Forwarded message:
From owner-tap-l@listproc.appstate.edu Fri Mar 31 11:07 MST 2000
Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2000 10:11:11 -0800
From: "David R. Sokoloff" <sokoloff@oregon.uoregon.edu>
Subject: Openings available in June 5-7 Chautauqua course,
"Promoting Active Learning . . ."
There are openings in our NSF Chautauqua Short Courses: PROMOTING ACTIVE
LEARNING IN INTRODUCTORY PHYSICS COURSES. Course II: Second Semester
Topics-June 5-7, 2000, Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania. (Note:
Course I is not prerequisite to Course II.)
Instructors: Priscilla Laws, Dickinson College; David Sokoloff,
University of Oregon; and Ronald Thornton, Tufts University.
This NSF-sponsored Chautauqua courses are designed for those interested in
making major changes in introductory physics courses or in other
introductory science courses. The focus will be on giving participants
direct experience with methods for promoting active student involvement in
the learning process through activity-based physics strategies using
computers and the research-based Workshop Physics, Tools for Scientific
Thinking and RealTime Physics curricula. (Copies of these curricula will be
distributed to participants.) The microcomputer-based tools used are
available for Macintosh, Windows and MS-DOS computers. Open to teachers of
undergraduate students in institutions of high education in the U.S.
(including Puerto Rico). High school teachers and faculty from outside the
U.S. are also admitted if space is available. There is a small application
fee, but no tuition. Participants are responsible for their transportation,
lodging and meals. Reasonably priced accommodations in dormitories and
hotels will be arranged at the course site.
For more information contact: David Sokoloff, Department of Physics, 1274
University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403-1274, E-mail:
sokoloff@oregon.uoregon.edu, Phone: (541) 346-4755, Fax: (541) 346-5861.
MORE DETAILED COURSE DESCRIPTIONS FOLLOW:
Widespread physics education research has shown that a majority of students
have difficulty learning essential physical concepts in the best of
traditional courses. These Chautauqua courses are designed for those
interested in making major changes in introductory physics courses or in
other introductory science courses. The focus will be on giving
participants direct experience with methods for promoting active
involvement of students in the learning process through activity-based
physics strategies.
Participants will explore activities from several successful curriculum
development projects, which share common goals and techniques, all of which
are based on the outcomes of physics education research and the
comprehensive use of microcomputers. (the microcomputer-based tools used
are available for Macintosh, Windows and MS-DOS computers.) Samples of
curricula will be given out. We will discuss adaptation of curricular
materials to a range of institutional settings including small colleges and
large universities.
While the emphasis will be on activity-based learning in laboratory or
workshop environments, strategies for better integration of lecture and
laboratory sessions by means of interactive lecture demonstrations will
also be discussed. We will also explore effective methods for evaluation of
the learning of physics concepts. Studies have demonstrated substantial and
persistent learning by students who have used these materials.
Course II will focus on second semester topics: electricity and magnetism,
waves and optics. In addition to use of computers for data collection and
analysis (using MBL tools) this course will explore more advanced
mathematical modeling and more advanced video analysis.
Reasonably priced accommodations will be arranged for this courses.
For college teachers of: introductory physics and other introductory
science and mathematics disciplines. Prerequisites: None.
Dr. Laws is a Professor of Physics at Dickinson College where she and he
colleagues have developed a workshop method for teaching physics without
lectures. Students in Workshop Physics courses use several related computer
applications including spreadsheets linked dynamically to graphs for
modeling, microcomputer interfacing for real-time data collection and video
analysis software. Workshop Physics has been published by John Wiley and
Sons.
Dr. Sokoloff is Professor of Physics at the University of Oregon where he
integrates classroom testing on research-based curricula with the
assessment of conceptual learning in introductory courses with large
enrollments. He is the principal author (along with Ronald Thornton and
Priscilla Laws) of RealTime Physics - computer supported active learning
laboratories for use in traditional university settings. (Published by John
Wiley and sons.) He is also co-developer (along with Ronald Thornton) of
microcomputer-base3d Interactive lecture Demonstrations which create an
active learning environment in lecture classes. (Available from Vernier
Software.)
Dr. Thornton is the director of the Center for Science and Mathematics
Teaching of the Physics and Education Department at Tufts University where
he directs the development of software for microcomputer-based laboratory
(MBL) tools for real-time collection and analysis of data, for modeling and
for vector visualization, and curricula designed to be used with these. The
Center conducts research on student learning in physics. The MBL software
has won awards from EDUCOM, Computers in Physics, and the Dana Foundation.
David R. Sokoloff
Professor of Physics
Department of Physics
1274 University of Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403-1274
sokoloff@oregon.uoregon.edu
office phone: (541) 346-4755
fax: (541) 346-5861
David R. Sokoloff
Professor of Physics
Department of Physics
1274 University of Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403-1274