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[Phys-l] Modeling Workshops nationwide this summer (update)



April 5, 2008
updated ANNOUNCEMENT (please forward to other teachers):

Modeling Workshops in high school physics, chemistry, and/or physical
science will be held in summer 2008 in Birmingham AL (two), Mobile AL
(1-week), Arizona (seven!), Georgia (for middle school teachers), Miami FL
(two), Chicago IL (two), Maine, New York (two), North Carolina (two), Ohio
(three), Philadelphia PA (two), Pittsburgh PA (five 1-week), Dallas TX
(two), and Wisconsin.

For details, visit http://modeling.asu.edu .
Click on "Modeling Instruction Workshops Nationwide in Summer 2008".

At some sites, stipends and/or free tuition are available for in-state
teachers. (Teachers nationwide can apply for a stipend at Miami FL.)

Modeling Workshops are peer-led. Content is reorganized around basic
models to increase its structural coherence. Participants are supplied with
a complete set of course materials and work through activities alternately
in the roles of student or teacher, as they practice techniques of guided
inquiry and cooperative learning.

Three thousand teachers have taken intensive Modeling Workshops, and most
prefer the method to conventional instruction. It corrects many weaknesses
of the traditional lecture-demonstration method, including fragmentation of
knowledge, student passivity, and persistence of naive beliefs about the
physical world. Modeling Instruction is recognized by the U.S. Dept.of
Education as EXEMPLARY.

Teachers greatly value Modeling Instruction. Teachers all over the nation wrote:
* In the one year that I have been modeling, I have seen wonderful results.
* We have had 3 physics teachers and 5 chemistry teachers enhance their
professional development at your ASU modeling workshops. Modeling has made
a world of difference in our science courses and we are working to continue
this improvement. (A physics first school)
* Modeling has changed the fundamental way I teach. I believe
eventually, maybe even in our lifetimes, all science will be taught this
way.
* "Modeling has permanently changed my methodology. I have taken
modeling as learned in the physics content area and employed it in other
classes (astronomy, geology, physical science). It has forced me to "clean
house", reduced content volume in these other courses and triggered a
restructuring of lab/worksheet material to fit modeling. Student response
to these changes have been overwhelmingly POSITIVE." (Tom Todd, suburb of
Chicago)

Jane Jackson, Co-Director, Modeling Instruction Program
Box 871504, Dept.of Physics, ASU, Tempe, AZ 85287
480-965-8438/fax:965-7565 <http://modeling.asu.edu>
For 17 years, the Modeling Instruction Program has
been helping teachers attain knowledge and skills
needed to benefit their students. Modeling Instruction
is recognized as an Exemplary K-12 science program
by the U.S. Department of Education.