GULUNAP: A project for teacher education between north Uganda and Italy,

The Project GULUNAP is an educational-scientific collaboration between Naples University “Federico II”, (funded in 1224) and Gulu University (funded in 2002). A Faculty of Medicine has been funded in 2004 to alleviate the local dramatic lack of doctors; the theme of teacher education has been addressed in 2005, via activities in Science Education to help preparing science teacher for Uganda secondary schools. The Science Education collaboration program has started in the Physics Bachelor curriculum. The goal is to help the teachers-to-be to build competences that will allow them to implement good quality class activities, even in the contexts of poor and remote locations. The rationale has been that of compact activities lasting for about 2.5 months, in Spring and Fall 2006. The authors have worked all day long, with about 50 freshmen, integrating presentation and lab-work and implementing a full immersion, peer-learning approach, where the main results of Physics Education Research (PER) have been adapted to the local context. The main aim is to favour a transition from a mnemonic study, using essentially lectures notes, to a learning approach based on active participation, peer learning, critical thinking, comparison between common sense and disciplinary knowledge and taking up of one’s own responsibility. The main features can be summarized as: a) critical analysis of common-robust learning difficulties; b) construction of a personal portfolio; c) lab-work based on low or no cost materials (e.g. hydrostatic via experiments using transparent plastic containers of physiological solution and syringes recycled from the local hospital; harmonic free and dumped oscillations via pendula realized with small unripe fruits and tree bark fibres; passive electric circuits via bulbs/batteries of the local markets; etc..); research based questionnaires. The lack of lab-work is most always attributed to missing traditional and costly apparatuses. To relay on local craftship in wood and recycled metal works in faster school lab-work and links with the local community. Some emblematic experiments and students reaction will also be discussed.