Reformed Teaching workshop W29 at AAPT Summer Meeting
Colleagues:
Professional associations of scientists, mathematicians, and educators
-- for example the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS),
the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) and the National
Research Council (NRC), have called for extensive reform in the teaching of
science and mathematics. Their reports critique US science and mathematics
curricula as largely incoherent, excessively repetitive and unfocused -
"a mile wide and an inch deep" (REF 1, p3).
International studies (REF 2, p 35) have shown that US grade school science
textbooks have many times more topics than are typical in the rest of the
world, and that American books are focused on presenting simple information
such as vocabulary, facts and simple equations, -- neglecting complex
information synthesis, analysis and relevant application, scientific
reasoning, the use of scientific tools, investigation and communication.
Please consider registering for our 1-day workshop W29: Using the Reformed
Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP) on Sunday, August 4 at the AAPT Summer
Meeting in Boise, Idaho, and learn how you can become a more reflective and
constructively critical observer of physics and physical science teaching
practices. Learn to improve your own teaching, foster the development of
others teachers and assess colleagues and student teachers practices so as
to improve student conceptual gain (REF 3, 4).
If you would like to get a taste of RTOP, please visit our site at
<http://purcell.phy.nau.edu/RTOP>
This site includes RTOP-scored streamed video vignettes
(bad, good and complex) of physical science instruction.
Register for W29 on-line at <http://www.aapt.org>. The deadline for the
AAPT early-bird registration discount is today -- Monday, June 10!
Pre-registration and workshop registration is open on-line until July 14.
cheers,
Dan MacIsaac
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W29: Using the Reformed Teaching Observational Protocol
(RTOP)
Sponsor: Women in Physics
Day: Sunday, Aug. 4
Time: 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Location: Multipurpose 308
Dan MacIsaac, Kathleen Falconer
Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, P.O. 6010,
Northern Arizona Univ., Flagstaff, AZ 86011-6010
Phone: 928-523-5921; Fax: 928-523-1371; danmac@nau.edu
The Reformed Teaching Observational Protocol (RTOP) was
developed by the Arizona Collaborative for the
Excellence in the. Preparation of Teachers (ACEPT) to
measure the degree of reformed teaching (i.e.,
interactive engagement, cooperative learning) within a
classroom. There is excellent evidence that the
instructors' average RTOP scores are significantly
correlated to students' conceptual gains. Participants
will learn how to use RTOP as either a tool for science
and math education research and/or a tool for teachers'
professional development. RTOP is currently being used
as a research tool at several institutions, and research
has been presented at national conferences and is
currently in press. RTOP sessions have been used in
preservice teacher courses and in-service teacher
professional development workshops.
*Supported by grants from the National Science
Foundation (ACEPT- Cooperative Agreement #DUE-9453610)
and the United States Department of Education (AzTEC-
Arizona Teachers Excellence Coalition).
Members $55
Nonmembers $80
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1. NRC (1999). Designing mathematics or science
curriculum programs: A guide for using mathematics and
science education standards. Washington, D.C.:
National Academy Press.
<http://books.nap.edu/books/0309065275/html/>.
2. NRC (1999). Global perspectives for local action:
Using TIMSS to improve US Mathematics and Science
Education. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.
<http://books.nap.edu/books/0309065305/html/>.
3. A.E. Lawson, R. Benford, I, Bloom, M.P. Carlson, K.
Falconer, D. Hestenes, E. Judson, M. Piburn, D.
Sawada, J. Turley, and S. Wyckoff, "Reforming and
evaluating college science and mathematics
instruction: Reformed teaching improves student
achievement". J. Coll Sci Teaching, 31(7), (2002).
Discusses links between RTOP scores and student
achievement gains for six physical science and four
university physics classes, amongst others.
4. D.L. MacIsaac and K. Falconer (2002). Reform your
classroom instruction via the Reformed teaching
Observation Protocol (RTOP). Phys Teach, 40(6) (IN
PRESS).
Dan MacIsaac, Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Northern AZ Univ
danmac@att.net http://purcell.phy.nau.edu PHYS-L list owner