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Modeling workshop for physics faculty in June at ASU



ANNOUNCEMENT: 2- or 3-WEEK MODELING WORKSHOP at Arizona State University in
June.

At Arizona State University (ASU) the usual course content of
calculus-based general physics is taught, but some sections of the course
are structured around models rather than topics. We use the modeling method
in classes of up to 65 students that meet for 2 hours at a time. Our
students' FCI and CSEM posttest scores are among the highest ever recorded,
year after year!

For physics faculty who want to learn the modeling approach, ASU will hold
NSF-funded 3-week summer workshops in 2001 and 2002 on "Remodeling
University Physics". (The third week is optional but highly recommended.)
We will start this summer's workshop on June 4.

We have room for 10 more faculty. This is an excellent workshop; it's been
run before. Don't wait to take it; after next summer you probably won't
have another opportunity for a few years.

E-mail Michael.Politano@asu.edu to reserve a place - do it soon! It's FREE.
Housing is only $15/night, and travel from many cities nationwide is only
$200 round trip (a big airline sale was announced today by Southwest
Airlines).

Cheers,
Jane Jackson
Co-Director, Modeling Instruction Program

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(Here are excerpts from the AAPT/APS Department Chairs meeting report by
David Hestenes on "Remodeling University Physics" last spring. The complete
report is at <http://www.aapt.org>.)

BACKGROUND
For the last five years, the Modeling Research Group at Arizona State
University (ASU) has been experimenting with reform of University Physics
in a studio physics classroom. The most unique feature of this reform is
its grounding in a Modeling Theory of Physics Instruction developed at ASU
over the last two decades. With the overall objective of increasing the
coherence of student understanding, the reform has developed along three
main lines:
* Course content organized around models rather than topics.
* Systematic use of modeling tools to elucidate the models.
* Student activities and discourse structured around models and modeling.

The central thesis of Modeling Theory (applies to science generally):
* Scientists explore the physical world for reproducible patterns which
they represent by models and organize into theories according to laws.
* The content core of science is composed of models, laws and theories
* The procedural core of science concerns making and using models = modeling

Research themes:
* Explicate, analyze and classify models inherent in all branches of physics
* Analyze theories as systems of Laws (guidelines) for constructing models
* Study the use of representational tools in physics to ascertain optimal
designs for modeling tools
* Explicate and analyze cognitive aspects of modeling in science

Course development began with an Honors section of university physics,
because that guaranteed the class size needed for studio physics. Progress
was monitored by % [normalized - Hake] FCI gains, which for successive
years were: 40, 56, 64, 68, 56. During the last two years the method was
applied to a community college class with gains of 82 and 64. The former is
the first recorded FCI gain over 72%. Evaluation with several other
instruments gave equally impressive results. This convinced NSF reviewers
that the course is ready for export to other schools, and we were awarded a
grant to do just that.

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FEATURES OF MODELING INSTRUCTION:
1. Structure and coherence of the curriculum:
A. Local structure is determined by delineating models.
* Models are primary units of coherently structured knowledge.
* Coherence derives primarily from the coordinated application of
physical laws to the construction and analysis of models.

Conventional instruction induces students to organize their learning around
problems and their solutions as units of knowledge.
Modeling instruction is organized around a small number of basic models.
Problem solving is subsidiary to modeling. One model solves many problems.

B. Large scale structure is determined by thematic use of physical laws
threaded through the curriculum. Two major themes:
(1) Energy thread. Newtonian mechanics modified to generalize and
separate energy conservation from momentum conservation: Thorough
preparation for:
* Concept of electric potential
* Energy level diagrams & spectroscopy
(2) Structure of matter: particle models and electromagnetic interactions

2. Modeling tools (examples):
* Coordinated use of complex numbers and vectors for trigonometry,
rotations and harmonic motion
* Coordinate-free use of vectors in modeling 2-d motion saves time and
combats 'vector avoidance'

3. Management of student activities and discourse:
* Collaborative learning (no lectures)
Students work in teams
Structured inquiry: Many activities organized into a modeling cycle
('learning cycle' with modeling structure)
* Developing skills in scientific discourse
Discourse structured around models to make scientific claims,
explanations and arguments clear and precise. (about 1/3 of class time
devoted to student presentations and discussion)

Interview techniques for educational research are built into discourse
management. Engage students in:
* Eliciting and evaluating their own beliefs about physics
* Negotiating meanings of terms and representations.
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