Implementing CLIL through PBL in Physics and Chemistry in 2ºESO: The Periodic Table Project

Abstract

A common teachers’ concern is how to increase students’ motivation, selfesteem and autonomy, as they are vital to generate lifelong learning skills. In addition, there is a tendency in science education to reinforce scientific areas such as Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) due to their importance in the future of our society. Project Based Learning (PBL) is a methodology that fosters students’ motivation towards learning science, and at the same time, it promotes the development of life-long and creative skills. Therefore, PBL provides the necessary change from traditional teaching to student centred learning. On the other hand, nowadays English is a paramount skill, thus, considering bilingual classrooms, we need to motivate students for learning both content and language. An effective and innovative way to do it is by introducing the CLIL approach in the classroom, because it challenges students and develops high order thinking skills. Consequently, the combination of CLIL and PBL methodologies can be a powerful motivational instrument for bilingual education in any subject. This intervention proposal is designed as an attempt to show, firstly, how to change students’ perceptions of learning Physics and Chemistry (P&C) and Foreign Languages (FL), and secondly, to change traditional teaching in P&C subject. The proposal is based on the combination of CLIL and PBL methodologies in the P&C classroom, in the 2nd level of Compulsory Secondary Education. The project arose linked to two facts: firstly, most of the contents of P&C subject in this level are mainly devoted to the matter, their structure and the periodic system; secondly, 2019 has been proclaimed the International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements by the United Nations General Assembly and UNESCO (UNESCO, 2019a). The project involves three stages: (1) the creation and assembling the Periodic Table; (2) Students’ researches and presentations related to chemical elements and their uses; (3) the generation of a Google site associated to The Periodic Table, where the students will incorporate their investigations and works. The Periodic Table of Chemical Elements is one of the most important achievements in all areas of science, and students will have the opportunity to be aware of that by creating their own table, and by investigating about the chemical elements.