Sugra Chunawala

Current Position: Associate Professor (G)

Ph.D. thesis:
The impact of science education in terms of human resource development in socio-economically deprived groups (with special emphasis on career selection)

• Attitudinal studies of students and teachers
• Students' perceptions of science
  
• Attitudes to school and school subjects
• Students' and teachers' perceptions of scientists
  
• Students' and teachers' perceptions of technology
• Students' alternative conceptions of science topics
• Students' conceptions of health
  
• Students' ideas about living and non-living
• Students' ideas about forests
  
• Students' ideas about experiments
• Gender and technology as part of a project titled Technology Centred School Education (TCSE).

Gender and science

The permanent exhibition at HBCSE on the theme of Gender and Science is aimed at presenting the contributions of women scientists. It focuses on the historical disjunction between women, science and technology. A booklet containing the information presented in the exhibition along with some additional material has been published. Marathi version of the booklet is also available.

Activity based foundation course on Science, Technology and Society

A book titled, Conflicts is part of the series of books on the activity based foundation course on Science, Technology and Society. The book is based on activities conducted with post-school students under the J. N. Tata Endowment Trust Programme. It focuses on conflicts as an integral part of human history. Various causes of conflicts are suggested and the progressive evolution of weapons is presented as having changed the scale of destruction involved in conflicts. The book ends with issues involving conflict resolution or peace.

History of science

Panels on the progress of social and behavioural sciences, economics, psychology, sociology and anthropology were developed for the History of science exhibition.

Curriculum Development

The development of an alternative curriculum for introducing social studies at the third standard (age 8 years) is underway. It combines history, geography and civics (citizenship education). This alternative curriculum aims to increase students' sensitivity to issues about people and places and help them recognise human activities in the context of a social system. The preparation of the teaching /learning units involves interaction with schools and field-testing of the materials prepared. The book will units on Map reading, Time measurement, Citizenship and Lifeskills.

Science Education for Diversity (SED) -- A European Commission Funded Project

Talks:

Farhat Ara, Sugra Chunawala and Chitra Natarajan: Students as designers and makers: Indian middle school students' creative solutions to design-without-make and design-with-make activities, Paper presented at the Designing Design Education for India, Conference, 13, 14, 15 March, 2013, Pune India.

Pooja Birwatkar  and Sugra Chunawala: The voices of a diverse classroom: How to hear them? Paper presentation at an ICSSR sponsored conference held at K.G. Somaiya College of Education,  Training and Research on Peace Education titled 'Nobody can bring you peace but yourself', Mumbai, March 22-23, 2013.

Sugra Chunawala: Science Communication in Indian Languages by the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education at the National Meet of Science Communicators in Indian Languages- jointly organised by Vignyan Prasar (DST, Govt. of India) and Vignyan Parishad Prasar (Allahabad), December 13-15, 2012.

Publications:

Chunawala, S. and Natarajan C. (2012). A Study of Policies Related to Science Education for Diversity in India. In "Towards Effective Teaching and Meaningful Learning in Mathematics, Science and Technology", Proceedings of ISTE International Conference on Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, South Africa, Oct 2011.

Ara, F., Chunawala, S and Natarajan C. (2011). A Study Investigating Indian Middle School Students Ideas of Design and Designers. Design and Technology Education: An International Journal, 16.3, 64-73. Online first- http://ojs.lboro.ac.uk/ojs/index.php/DATE/article/view/1676/1571

Chunawala, S. & Kharatmal, M. (Eds.). (2011). International Conference to Review Research on Science, Technology and Mathematics Education, epiSTEME 4 Conference Proceedings. India: Macmillan.

Ara, F., Natarajan, C., & Chunawala, S. (2011). Students as Users and Designers: Product Evaluation and Redesign by Indian Middle School Students. In S. Chunawala & M. Kharatmal (Eds.). Proceedings of epiSTEME 4 -- International Conference to Review Research on Science, Technology and Mathematics Education. India: Macmillan. http://episteme4.hbcse.tifr.res.in/proceedings/strand-ii-cognitive-and-affective-studies-of-stme/ara-natarajan-chunawala

Sharma, A. & Chunawala S. (2011). Teachers' Understanding of Nature of Science, and Their Views About the Primary School Environment Studies Curriculum. In S. Chunawala & M. Kharatmal (Eds.). Proceedings of epiSTEME 4 -- International Conference to Review Research on Science, Technology and Mathematics Education. India: Macmillan.

Shastri, V., Khunyakari, R., Chunwala, S. & Natarajan, C. (2011). Thinking Through Design: Teachers Explore a Design and Make Task. (2011). In S. Chunawala & M. Kharatmal (Eds.). Proceedings of epiSTEME 4 -- International Conference to Review Research on Science, Technology and Mathematics Education. India: Macmillan.

Ara, F., Natarajan, C. and Chunawala  S. (2010) Naïve Designers: A study describing Indian middle school students' creative design solutions to a real world problem. International Conference on ''Designing for children'- with focus on 'play' and 'learn'' at Industrial Design Centre, IIT, Mumbai, Feb 2-6, 2010. (Online) http://www.designingforchildren.net/papers/farhat-ara-designingforchildren.pdf

Khunyakari, R., Mehrotra, S, Chunawala, S. and Natarajan, C. (2010) Implementing D&T education in Indian middle schools: Lessons from trials International Conference on ''Designing for children'- with focus on 'play' and 'learn'' at Industrial Design Centre, IIT, Mumbai, Feb 2-6, 2010. (Published online only) http://www.designingforchildren.net/papers/ritesh-khunyakari-designingforchildren.pdf

Natarajan C. and Chunawala S. (2009) Technology and Vocational Education in India, in Alister Jones and Marc de Vries (Eds) International Handbook of Research and Development in Technology Education, The Netherlands: Sense Pub. [Download pdf]

Ara, F., Natarajan, C. and Chunawala, S. (2009). A Study Exploring the Strategies Utilised by Indian Middle-School Students in Identifying Unfamiliar Artefacts. Design and Technology Education: An International Journal, 14.3, 47-57. [Download pdf]

Chunawala, S. (2009) A Pedagogue’s Romance: Reflections on Schooling, Krishna Kumar, 2008, New Delhi: OUP in Contemporary Education Dialogue.

Mehrotra, S., Khunyakari, R., Natarajan, C., & Chunawala, S. (2009). Collaborative learning in technology education: D&T unit on puppetry in different Indian socio-cultural contexts International Journal of Design and Technology Education, DOI 10.1007/s10798-007-9037-1. [Download pdf]

Khunyakari, R., Mehrotra, S., Chunawala, S. and Natarajan, C. (2009). Studying Indian middle school students' attitudes towards technology. In K. Subramaniam and A. Mazumdar (Eds.). Proceedings epiSTEME-3: An International Conference to Review Research in Science, Technology and Mathematics Education. Mumbai: Macmillan Publishers India Ltd. [Download pdf]

Mehrotra, S., Khunyakari, R., Chunawala, S. and Natarajan, C. (2009). Evidences of learning through collaboration in design and technology tasks in Indian classrooms.  In K. Subramaniam and A. Mazumdar (Eds.). Proceedings epiSTEME-3: An International Conference to Review Research in Science, Technology and Mathematics Education. Mumbai: Macmillan Publishers India Ltd. [Download pdf]

Ara, F., Khunyakari, R and Natarajan, C. (2007). A study of middle school students' depictions of routes based on verbal descriptions and cues. In Chitra Natarajan & Beena Choksi (Eds.). Proceedings epiSTEME-2: International conference to review research on Science, Technology and Mathematics Education, Mumbai, India, February 12-15, 2007, pp 141-145.

Khunyakari, R, Mehrotra, S., Natarajan, C. and Chunawala, S.(2007). Cognition in action in design and technology units among middle school students. In Chitra Natarajan & Beena Choksi (Eds.). Proceedings epiSTEME-2: An International Conference to Review Research in Science, Technology and Mathematics Education. Mumbai, India, February 12-15, 2007 [Download pdf]

Khunyakari, R., Chunawala, S. and Natarajan, C. (2007). Comparison of depictions by middle school students elicited in different contexts. Proceedings of the Pupils' Attitudes Towards Technology (PATT-18) held at Glasgow, UK, pp 210-217 [Download pdf] 

Mehrotra, S., Khunyakari, R., Natarajan, C. and Chunawala, S. (2007). Dialogues in formal communication: A study of students' talk in a D&T unit in India. In Chitra Natarajan & Beena Choksi (Eds.). Proceedings epiSTEME-2: International conference to review research on Science, Technology and Mathematics Education, Mumbai, India, February 12-15, 2007, pp 73-78.

Mehrotra, S., Khunyakari, R., Chunawala, S. and Natarajan, C. (2007). Using pictures and interviews to elicit Indian students' understanding of technology. Proceedings of the Pupils' Attitudes Towards Technology (PATT-18) held at Glasgow, UK, July 2007. [Download pdf]

Khunyakari, R, Mehrotra, S., Natarajan, C. and Chunawala, S. (2006). Designing design tasks for Indian classrooms. In Marc J de Vries and Ilja Mottier (Eds.). Research for standards-based technology education. Proceedings PATT-16, Baltimore, March 2006. pp 20-34 [Download pdf]

Khunyakari, R. P., Mehrotra, S., Chunawala, S. and Natarajan, C. (2006) Design and Technology Productions Among Middle School Students: An Indian Experience In Volk, Kenneth (Ed.) Articulating Technology Education in a Global Community. Proceedings of the International Conference on Technology Education in the Asia Pacific Region, January 05-07, 2006, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, pp 63-73. [Download pdf]

Chunawala, S. and Ladage, S. (2007)  “Mulyamapan va Sanshodhan” or Assessment and Research, Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University, October 2007.

Mehrotra, S., Khunyakari, R. P., Natarajan, C. and Chunawala, S. (2006) Learning Technology Through Collaboration: D&T unit for Boys and Girls in Different Indian Socio-cultural Contexts. In Volk, Kenneth (Ed.) Articulating Technology Education in a Global Community. Proceedings of the International Conference on Technology Education in the Asia Pacific Region, January 05-07, 2006, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, pp280-290.[Download pdf]

Chunawala, S. (2004).  Education and technology education within the gender perspective. In Patrick Dias (ed.) Multiple Languages, Literacies and Technologies. Multilingualism, Frankfurt and Books for Change, New Delhi.

Chunawala, S. (1999). Indian Psychological Abstracts and Reviews 8:2 (2001), Copyright© Indian Council of Social Science Research, New Delhi; Sage Publications India Pvt Ltd, E. J. Capaldi and Robert W. Proctor, Contextualism in Psychological Research: A critical review, New Delhi, Sage Publications, pp. 193.

Chunawala,  S., Natarajan, C., and Ramadas, J. (1999). Indian Students' Ideas about Living and Non-living: a cross cultural study, IOSTE- 9, Symposium of the International Organisation of Science and Technology Education, Durban, South Africa, pages 96-1 04,June 24 to July 2, 1999.