The document discusses innovative teaching practices to create active learning environments in middle and high school classrooms, aiming to engage students and connect education with real-life experiences through activity-based learning. It emphasizes overcoming traditional teaching methods, fostering critical thinking and cooperation, and using traditional games like 'Gilli-Danda' to explain scientific concepts. The author offers a structured approach for implementation and encourages educators to adopt new methodologies for enhancing student interest and understanding in subjects like physics.

1. Creating Active Learning Environment in Classrooms
Through Innovative Teaching Practices at Middle and High
School Level
Suresh C Joshi
Head, Learning Resource Center, Ahlcon International School, Delhi, India
E- Mail: scjoshidat2012@gmail.com
Blog: http://learnleadershipwithscj.blogspot.in/ Webpage: http://www.gamebasedteachingmodel.com/
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2. Open
your minds
for
enjoyable
learning
experience
Surrender
yourself
Introduction and
expectations !!
Are u ready ??
2

3. Research Questions:
1.How to overcome with traditional teaching methods (pure
lecturing, chalk-talk, etc.)?
2.How to draw student’s attention in the class?
3.How to convert initial ‘thrust’ into ‘ample engagement’
strengthening active learning?
4.Which assessment method to be used to check actual
learning level or average gain in conceptual understanding?
3

4. Participant’s
Participant’s
involvement!!
involvement!!
Suggest solutions!!
One possible solution
may be…………..
4

5. Using traditional games & models as
demonstration tools
To enhance conceptual understanding:
“A creative approach to teach"
5

6. Let us
not
confuse
ourselves
!
We will narrow down our discussion
and understand it by one
demonstration of Science (Physics)
6

7. Purpose and Objectives:
Arresting declining interest of young learners towards study.
Connecting classroom teaching with real life experiences
through activity based learning.
Removing the misunderstanding that ‘Physics (Your Subject)
is only for the brains of outstanding capability (different
skill)”
To make student think logically and independently,
Developing skills: Concentration, aiming, creative thinking, inquiry based
scientific temperament, strengthening teacher student bond, cooperation –
coordination, working as a team, strategy making, problem solving, building
and designing, more…
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8. Purpose and Objectives Contd…..
Value based learning: knowing about the culture and
traditions.
Nurturing inquiry – based scientific temperament.
Promoting students to pursue physics at higher level.
Designing and developing certain models incorporating the
rich experiences of large community of educators in the
world.
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9. Specific Objective:
To make students familiar about:
1.tradition and culture (small)
2.Physics terms we are to be used further
3.To understand concepts of physics used/to be used
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10. Articles/Readings!!
1.D.R. Sokoloff and R.K. Thornton: Using ILD’s to create an active learning environment;
Phys. Teach. 35 (1997)340.
2.N.
Balasubramanian
and
Brent
G.
Wilson:
Games
and
http://www.autzones.com/din6000/textes/semaine10/Bala+Wilson(2005).pdf
Simulations;
3.Manjula D. Sharma et. al.: Use of ILD’s: A ten year study; Physical Review Special Topics –
Physics education research; 6, 020119(2010).
4.R.K. Thornton and D.R. Sokoloff , Tools for scientific thinking – Motion and force
curriculum and teachers’ Guide, 2nd ed. (Vernier Software, Portland, 1992).
5.ILD’s: Active learning in introductory physics; D.R. Sokoloff and R.K. Thornton (WILEY
Publication) Thanks to Dr. Edwards F. Redish for proving the book
6.Teaching
Physics
With
the
Physics
http://www2.physics.umd.edu/~redish/Book/
Suite:
Edward
F.
Redish
+ 44 Other Research Papers
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11. This session:
1. A Comparative study
2. Know about the activity to be performed
3. Your participation
4. My direction towards science principles involved
5. Brainstorming activity
6. Helps in skill development
7. Your understanding about the Demonstration
8. More Interactive Lecture Demonstrations
9. Future goals !!!!
And Magic !!!!
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12. Existing ILD’s / this method; A Comparative study:S. No.
1.
Existing ILD’s
Students are bounded to learn the decided topic.
There is no scope of brainstorming / independent thinking
on terms to be involved.
This method
Students are not bounded to learn the topic already
decided.
Enough scope of brainstorming / thinking independently.
No possibility of evolving new terms because ILD’s are topic Topic /topics will be evolved through demo. Students are
confined.
given choice over which topics I expect them to learn
through thinking about that particular game.
2.
More theory (reading) is involved. As such no activity is to Less theory [observation (demo) based]. Understanding
be performed by the students; David Sokoloff and Ronald takes place by student’s involvement in the activity.
Thornton; The Physics Teacher, Vol.35, Sept. (1997).
Less writing work, Interesting MCQ’s / rubric worksheets.
3.
Limited stimulation/motivation (for high school and Enough stimulation/motivation (since a game is involved
Introductory Physics students) to study a particular topic
with it)
Close to real life experiences.
The gains are not spectacular; A ten years study: Manjula D. Results are noticeable:
Sharma et. al., Phy. Rev. phys. Ed. 6, 020119(2012).
1. Increase in interest – More Involvement of students
2. Students are motivated to participate in developing and
designing new models; nurturing building capacity and
scientific temperament
3. Encouraging responses from educators in the same field
from different countries (In process)
4.
5.
Hi-tech machines are required to record observations[Not In everyone’s reach
true for many (not all) of the UMD ILDs on Redish’s web (Can use the games / toys of your country)
site]; David Sokoloff and Ronald Thornton: The physics
Suite(John Wiley & Sons, 2004)
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13. Implementation Idea; Steps:–
There are 8 Steps
http://www.gamebasedteachingmodel.com/
13

14. Use of Gulli – Danda as
demonstration tool
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFtU9JnFVkU
Gulli ↔ Gilli
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15. Gilli – Danda (Lippa)
Played in the rural areas and small towns all over India,
Pakistan (especially in Punjab), and Cambodia.
4+ Players Game
Origin: India date back to the "Maurya Dynasty"
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16. Gilli – Danda (Lippa)
Various other names:
In United States a similar game
is called pee-wee.
Tipcat in English,
Dandi-Biyo in Nepali
alak-doulak in Persian,
dānggűli inBengali & Assamese
chinni-dandu in Kannada,
kuttiyum kolum in Malayalam,
viti-dandu िवटी दांडू in Marathi,
kitti-pul (கிடட-பல்) in Tamil,
Gooti-Billa orKarra-Billa or BillamGodu in Telugu,
Gulli-Danda in Punjabi,
Iti-Dakar in Sindhi,
Lappa-Duggi in Pashto
Kon ko in khmer, the Cambodian
language
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17. Participant’s
Participant’s
involvement!!
involvement!!
Which Science (Physics) terms…….any
term…… are/is involved with
The motion ????
(evolving terms)
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18. Science principles involved with
Gilli-danda
1.Torque (couple of force)
2. Translational motion
3. Rotational motion (ILD’s: Active learning in introductory physics; D.R. Sokoloff
and R.K. Thornton: pg. 131-140)
4. Impulse & Momentum (ILD’s: Active learning in introductory physics; D.R.
Sokoloff and R.K. Thornton: pg. 119-128)
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19. Science principles involved with
Gilli-danda
5. Angle of projection (ILD’s: Active learning in introductory physics; D.R. Sokoloff
and R.K. Thornton: pg. 91-99)
6. Horizontal range
7. Trajectory followed by Gilli
…..and Many more……
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20. Gulli – Danda (Lippa)
Participant’s
Participant’s
involvement!!
involvement!!
Have you got the idea
how to play ??
Here is the Activity !!
Prepare at least FIVE questions based on
the demonstration !!
(5 – 6 minutes)
Discussio
n
allowed
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21. Gilli – Danda (Lippa)
Official tournament was held at
Pasla KAPURTHALA, PUNJAB ,
India in 2009.
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22. Gilli – Danda (Lippa)
A domestic sports tournament was held on April 17’
2009 in South Africa
Reported in a blog by Rajesh Shiza
http://blogs.rediff.com/rajeshshiza/2009/04/17/gulli-danda-in-south-africa/
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23. Let us have Discussion through Gilli Danda
Translation motion
Pure rotational motion ?
Turning effect of a force?
Good projection (angle?)
Horizontal range
Time to move up (to the maximum height) and come down ??
path followed ??
Why handles at the maximum possible distance from the
hinges?
(15 – 20 minutes)
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24. Gilli – Danda (Lippa)
Participant’s
Participant’s
involvement!!
involvement!!
Your understanding about
the Demonstration
????
(Questionnaire is
based on introductory
level of
understanding)
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25. More Demonstration tools
Hitting the marbles
(Kanchey or Golli)
Gulel
(slingshot ; catapult)
Sampholia
(Pithoo, Seven Stones)
Keekli
(Phugadi)
Lattu
(Bambaram)
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26. Future Goals:
1.Using demonstrations in daily classroom practices
2.Including Higher Order Thinking level Questions
3.Developing Lecture Demonstrations based on individual
topics (evolved through games) with detailed explanations
4.Publishing the work in Journals of repute
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27. Some examples
based on
self developed tricks!!
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28. Sound travels faster in Solids
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29. Law of conservation of Angular momentum
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30. My Motivators
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31. Resources / References
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilli-danda
2. http://www.usief.org.in/
3. http://www.ahlconinternational.com/
4. http://www.flickr.com/photos/diham/4042344574/
5. http://www.dicts.info/picture-dictionary.php?w=slingshot
6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slingshot
7. http://games.mob.org/game/gulel_lagano_nishana.html
8. http://www.indiavilas.com/kidscorner/kidsindia.asp?K=Phugadi
%20(Keekli)&t=ff
9. http://www.indiavilas.com/kidscorner/kidsindia.asp?K=Lattu&t=ff
10. http://www.4to40.com/photo_gallery/index.asp?
keywords=Lattu_Street_Game
11. http://flickrhivemind.net/Tags/lattu/Interesting
12. http://www.udaipurtimes.com/8-most-popular-childhood-games-youstopped-playing/
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32. Magic !!!!
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33. for viewing……….
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