Visiting Students (VSRP-2019)
Applications are invited from interested students in an undergraduate course (2nd Year or higher) for Visiting Students’ Research Programme (VSRP-2019) in Science Education at TIFR Hyderabad. The Science Education research at TIFR-H focuses on “Curiosity and questioning among school students”. Here is the online application for the VSRP programme.
Science education research
Research in science education is multidisciplinary and informed by natural and life sciences as well as social and behavioral sciences, specifically cognitive science and cognitive psychology. This research aims to characterize what constitutes science teaching and learning, from cognitive and sociocultural perspectives. Science education research is closely linked to the design of innovative curricula, pedagogies and learning experiences.
Desired skills
1. Willingness to cross disciplinary boundaries (natural science, cognitive science, education, etc.)2. Interest in working with quantitative and qualitative research methods; statistical analysis of large data sets3. Interest in engaging with children; effective communication and writing skills4. Basic computer programming skills (preferably Python)
Prospective research projects
1) Sawaliram: A multilingual, open access repository and web platform, Sawaliram is being built to document and analyse children’s questions. Over 30,000 questions in science asked by children across India will be made available on this platform. VSRP students could contribute to website development, data analysis and visualisation.
2) Micro Weather Station (MWS): Assembly and installation of a MWS to monitor and analyze weather data with children from Telangana government schools. The research includes understanding the nature of children’s questions and inquiry-based learning.
3) Foldscopes: This low-cost paper microscope (designed by Manu Prakash at Stanford University) achieves an optical quality similar to conventional teaching microscopes. VSRP students would design science experiments and projects to bring hands-on microscopy to school students and also engage with the international foldscope users’ community.