Tina and others who want a grad course on teaching physics:
Here's a description of ours at Arizona State University this summer.
Cheers,
Jane Jackson
PHS 530: Methods of Teaching Physics
(Modeling Workshop I in mechanics)
Held June 24-July 12, 2002 at ASU, Tempe, Arizona. 8 - 3:30 MTWThF
Peer leaders: Jeff Hengesbach, Richard McNamara
Line #: 32875
For registration information & easy ASU application form, reply to
Jane.Jackson@asu.edu, or visit modeling.asu.edu .
Excellent low-cost housing, including fabulous family housing for those who
drive here. Tuition is a bargain at $126/sem. hr. WE EXPECT TO OFFER
STIPENDS, FREE HOUSING, AND FREE TUITION for those who need/request it.
PHS 530 DESCRIPTION:
The workshop is a Methods of Physics Teaching course that thoroughly
addresses most aspects of high school physics teaching, including the
integration of teaching methods with course content as it should be done in
the high school classroom. The workshop incorporates up-to-date results of
physics education research, best high school curriculum materials, use of
technology, and experience in collaborative learning and guidance.
Participants will be introduced to the Modeling Method as a systematic
approach to the design of curriculum and instruction. Content of the entire
first semester course in high school physics (mechanics) is reorganized
around five basic models to increase its structural coherence. Participants
are supplied with a complete set of course materials and work through all
the activities alternately in the roles of student or teacher.
Teachers improve their physics content knowledge and are equipped with a
robust teaching methodology for developing student abilities to:
* make sense of physical experience,
* understand scientific claims,
* articulate coherent opinions of their own and defend them with cogent
arguments,
* evaluate evidence in support of justified belief.
Specifically, teachers learn to:
* ground their teaching in a well-defined pedagogical framework (Modeling
Theory), rather than following rules of thumb;
* organize course content around scientific models as coherent units of
structured knowledge;
* engage students collaboratively in making and using models to describe,
to explain, to predict, to design and control physical phenomena;
* involve students in using computers as scientific tools for collecting,
organizing, analyzing, visualizing, and modeling real data;
* assess student understanding in more meaningful ways and experiment with
more authentic means of assessment;
* continuously improve and update instruction with new software, curriculum
materials and insights from educational research;
* work collaboratively in action research teams to mutually improve their
teaching practice.
Since "teachers teach as they have been taught," the workshop includes
extensive practice in implementing the curriculum as intended for high
school classes. Participants rotate through roles of student and instructor
as they practice techniques of guided inquiry and cooperative learning.
Plans and techniques for raising the level of discourse in classroom
discussions and student presentations are emphasized. Teachers are immersed
in studying the physics content of the entire semester, providing indepth
remediation for underprepared teachers. Altogether, the Modeling Workshop
provides a detailed implementation of the National Science Education
Standards.
The workshop is led by two experienced high school teachers who have
participated in at least eight weeks of Modeling Workshops during two
summers. Teachers meet daily, 5 days per week, for a total of 90 contact
hours plus homework.
As of 2001, 800 high school teachers in 47 states use Modeling Instruction.
Student enrollments increase, sometimes dramatically, when Modeling
Instruction is implemented. We have data on some 20,000 high school physics
students, showing that student gains in understanding of the force concept
are typically doubled, and sometimes tripled, when Modeling Instruction is
used, compared to traditional instruction.
Visit <http://modeling.asu.edu> for extensive information, much written by
high school teachers.
---------------------------
Jane Jackson, Co-Director, Modeling Instruction Program
Box 871504, Dept.of Physics & Astronomy,ASU,Tempe,AZ 85287
480-965-8438/fax:965-7331 <http://modeling.asu.edu>
Wisdom is applying knowledge to human needs.