Yesterday I posted:
MODELING WORKSHOPS AT ASU:
For physics faculty who want to learn the modeling approach, ASU
will hold NSF-funded 3-week summer workshops in 2001 and 2002 on
"Remodeling University Physics". (The third week is optional but highly
recommended.)
If you think you might like to participate next summer, please
reply SOON and tell me which starting date you'd prefer:
Monday, June 4, or
Monday, June 11.
A reader asked me to indicate what ASU stands for. It's Arizona
State University. Also, I forgot to say that the reason I need input THIS
WEEK on which of these 2 dates is better is so that we can prepare the
flyer soon.
Here's information about ASU's calculus-based courses in which
Modeling Instruction is used. The usual course content is taught, but the
course is structured around models rather than topics. Students learn much
more; after all, it's closer to what a scientist does.
cheers,
Jane Jackson
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OUTLINE OF MODELING INSTRUCTION:
1. Structure and coherence of the curriculum
A. Local structure is determined by delineating models.
* Models are primary units of coherently structured knowledge.
* Coherence derives primarily from the coordinated application of
physical laws to the construction and analysis of models.
Conventional instruction induces students to organize their learning around
problems and their solutions as units of knowledge.
Modeling instruction is organized around a small number of basic models.
Problem solving is subsidiary to modeling. One model solves many problems.
B. Large scale structure is determined by thematic use of physical laws
threaded through the curriculum. Two major themes:
(1) Energy thread. Newtonian mechanics modified to generalize and
separate energy conservation from momentum conservation: Thorough
preparation for
* Concept of electric potential
* Energy level diagrams & spectroscopy
(2) Structure of matter: particle models and electromagnetic interactions
2. Modeling tools (examples)
* Coordinated use of complex numbers and vectors for trigonometry,
rotations and harmonic motion
* Coordinate-free use of vectors in modeling 2-d motion saves time and
combats 'vector avoidance'
3. Management of student activities and discourse (See Ref. [1])
* Collaborative learning (no lectures)
Students work in teams
Structured inquiry: Many activities organized into a modeling cycle
('learning cycle' with modeling structure)
* Developing skills in scientific discourse
Discourse structured around models to make scientific claims,
explanations and arguments clear and precise. (about 1/3 of class time
devoted to student presentations and discussion)
Interview techniques for educational research are built into discourse
management. Engage students in
* Eliciting and evaluating their own beliefs about physics
* Negotiating meanings of terms and representations
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Jane Jackson, Co-Director, Modeling Instruction Program
Box 871504, Dept.of Physics & Astronomy,ASU,Tempe,AZ 85287
480-965-8438/fax:965-7331. http://modeling.la.asu.edu
"The ideals which have lighted my way, and time after
time have given me new courage to face life cheerfully,
have been Kindness, Beauty, and Truth." - Einstein (1931)