US Embassy New Delhi regional information resource officer Linda Parker and (right) Ramesh Jain, public affairs section, US Embassy, at the workshop in Patna on Wednesday. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

Teachers from around 35 schools in the state capital on Wednesday got an opportunity to get hands-on lessons on practical applications of core science subjects they teach in classrooms.

The occasion was a three-day workshop organised by non-government organisation Indian Environmental Society in association with the public affairs section of American Embassy, New Delhi.

The participants were teachers from schools such as Christ Church Diocesan School, St Michael’s High school, Ishan lnternatio- nal School and Patna Cent- ral School.

“This is a hands-on workshop during which the teachers will learn about the practical implications of various science subjects. It has been observed that science teachers hardly give importance to the practical implications of the subjects they teach in classroom. They often teach the students the theoretical aspects of a subject but don’t tell them how to go ahead with various experiments. During the three-day workshop, the teachers would be told how to perform various kinds of basic experiments. Theories are important, but their practical implication is more important,” said Linda Parker, the regional information resource officer of the US Embassy. Parkar is one of the organisers of the event.

Santosh Choudhary, who teaches science at St Severin’s High School, Patna, said: “This is a good initiative. It’s true that science teachers always focus on the theoretical method of teaching rather than its practical way of teaching. Such a workshop will help the science teachers to put emphasis on the practical aspects of teaching.”

Bijay Kumar, the vice-principal of the school, said: “I found the concept of the workshop unique. We know about different theories of science, but we hardly know their practical implication.”