Survey on the difficulties and demands from students, staff and parents of pupils at Istituto Tecnico Economico "F. Severi" in San Giovanni Valdarno, Tuscany, Italy in September-November 2016.

1. Erasmus+
Let the science discover us
Project Number: 2016-1-TR01-KA219-034235
Project Manager: Prof. Roberto Abenante
Team Group: Prof. Lucia Bellacci, Prof. Lorenzo Pierazzi
Relator: Eng. Clio Mugnai
ISISValdarno–SanGiovanniValdarno

2. Presentation Outline
Eng. Clio Mugnai – Let the science discover us
Barcelona, 1st
December 2016
Submitted Questionnaires:
• Students (4 + 1 questionnaries)
• Parents (2 questionnaries)
• Teachers (2 questionnaries)
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ISISValdarno–SanGiovanniValdarno

3. Students’ Questionnaries
Submitted Questionnaires:
• Science Literacy Q.
• Science Teaching Methods Q.
• IT Usage Q.
• Students’ learning difficulties
• Students’ knowledge and expectations about the Erasmus+
programme (students from the 2nd
and 3rd
class, 6 are males
and 4 females)
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ISISValdarno–SanGiovanniValdarno
Eng. Clio Mugnai – Let the science discover us
Barcelona, 1st
December 2016

4. Students’ Questionnaries
Submitted Questionnaires:
• Science Literacy Q.
• Science Teaching Methods Q.
• IT Usage Q.
• Students’ learning difficulties
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ISISValdarno–SanGiovanniValdarno
Paper questionnaires, computers, mobile phones and
whiteboards.
The students who filled the questionnaires are 130, from the
1st
to the 5th
class. More than 50% of them are male students.
Their age ranges from 14 to 19. They live in San Giovanni
Valdarno or in the nearby towns.
Eng. Clio Mugnai – Let the science discover us
Barcelona, 1st
December 2016

5. Students’ Questionnaries
Aim of the survey
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ISISValdarno–SanGiovanniValdarno
• Find out what students know about the fundamental
principles of Science and Research
• How scientific subjects are taught in their school
• How new technologies are used in the Science classroom
• Finding out more about the difficulties that students
encounter at school or at home in the various subjects.
Eng. Clio Mugnai – Let the science discover us
Barcelona, 1st
December 2016

6. Students’ Questionnaries
Science Literacy Q.
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ISISValdarno–SanGiovanniValdarno
• The students are aware of the fact that scientific theories
can change.
• They recognize the importance of research, observation and
experiments.
• The 50% of them believes in the role of imagination in
scientific research.
• The majority of them believe in the usefulness of teaching
theories at school.
• A vast majority would not be able to explain a scientific fact
(e.g. global warming) by using scientific language.
Eng. Clio Mugnai – Let the science discover us
Barcelona, 1st
December 2016

7. Students’ Questionnaries
Science Teaching Methods Q. (1/2)
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ISISValdarno–SanGiovanniValdarno
• The most common method used by teacher in Science
lessons is the traditional one where the teaching is done by
the teacher (30% always, 25% usually), but data seem to
suggest, however, that the lesson is carried out in an
interactive way, where asking questions and providing the
answers is common practice.
• Discussion about the contents of the course is given an
important role.
Eng. Clio Mugnai – Let the science discover us
Barcelona, 1st
December 2016

8. Students’ Questionnaries
Science Teaching Methods Q. (2/2)
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ISISValdarno–SanGiovanniValdarno
• Projects are a common practice.
• (Similarly) problem-solving is frequently used.
• (Surprisingly) experiments in the laboratories and
observation of natural phenomena are rarely conducted
and the same appears to be true for trips outside the
classroom.
• The role-play technique is hardly ever used in the Science
lesson.
Eng. Clio Mugnai – Let the science discover us
Barcelona, 1st
December 2016

9. Students’ Questionnaries
IT Usage Q. (1/2)
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ISISValdarno–SanGiovanniValdarno
• Although the majority of the students recognizes the
importance of IT usage and affirms that it increases
motivation, effectiveness and speed of learning and quality
of teaching, there is a considerable number of them who
still does not agree completely with the importance of IT
usage and is unsure about its potential.
Eng. Clio Mugnai – Let the science discover us
Barcelona, 1st
December 2016

10. Students’ Questionnaries
IT Usage Q. (2/2)
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ISISValdarno–SanGiovanniValdarno
• 50% of the students finds the activities in the laboratory
productive and attractive and their interest is good. They
believe that using these tools is useful, however there is still
a high number of them who can’t tell whether technologies
increase their success at school. 25% of the students don’t
use the laboratory very often and the same percentage
believes that technologies in the lab may even distract
them.
Eng. Clio Mugnai – Let the science discover us
Barcelona, 1st
December 2016

11. Students’ Questionnaries
Students’ Learning Difficulties Q. (1/3)
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ISISValdarno–SanGiovanniValdarno
• The most difficult subjects are: foreign languages (English,
French, German), Maths, History, Chemistry, Business
Economics and Political Economics.
• Many students generally attribute their school difficulties to
teachers and claim that:
• The teacher’s method is not effective (55%)
• Teachers are boring and repetitive (48%)
• Teachers give too many tests in one day (51%)
• Teachers are absent for long periods of time (46%)
Eng. Clio Mugnai – Let the science discover us
Barcelona, 1st
December 2016

12. Students’ Questionnaries
Students’ Learning Difficulties Q. (2/3)
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ISISValdarno–SanGiovanniValdarno
• A high percentage of them, however, attribute their failures
at school to themselves and maintain that:
• Anxiety or other emotional reasons before the test
influence their performance (40%)
• They lack of motivation and commitment (32%)
• They have not developed an effective learning method
(33%)
• They lack of basic notions and knowledge (27%)
• They don’t like the school (25%)
Eng. Clio Mugnai – Let the science discover us
Barcelona, 1st
December 2016

13. Students’ Questionnaries
Students’ Learning Difficulties Q. (3/3)
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ISISValdarno–SanGiovanniValdarno
• A high percentage of them, however, attribute their failures
at school to themselves and maintain that:
• They don’t dare ask their teacher for further explanation
(21%)
• They don’t study in the afternoon and prefer spending
their free time out (23%)
• They get discouraged when they get bad marks (20%)
• Some attribute their difficulties to health and eating and
other kinds of psychological problems.
Eng. Clio Mugnai – Let the science discover us
Barcelona, 1st
December 2016

14. Students’ Questionnaries
Students’ knowledge and expectations about the
Erasmus+ programme Q. (1/2)
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ISISValdarno–SanGiovanniValdarno
• The majority was informed about the project “Let the
science discover us” and the Erasmus+ programme,
although they have never taken part in these programmes.
• Most of them are able to communicate in a foreign
language (intermediate level) and feel confident in their
linguistic competence.
• They like team work and they have good team work skills.
Eng. Clio Mugnai – Let the science discover us
Barcelona, 1st
December 2016

15. Students’ Questionnaries
Eng. Clio Mugnai – Let the science discover us
Barcelona, 1st
December 2016
Students’ knowledge and expectations about the
Erasmus+ programme Q. (2/2)
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ISISValdarno–SanGiovanniValdarno
• By participating in the first phase of the project, students
say that they liked using English and technologies to fill in
the questionnaires and being part of an European project.
• In the future, they expect to: learn about new countries and
people, improve their communication skills, improve their
English and Science knowledge, do an important life
experience.

16. Parents’ Questionnaries
Aim of the survey
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ISISValdarno–SanGiovanniValdarno
• Find out what parents know about the fundamental
principles of Science and Research, how scientific subjects
are taught in their children’s school, how new technologies
are used in the Science classroom.
Only 23 people answered. Their age ranged from 38 to 51. The
majority were women. Fifty per cent of them were high school
graduates, 35% had only attended middle school, 15% had
attended university and got a degree.
Eng. Clio Mugnai – Let the science discover us
Barcelona, 1st
December 2016

17. Parents’ Questionnaries
Science Literacy Q.
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ISISValdarno–SanGiovanniValdarno
• Parents are aware of the fact that scientific theories can
change.
• They recognize the importance of research, observation and
experiments.
• 50% of them believes in the role of imagination in scientific
research.
• The majority of them believes in the usefulness of teaching
theories at school.
• A vast majority would not be able to explain a scientific fact
(e.g. global warming) by using scientific language
Eng. Clio Mugnai – Let the science discover us
Barcelona, 1st
December 2016

18. Parents’ Questionnaries
IT Usage Q. (1/2)
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ISISValdarno–SanGiovanniValdarno
• Although the majority of the parents recognizes the
importance of IT usage and affirms it increases motivation,
effectiveness and speed of learning and quality of teaching,
there is a number of them who still does not agree
completely with the importance of IT usage and is unsure
about its potential
Eng. Clio Mugnai – Let the science discover us
Barcelona, 1st
December 2016

19. Parents’ Questionnaries
IT Usage Q. (2/2)
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ISISValdarno–SanGiovanniValdarno
• The majority thinks that the activities in the laboratory are
productive and attractive for their children. Parents believe
that using these tools is useful, however there is still a high
number of them who can’t tell whether technologies
increase their children’s success at school. Parents say that
the students don’t often use the laboratory. They don’t
agree with their children that technology may distract the
attention.
Eng. Clio Mugnai – Let the science discover us
Barcelona, 1st
December 2016

20. Teachers’ Questionnaries
Aim of the survey
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ISISValdarno–SanGiovanniValdarno
• Find out what teachers know about Scientific Research and
how new technologies are used in their school and lessons.
Sixteen teachers of scientific subjects (Physics, Electronics,
Maths, IT, Science, Chemistry, Business Economics) were asked
to fill in their questionnaires online. Their age ranged from 36
to 60. The majority were women (70%). Of course, all of them
had a university degree and 12% had also a PhD. They were all
teaching in the secondary high school, and their teaching
experience ranged from 5 to 35 years.
Eng. Clio Mugnai – Let the science discover us
Barcelona, 1st
December 2016

21. Teachers’ Questionnaries
IT Usage and Science Literacy Q. (1/2)
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ISISValdarno–SanGiovanniValdarno
• 50% of the teachers uses IT tools in their classroom; only 6%
rarely does it.
• 50% believes that the technological tools provided by their
school are not enough.
• 80% have attended teaching training courses about the
implementation of IT tools; what they learnt was relevant
and useful for their jobs.
Eng. Clio Mugnai – Let the science discover us
Barcelona, 1st
December 2016

22. Teachers’ Questionnaries
IT Usage and Science Literacy Q. (2/2)
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ISISValdarno–SanGiovanniValdarno
• Every teacher has a PC or a digital device. Almost all of them
have a PC/laptop/tablet; 60% has a smartphone.
• 60% spends from 1 to 2 hours online; the rest spends from 3
to more hours online a day.
• 50% uses the lab and they do it from twice a month to 5
times a month; they use it mainly for simulations (70%) and
experiments (44%).
Eng. Clio Mugnai – Let the science discover us
Barcelona, 1st
December 2016

23. Teachers’ Questionnaries
Science and its role Q.
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ISISValdarno–SanGiovanniValdarno
• Science means “using new knowledge to make the world a
better place” (78%), “learning about the unknown
phenomena” (61%), “carrying out experiments to solve a
problem” (39%).
• Teachers believe in effectiveness of the scientific method,
but they are aware of the fact that many discoveries are
made by accident.
• They all believe that science knowledge is not fixed and it’s
subject to change.
Eng. Clio Mugnai – Let the science discover us
Barcelona, 1st
December 2016

24. Erasmus+
Let the science discover us
Project Number: 2016-1-TR01-KA219-034235
Project Manager: Prof. Roberto Abenante
Team Group: Prof. Lucia Bellacci, Prof. Lorenzo Pierazzi
Relator: Eng. Clio Mugnai
ISISValdarno–SanGiovanniValdarno