Re: Problem solving or playtime?

[cotts_l@edu-suu-scf.sc.suu.edu (Laura Cotts)]

> I am a second year high school physics teacher and I recently had an
> evaluation conversation with my boss and it was suggested that I get
> away from using the textbook.  There are those that feel that classtime
> should be spent on more outside activities and labs and computer work.
> I agree that all of these things are very important, but I also know as
> an undergraduate physics major that students need to know how to solve
> problems.  I can take my student's high school text and my freshman
> college text and the two compare very closely.  Why then would I want
> to spend more time away from the text?  I would like to hear your input
> whether you are a high school teacher or a college professor.
>
> Cindy Gentry
> Franklin Road Academy
> Nashville, TN
> gentrycd@dlu.edu

Hi Cindy,
        I have been a high school physics teacher and am now at the
university.  I think the best thing you can do for high school students is
to give them as many physical and conceptual experiences as possible to
develop their intuitive feeling for the physics.
        I was trained as a math teacher and got "assigned" to teach physics
because I had a few courses in my background.(Panic!). I was fortunate
enough to be able to attend some PRISMS physics training which teaches
physics primarily through a 3 step Learning Cycle based on (1)an
Exploration Activity to introduce the phenomenon and raise questions and
common experience, (2)then more traditional concept development
(discussion, problems, videos etc) and (3) ending with an Application
Activity which asks the students to approach the concept from a new
physical situation.  The students loved it.  And even though I didn't
remember enough physics to "lecture properly" they learned a tremendous
amount - several students went away to eastern schools and reported that
physics was one of the areas where they really felt prepared.  Bottom line:
students can do mathematical physics problems without having real feel for
the physics.
        The conceptual and experiential background is critical and besides
its FUN!  We pushed cars in the parking lot to do F=ma, did Doppler effect
with the jazz band trumpeter blaring out the car window (police permission
to go a little fast - the cops even brought their radar gun as a check),
and burnt hot dogs with solar cookers.  The kids would come in wondering
what they got to do that day. Do you do problems too? Of course.  But you
will find you do not need to spend as much time talking about problems or
lecturing on the concepts because the students will have a better
understanding of what you are talking about. YES IT IS A LOT OF WORK TO GET
YOUR EQUIPMENT TOGETHER, out, organized, and put away again.  But in my
experience it is worth it.  At the university I teach the physics labs, and
there are students who do very well in the problem oriented lecture class
but who do not have true understanding. It is apparent when I watch them in
lab.
I think it is too bad that the style of teaching that we see at the
university (which is training us to be physics teachers, and which we
naturally imitate) is so inappropriate for teaching high school.  But the
university professors are assuming that the students already have the
experiences from earlier years and are now ready to prepare for the mcat.
As you said, their text is full of problems; let them use the problem
approach, you go ahead and help the kids learn and understand  physics in
the real world. They may not be physics majors but they will remember what
you do with them.
        "Ask rather than tell.  Provide experiences and physical problems
rather than information".  They will develop problem solving capabilities
galore.  Good luck!
PS If you're interested in help with teaching through learning cycle
activities, PRISMS was developed by the University of Northern Iowa and the
Iowa Physics Task Force.  U.of No. Iowa is in Cedar Falls, IA.