Research based Learning - An essential skill

Research based Learning - An essential skill to create linkage between Schools and Higher education: A Case Study of Indus World School Indore

By Poulomi Ganguly (Phd.), Sarvjeet Herald (Phd.) & Geo George Philip, CL Educate

Abstract

It is of critical National Importance that we provide our high school students with insight, powers of analysis and assimilation of information in order for them to not only confront the challenges of an increasingly globalized and information-driven world but also to drive the rise of India into the 21st Century. As traditional schooling does not adequately equip high school students with original thinking and creative problem solving skills, a novel project based learning program known as The Concept Paper Experience was introduced at Indus World School Indore to bridge the gap.
The program exposed students to cutting edge areas in all fields ranging from science and commerce to law and humanities. Special efforts were taken to introduce students to cutting edge topics such as Nanotechnology, Space Law, Implications of A.I on society; along with topics of National importance such as ‘Indigenous Manufacture of Weapons’, ‘Improving the conditions of textile weavers; to name a few. Students are being guided to research ‘Big Picture’ and ‘Real World’ problems in their chosen area and to come out with relevant quality solutions that can be presented at International Conferences. The response of the students to the on-going program has been very positive, with 88% of the participating students feeling that the program had improved their creativity. A majority of the students also felt that it improved their writing and presentation skills. This Case study looks at the outcomes and learning obtained till date of the on-going program.

1. Introduction

In the recently released Bloomberg’s Innovation Index, an annual ranking of countries and their technology prowess, India ranks a low 45 out of the 50 countries ranked. Top 5 most innovative countries include South Korea, Germany, Sweden, Japan, and Switzerland.
The world’s two largest economies USA and China are ranked at No: 8 and China No: 21 respectively. In the bottom five India is surrounded by countries like Serbia, Tunisia, Thailand and Morocco. Bloomberg ranks countries annually on their overall ability across six equally weighted metrics viz.

Research and development expenditure as percentage of GDP
Value added manufacturing as percentage of GDP and per capita
Number of domestically domiciled publicly traded high tech companies
Total enrolment of post-secondary education
Research personnel – professionals working in research and development per one million of population.

Patents filings per million population and per $100 Billion GDP.

India fared especially poorly in the parameters 2, 4, 5 and 6. While poor performance in 2 can be argued as being a knowledge driven economy, there may not be an important thrust on value added manufacturing, our low scores in 4,5 and 6 are a clear indication that we have not been able to leverage research and innovation as a driver for growth in a country of 1.25 Billion people.

According to the latest results, India features in the lowest rung in PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) results due to lack of focus on a child’s overall development which not only includes core subjects but also analytical and reasoning skills.

For us to become one of largest economies globally, and leapfrog into the future, it is imperative that we create an ecosystem of innovation and research. Developing educational environments where our students are fed creativity while providing skills for the future is the need of the hour. It is mandatory that our universities and schools become productive cogs in driving this wheel of innovation.

Our schools have the privilege of being the second home of a young child for 14 long years. Ideally the innovation mind-set needs to be nurtured at school itself. Reams of pages have been devoted on how to revamp our school education system; make it more proactive to the constant changes happening around a child.
While efforts like robotics, science fairs, design for change, model UNO do give the young child a platform to explore his/her talent, there continues to be a pressing need o give him/her glimpses into his careers of interest through hands on experience. A career that would be fulfilling and bring out his/her highest potential. Imagine if a teenager was given a chance to explore being a nanotechnologist or a lawyer or abotanist or a doctor or an economist through research based learning, he would be a more productive citizen of tomorrow. The school must motivate the student to take the first “baby” step of being an innovator through research based learning.

The "research based learning" methodology aims at inculcating original thinking, creativity, problem-solving skills in students from classes 8-12. Students are encouraged to identify a cutting edge topic of liking from varied streams like science, engineering, medicine, law, commerce and humanities. They then undergo experiential learning, through the milestone focused research process to deliver a high calibre concept paper. The concept paper is fit to be selected in a national or international conference of repute.
Imagine our pride and admiration when our students, all of just 13-17 years of age, from India take the stage and showcase his/her original, novel research at international conferences like SPIE or BESSH, in front of world renowned domain experts in topics as diverse as Nano robots to gravitational waves to pesticide regulations. The young innovator gets a platform to interact with the best of the best role models in his field and realize the essence of the journey to become that world class scientist, economist, teacher, doctor.

It is imperative that our corridors of education – schools and colleges rise up to the occasion and play their role of developing young individuals with an innovation mind-set. Only then can we as a nation expedite our growth to becoming one of the largest economies globally by leveraging innovation as a key driver for growth.
The following case study is an initiative that was started to instilthe above mentioned skills in high school students of Indus World School Indore, so that they innovate and shine in their higher education and beyond.

2. Method & Implementation

Some of the most important aspects of the Research based learning program known as the Concept Paper program that was initiated at Indus World School Indore are as follows:
Aims to inculcate original thinking, creativity and innovation mindset in high school students.
Concept paper can be written on any topic of student’s choice in Engineering, Law, Commerce, Science, and Human Sciences
Gives students a career snapshot - A peek into the future of what he / she may want to do 10 years down the line.
Engagement time period is of 12 months and every student is engaged individually in the Concept Paper program.

The students were separated into groups according to their choice of topic/field. The groups would have a strength of 1, 2 or a maximum of 3 students. The forming of the groups wasleft to the students and was facilitated by the research mentors.

The groupswere then exposed to exploratory lectures of contemporary topics and cutting edge research. The groups were then instructed to choose one of the topics projected, or any other in conjunction with their research mentor depending on their field of interest.

The research groups were then exposed to recent articles and papers that have been written in the field of their choice, and taught the essentials of research and paper writing.

The process of Research Based learning known as the Concept Paper process that was implemented at Indus World School had the following steps:

Topic Identification.: During this part of the process, the student with the help of the Research mentor investigates their area of interest to understand the ‘big picture’. The next step is to narrow down their focus to a specific topic that has an outstanding problem to be solved or a topic that is poised for innovation and disruption.
Literature Survey: This part of the process involves the reading of conference papers, research papers and articles by the individual to fully understand his/her area of interest thoroughly, followed by the writing of an extensive background of the particular topic based on the research papers/articles collected. One can only innovate and suggest novel changes, only if one is familiar with all the advances in a particular area. The individual with the help of the Research mentor researches articles and relevant papers to complete their Literature Survey.

Sketching of Idea/Design of Survey: The individual shall write and sketch his/her novel ideas and solutions to existing problems. The Conceptual paper can also include an in depth survey or review that throws light on a particular issue.

Writing of Full Paper & Abstract: Once, the Sketching of idea/Design of Survey is completed, the full Conceptual paper is written down in the following order

Abstract: Abstract is the 200 to 300 word summary of the Conceptual paper which communicates to the reader in a brief manner about the contents of the Conceptual paper.
Introduction
Literature Survey
Idea/Survey
Conclusion.:

Identification of Journal/Conference: The Abstract and Full paper will be sent to an appropriate Journal/Conference, depending on the topic of the Conceptual Paper. The format of the Abstract/Full paper should be modified according to the guidelines of the chosen Journal/Conference, followed by uploading of the Abstract/Full Paper for review and subsequent publication/acceptance.

3. Case study of students

A total of 35 students from Indus World School Indore participated in the Concept Paper Program. The students are currently in various stages of the Research based Learning Program. For the sake of brevity, the case studies of only a few students are given below:

3.1. Concept paper on Nanotechnology in Tennis clothing & equipment by Ananya Rakhecha

Ananya is a grade 9 student of Indus World School Indore. She is an avid tennis player and has represented the school at various inter school and district competitions. Ananya is the perfect example of a student combining her passion with new found learnings/interests. After the exploratory lectures of the Concept Paper Experience, Ananya identified Nanotechnology as the area which interested her the most!

After learning about the application of various nanomaterials, she was curious to see whether nanomaterials could be applied to Tennis clothing and equipment. She initially looked at the problems and obstacles faced by Tennis players and set out to explore whether they could be solved by the use of Nanotechnology. She is currently writing an excellent review paper on the potential use of Silver nanoparticles and Titanium dioxide nanoparticles for the production of antibacterial and self-cleaning tennis jerseys, socks and shoes. Her paper also looks at how nanomaterials such as graphene can be integrated to produce stronger and lighter tennis rackets. She is on course to finish her paper and to communicate it to an International Conference in the near future.

3.2. Concept paper on e-learning in Government Schools by Arpan Sethi and Chhavi Sharma

Arpan Sethi and Chhavi Sharma are grade 9 students who focused their research work on e-learning. They learnt about the pitiful situation of most government schools in India and found that one major obstacle to improving the system was the absence of teachers. They learnt that the teachers in government schools were not only mostly unqualified but also did not turn up for work every day.

They looked at e-learning in government schools to bridge this gap. However, a huge question was whether students could effectively learn from pre-recorded educational videos. In order to find out the answers, Arpan and Chhavi carried out a series of experiments in which they tested the learning outcomes of their juniors with both traditional teaching and e-learning; and compared the subsequent results. They are currently compiling their results in to a paper and will communicate it to a conference shortly.

3.3. Concept paper on Antibiotic Resistance by Sehaj Bhullaris

Sehaj Bhullaris a grade 9 student whose aim is to become a doctor. She chose ‘Antibiotic resistance’ as the topic of her choice. She learnt that Antibiotic Resistance is a very serious problem that threatens the lives of millions of Indians. She conducted a survey to understand the extent of abuse of Antibiotics among the general population in Indore. The results were worrying as a large number of people had admitted to misusing antibiotics. She is currently compiling her results and is planning to submit the results to the Collector of Indore, in addition to communicating her paper to an International conference.

3.4. Concept paper on Music Therapy by Chanda Madhani

Chanda is a grade 9 student who has taken up the area of Music Therapy for her Concept Paper. She was very concerned as she realized that hypertension or high blood pressure was one of the biggest killers in India. She learnt that in addition to poor nutrition and lack of exercise, stress was one of the biggest contributors to hypertension. She wondered whether the students in her own school faced undue stress and high blood pressure. She learned about the effect of music on lowering blood pressure by reading scientific papers. She went on to conduct experiments on her school mates to determine whether different genres of music had an impact on lowering their blood pressure. She is currently compiling her results into a research paper.

3.5. Concept paper on Gravitational Waves by Soumya Dhavale

Soumya is a gifted 11tth grade Science stream student who has always been fascinated by the stars and the universe at large. She picked up one of the hottest and latest topics in Astronomy – ‘Gravitational Waves’. She learnt about the latest methods of detecting Gravitational Waves and their limitations. She is currently exploring and coming out with new potential methods to detect faint signals of Gravitational waves. She is planning to present her work at an International conference abroad.

3.6. The Economics of Saree Business by Amrita Parsai

Amrita is a Grade 12 Commerce stream student who has always been passionate about Sarees. She was aware of the poor conditions of the weavers who wove the beautiful traditional sarees. She explored the entire system and value chain of saree production and discovered a few critical flaws that kept the weavers in perpetual poverty. She identifies that the current system of gaddidars/middlemen was inefficient and robbed the weavers of their rightful share of the profits. Amrita believed that the internet could be leveraged to sell sarees online. She studied the pain points of buying sarees online and has come with a slew of ideas to encourage both weavers and buyers to buy sarees online. She is putting her ideas together to submit to a Business plan competition at the end of her 12th grade. She has also compiled a series of reforms and policy changes that need to be implemented to improve the condition of the weavers. This will be communicated to a conference within a couple of months.

3.7. Concept Paper on Brand Loyalty by Yashasvi Jadwani

Yashasvi Jadwani is a grade 11 Commerce student who has chosen ‘Brand Loyalty’ in India as her topic. She was intrigued by the quick rise of Patanjali in India. She conducted a survey which investigated the buying decisions of Patanjali consumers in Indore. She was keen on investigating whether it was the quality of the products, the ayurvedic origin of the ingredients or Baba Ramdev’s image that influenced customers to buy Patanjali products. She is compiling the entire results of her survey into a research paper currently.

3.8. Concept paper on Stem cells- Tissue Engineering by Jhanvi Gupta and Shripa

Jhanvi Gupta and Shripaare grade 9 students who chose the topic of Stem cells for their Concept Paper. They learnt about the the shortage of organs and organ donors in India and the subsequent adverse effects. They looked at Stem cell technology and how it can help us grow individual organs, so that no one would need to depend on organ donors for transplants. They are currently writing a review paper on the state of Stem cell technology and the timeline by which we can expect to grow our own organs.

Concept paper on Economics of the Indian Defence Industry by Manasvi Soni

Manasvi Soni is a Grade 11 Science stream student who is fascinated by the defence industry. Being an extremely patriotic girl, she always wondered why India did not have the ability to manufacture most of its weapons and why we were extremely dependent on imported weaponry. She started exploring the issue from the ground up and has come out with a series of recommendations on changes to defence policy that can put India on the path to become a R&D powerhouse. She is currently compiling the results of her work into a research paper.

4. Conclusion

The Research based Learning program known as The Concept Paper Experience has been a very rewarding program for both the School and the students. The students are working towards putting their thoughts and ideas on cutting edge topics on paper and communicating them to relevant conference. A complete and thorough review of the learning outcomes will be carried out once the program formally comes to an end. Research based programs should be initiated in every school regardless of affiliation and syllabi, in order to equip them with the skills needed to thrive in the 21st century.

5. References:

‘Book of Knowledge’, Author – CL Educate Ltd, 2016.
Healey, M. (2005). Linking research and teaching exploring disciplinary spaces and the role of inquiry-based learning. Reshaping the university: new relationships between research, scholarship and teaching, 67-78.
Blumenfeld, P. C., Soloway, E., Marx, R. W., Krajcik, J. S., Guzdial, M., &Palincsar, A. (1991). Motivating project-based learning: Sustaining the doing, supporting the learning. Educational psychologist, 26(3-4), 369-398.
Thomas, J. W. (2000). A review of research on project-based learning.
Paris, S. G., & Paris, A. H. (2001). Classroom applications of research on self-regulated learning. Educational psychologist, 36(2), 89-101.
Hmelo-Silver, C. E. (2004). Problem-based learning: What and how do students learn?.Educational psychology review, 16(3), 235-266.
Willis, J. (2006). Research-based strategies to ignite student learning: Insights from a neurologist and classroom teacher. ASCD.
Savery, J. R. (2015). Overview of problem-based learning: Definitions and distinctions. Essential readings in problem-based learning: Exploring and extending the legacy of Howard S. Barrows, 5-15.