Speaker
Description
Unizulu Science Centre (USC) in Richards Bay, South Africa, has been running face to face matric workshops for 25 years, presenting practicals and sharpening skills for over 200 000 matric science students. The 2020 lockdown presented a dilemma: matrics needed assistance more than ever, but
schools were closed and large gatherings impossible. Many SC’s around the world went online, making digital content available through the internet. Very few of the schools in which USC works have reliable internet and almost none of the homes, so this route was not possible. USC worked to convert a 4 hour contact workshop into 8 one-hour videos, highlighting the essential skills for Matric Science Paper 1 – the physics paper. While these videos were made available on the internet for download or streaming, they were physically distributed on memory sticks to teachers, along with an accompanying 48-page workbook. Local industry funding saw provision for the local school district (5500 students in 180 schools) and further South African Institute of Physics funding (with support from Allan Gray) saw a further 20 000 booklets printed and 500 memory sticks manufactured. These were distributed to schools in 3 other provinces and used as the basis for teacher training.
In 2021, the Physics booklet and videos were extensively rewritten and refilmed, adding about 50 % more content and updating with 2020 exams. In addition, projects are underway to make a video series for Life Science and Chemistry. The International Year of Basic Science for Sustainable Development in 2022 makes this project extremely relevant once again in the 2022 school year. Valuable lessons learnt in the process will be shared.
