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Re: Physics First Content (refocus)



As usual, John Clement has brought clarity and wisdom
to a discussion (see below). I urge everyone on this
list to forward his eloquent posting to elected
officials in your state who have positions of
authority in the education establishment AND offer to
help them move in the direction John suggests. John
Barrere Apex HS, Apex,NC

--- John Clement <clement@HAL-PC.ORG> wrote:
I think this question is part of the problem. The
question should not be
what is the necessary content. It should be how can
student thinking be
improved. According to Shayer and Adey in "Really
Raising Standards" the
best way of achieving this goal is through science
content, but focusing on
the content means putting it above the process
skills that students must
learn. I realize that the state standards prescribe
content, and as a
result teachers tend to teach "stuff" that can be
memorized for the high
stakes tests.

In science almost any content can be used to raise
thinking skill. Indeed
"Thinking Science" by the above authors uses a
variety of content drawn from
all areas. Unfortunately at this point it has been
misimplemented in the
United States in a district in AZ. The problem is
that a successful
researched program is often adapted by teachers who
do not understand how
and why it works. Researched material should never
be adapted until
baseline tests have been made with the unaccepted
version, and then
adaptations need to be tested. This takes years of
careful work.

However, in an interest in answering the question at
hand, here is what I
would do. At the middle school and 9th grade level
I would in physics at
minimum attack the ideas of position, velocity,
acceleration, and NTN's
laws. However, this should only be done using 1
dimensional examples. I
would look for gain in the FCI/FMCE tests. A very
suitable program is
available using Clement&Camp "Preconceptions in
Mechanics", Kendall/Hunt.
In chemistry I would attack the idea of molecules,
and suitable material is
"Introductory Physical Science",Uri Haber-Schaim,
Science Curriculum Inc.,
Belmont, Mass http://www.sci-ips.com/ . This book
is the only book
considered acceptable for middle school by the
Hubisz report. In addition I
would consider using the base Thinking Science
modules 1-12 which help the
students acquire conservation and proportional
reasoning. I would also use
motion detectors with the origin adjusted to be out
in front of the detector
and make students do experiments that involve both
positive and negative
positions. This means you must use computers
instead of calculators to take
data. Some of the Tools for Scientific Thinking
labs from Vernier could be
used www.vernier.com .

Notice that these recommendations are aimed more at
the process than at
specific material. The state curriculum planners
are often attuned to the
wrong thing, just as students are attuned to the
wrong thing. When students
ask me what the answer to a question is I refuse to
tell them. I push them
instead to focus on what is the reasoning that must
be used to get the
answer. The curriculum planners are focusing on
getting students to give
scientifically correct answers on MC tests. This
focus actually lowers
students' ability to think.

John M. Clement
Houston, TX


PHYS-L@lists.nau.edu writes:
Hugh Haskel wrote:

* * begin quote * *
Think of the poor biology profs who have had this
problem for
years--they get all these stude

This group is amazing! It took exactly 3 replies
to have the subject and
content be unrelated to the original question. Do
we not know how to
change the subject heading in our posts?

The post leading to Dr Lederman's article was
useful, thanks for that. The
posting on keeping the kids who want to be doctors
on the route to Physics
is on its way to the counseling center. Thanks.
However.......

My issue/problem is that in the great state of
Colorado, our sophomores
will be tested in March (2004) on topics to
include Earth and Space
Science, Life Science and Physical Science (topics
taken from Physics and
Chemistry). Our politicians have decided this and
are well entrenched.

We offer a freshman class called Introduction to
Physical and Earth
Science. It is not Physics First but there is some
Physics. To meet the
needs of the political environment and the
philosophical movement. What is
a curriculum planner to do?

So help me decide the essential physics that must
be in the introductory
class.

Thanks

Ken Fox
Science Department Coordinator
IB Physics Teacher
Smoky Hill High School
Aurora, CO
kfox@mail.ccsd.k12.co.us

This posting is the position of the writer, not
that of SUNY-BSC,
NAU or the AAPT.


This posting is the position of the writer, not that
of SUNY-BSC, NAU or the AAPT.


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This posting is the position of the writer, not that of SUNY-BSC, NAU or the AAPT.