Comparison Essay

In Sierra Leone, a West-African country, elementary and middle school students study biology, chemistry, and physics as one subject known as Integrated Science. Integrated Science is taught by one teacher who is specialized in all three subjects. It is a very effective way of helping students understand the sciences and how they are connected. However, when students get to high school, the subjects are separated and taught by separate qualified teachers in a more in-depth level. This allows students to be prepared for the O-Level Examination which is used for college admission. During summer before high school, I decided to learn more about the individual subjects beforehand using all the necessary textbooks we were going to utilize in class.

Both chemistry and physics study matter, but chemistry studies it at a molecular level whilst physics studies the mechanics of why matter reacts in a specific way. The difference lies in their approach, so I did not expect the teaching method to be the same. However, my physics teacher Mr. Bangura’s technique was way off as he failed to meet the needs of his subject. Physics requires more class time than lab time, yet we only attended class on the first day of each grade in high school; we spent every other day in the lab. On the other hand, my chemistry teacher, Mr. Koroma, gave out a syllabus that stated exactly when we should meet in class and in the lab. Furthermore, there are four main learning styles: auditory, verbal, visual, and kinesthetic. Mr. Koroma acknowledged all four of these and made sure every student learned pleasantly, while Mr. Bangura taught us using his learning style which is kinesthetic. Mr. Koroma used colorful printed handouts and pictures for visual learners, spoke loud and clear and encouraged auditory learners to record his voice, asked verbal learners to read text out loud and write important facts on the board for the class, and assigned kinesthetic learners as captains of small groups in the lab. In addition, unlike Mr. Koroma, Mr. Bangura barely used the textbook for the course, so he contradicted himself most of the time, he didn’t ask any questions, and he moved on even if somebody still hadn’t understood the