Teaching physics in Vietnam: Integrating constructivist and sociocultural learning principles with ICT

The CSI model was implemented by a lecturer in a university optics course and data was collected from students and the lecturer using different methods (optics tests, CCTST, interviews and surveys) to triangulate and enrich the data.

The optics course was taught to two groups. The ICT implementation into optics teaching and learning in both groups was underpinned by the CSI model. Students of one group (Group 1) utilised more ICT applications than those in the other group (Group 2): Group 1 students’ learning was supported by a learning management system.

Student interviews showed that the interaction in the learning environment was fostered. The interaction in this research included students-students, students-teacher and students-learning resources interaction.

The optics test results show that in both groups the students’ scores in the post-test were statistically significantly higher than their scores in the pre-test. In addition, in the post-test the group of students who utilised more applications of ICT to support their learning scored significantly higher than the other group. It is noted that there is no statistically significant difference in the pre-test scores of the two groups.

Results from the CCTST also showed that post-test scores of the students in both research groups were significantly higher than their pre-test scores. In the post-test, the students scored significantly higher in both the total score and the individual scores for each critical thinking skill. Students’ self-evaluation results confirm these test results.

In the research context, the CSI model appears to be an effective pedagogic model. Findings showed that the model helped to improve the students’ physics test scores, enhanced their critical thinking skills, and increased interaction within the learning environment.

The successful implementation of the CSI model in this study suggests some possible implications at different levels of education. At the teacher level, the current essential need for Vietnamese teachers is to acquire new understanding and skills in using ICT to support their teaching. However, little literature guides these teachers. The CSI model can be used to inform teachers how to use ICT to support teaching.

For teacher training and professional development purposes, the current study can provide teachers with insight into how to use ICT to assist students’ individual and social learning. In terms of the social aspect of learning, ICT may be used as tools to promote interactions between students and teachers, students and other students, and students and learning resources.

The learning styles of Vietnamese students are strongly influenced by Confucian beliefs. It is argued that under this influence a learning style that contains cooperation and interaction is not suitable for Vietnamese students. This study shows that it is possible to develop cooperative and interactive learning in the Vietnamese context.

At the level of Vietnam’s MOET, this study can provide possible guidance for the current strategy of implementing ICT into education. Although Vietnam’s MOET educational reforms promote the use of ICT to support teaching with a student-centred approach, a teacher-centred approach still dominates Vietnamese classrooms. The current study shows how ICT was used to enhance student-centred learning. Training Vietnamese teachers to implement the CSI model into their teaching practice is a possible means to help the MOET achieve the goal of the educational reforms.

At the level of worldwide research, there is little searchable research in the context of Vietnam on the integration of ICT in teaching physics. The current study contributes to this literature through insights into the use of ICT to teach physics in the Vietnamese context.

As the study shows, the use of ICT informed by the CSI model can enhance interaction in the learning environment, along with students’ physics performance and critical thinking skills. The model may provide useful guidance for teachers who need to integrate ICT into their teaching practice.

While the results of implementing the CSI model have been very positive, the study is limited in scale. The research was conducted in one course in a university, and while the CSI model may have worked well in this case, further work is needed to see if it is successful in other situations. The current research provides an overall picture of the effectiveness of the CSI model, but has not investigated the detailed nature of the changes to students’ learning and critical thinking.