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Teaching students to THINK: Modeling Method



The creationism vs evolution issue shows us that one of our most important
tasks as educators is to teach people to think scientifically. We need a
populace who can think clearly, in this day of rapid change and vast power
for good or bad in our world.

The Modeling Method of physics instruction teaches people to think
scientifically; I encourage you to support its use in high schools in your
area. This will gradually dispel ignorance and heal the divisions in our
society that result from dogmatism. Here is a short description of the
Modeling Method by my colleagues David Hestenes and Larry Dukerich.
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The Modeling Method corrects many weaknesses of the traditional
lecture-demonstration method, including the fragmentation of knowledge,
student passivity, and the persistence of naive beliefs about the physical
world. It makes the coherence of scientific knowledge more evident to
students by making it more explicit.

Instruction is organized into modeling cycles which engage students in all
phases of model development, evaluation and application in concrete
situations -- thus promoting an integrated understanding of modeling
processes and acquisition of coordinated modeling skills. The teacher sets
the stage for student activities, typically with a demonstration and class
discussion to establish common understanding of a question to be asked of
nature. Then, in small groups, students collaborate in planning and
conducting experiments to answer or clarify the question. Students are
required to present and justify their conclusions in oral and/or written
form, including a formulation of models for the phenomena in question and
evaluation of the models by comparison with data.

Technical terms and representational tools are introduced by the teacher as
they are needed to sharpen models, facilitate modeling activities and
improve the quality of discourse. The teacher is prepared with a definite
agenda for student progress and guides student inquiry and discussion in
that direction with "Socratic" questioning and remarks. The teacher is
equipped with a taxonomy of typical student misconceptions to be addressed
as students are induced to articulate, analyze and justify their personal
beliefs.

For example, in one experiment students are asked to develop the principles
of the motion of a pendulum. With the teacher as recorder, the students
brainstorm about properties of the pendulum which might affect its period.
After compiling the list, teacher and students decide which of the
properties should be investigated. In this example they determine to
investigate how changes in the mass of the bob, the length of the string
and the amplitude of the motion affect the period. The students then work
in teams and determine their own procedure for collecting data. After
collecting data, they plot the variables appropriately and then elicit the
equations of motion and the relationships among the variables. Then, in a
technique called "whiteboarding", each group presents the results of their
experiment to the class. At the end of this process, the class can agree on
an appropriate model to describe the behavior of the pendulum. They do this
without being given the answer from a text or a teacher.

Students come to see that such everyday phenomena as feeling pinned in
their seats while an airplane is taking off, yet being able to move about
the cabin easily while the plane is cruising at 600 knots can be readily
explained using simple particle models. They come back making remarks like,
"Now I know what's going on during amusement park rides." Or "It's scary,
I find myself analyzing my motion during amusement park rides. Am I still
ok?"

In whiteboarding, the two most frequently asked questions are, "Why do you
say that?" and "How do you know that?" Students must account for everything
they do in solving a problem, explaining why they had done it that way, and
ultimately appealing to theory developed on the basis of experiments that
had been done in class. Students must be explicit in their understanding.
Instructors trained in the Modeling Method do not take correct statements
for granted. They always press for explicit articulation of understanding.
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The Modeling Method has been used by some Arizona high school teachers for
7 years. They tell me that their students thank them for teaching them to
THINK; that the students say that they've never had to think in any other
course. And students say that the Modeling Method transfers to other
subjects, even outside of the sciences. This makes sense to me, for the
students are learning new habits of mind. These habits of mind are likely
to infuse ALL aspects of life.

We will all benefit if we implement structured inquiry methods like this
into our courses as much as possible. Please browse our web page for more
details on how to do it: modeling.la.asu.edu/modeling.html .

Cheers,
Jane Jackson

Jane Jackson, Dir., Modeling Workshop Project
Box 871504, Dept.of Physics, ASU, Tempe, AZ 85287
480-965-8438/fax:965-7331. http://modeling.la.asu.edu

"The ideals which have lighted my way, and time after
time have given me new courage to face life cheerfully,
have been Kindness, Beauty, and Truth." - Einstein (1931)