Re: Constructivist Physics

[Mathieu Dubreuil <Mathieu.Dubreuil@cyberscol.qc.ca>]

David Simmons,

I'll be glad to share my experience with you. Here in Quebec, HS
sciences curriculum was change 6 years ago to favor the constructivist
approach. Generally, the change was roughly taken by teachers whom had
to change their PSSC preparations. After that phase we've gone through
the a classic phase of experimentation and exageration in the using of
the constructivist didactics. Now, most of us have made adjustments.
 
> 1 What does constructivism mean to you?


 
> 2 What are teaching techniques or physics curricula which support constructivist learning?

I'm following a spiral approach of

1- Introduction of a problem
(instead of a purely spectacular demo)
2- Plenary session (brainstorming)
where I ask for explanations, hypothesis and...
exagerate without giving the right answer the misconception that might
have arise (epistemiology)
3- Manipulation
where students are ask to view the phenomenum and to modelize it.
4- Plenary session
where I organize observations, data analysis and interpretation
5- Lesson
where I built on the to previous session to expand their conclusions and
give the lecture notes
6- Problem solving lab activity
A lab his given to make them use the new concepts. The lab is not
intended to verify a law, but confront students with a situation where
the new notion can be used to analyze it. At this point, a lab that
combines ask for a recall of several laws is best.
7- Planary session to share lab conclusions 
8- Evaluation