press release Chevron and Kenan Join RMUT Srivijaya in Launching TVET Hub
“In border schools, most students are underprivileged. When they finish high school, they have no opportunity to continue studying at university. Further study in science is therefore a remote prospect. Meanwhile, schools also have insufficient learning materials. Teachers are often only able to give a description and leave students to imagine things for themselves, leading to bored students. Teachers then feel bad about not being able to teach kids as well as large schools in the city can. This is similar to the feeling that we are teaching students the history of science, rather than science itself.”
Dr. Boonliang Chordnork, a science teacher at Ban Hua Bueng School in Udon Thani province expressed an opinion about the lack of opportunity for students at opportunity expansion schools. These schools have limited access in educational materials that are effective and necessary for the development of teaching personnel, those in the roles vital to helping students understand lessons and creating good attitudes towards science and mathematics, exactly what leads to a desire to learn more and choosing to go on to study in these disciplines.
The results of the Program for International Student Assessment, or PISA, which measures the comprehension of 15-year-old in science, mathematics, and reading, found that Thailand ranked 55th out of 70 countries. Further analysis of the data also found that the grades of students in Bangkok and large cities were quite a lot higher than students in opportunity expansion schools which further demonstrated the inequality in education outcomes. Eliminating the gap in science and mathematics education standards between urban and rural schools is therefore important, especially in a modern Thailand that wants to move forward as a country with an economic system driven by technology and innovation under the government’s ‘Thailand 4.0’ policy.
These are the reasons Chevron Thailand Exploration and Production Ltd. joined partners from the government and civil society sectors in Chevron Enjoy Science Project to hold hands-on trainings to develop science and mathematics teachers at the junior high school level to enhance their potential and skills. These are designed to give teachers knowledge and understanding of inquiry-based learning processes to use in their classrooms, with a special focus on encouraging teachers in opportunity expansion schools to switch from “rote memorization” to “asking questions and finding answers” to build a foundation with effective 21st century learning skills.
“Chevron Enjoy Science Project focuses on promoting educational development in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, or STEM,” said Hatairat Articharte, Policy, Government & Public Affairs, manager, Chevron Thailand Exploration and Production, Ltd., “which is a critical foundation for the future development of technology and innovation to increase the long-term competitive capability of the country. An important aspect of the program is supporting teacher training and educational materials by providing classroom management methods and techniques that help students gain knowledge and understanding in lessons. This encourages analytical thinking,and skills development in science and mathematics. These will inspire and foster future studies and work in the STEM fields. For the first two years of the project, 3,551 teachers from 371 schools in ten provinces across all regions have been trained, and 113,780 students have benefited.”
“Before now, the primary problem I faced in the science classroom was that students didn’t genuinely understand the content, because we emphasized rote learning,” said Nidawan Changthong, a teacher at Ban San Kamphaeng School, Chiang Mai province. “After I attended the teaching training under Chevron Enjoy Science Project, I implemented the inquiry-based learning process in the classroom, beginning by posing interesting questions to stimulate queries from the students. From there, the students were divided into groups to do science experiments together, with each person being given a role within the group, making the students proud of their efforts to help the group succeed and giving them more confidence to express themselves and be excited in the classroom. Seeing the desire to learn in their eyes gave me a lot of pleasure.”
The same is true for Sathit Wannaphop, a teacher from Takua Pa Senanukul School in Phang Nga province. “In inquiry-based learning, you don’t tell the kids that their opinion or answer is wrong,” said Sathit, on being impressed with the new teaching method, “Rather, you help pose questions to the students so that they gradually find answers as they gain their own understanding This results in the kids developing analytical thinking and not being afraid of expressing their opinions in front of the class. The project also closely monitors results through a system of academic supervisors that give friendly advice, enabling us to use the inquiry-based learning techniques in the classroom effectively. With motivation and confidence in your own teaching, you are able to interest students more in participating in the classroom. You can see that these new teaching techniques are simultaneously opening the minds of both teachers and students.”
For many teachers who attend trainings, success isn’t measured by grades. Rather it’s about helping kids develop and refine analytical thinking skills, and seeing the study of science and mathematics as something fun, not boring. “After I applied inquiry-based learning in the classroom I was proud of making my students enjoy learning science and mathematics,” says the teacher Bun Liang, “More went on to choose to study science at senior high school and vocational schools, just as many wanted to go on to work in the sciences. I didn’t emphasize teaching kids to be competitive. I just gave them more opportunities. I’m happy.”
