Scientific practices in Italian technical high school

Despite the widespread belief in the effectiveness of physics labs, recent studies question their impact on learning when designed with goals strictly focused on disciplinary knowledge. Labs centered on scientific practices have proven more effective in improving students' skills in these practices. This research aims to redesign the physics curriculum for Italian technical schools by explicitly integrating scientific practices into lab activities. The curriculum adopts Teaching-Learning Sequences (TLS) that combine disciplinary knowledge with practical skills. The educational path is structured to foster the progressive development of these skills over two years. The main overarching goal is to promote students' critical thinking and agency, guiding them from highly structured experiments to increasingly open investigations. A pilot implementation of the curriculum in one class has shown promising results, highlighting its potential to enhance student autonomy and improve skills in scientific practices.