SCE3112 - MODULE 01 - Management of Science Laboratory

MODULE 01: Management of Science Laboratories and Resources

SCE 3112

MANAGEMENT OF SCIENCE LABORATORIES AND RESOURCES

MODULE 01

Management of Science Laboratory

SYNOPSIS The purpose of this module is to enhance knowledge and understanding about Management of Science Laboratories and Teaching-Learning Resources. This unit will discuss the organization structure of science laboratory management committee, the role and responsibilities of the science laboratory staff, the process of budgeting, ordering and purchasing, stock keeping, the procedure for disposal, and planning and designing of science laboratory.

LEARNING OUTCOME: Upon completion of this unit, you will be able to: 1. Construct the organisation chart of science commitee. 2. Study and identify the duties of each member of science commitee and science laboratory staff. 3. Explain the allocation of funds for acquiring science equipment, apparatus and materials. 4. Plan and estimate the budget for your school science laboratory referring to official circulars, price quotation forms, order and payment forms. 5. Describe the procedures in acquiring science equipment and materials. 6. Practise skills relating to checking, recording, controlling movement, planning of the ordering of stock and updating records of broken, damaged and lost apparatus/equipments.

7.

Identify the correct procedures of disposal and write-off of assets.

8. Design and describe an ideal school science laboratory/science room.

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Introduction Science laboratory is always synonymous to science teaching and learning. Science teaching and learning in schools will be incomplete without practical activities. Science concepts and theories are rather abstract as such the students need to carry out investigative activities to help them understand those abstract concept and theories. Besides these practical activities are conducive in developing students’ science process skills as well as inculcate scientific thinking and learn how and what do a scientist work. Science practical activities need to be conducted in a specially prepared science room or a science laboratory.

Organisational Structure of Staff Basic knowledge and an adequate understanding of management of science laboratory will provide you with a great experience in preparing effective learning of basic science process scientifically. Good management of a science laboratory will help you to ensure that the laboratory achieves its intended purposes – to enhance and consolidate the theoretical science teaching in classrooms. On the other hand, if a science laboratory is poorly managed, it not only will fail to achieve its intended purposes but will probably affect the students interest and enthusiasm in learning science. Systematic science laboratory management includes the following aspects: a.

Organization of science committee

b.

Budgeting

c.

Ordering and purchasing

d.

Stock keeping – general maintenance

e.

Specific maintenance, storage and procedures for write off and disposal

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Organization of Science Committee for Science Teachers Who are responsible in the management of science laboratory/room in your school? The flow chart below shows a common organization of science committee in school.

HEADMASTER

SENIOR SCIENCE TEACHER

SENIOR SUBJECT TEACHERS

SCIENCE TEACHERS

LAB ASSISTANTS & ATTENDANTS Science committee for science teachers is responsible in managing of teaching and learning in science room/lab and to all science co-curriculum activities. Management of expenses and budgeting is usually handled by the headmaster and assisted by their senior science teacher based on the planning and requirement of the school. Senior science teacher or head of science committee (panitia) will handle and prepare all science equipments and materials according to the procedures and requirements. As a science teacher, you have to familiarize yourself with the activity to be performed so that you know how the lab needs to be set up and what materials to have on hand. You’ll also need to be prepared to enforce all safety rules and allow sufficient cleanup time.

Responsibilities and Duties of the science staff Cooperation and accountability of the committee members will help science teaching and learning to occur smoothly and effectively for student benefits.

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The table below shows you the responsibilities of each member of the science committee in school.

Committee member Headmaster/principal

Responsibility •

• • •

•

Senior Science Teacher

•

• •

Senior subject teacher

• • • •

Science Teachers

Laboratory assistants and attendants

overall supervision of laboratory management to see that the laboratory is properly managed to make decisions on all matters concerned with the laboratories including budgeting and expenses frequent consultation with the senior science teacher

People who work in the science laboratories Give advise to the headmaster about any decision made Must be expert on all matters related to the science laboratory See that all instructions and rules are strictly adhered to by all staff of the laboratories

Appointed to see to each category of laboratory (not applicable in primary school) To help the senior science teacher To look after the administration of his science laboratory

•

To supply information to the senior science teachers on any need in the laboratories Immediately responsible to the senior science teacher

• • •

In charge of general cleanliness of the laboratory Supplying and setting up apparatus for any practical lesson Responsible to the senior subject teachers

For more details on the science committee member responsibility you are suggested to make a reference to PPK (1999), Pengurusan Dan Keselamatan Makmal Sains Sekolah, PPK: KL

State some of the duties of a laboratory assistant. (there is no lab assistant in primary school)

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Acquiring and Purchasing Science Equipment and Materials Budgeting - Plan and estimate Expenses Planning of annual budget is important in order to ensure all science equipments and materials needed are available for a proper science teaching and learning. Budgeting for the year is usually done in the year before. In preparing the annual budget, you have to consider the following points: • • • • • •

Check all stock of science equipment and materials Equipment / non consumable materials costs. Running costs to maintain levels of stocks and other expandable materials. List of equipments and materials need to purchase based on their priority Information about number of student enrolment for expected of allocation to be given Prepare price quotation for all equipments and materials to be purchased

For primary school, all science equipments and materials are acquired through

i. Central contract purchase – which is handled by Bahagian Pembangunan dan Bekalan, Kementerian Pendidikan. Please refer to Surat Pekeliling Bahagian Pembangunan dan Bekalan, Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia, Bil 1/Tahun 1980, dated 27 October 1980, for further detail.

ii.

Direct purchase – Please refer to Pekeliling Kewangan 3/95 – KP 1573/17/Jld.10/(39 ) and Buku Garis Panduan Perakaunan dan Kewangan Sekolah, Kementerian Pendidikan, 1994 iii.

Other resources – schools are encouraged to add and supplement the equipments, science materials and teaching and learning resources from other sources such as PTA/PIBG.

Plan and estimate the expenses for your school science laboratory. Try to work out how the allocation of funds for science laboratory are distributed to school.

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Ordering and Purchasing Science Equipments and Materials When the item you want to purchase is identified, you have to follow the standards procedure in acquiring equipment and science materials as required by the Government. The flowchart below shows the procedures to be followed when making ordering and purchasing of science equipment and materials for your school science room.

Estimates of annual allocation and budgeting

>RM50,000-100,000 Direct purcha < RM10000 mana-mana No se pembekal Obtaining quotation Contra RM 10000-50000 pembekal ct List berdaftar B Yes

List of material and equipment

Ordering Identify the quantity required

Meeting to select the supplier

Receiving Approval from the headmaster/ principal

Check whether equipment is in the Central Contract List

Recording into the stock book

No

Confirmation of invoice for payment

Prepare a list of material/equipment based on the chosen suppliers

Prepare a priority list

Yes

Describe the procedures you follow in acquiring equipment and science materials which cost less than RM 500 for your school science laboratory. Explain the steps to be taken before you sign the delivery order from the supplier. Module 01-6

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Stock management Stock Keeping In some schools, there are no proper record for stock keeping of science equipments and materials as required. This situation will invite various problems in verifying the availability of the equipment and materials when needed. Therefore, stock keeping is important in order to check, to identify, to up date , to manage the science laboratory effectively and to plan the annual budget. As science teacher you should know that, all science equipments and materials received or removed have to be recorded as instructed in Pekeliling Perbendaharaan Bil. 2 Tahun 1991- Penggunaan Borang Baru Bagi Pengurusan Harta Modal, Inventori dan Bekalan Pejabat, S(K&B)(2.00)735/3/1-68 Jld.6(SEM)/(3) dated 9 February 1999 by using the respective form indicated in bracket below. Do you know how many stock book should the lab have in your school? Usually there are four Stock Books used for keeping of stock records: •

Register of property – to record all non-perishable items worth RM500.00 and more (KEW 312 and 312A). Can you give few examples of these items found in the lab?

•

Inventory – to record all non-perishable items worth less than RM500.00 (KEW 313). Name several examples of the items which commonly have in the science classroom/laboratory.

•

Register of office supplies – to record all perishable items (equipments and chemical materials) which are cheap and not economic to detect their used in detail. (KEW 314). List some examples of the items in your science classroom.

•

Register of mobile properties and inventories – to record the movement of all the properties and inventory (KEW 315)

Beside these four stock record books, science labs are also required to have two more books which are useful to help you in updating and checking stock. These books are •

Book of breakages – to record all broken, damaged and lost equipments or apparatus;

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•

Disposal Records of Science Equipment – to keep track that all the disposal procedures have been followed accordingly. (Please refer to Buku Panduan Penerimaan Peralatan Sains Sekolah Rendah dan Tindakan Kuatkuasaan Bagi Kontrak Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia, 1994)

(Please refer to appendix for the example of forms used for keeping stocks)

To get more detail information on this section and on how to use all the forms, you can read Chapter 5 of PPK (1999), Pengurusan dan Keselamatan Makmal Sains Sekolah, PPK, K.Lumpur.

Write off and disposal Sometimes it does happen that you cannot get or cannot use certain equipment or apparatus in the lab while there is a record of its availability in the stock or they are not in a good condition as expected. These equipments may be lost or removed without trace of damaged, rotten, spoilt, broken and old. What are you going to do in these cases? You may consider to write off or dispose it!

Procedure for writing off: You might suggest to write off if the property which is no longer available in stock due to lost because of theft, cheating or carelessness of the staff. The school head needs to follow the write off procedure as listed in the Arahan Perbendaharaan 314 and 315: The procedures are •

•

Make a police report immediately and get a copy of the report Prepare a lost report using treasury’s form (Form J) Arahan Perbendaharaan 316 and sent this form together with the police report to : Ketua Setiausaha, Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia (u.p.: Bahagian Kewangan) -

•

Ketua Setiausaha, Kementerian Kewangan Malaysia (u.p.: Bahagian Pentadbiran)

Send a copy of the report to : Akauntan Negara Ketua Audit Negara and Wakil Tempatan Ketua Audit Negara Pejabat Audit Sekolah Pegawai Pendidikan Daerah/ Pegawai Pendidikan Bahagian

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-

• • •

Jabatan Pendidikan Negeri Bahagian Sekolah/ Jabatan Pendidikan Teknikal.

Carry out full investigation and prepare a final report using treasury’s form (Form K). Arahan Perbendaharaan 317. Send the report to all the authority stated above. Get the approval to write off from Ketua Setiausaha, Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia for property less than RM20,000 per unit or a total value of RM200,000. For property exceeding RM20,000 per unit or a total value of RM200,000 approval must come from Ketua Setiausaha Perbendaharaan Malaysia.

If you notice there are a number of apparatus or science materials that are old, condemned, broken or spoilt., what will you do with these items? Of course you have to carry out a disposal procedure to eliminate the record of such materials from the stock. There are two ways to carry out disposal i.e. through “Lembaga Pemeriksa” or without going through the “Lembaga Pemeriksa”.

Procedure for disposal Disposal of apparatus or materials valued more than RM10,000 per unit must go through “Lembaga Pemeriksa” which consists of at least two senior officers who are not directly in the science stock management. Disposal of apparatus or materials valued more than RM100 per unit or a total value of RM5000 is done by the senior science teacher filling in the form (Kew 300V) and send to “Bahagian Kewangan, Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia” through the state education department. For value less than RM100 per unit or total value of RM5000 the form has to be sent to Pengarah Pendidikan Negeri/ Pengarah Bahagian Sekolah/ Pengarah Pendidikan Teknikal. To get a more detail information on this section , you can read in Chapter 6 of PPK (1999), Pengurusan dan Keselamatan Makmal Sains Sekolah, PPK, K.L.

Build a flow chart to show the write-off process of equipment in the science laboratory.

Why is it that we need to record breakages even though we have stock registration book?

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Planning and Designing of Science Laboratory Concept of Science Laboratory Primary school science room is a classroom where the teaching and learning of science can be conducted. This room should have the basic facilities necessary for carrying out science activities such as science experiments, demonstration and project works. The basic facilities required for a science room include the suitable stools and tables, cabinets, water and electricity supply as well as essential science apparatus and equipments. Primary school science laboratory is a specially designed room for students to carry out their practical activities individually or in pairs. Besides the practical works, this laboratory is designed to cater for other activities such as lectures, demonstrations, group discussions, report writing etc. As such, the main features of a laboratory should consist of stools and benches for activities, supply of water, gas and electricity to the benches, designated room for preparation of experiment materials, place for nonmovable equipments, display facilities for exhibiting models and charts, cupboards for storing materials and apparatus. Look around your school science room, draw a layout plan of your school science room. List the facilities, science apparatus and equipments that are available for students to carry out their practical activities. Given below is a sample layout of a secondary school science laboratory

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( Adopted from: W.F. Archenhold, E.W. Jenkins, C. WoodRobinson(1977), School Science Laboratories, John Murray: London)

Look around your school science room, compare the science room layout with the laboratory layout given above. List the similarities and differences between your school science room and the laboratory given.

In addition to all the above considerations, there are other factors such as the size of science room or laboratory, its lighting, ventilation, noise level which must be pleasant and suitable for proper practical activities to be carried out. What are the features and functions of a primary school science laboratory that need to be changed to meet the needs of present and future generations of students in your school? Nowadays almost every type of services has a mobile unit for example the mobile hand phone, mobile library, mobile toilet etc. It is natural that science laboratory also follow the trend. What type of mobile laboratory do you think would be useful for our primary school students?

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Based on the concept of science laboratory you have learnt in this unit, suggest what are the features you would include in the designing of a mobile laboratory for the teaching of primary school science? Briefly explain what is the function(s) of each feature.

Smart School Science Laboratory Smart school was first introduced in Malaysia in 1980. What is the significance to the teaching and learning of science? Do you think school science labs should be upgraded so that it could provide smart learning? So how does a smart science laboratory looks like? It could be characterized by their: • • • •

Accessibility and flexibility in design, facilities and functions Technology-based - Integrating of Information Communication Technology such as using microcomputer-based in which students will be able to visualize various scientific concepts and also promote active learning. User friendly – in terms of space, situation, environment, availability of materials, and services. Safety measures – highly guarded with standard safety rules in all aspects. Based on your school science laboratory, list down any signs of smart characteristics that can be enhanced as smart science laboratory.

Smart Science Classroom Designs A Smart Classroom is an interactive learning environment where computers and other electronic devices are the primary information delivery systems. Teachers serve as

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facilitators who personalize and individualize the learning opportunities of students. Electronic portfolios hold student products. Computer-assisted instruction provides immediate assessment and feedback. Students can access a wide range of information sources via internet. Internet access is available in every classroom in the school. Technology is thoroughly integrated with the core curriculum and state frameworks. Students are exposed to a variety of technology applications including multi-media productions, use of data bases, video production, satellite television, instructional software, distance learning, and teacher-authored software. Smart Science Classrooms, could provide our students with extraordinary opportunities for learning. Let us explore an example in USA. Blackstock's Smart Science Classroom, and Technology Lab 2000 are examples of an eighth grade science programs, incorporating computer activity and multi-media instructional techniques in all aspects of their operation. The science classrooms are all unique in design, but they function on a multi-media platform that includes: computer networks, VCRs, laser disk players and CD-ROMs. Technology plays a vital role in the science curriculum. The teacher assumes the role of a facilitator and technology is the tool that delivers the curriculum. The science student can be observed working on a Mineral Unit utilizing a variety of approaches: laser disk - visual examples of mineral terms; software -"Murphy's Minerals" - students are miners searching for valuable minerals; hands-on activity -students identify minerals using scales, streakplates and hardness kits. As students study space, they journey into the solar system via teacherdirected laser disk programs. Working in groups, they search for a lost space probe that has landed on one of the planets. Students may journey with the Apollo 11 astronauts, observing, discussing, describing, and analyzing objects and events they encounter along the way. Blackstock's science program heartily reflects the National Goal of USA to have their students rank first in the world in scientific and technological achievement. The science department embraces scientific literacy, the ability to develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills, to use scientific methods and to make aesthetic judgments. We integrate science topics across all curricular areas, including language arts and mathematics. The Smart Science Classrooms are alive with the sounds of students using word processors to record their observations and to write their laboratory reports. Printers are busy with science newsletters, banners, and signs. Students study the metric system, read and draw graphs and charts, and measure and calibrate distance both on and off their computer systems

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Adapted from : http://blackstock.huensd.k12.ca.us/html/rm_sci.htm

Do you think we could adopt and adapt the above example in our science classroom or science laboratory? Look at the following example of a sitting layout of how a smart science classroom could look like. Which do you think you could use in your own classroom?

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. Adapted from : Spencer Kagan : Cooperative Learning

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Adapted from : Poh Swee Hiang : Pedagogi 4: Pengurusan Makmal dan Sumber Sains

http://blackstock.huensd.k12.ca.us/html/rm_sci.htm The above illustration shows an example of how students can access and carry out investigation in a virtual chemistry laboratory.

Can you suggest the advantages and disadvantages of carrying out experiment or science investigation in virtual laboratory?

Well done, take a break now! Time for a cup of coffee

Oops!! That’s the end.

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Appendix

•

Register of Property (KEW 312 & KEW 312A)

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•

Register of Inventory (KEW 313)

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•

Register of Office Supplies (KEW 314)

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•

Register of Mobile Properties and Inventories (KEW 315)

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•

Books of breakages

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Module 01-25