap soundproof material to the walls. As example of minor
problems, let's cite the fact of not having a curtain to
control for the darkness of the room or a good screen for
the projection of audio-visual projections--motion pictures,
slides and filmstrips. These are not important big problems
and yet, many teachers found in them reasons for not using
audio-visual media.

Problems can also arise in new buildings. In build-
ing new classrooms, we must prefer triangular classrooms33
to quadrangular or square ones, since the former give a
better angle of vision. We can find here an example of
subordination of architecture to technical necessity. An-
other idea which is useful in building new classrooms is
the use of mobile partitions between classrooms so that when
it is necessary, we can overlap many classrooms into one,
in case we need to address a large audience with appropriate
audio-visual instruments such as overhead or slide projectors,
etc. This constitutes the best building procedure to allevi-
ate teacher shortage since it enables one teacher to give
a course to four classes when necessary.

2) The Problem of the Curriculum

There is the question as to whether we should adapt
audio-visual methods to existing curricula or to completely
change curricula so that they can give room to audio-visual

methods. Up until now, in developing countries and even

160

in some developed countries, teachers use audio-visual media
as minor auxiliaries to the teaching process as a whole and
not as an integral part of the "whole." In the future we
should not be content with teaching traditional programs
with new media or methods but if necessary we Should also
revise our traditional curriculum so that it can easily lend
itself to the use of new media of learning and teaching,
i.e., to make audio—visual media a part of the "whole."

3) Schedule Problems

 

As individualized instruction is part of the new
trends of modern learning, the century-old concept of 60-
minute class periods is somewhat outdated. The typical
example in showing the absolute incompatibility with new
media of instruction can be found in language laboratory
sessions34 where it takes much more time than traditional
class periods to go through the complete process in which
the professor first delivers a brief lecture on the day's
lesson and immediately lets the students apply right away
what they have heard by practicing with the machines under
the supervision of a foreign language laboratory assistant.
After a period of practice, the students will see the pro-
fessor appearing again for answering questions raised by
students concerning their difficulties encountered during
their self-practice period, or for continuing on a new unit
of the lesson. The cycle can be repeated again and again

for two or three hours.

161

Rigidity in the schedule usually serves as a magnif-
icent excuse for teachers for not using audio—visual media
and often we hear people say: "I do not have the time to
use audio-visual media during my schedule." And this is
often true, especially for those schedules which are re—
stricted to special timetables such as radio or TV programs.
Unless schools are wealthy enough--and most Vietnamese schools
are not--to afford tape recorders and videotape recorders
to tape radio or TV programs so that they can be played back
later in the classrooms, flexibility in scheduling classes
should be given more consideration.

Another solution to the problems of scheduling is
to encourage students to go and see films or to listen to
good educational radio and TV programs at home and to dis—
cuss them later in class. This may be a good solution to
Vietnam, since most students in the urban areas can afford
at least a radio set at their home or can go to a free movie
sponsored by various agencies: foreign embassies, inter-
national agencies, etc.

4) Financial Problems and the Problem of Efficiengy

These are fundamental problems. Consideration must
be given to results, i.e., the effectiveness obtained in
using audio—visual media. It is no use to spend large sums
of money if there are no meaningful returns as a result of
these expenditures and it is no use to resort to attractive

and pleasant methods if traditional methods can give the

162

same of better learning results. Thus a study should be
made to see whether it is more economical and workable to
use tape recorders than radio programs or whether it is better
to use Single concept films rather than expensive television
network programs.
But on what basis can we evaluate the cost effective-
ness of audio-visual media? The answer to this question
was found by Knirk,35 who suggested that one should minimize
the output (fulfillment of stated goal of one's systems).
In other words, the output must outweigh the input in order
to get some effectiveness in a given system. This is a sci-
entific approach to solve problems in the audio-visual field.
The financing of equipment should also be planned
at the school or community level or sometimes at the national
level. The financing of equipment must also be accompanied
by the financing of the production and the distribution of
audio-visual materials. This involves not only the class
and the teacher but the industrial sector of the whole coun-
try as well.
5) Production Problems
In Vietnam, the Ministry of National Education is
the leading producer of films or radio programs. The na-
tional education system requires a good organization, from
the production of educational documents up to their use.
However, we cannot heavily and solely rely on gov-

ernment enterprises, whose characteristics are red tape and

163

rigidity. We must, therefore, create an organization at

the school level, wherein teachers can get help from tech-
nicians or other experienced teachers in their local produc-
tion36 of audio-visual materials (transparencies, slides,
etc.) for their use in classrooms, whenever needed materials
cannot be provided by government agencies or commercial com—
panies.

6) Distribution Problems

In developing countries such as Vietnam, the distri-
bution system is not reliable. Due to the slowness of trans-
portation systems created by the poor quality of roads and
railways, by the difficulties created by the war, audio-visual
materials are not sent out on time, so that teachers are not
well informed and consequently ill-prepared when they finally
come.

One solution to the distribution problem that seems
to be realizable is the joint effort with the local univer-
sity. All the high schools in the province and the local
community will combine their funds to establish a common
audio-visual center located in the university campus, whose
main job is to purchase any audio-visual materials which
can be useful to all these high schools and the university
itself. The distribution must be left to the care of the
university transportation system, whose buses can serve as

37

mobile media centers. These buses will regularly visit

each high school in the province at specified times, and

164

provide materials the schools need.

7) Human Problems

 

One weakness of developing countries is the lack
of teachers. Classes are entrusted to people that are not
fully qualified.38 This has a bad consequence in that teach-
ers are considered as non-professional or as second-rate job
holders. The rising of audio-visual methods and techniques
permits the rehabilitation of teachers and makes them pro-
fessional people.39

We must see that all teachers are able at least to
use audio-visual materials and equipment and eventually to
produce them as well. In this fashion, only well-trained
people can be rightly considered as true teachers, who not
only can use audio~visual materials to perfect their teach-
ing but also can plan the use of audio-visual material, i.e.,
to decide which of these materials used at a certain period
of time will produce the maximum effect on student learning
performance. All this knowledge needs thorough training,
which makes teachers become professionals in their own career.

The training can be done in several ways and can be
applied to every country, developing as well as developed
countries: on the one hand, make teachers take courses
in audio-visual media in colleges of education; on the other
hand, teachers can be trained at home or in the school through
radio programs, or television.

In Vietnam where no courses in audio—visual

165

instruction are offered, either through radio or in uni-
versities, we have to send qualified teachers abroad to learn
about new audio-visual media so that they become potential
trainers for future generations of teachers at home.

Another efficient way consists of inviting qualified
educators from developed countries to establish local train—
ing at home. Such type of training has been underway in
some Asiatic countries40 and gave good results. This kind
of training is successful since the national trainees, being
at their home country, do not develop adjustment problems
they will encounter if they were transferred outside of the
country, and which may interfere with their studies.

8) The Priority Problems

 

Education cannot be unrelated to social environments.
Each society has its own needs, and in trying to fulfill
those needs, it must set a scale of priority according to
the urgency of a given need.

Thus, in a rural country like Vietnam where cars
are considered a luxury, and schools do not have enough class-
rooms for children, it is unrealistic to give priority to
such costly programs as buying teaching machines or closed-
circuit television. Instead of giving children costly teach-
ing machines, we can develop a program of using textbooks in
programmed forms which can lead to the same learning results

but at a much lower cost.

166
A Plan for Equipping Vietnamese Schools with
Audio-Visual Instruments

Usually in most countries-—especially in developing
countries-~there are not any systematic plans to equip schools
with audio-visual instruments. One day, a teacher buys a
cassette tape recorder for his class. His successor, the
following year, puts the cassette recorder aside and buys
a slide projector, because he may think that this single
visual medium can serve most of his teaching purposes. Thus,
personal likes and dislikes of individual teachers causes
money wasting and consequently, administrative distrust in
the use of audio—visual media in schools.

Students sometimes buy books which are not relevant
to their needs, but which attract them because of the attrac-
tiveness. In the same manner, some teachers insufficiently
informed about apparatus were led by the salesman's talk
to buy handsome apparatus, which does not necessarily meet
the school needs.

Therefore, in order to avoid fund wasting, we must
have a competent "research officer"--specialist in audio-
visual equipment and materials--in the school administration
structure, to approve or reject any purchase of new equipment.

There must be also cooperation between teachers and
producers of audio-visual equipment. The producers must ask
the teachers what they need and what they expect from the
materials to be used. Of course, teachers should reject

the idea of requiring ideal apparatus from manufacturers.

167

In choosing equipment, one must pay attention to
their size, which must correSpond or correlate to the size
of those students who will use them. Other things being
equal, smaller apparatus should be preferred to larger be-
cause of ease in handling them and using them in the class-
room. Thus, slide cube projectors and slide cube cartridges
do not take much space and so, should be preferred to tray
slide projectors which are much bulkier.

The after-sale maintenance of the equipment should
be given an important place in the best use of audio-visual
methods. We must always look for apparatus having components
which can be easily replaceable and which can be easily ob—
tainable in the market. Thus SLR cameras having screw thread
mount (Pentax Practice type) should be preferred to others,
because of the wide range of lenses41 having that screw
thread mount.

We cannot afford not to have a systematic plan for
school equipment. Teachers' needs of apparatus must be
thoroughly discussed with the competent research officer
and voting is necessary in case there are conflicts as to
the priority in buying such and such equipment instead of
another.

At the present time, our primary schools are so poor
that it is a luxury in considering an audio-visual plan for
them. Attention is rather turned to secondary schools to

try to establish the standard equipment for them for a five

year plan:

168

every secondary school in Vietnam should include

in its equipment the following:

1.
2.
3.

4.

6.

One 16 mm projector for the whole school

Two record players for the whole school

One tape recorder for each unit of six classrooms
One slide projector and one screen for each unit
of six classrooms

One overhead projector for each unit of six
classrooms

One radio set for each unit of six classrooms.

This can be restated as follows: every school has

one movie projector and two record players; for each unit

of six classrooms, there are one slide projector, one over—

head projector, one tape recorder and one radio set.

The number in each category was determined on the

basis of the frequency with which each is supposed to be

used during the school year and on the average school bud-

get that a typical secondary school in Vietnam can afford

to buy such equipment.

FOOTNOTES FOR CHAPTER VI

lEdgard Dale, Audio-Visual Methods in Teaching (re-

vised ed., New York: The Dryden Press, Inc., September,
1955), pp. 42-56.

2Claude E. Shannon and Warren Weaver, The Mathemat-
ical Theory of Communication (Urbana, Illinois: The Univer-
sity of Illinois Press, 1964).

31bid., p. 7.

41bid., p. 7.

5Walter Arno Wittich and Charles Francis Schuller,
Audio—Visual Materials: Their Nature and Use (4th ed., New
York: Harper and Row, Publisher), pp. 16-25.

61bid., p. 15.

7Research publications in the Audio-Visual field
can be found in such reviews as the Audio-Visual Communica-
tion Review of the National Education Association. Also in
Its 1555 edition, the Encyclopedia of Educational Research
analyzes 120 significant research studies in audio-visual
education. ‘

8Charles F. Hoban, James D. Finn and Edgar Dale,
"Audio-Visual Materials," in Encyclopedia of Educational
Research, ed. by Walter 3. Monroe (rev. ed., New York:
Macmillan Co., 1950), p. 84.

9Dale, op. cit., p. 66.

10Ernest Hilgard, Theories of_Learning (New York:
Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1956), p. 407.

11Dale, op. cit., p. 66.

lZIbid., p. 66.

13Walter Lippmann, Public Opinion (New York:
Macmillan Co., 1949), pp. 16, 29.

“ 169

170

14Sam 5. Blanc, "Vitalizing the Classroom: Slides,
Filmstrips, and Films," School Science and Mathematics, LIII
(April, 1953), 257.

lsElwood E. Miller, "Single Concept Film: Criteria
for Clipping," Audio-Visual Instruction, XII (January, 1967),
36-38 0

 

16Herbert A. Smith, "Determination of the Relative
Effectiveness of Sound Motion Pictures and Equivalent Teacher

Demonstrations in Ninth-Grade General Science," Science Edu-
cation, XXXIII (April, 1949), 214-21.

17Walter A. Thurber and Alfred T. Collette, Teaching
Science in Today's Secondary Schools (2nd ed., Boston: Allyn
and Bacon, Inc., 1965), p. 198.

18Nathan S. Washton, Science Teaching_in the Second-
ary School (New York, Evanston and London: Harper and Row,
Publishers, Inc., 1961), p. 235.

19

 

 

Dale, op. cit., p. 225.

20Norman Davidson, "Corkball Experiment on Crystal-
line and Molecular Structure," Journal of Chemical Education,
XXIX (May, 1952), 249-50.

21W. H. Slabaugh, "A Lecture Demonstration of Nuclear
Energy," Journal of Chemical Education, XXV (December, 1948),
679.

22Wittich and Schuller, o . cit., pp. 171-92.

23D. L. Cornthwaite, "The Solar System," Baltimore
Bulletin onyducation, XXIX (March-May, 1951), p. 43.

24

 

Dale, op. cit., p. 120.

25Carter V. Good, ed., Dictionary of Education (2nd
ed., New York, Toronto, London: McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1959),
p. 860

26John S. Richardson, Science Teaching_in Secondary
Schools (Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1957),
p. 515.

27Washton, op. cit., p. 234.

281bid., p. 232.

29Wittich and Schuller, op. cit., pp. 73-91.

171

30The book, Techniqges for Producing_Visual Instruc-
tional Media, by Ed Minor and Harvey R. Frye (New York:
McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1970), describes various ways of pro-
ducing overhead tranSparencies.

31Jerrold E. Kemp, Planning and Producing Audiovisual
Materials (San Francisco, Calif.: Chandler Publishing Com-
pany, 1963), p. 103.

32Hubert N. Alyea, ”Tested Overhead Projection Series,"
The Sciengg Teacher, XXIX (March, April, September, October,
Navember, December, 1962), 28-31, 10-15, 14-21, 14-21, 14-19,
44-51 0

 

 

 

33Alan 5. Neal, "Viewing Conditions for Classroom
TV: An Objective Study," Audio-Visual Instruction, XIII
(September, 1968), 707-709.

34H. A. Woods, "Problems of the Foreign Language
Lab Director," Audio-Visual Instruction, XIII (May, 1968),
457.

35Frederick G. Knirk, "Technology and Curriculum
Planning: Cost-Effectiveness of Instruction," Audio-Visual
Instruction, XIII (March, 1968), 261.

36Larry Coleman, "Local Production, In-Service Train—
ing, One Approach,“ Audio-Visual Instruction, XIII (April,
1968), 345.

37Henry F. Cote, "A Mobile Media Center," Audio-
Visual Instruction, XIII (September, 1968), 724-25.

38M. Ronald Gould, "The Overall Perspective," Edu-
cation Panorama, XI, No. 3 (1970), 4.

39Clarence O. Bergeson, "New Directions for Educa-
tion--Education for Technology," Audio-Visual Instruction,
XII (June-July, 1967), 572—75.

4OPhil C. Lange, "The Feasibility for Programmed
Learning for Developing Countries," Audio—Visual Instruction,
XV (April, 1970), 65.

41Bob Schwalberg, "New SLR with l/2,000-Sec Top Speed,”
Popular Photography, September, 1970, p. 56.

CHAPTER VII

RESEARCH AS A MEANS FOR IMPROVING
SCIENCE EDUCATION IN VIETNAM

For serious teachers and curriculum planners, research
and experimentation as well as appraisal and evaluation are
important processes since they are closely related to effec-
tive teaching and instructional planning.

Before delving into the topic, some definitions of
terms seem necessary:

Research may be defined as an "approach to a compre-
hension of the universe along a broad thoroughfare of organ—
ized knowledge solidly established on observation and experi-
ment imbedded in a matrix of theory."1

Experimentation is a Specific research procedure
involving the testing of a specific idea or procedure to
determine whether it has the desired results in practice.
Most classroom researches which are fruitful have been under
experimentation form.

Curriculum innovations and changes may be based
either on practical experience or on the suggestions of
Specialists. 0n the other hand, they may be brought about
by experiments conducted in classrooms or school buildings.

Both of these situations can be considered as research

172

173

situations. In the latter, research consists of actual test-
ing by the people involved in the change while in the former,

it consists of research reports.

Types of Research

In this chapter, emphasis will be put upon research
in which teachers are directly involved. The most familiar
researches of this type fall under the category: action
research. The term "action research" means that an indi-
vidual teacher undertakes research to improve his own teach-
ing practices. In this type of research, action and research
cannot be separated one from another. Action research can
be done by a single individual or by a group of individuals
pursuing the same interests. The latter case of multi-
investigator approach to research is called cooperative
parallel research. The advantages of such an approach to
research are studied by Grobman:

There has been considerable experience in co—
operative research efforts within a single project,
where different investigators at project headquarters
pursue different aspects of the same problem. Under
such an arrangement one investigation complements
the others, information can be easily shared, and
the same experimental groups can be used. For ex-
ample, the Harvard Project Physics research bibli-
ography reflects a variety of related studies by
different investigators at the Project headquarters,
each looking into a different but related aspect
of the problem of creating and implementing a
senior high school physics curriculum.

All research has in common a systematic investiga-

tion for more adequate answers to questions or problems,

and depending on the kinds of problems tackled, the purposes

174

for the enterprise, the subjects involved, the methodologies
employed, and the ultimate applications or generalizations,
distinctions among various types of research are made--ex-
perimental research, analytic research, descriptive research,
and historical research.3 It has been common practice to
separate action research from basic research. The distinc-
tions seem to be primarily in the end purposes and in the
individuals involved, but not in the operations involved
in the research process nor in the data collecting techniques.
Action research generally has for aims, modifications in
the professional practices of the researchers themselves
while basic research usually aims at the discovery of basic
generalizations or truths which the researcher hopes prac-
titioners will apply to their activities. Thus, the chief
characteristic of basic research is aiming at broader gen-
eralizations and wider application. To make the distinction
clearer between those two types of research, Oliver has made
up the following comparison table:
A Comparison of Research Types
Action Research
1. Study is within a curriculum.
2. Goal: To improve practices. Investigate to
help oneself and co-workers in action.
3. Improved ppactice building.
4. Take a situation "as is" in the complicated
psychosociological climate of school activities.
5. Research generally cooperative effort by all
affected by the attempts. "Involvement" is the
6. gzgticipants too interested in outcomes to be

easily objective; frequently internalize the
experience.

7.
8.
9.

10.

1.

3.

4.

5.

6.
7.

8.
9.

10.

175

Teacher "finds" by'trying out; thus users par-
ticipate.

Design changed as study develops and indicates

a need for a different attack or assumption.
Participants study a particular existing "whole
population."

Results affect people who engage in the activ-
ities; they learn what happens in this situation.

Basic Research

Study is about the curriculum.

Goal: To find the "truth" that will result

in broad applicability. Investigate to help
others.

Theory building. Involves hypothesis to test
whether an idea will work.

Control the situation to rule out as many vari-
ables as possible. Seek to increase confidence
in the results by keeping it "pure," that is,
remote from the actual situation.

Research usually done by an individual or by

a small study team of ”outsiders."

Researchers try to attack problems objectively.
Researcher "finds"; teacher then tries it out.
Thus users observe.

Research kept rigidly to design and, thus, to
high degree of precision.

Participants seek a "random sample" in order

to generalize with more confidence.

Results affect others to the extent that they
read about it, understand it, and seek to make
changes accordingly. Presumably applicable

to all similar situations.

For the classroom science teacher concerned with

improving the quality of his teaching methods and procedures,

the practical need is to use the most appropriate research

methodologies in attacking science education problems, and

to acquire skills in the research procets. Thus, this chap-

ter deals with these following problems:

How can teachers develop necessary competence

in educational research processes?

What is the rationale for systematic research

176

in science education? What are needed research
topics in this area?
The Understanding of the Researchvgrocess and
the Develpping of Negessary Skills
The aims of research as a process are many: discover-
ing and testing new ideas or practices, establishing causal
relationships, or searching for the nature of a particular
problem. No clear demarcation line exists between different
phases-~or steps-~of this process; sometimes one phase flows
back and forth into another.
As in a problem—solving process, the following phases
of a research process can be identified as follows:
1) Recognize a problem.
2) State the problem in clear and concise terms.
3) Formulate hypotheses related to the problem under
study.
4) Identify or develop instruments for measuring
the variables in the hypotheses.
5) Select a design allowing for the testing of the
hypotheses.
6) Choose a data-analysis plan consistent with the
design.
7) Collect the data.
8) Analyze the data.
5

9) Make conclusions based on data.

However, it is only in a controlled laboratory situation

177

that parallelism between problem-solving process and research
process is observed. In the classroom situation, the process
flow for research usually differs from problem-solving process.

Circumstances leading to classroom research are varied
in origins., Some day, a teacher may feel unhappy about a
particular aSpect of a certain teaching situation and may
find ways of improving it. Another teacher may get so ex-
cited about several possibilities of solving a problem in
his area that he decides to try them out. In the first case,
the preliminary phase of the research process may include
a clear statement of the problem and its limitations and
the proposal of hypotheses concerning the solution of the
problem. In the second case, the problem is more clearly
defined. In the actual testing phase, one may soon realize
that the problem was not clearly analyzed and that further
revision is essential before the hypotheses can be reformu—
lated and tested.

Thus, classroom research can be better understood
and carried out if it is viewed as a flexible process, sub-
jected to readjustments, and not an orderly-rigid process
to be followed step by step. In order to enhance the re-
search validity, great care should be given to different

operations in each step of the research process.

178
‘Egpipnale fog Syptematic Research in
Science Education in Vietnam

In order to determine what research is needed for
science education in Vietnam, it is first necessary to iden-
tify the areas in which current and previous research have
concentrated.

In Vietnam, educational research has been conducted
by the Directorate of Teacher Education and the Thu-Duo pilot
comprehensive high school as well as by the Education Science
Institute.6 Most \“ researches conducted by these organiza-
tions belong to the following types: 1) Status studies,

2) Method studies.

In the area of Science Education, status studies
encompass surveys of current practices in teaching particu-
lar science subjects; surveys of teacher supply and demand;
content analyses of science textbooks; determination of trends
relative to the content and the teaching of science. Thus,
status studies give a picture of the present state of science
teaching and other things pertaining to it. Comparisons
which are made between periodical reports reveal progress
or changes that have occurred in the past and may suggest
changes in the future.

Method studies concentrate for the most part upon
comparison between teaching methods: traditional method
(lecture method) vs. discovery-inquiry method; laboratory
vs. demonstration.

These studies describing present status, teaching

179

procedures are certainly valuable. But their very limited
nature--impossible replications, low internal and external
validity--does not allow for broad application of the research
results.

If a sound body of knowledge about science education
is to be developed, what new approaches ought to be used?
The principal purpose of educational research is the estab-
lishment of reliable predictive systems based upon laws and
principles applicable to the basic problem of maximizing
learning in the schools. But the development of laws and
principles which govern effective teaching and learning of
science will require research far more basic and meaningfully
significant than most previous and current researches.

Suggested Areas for Science Education
Research in Vietnam

The "whole problem" of teaching and learning of sci-
ence is a complex one, due to all the teacher-pupil complex
interactions, the vast domain to be considered and the ex-
treme variety of teaching-learning environments. It is
therefore a much easier task to deal--instead of with the
whole problem--with specific aspects of the "whole" and draw
from them principles which are more general in character.
And then, bit by bit, a science of science education can
be constructed from the peacemeal combination of these dis-
covered principles.

Specific areas in science education which need more

180

research include:
1) Sggnitive learning‘in science: The learning process in-
cludes both the readiness of each learner and the structure
of the subject. Teaching is then the procedure by which
we facilitate this learning. A continual study of the com-
plex processes involved in the learning of sciences provides
an adequate basis on which to define, investigate or appraise
science-teaching methods.

In order to understand these learning processes,
close cooperation between practical educators and research
psychologists is necessary. For example, in the United States,
from 1890 to 1920, experimental psychologists who did research
on intellectual development, or on problems fundamental to
the understanding of intellectual learning in schools, helped
a great deal in the shaping of educational developments,
theories and methods.

A large body of literature related to how people
(or children) think has been developed by Russell, Bruner
and Vinacke in the United States.7

Piaget in Geneva has tried to investigate the ways
children learn in schools.8 One flaw in Piaget's work is
that he provides so little information about the individual
child: his intellectual ability, sex, age, school background,
socio—economic status and other less obvious attributes.
However, he has the merit of pointing out that studies of

the thinking processes of young children are easier than

181

those dealing with adolescents. Young children are so candid,
open and revealing in their thoughts and actions that con-
clusions regarding how they learn are likely to be valid.
Studies on adolescents' thinking processes are more compli—
cated due to the partial (or total) lack of those qualities
found in younger children. Although young children and ado-
lescents do not learn in exactly the same manner, inferences
drawn from studies with young children may shed light on

what to investigate and how to proceed with older children.

Since learning processes are so complex, a stepwise
approach to research in Science Education is recommended.
First, a detailed study of a few children might suggest plaus-
ible hypotheses about the ways children learn Specific as-
pects of science. Second, test these hypotheses using larger
groups of children.

Reports of such exploratory experiments must be made
with enough detail so that other experimenters could under-
stand and replicate them if they wish. The vocabulary used
in describing the processes involved must be defined in opera-
tional terms.

Difficulties of the research in the area of cogni-
tive learning in science pertain to the difficulty that
arises in the defining and the studying of such general
aspects as "critical thinking,” "scientific attitudes and
methods," etc. In order to avoid those difficulties deal—

ing with the "too general," let's limit ourselves to the

182

study of specific aspects or tasks of learning such as those
involved with Specific scientific principles, giving thereby
more stable and meaningful results.
2) Planning and operating science courses: Effective plan-
ning of science courses needs a complete understanding of
how children learn science concepts, which most teachers
do not have. But such a complete knowledge of science learn-
ing processes is not available from research. The task of
researchers in this area--designing of planning schemes for
science courses--is therefore to apply the principles of
existing knowledge about the learning processes to the de-
signing of such schemes. Such researches are justified by
the urgent need of teachers of having "some framework which
will aid them in making explicit in advance the objectives
of each day's classroom activities, the nature of the expe-
riences to be used to evoke the desired learning, and the
behavior reactions sought from pupils as overt evidence that
learning has occurred."9
Several other suggestions regarding other aspects
of this research area are made by Watson and Cooley:
A second problem to investigate is whether or

not teachers can design such plans with validity and

use them effectively. Another research approach

would be to test the ability of other teachers to

read the script and visualize the pupil behaviors.

If formats can be found which are psychologically

sound and do, in fact, facilitate the planning of

lessons, and if the resulting plans are intelligible

to science teachers, such formats will certainly

contribute to the improvement of the teaching of
science. Since we can write poetry, music, and

183

modern dance in symbols, surely we should be able
to write at least a rudimentary description of
teaching.10

3) Evaluation of learning outcomes: Thorough investigation
should be pursued. The need for research in this area was
stressed by Reiner:

A great deal of research remains to be done in
evaluation in science teaching. Evaluation is broader
in scope than measurement or testing. Problems in
science evaluation, some new and many old, were pre-
sented in connection with objectives in learning.
Special programs such as the activity and core types
present new problems. Evaluating pupils of various
age and ability levels present both new and old prob-
lems. Testing techniques, norms, validity, and re-
liability require study and experimentation. . . .
Research in science evaluation requires the writing
of tests, their use, and a careful analysis of the
obtained results. This is a very laborious project
and is best accomplished by committees pooling and
sharing resources of information, talent, and sec-
retarial help.11

4) Teacherppersonality and student personality: Another
area in science education which needs research is related
to the effect of teacher's personality on science learning
in secondary school. Differences in teacher personality
allow us to do comparative studies to establish criteria
for effective teaching in terms of good teacher personality
variables. Such studies have been listed in an annotated

12 But much re-

bibliography set up by Dumas and Tiedeman.
mains to be done in this area.
Another topic for research is the career development

of teachers. One approach is to follow the procedures which
were used in studying the career development of scientists.

One may also think of using autobiographies of experienced

184

science teachers as preliminary exploratory studies. How—
ever, rarely do we see such science analogs of "How Children

13 Attitudes of science teachers toward their career—-

Fail."
whether they choose their teaching career for economic reasons
or for love of science teaching-~may have important reper—
cussion on students' performance in science learning; such
studies of effects of attitudes of teachers on student
learning were done by Taylor14 in 1957.

As teachers may differ in personalities, so do the
students. There are students who learn science at a faster
rate than others, and these are also the "future scientists"—-
those who may embrace a scientific career later on--and the
"non-scientists"--those who just need a minimum of science
knowledge to survive in this modern world. Topics for re-
search on this area--student's personality—-would include,
for example, possible answers to this question: How and
why can we distinguish between the future scientists and

the non-scientists in our schools or in their home environ—

ments.

FOOTNOTES FOR CHAPTER VII

1Palmer 0. Johnson, "Introductory Remarks at Opening
of the Symposium on Educational Research, ” in First Annual
Phi Delta Kappa Symposium on Educational Research, ed. by
Frank W. Banghart (Bloomington, 111.: Phi Delta Kappa, Inc.,
1960), p. xv.

2Hulda Grobman, "Cooperative Parallel Research,"
The Science Teacher, XXXVII (February, 1970), 39.

3Gilbert Sax, Empirical Foundations of Educational
Research (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc.,
1968), pp. 35- 37. See also, Deobold B. Van Dalen, Under-
standing Educational Research: An Introduction (rev. ed.,
New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1966), pp. 176- 202.

4Albert I. Oliver, Curriculum Imp_ovement:fi A Guide
to Problems, Principles and Procedures (New York: Dodd,
Mead and Company, 1965), pp. 80-81.

5Adapted from David J. Fox, The Research Process in
Education (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1969),
p. 30.

 

6Vietnam (Republic), Ministry of Education, Educa-
tional Developments? 1968- 1970 (Saigon, Vietnam: Ministry
of Education), p. 45.

7See J. S. Bruner, J. Goodnow and G. A. Austin,
The Stud of Thinking (New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.,
1956) See also David H. Russell, Children's Thinking
(Boston: Ginn and Co., 1956), and William E. Vinacke, 222.
Psychology of Thinking_(New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co.,
1952 .

8Jean Piaget and Barbel Inhelder, The Growth of
cal Thinking from Childhood to Adolescence, translated
iarsons and Milgram‘TNew York: Basic Books, 1958).

9Fletcher G. Watson and William W. Cooley, "Needed
Research in Science Education," in Rethinking Science Educa-
tion, Fifty-ninth Yearbook of the National Society for the
Study of Education, Part I, ed. by Nelson B. Henry (Chicago,
Illinois: The University of Chicago Press, 1960), p. 303.

 

185

186

lOIbid., pp. 303-304.

11William B. Reiner, "Needed Research in Evaluation
in Science Teaching," Science Education, XXXVII (February,
1953), 69.

 

lZS. J. Dumas and D. V. Tiedeman, “Teacher Competence:
An Annotated Bibliography," Journal of Experimental Education,
XIX (1950), 101-218.

13John Holt, How Children Fail (New York: Pitman
Publishing Corporation, 1964):

14Thomas Wayne Taylor, "Relationships between Growth
in Interest and Achievement of High-School Science Students
and Science Teacher Attitudes, Preparation, and Experience,”
doctoral thesis (Denton, Texas: North Texas State College,
1957).

CHAPTER VIII
CONCLUSION

The "dramatic increase of new knowledge in science"1
more or less forces science teachers to renew their back-
ground in science to keep them up to date. This could be
achieved through teachers' frequenting science libraries
or taking courses at neighboring universities.

However, mere possession of knowledge is not enough
to secure good teaching. Modern methods of teaching sci-
ence, making use of new findings in psychology and of latest
innovations in educational technology, should also be con-
sidered by serious science teachers. Those teachers who
are constantly seeking systematic ways to improve their
instructional methods and procedures-~for example, through
teachers' participation at summer workshops or in various
in-service teacher training programs--are likely to grow
and add dignity to their profession more than those who just
rely upon a good teaching personality.

Thus, in our modern times, personality is not enough.
As John Dewey says:

Here is the answer to those who decry pedagog-
ical study on the ground that success in teaching
and in moral direction of pupils is often not in
any direct ratio to knowledge of educational prin-
ciples. '

Here is "A" who is much more successful than
"B" in teaching, awakening the enthusiasm of his
students for learning, inspiring them morally by
personal example and contact, and yet relatively
ignorant of educational history, psychology approved
methods, etc., which "B" possesses in abundant meas-
ure. The facts are admitted. But what is overlooked
by the objector is that the successes of such indi-
viduals tend to be born and to die with them: bene-
ficial consequences extend only to those pupils who
have personal contact with such gifted teachers.

No one can measure the waste and loss that have come
from the fact that the contributions of such men

and women in the past have been thus confined, and
the only way by which we can prevent such waste in
the future is by methods which enable us to make

an analysis of what the gifted teacher does intui-
tively, so that something accruing from his work

can be communicated to others. . . .

The existence of scientific method protects us
also from a danger that attends the operations of
men of unusual power; the danger of slavish imita-
tion partisanship, and such jealous devotion to them
and their work as to get in the way of further prog—
ress.

Anybody can notice today that the effect of an
original and power ul teacher is not all to the good.
Those influenced by him often show a one-sided in~
terest; they tend to form schools, and to become
impervious to Other problems and truths; they in-
cline to swear by the words of their master and to
go on repeating his thoughts after him, and often
without the Spirit and insight that originally made
them significant. Observation also shows that these
results happen oftenest in those subjects in which
scientific method is least developed. Where these
methods are of longer standing students adopt meth-
ods rather than merely results, and employ them
with flexibility rather than in literal reproduc-
tion. . . .

Command of scientific methods and systematized
subject—matter liberates individuals; it enables
them to see new problems, devise new procedures,
and, in general, makes for diversification rather
than for set uniformity. But at the same time these
diversifications have a cumulative effect in an ad-
vance shared by all workers in the fields.2

Those new media and methods discussed in this study

provide the Vietnamese science teacher in the secondary school

189

with necessary tools to improve his daily teaching. Which
tools he would use under a particular situation depends on
whether they suit his teaching purpose or not:

How should you teach? No one can tell you ex-
actly. To beginning teachers, I usually say, "Here
are twenty ways in which you can approach topics
in science. Which one would you choose?" Of course,
this is a simplification, because there must be un-
limited ways of teaching. Part of the infinite
variety depends on the materials used--the specimens,
models, pictures, and apparatus; part depends on
the immediate goal that the teacher has in mind.
Sometimes he wants pupils to develop technical
skills for a world based on technology. Sometimes
he is concerned that they gain insight into the
methods of the practising scientist. Sometimes
he insists that the new generation fashion a liter-
acy in current scientific thought, or, to speak
plainly, that pupils must know things. Some teach-
ers encourage their scholars to be self-reliant and
independent by making research possible. Some link
science with the machines of our age. Others pio-
neer with new devices and new methods. In truth,
no one teacher always teaches in one way. He uses
different methods with different topics at differ-
ent times with different students. Your teaching
ways will be of your own choosing and of your own
decision. Teaching is what you make it.

To-help the science teacher in accurately determin-
ing his choice of media or methods a thorough understanding
of instructional objectives4 is necessary. Furthermore,
specific instructional objectives should always be in line
with the teacher's philosophy and general goals of education.
Thus, armed with well-defined goals in mind, the science
teacher is more likely to be successful in his work, since
he knows where to go and how to reach his destination--using
suitable media and methods. In using new media and methods,

teachers should also strive to avoid this common pitfall:

190

becoming method-oriented rather than problem-oriented.
danger of becoming method-oriented has been revealed by
John R. Platt in these following terms:

To paraphrase an old saying, Beware of the man

of one method or one instrument, either experimental

or theoretical. He tends to become method-oriented
rather than problem-oriented. The method-oriented
man is shackled; the problem—oriented man is at

least reaching freely toward what is most important.

The

5

He went on further, offering a cure for the method-

orientation disease:

"Strong inference redirects a man to problem-orien-

tation, but it requires him to be willing repeatedly to

aside his last methods and teach himself new ones."6

put

In summary, a science teacher who knows how to keep

abreast of latest developments in his field, who possesses

specific educational objectives in mind and the necessary

skills and techniques to achieve these objectives, who is

problem-oriented instead of method-oriented, and finally,

who forges himself into a dynamic personality which may
inspire and stimulate his students, merits to be called
professional science teacher.

It is not the possession of a degree or of a
state certificate, or even of this or that particu-
lar skill or bit of knowledge that distinguishes
the professional teacher from sub-standard teachers
of science. The professional science teacher is
distinguished rather by overall pattern of prepara-
tion, thought, and action: by what he knows about
students and science and education; by what he can
do to encourage and enhance learning; by what he
believes about the relationships between himself,
his students, the school, the local and world com-

munities, and scientific enterprise; and, above all,

by what he does and does not do.

FOOTNOTES FOR CHAPTER VIII

1Joseph D. Novak, "Importance of Conceptual Schemes
for Science Teaching," The Science Teacher, XXXI (October,

1964), 10.

2John Dewey, The Sources of a Science of Education
(New York: Horace Liveright, 1929), pp. 10-1 .

3Norman E. Massey, Patterns for the Teachin of Sci-
ence (Toronto: McMillan Co. of Canada, Ltd., 1965), p. 3.

4R. F. Mager, Preparing_Instructional Objectives
(Palo Alto, California: Fearon Publishers, 1962 . The topic
of instructional goals is also well treated in the book writ-
ten by W. James Popham and Eva L. Baker, Establishing Instruc-

tional Goals (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-H511,
Inc., 19705 0

5John R. Platt, "Strong Inference,“ Science, CILVI,
No. 3642, 351. '”‘"“'

6

 

 

Ibid., p. 351.

7National Science Teachers Association, Annual Self-
Inventory for Science Teachers in Secondary Schools (lst
ed., Washington, D.C., July 18, 1970), p. 15*

191

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