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Date: Tue, 19 Oct 1999 09:18:49 -0800
From: "David R. Sokoloff" <sokoloff@OREGON.UOREGON.EDU>
Subject: ANNOUNCING CHAUTAUQUA COURSES ON ACTIVE LEARNING FOR SPRING, 2000
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Chautauqua Short Courses: PROMOTING ACTIVE LEARNING IN INTRODUCTORY
PHYSICS COURSES. Instructors: Priscilla Laws, Dickinson College; David
Sokoloff, University of Oregon; and Ronald Thornton, Tufts University.
Course I: First Semester Topics--March 16-18 2000, University of Puerto
Rico, Mayaguez, Puerto Rico.
Course II: Second Semester Topics--June 5-7, 2000, Dickinson College,
Carlisle, Pennsylvania. (Note: Course I is not prerequisite to Course II.)
These NSF-sponsored Chautauqua courses are designed for those interested in
making major changes in introductory physics courses or in other
introductory science courses. The focus will be on giving participants
direct experience with methods for promoting active student involvement in
the learning process through activity-based physics strategies using
computers and the research-based Workshop Physics, Tools for Scientific
Thinking and RealTime Physics curricula. (Copies of these curricula will
be distributed to participants.) The microcomputer-based tools used are
available for Macintosh, Windows and MS-DOS computers. Open to teachers of
undergraduate students in institutions of higher education in the U.S.
(including Puerto Rico). High school teachers and faculty from outside the
U.S. are also admitted if space is available. There is a small application
fee, but no tuition. Participants are responsible for their
transportation, lodging and meals. Reasonably-priced accommodations in
dormitories and hotels will be arranged at both course sites.
For more information contact: David Sokoloff, Department of Physics, 1274
University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403-1274, E-mail:
sokoloff@oregon.uoregon.edu, Phone: (541) 346-4755, Fax: (541) 346-5861.
MORE DETAILED COURSE DESCRIPTIONS FOLLOW:
Widespread physics education research has shown that a majority of students
have difficulty learning essential physical concepts in the best of
traditional courses. These Chautauqua courses are designed for those
interested in making major changes in introductory physics courses or in
other introductory science courses. The focus will be on giving
participants direct experience with methods for promoting active
involvement of students in the learning process through activity-based
physics strategies.
Participants will explore activities from several successful curriculum
development projects which share common goals and techniques, all of which
are based on the outcomes of physics education research and the
comprehensive use of microcomputers. (The microcomputer-based tools used
are available for Macintosh, Windows and MS-DOS computers.) Samples of
curricula will be given out. We will discuss adaptation of curricular
materials to a range of institutional settings including small colleges and
large universities.
While the emphasis will be on activity-based learning in laboratory or
workshop environments, strategies for better integration of lecture and
laboratory sessions by means of interactive lecture demonstrations will
also be discussed. We will also explore effective methods for evaluation
of the learning of physics concepts. Studies have demonstrated substantial
and persistent learning by students who have used these materials.
Course I will focus on first semester topics: mechanics, heat and
thermodynamics. Use of computers will include data collection and analysis
with microcomputer-based laboratory (MBL) tools, basic mathematical
modeling using MBL software and spreadsheets, and basic interactive video
analysis.
Course II will focus on second semester topics: electricity and magnetism,
waves and optics. In addition to use of computers for data collection and
analysis (using MBL tools) this course will explore more advanced
mathematical modeling and more advanced video analysis.
Reasonably priced accommodations will be arranged for both of these courses.
For college teachers of: introductory physics and other introductory
science and mathematics disciplines. Prerequisites: none.
Dr. Laws is a Professor of Physics at Dickinson College where she and her
colleagues have developed a workshop method for teaching physics without
lectures. Students in Workshop Physics courses use several related
computer applications including spreadsheets linked dynamically to graphs
for modeling, microcomputer interfacing for real-time data collection, and
video analysis software. Workshop Physics has been published by John Wiley
and Sons.
Dr. Sokoloff is Professor of Physics at the University of Oregon where he
integrates classroom testing on research-based curricula with the
assessment of conceptual learning in introductory courses with large
enrollments. He is the principal author (along with Ronald Thornton and
Priscilla Laws) of Real-Time Physics--computer-supported active learning
laboratories for use in traditional university settings. (Published by
John Wiley and Sons.) He is also co-developer (along with Ronald Thornton)
of microcomputer-based Interactive Lecture Demonstrations which create an
active learning environment in lecture classes. (Available from Vernier
Software.)
Dr. Thornton is the director of the Center for Science and Mathematics
Teaching of the Physics and Education Department at Tufts University where
he directs the development of software for microcomputer-based laboratory
(MBL) tools for real-time collection and analysis of data, for modeling and
for vector visualization, and curricula designed to be used with these.
The center conducts research on student learning in physics. The MBL
software has won awards from EDUCOM, Computers in Physics, and the Dana
Foundation.
David R. Sokoloff
Professor of Physics
Department of Physics
1274 University of Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403-1274