2. !
This report summarises the results of a review conducted in 2012 of the Mobile Science Laboratories (MSL)
project funded by Kusuma Trust UK. The project commenced in 2008 in 20 government secondary schools
and targets students in Classes 6 to 10 in Hyderabad and Rangareddy districts of Andhra Pradesh, India.
1. Background
The project is implemented by Project 511 Hyderabad Round Table 8 Charitable Trust, which is managed by
Inner Wheel (Rotary International). The project is in its third year of implementation and benefits over
25,000 students. The project trains MSL teachers and enables them to visit schools using mobile vans that
carry equipment for interactive and practical experiments as well as teaching aids in the form of charts,
laptops and projectors. The teaching methodology encourages students and provides them with the
opportunity to participate in scientific experiments in the classroom to understand scientific theories and
their application in line with the school curriculum. Students are encouraged to participate fully in lessons,
making the learning experience practical and enjoyable.
In the first and second year of implementation there were six trained male teachers who were able to drive
and two vans with the facility to demonstrate 15 experiments in each of 20 project schools. In the third
year, there were 16 female teachers plus four drivers and eight vans covering 80 project schools with a
facility to demonstrate 90 experiments in each school. The project also implements a “low cost model” in
20 schools that includes a low cost kit for demonstrating science experiments, MSL practical training manual
and orientation for science teachers in how to use these tools.
The project is popular with students and teachers and has influenced State education policy, prompting the
government to expand the programme to include all schools across Andhra Pradesh. The Rajiv Vidya
Mission, a government programme run through the State Education department to improve enrolment and
teaching, funds 74 vans, each supporting 140 schools across 23 districts in Andhra Pradesh.
2. Purpose and Methodology
The purpose of the review of the MSL project was to assess the impact of the programme on students and
schools, and draw learning from this for replication and expansion of the project. The review was
conducted from December 2011 to February 2012 and used both qualitative and quantitative methods. The
study involved in-depth and focused group interviews with 20 students, 15 science teachers, 15 headmasters
and six government officials related to the administration of education in the two districts. A “difference in
difference (DID)” method was applied to assess the impact on the annual state board examination results of
students over three years between MSL and non-MSL schools. This DID method is a quasi-experimental
technique used in econometrics to measure the effect of an intervention at a given period in time, by
comparing the intervention group before and after an intervention with a control group.
3. Examination Results
The strength of the MSL model, according to teachers and headmasters, lies in using a teaching method that
facilitates learning using experiments, which are simple and easy for children to grasp. It helps children
understand, remember and conceptualise. It encourages students who are below average to perform better
in examinations by making science interesting.
A comparison of schools that taught science lessons using the MSL with schools that did not use the MSL
showed that children find science more interesting when they are able to do experiments themselves as was
the case with the MSL. They retained facts and approached examinations with confidence. In the first year
of the MSL intervention the inputs enabled students to perform better in the classroom, as well as improve
examination scores in science. The schools that had MSL inputs were more successful in 2009 and 2010. In
the same period, the schools that did not receive MSL support were less successful compared to the
schools in receipt of MSL support. The annual gain in marks in science for schools in receipt of MSL support
is 2.23 percentage points greater than schools not in receipt of MSL support. A similar pattern is seen in
the overall marks scored across other subjects. However, over three years, the difference in marks scored
is not significant at -0.15 percentage points when compared to the first year of intervention.!
! "!
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4. Participation and Interest in Science
All the teachers and headmasters interviewed said that children participated with full interest and
enthusiasm in MSL classes because they are actively engaged either as observers or in carrying out
experiments. Seventeen out of nineteen students from MSL schools reported that it helped them to
perform better in the examinations and to remember the subjects. The teachers interviewed voiced similar
opinions. The MSL has challenged the myth that science is a subject which most children find difficult to
connect to. However, some teachers expressed doubts about the programme, as improved scores during
the board examinations were not sustained over time.
All the 15 teachers and 15 headmasters interviewed were of the opinion that the MSL has had a positive
impact on students and generated an interest in science. The method of hands-on practical sessions
encouraged students to overcome their apprehension about science as a difficult subject and encouraged
them to pursue science education. Even after the MSL classes many of the students continued contact with
their MSL teachers, who have consequently evolved into mentors. However, three out of five teachers
interviewed said that introducing the MSL was not a major motivational factor for students in choosing
science as a career path. They said that decisions to take science are dependent on other factors such as
the financial situation of the family, as science education is expensive.
5. Sustainability
All the teachers and headmasters of MSL and non-MSL schools said that to sustain the efforts of the MSL
and improve science education in government schools, the first priority should be to establish and improve
facilities such as laboratories; provide sufficient equipment, chemicals and models for demonstration; and,
more importantly, all science teachers in government schools need training on using laboratory equipment.
The review found that sustainability of the programme is dependent on government teachers taking over
from MSL teachers. The project now provides a four-day training course for teachers and also supports
them in teaching science experiments. The programme would benefit from developing a planned transition
strategy, beyond providing training that ensures use of the MSL model by the schoolteachers, especially
after the first year of the project. The review suggests that dialogue and lobbying with the government is
required by the implementing partner to ensure that schools are equipped with laboratories and are
provided the resources to replenish the required consumables.
!
6. Recommendations
Overall the MSL project has made a positive difference and is popular with the teachers and students who
participated. The findings from this review indicate the need to advocate for and establish laboratories in
schools, replenish laboratories with the consumables necessary to undertake experiments and provide
training to teachers in how to conduct experiments in schools.
!
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4. !
Suggestions to facilitate this include adopting the MSL teaching approach for science teaching across all
schools, ensuring that schools have robust plans for continuing the approach introduced by the MSL,
working with the government to ensure that teacher training in science education using the MSL model is
rolled out in the State, and developing a clear plan for sustainability from the beginning of the project, which
includes MSL teachers handing over teaching using the MSL model to government teachers from the second
year onwards.
7. Future Steps
A quantitative study is planned to compare the science results of students in schools where the low cost
model was implemented, with those of students in MSL intervention schools and also those in control
schools where there was no MSL intervention at all. This will help to quantify the impact of the
programme on MSL schools over non-MSL schools and schools that are provided with low cost support.
A roundtable discussion of these results and the experience of other stakeholders in MSL provision is
planned for July 2012. This will involve stakeholders such as Kusuma, Project 511, the Rajiv Vidya Mission,
Andhra Pradesh government’s education department officials and other agencies working on science
teaching to identify components of the project that can be implemented and scaled-up in schools across the
State.
!
The findings from this review indicate the need to advocate for
and establish laboratories in government schools and provide
training for teachers in how to conduct experiments in schools.!!
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