Margaret Duggan Keady, PhD

With TEMI, students are active participants in the discovery process and their ideas play an important part in the construction of scientific knowledge in the lesson.

Margaret Duggan Keady (Ireland)

Country: Ireland

Subjects: Science and Maths

School: Coláiste Chroí Mhuire, Spiddal, Co. Galway, Ireland

Teaching experience: 10 years

My experience of TEMI

Participating in TEMI and using the TEMI ideas in my lessons has acted as a reminder for me to keep the wonder and awe in science at the centre of my science teaching. With TEMI, students are active participants in the discovery process and their ideas play an important part in the construction of scientific knowledge in the lesson. My students reported that they enjoyed the hands-on approach and liked figuring things out for themselves.

Bettina Most

So far, my experiences with TEMI led to my consideration that TEM is a modern, student-oriented pedagogy that allows learners to follow and understand scientific inquiry and to have fun in finding scientific explanations for challenging scientific phenomena.

Bettina Most (Germany)

Country: Germany

Subjects: Chemistry/Biology

School: Konrad-Adenauer-Middle School, Hamm

Teaching experience: 15 years

My experience of TEMI

How can science education be made fascinating to learners? When do students will have interest in completing an investigation on a phenomenon to find a scientific explanation? The answer – from my point of view – offers the pedagogy of TEM.

I’m active in teacher pre- and in-service education for more than 10 years now. I incorporate the TEMI philosophy into my courses since 2014 for trainee teachers and scientists entering a certification program to move into school teaching professions for high school chemistry. All the prospective teachers are enthusiastic about the pedagogy of TEMI and the classroom examples. The 5E model (engage, explore, explain, extend, evaluate) inspires our prospective teachers. The model is considered as being sound and a valuable way to promote inquiry-based thinking in science education.

Of special interest to us as teachers and teacher trainers was the training by the team of the University of Bremen (Ingo Eilks, Johanna Dittmar, Fiona Affeldt). The practical activities (e.g. the magic sand, thinking putty, chemical garden, cola-mentos-fountain) can be implemented into established curricula without problems. The examples are highly feasible and of challenging character. Among the participants of the teacher education courses a need-to-know feeling arose. The autonomous activities of exploration and inquiry provoked fun and ownership arose among the participants to incorporate the TEMI pedagogy into their own teaching. TEMI is also valuable for the idea of collaborative learning since the TEMI pedagogy can be tuned to different achievement levels, thus different competencies and interests can be acknowledged by the TEMI teaching activities.

So far, my experiences with TEMI led to my consideration that TEM is a modern, student-oriented pedagogy that allows learners to follow and understand scientific inquiry and to have fun in finding scientific explanations for challenging scientific phenomena.

Jens Eschen

TEMI offers an inquiry-based method of gaining scientific knowledge that uses “mysteries”, e.g. the “magic sand” or the famous cola-mentos fountain, as a starting point to make science classes the way they ought to be – fascinating.

Jens Eschen (Germany)

Country: Germany

Subjects: Chemistry / Biology

School: Integrierte Gesamtschule (IGS) Wilhelmshaven (comprehensive school)

Teaching experience: 2 years

My experience of TEMI

The first time I came in contact with TEMI was a few months ago when Prof. Eilks and his team from the University of Bremen gave a teacher education course about it at our school. Since then I implemented the TEMI idea on several occasions in my chemistry lessons.

TEMI offers an inquiry-based method of gaining scientific knowledge that uses “mysteries”, e.g. the “magic sand” or the famous cola-mentos fountain, as a starting point to make science classes the way they ought to be – fascinating. Within the lessons, which follow the 5E model (engage, explore, explain, extend, evaluate) in their structure, the students get curious about the presented phenomenon and are eager to find an explanation to this mystery. They especially enjoy figuring out the solution themselves.

Sharon Deutsch

TEMI Project promotes teaching science in a relevant and challenging way. TEMI Project promotes teaching science in a relevant and challenging way.

Sharon Deutsch (Israel)

Country: Israel

Subjects: Chemistry & Environmental science

School: Shoham High school, Israel

Teaching experience: 6 years

My experience of TEMI

I became familiar with the TEMI Project three years ago through a course at the Weizmann Institute of Science, and I believe that my teaching method is now more interesting and productive thanks to the TEMI project.

TEMI Project promotes teaching science in a relevant and challenging way. I believe this is the only way to reach the students.

TEMI Project helps me make chemistry lessons more interesting and understandable. It combines mystery and 'magic' with research activities and results in more active student participation in class and more interest in science. The students are eager to solve the riddle or to understand the phenomenon which was presented through a mystery story.

Basically, the TEMI Project offers a unique and captivating method for teaching science.

I implemented several activities in class based on TEMI ideas, and after each activity I felt that my students enjoyed the activity and learned a lot. The students themselves reported that they enjoyed the mystery stories and the research activities following the stories. They all participated in the attempt to solve the riddle.

Pnina Yakirevitch

TEMI wakens the natural curiosity of students, increases their drive to solve a mystery, and serves as motivation for learning.

Pnina Yakirevitch (Israel)

Country: Israel

Subjects: Chemistry

School: Alon –Ginsburg comprehensive school, Yavne

Teaching experience: 5 years

My experience of TEMI

IParticipating in TEMI workshops at the Weizmann institute has been an inspiring experience for me. I started quite skeptic, but soon found the merits of this methodology. The workshops included development of new activities according to the TEMI "spirit", and they were implemented in our classroom after each workshop. The workshops, together with the help of the TEMI group leaders, the actors and the interesting lectures, enabled me to practice and improve my showmanship skills, TEMI-based teaching enables my students to experience science in an intriguing manner. Introducing mysteries into lab activities, as well as the stories which follow it - evolve curiosity. Students become motivated and eager to find explanations, and thus engaged into scientific work and learning.