MODELING WORKSHOPS NATIONWIDE in summer 2003
(updated June 18, 2003)
High school physics teachers:
Don't delay - take a Modeling Workshop THIS summer before the grants end.
Almost 1000 teachers have learned Modeling Instruction, and most prefer
it to conventional instruction. It corrects many weaknesses of the
traditional lecture-demonstration method, including fragmentation of
knowledge, student passivity, and persistence of naive beliefs about the
physical world.
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Modeling Workshops still open in summer 2003 are listed alphabetically
by state. They range in duration from 1-week introductory workshops,
usually focusing on kinematics, to 4-week workshops that thoroughly treat
the pedagogy and content for the mechanics portion of a physics course.
Content is reorganized around basic models to increase its structural
coherence.
Participants are supplied with a complete set of course materials and
work through activities alternately in the roles of student or teacher, as
they practice techniques of guided inquiry and cooperative learning.
In 2001, Modeling Instruction was recognized as an Exemplary K-12
science program and a Promising K-12 educational technology program by the
U.S. Dept. of Education.
Teachers receive stipends and/or tuition waivers, instructional
materials, sometimes free housing, etc., at most workshops. (State funded
workshops provide these only for in-state teachers.)
A Modeling Workshop can be an excellent investment for your school
because you can become a valuable resource for teaching science effectively
with technology! For underprepared teachers, a Modeling Workshop provides
content remediation.
ARIZONA
Arizona State University - Tempe (funded by the Nat'l Science Foundation)
July 7 - Aug 1
Content: mechanics.
Also 2 workshops in electricity
(Prerequisite: modeling workshop in mechanics)
Also: July 7 - Aug. 7: late afternoon workshop in 9th grade physical science
Contact <Jane.Jackson@asu.edu>, 480-965-8438,
Visit <http://modeling.asu.edu> and click on ASU's graduate program ...
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ARKANSAS
Arkansas State University (received state funding)
July 14 - Aug. 1
Peer leaders: Kathy Malone, Dan Malone, Karen Ladd
Content: 2nd semester physics, including CPU software use
Contact Dr. Andrew Sustich <sustich@mail.astate.edu>
*****************
FLORIDA
1) University of Central Florida - Orlando (teacher or school must pay)
Two different workshops, preferably taken in sequence:
July 14 - 18: kinematics
July 21 - 25: dynamics
Peer leader: Eric Gardner
For info: <training@pasco.com> or 1-800-772-8700 (ask for professional dev.
dept.)
2) Florida International University (out-of-town teachers must pay some costs)
June 23 - July 11
Peer leaders: Ellis Noll, John Hollis
July 14 - Aug. 1
Peer leaders: Jeff Steinert, Stan Hutto
Content: mechanics
Contact Prof. Laird Kramer <Laird.Kramer@fiu.edu>
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MASSACHUSETTS (received state funding)
Bridgewater State College
August 11 - 21
Peer leaders: Lou Turner, Jamie Vesenka
for jr high & HS teachers of physical science and physics (2 sections)
content: kinematics, intro to dynamics
Contact Prof. Jeff Williams <J7WILLIAMS@bridgew.edu>, 508-531-2081
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MISSISSIPPI (received state funding) PROBABLY FULL!
Mississippi State University
July 14 - August 1
Contact Prof. Taha Mzoughi <mzoughi@ra.msstate.edu>, 662-325-2923
<http://physics.msstate.edu/ttips/>
***********************
NEW YORK
SUNY-Buffalo State College
July 7-18, 2003 (but probably only 4 days of modeling)
content: Electricity & Magnetism
Contact Prof. Dan MacIsaac, 716-878-3802, <macisadl@buffalostate.edu>
<http://physicsed.buffalostate.edu/programs/>
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NORTH CAROLINA (funded by the National Science Foundation)
July 8 - 25: CARTERET COMMUNITY COLLEGE, Morehead City
Peer leaders: Jason Lonon, Terri McMurray
July 8 - 25: UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA - GREENSBORO
Peer leaders: Mike Turner, Matt Greenwolfe
Content: underpinnings (foundations of physical science) & mechanics.
Contact Nancy Murray <nmmurray@curie.uncg.edu>, (336) 377-9864
Application is at <http://epc.uncg.edu/workshop/epc_application.html>
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PENNSYLVANIA (unfunded: teacher or school must pay)
Widener University, near Philadelphia
Two different workshops, preferably taken in sequence:
Aug. 4 - 8: kinematics
Aug. 11 - 15: dynamics
Peer leader: Doug Vallette
For information: <training@pasco.com> or 1-800-772-8700 (ask for
professional dev. dept.)
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For detailed information on Modeling Instruction, visit
<http://modeling.asu.edu>.
QUOTES BY TEACHERS:
[As a graduate student in physics], I discovered the modeling method
of instruction to be a rigorous approach to physics instruction
on the high school level, and one that is consistent
with the way physicists understand the universe. (Doug Vallette)
An important objective of education is to move students along the road
towards self-suffiency. I feel that the modeling method does this better
than anything else I have seen. (Louis Turner, Massachusetts - formerly Ohio)
The project gives the teacher the knowledge and practice needed to develop
or adapt other materials to the modeling method. The teacher is not
restricted to particular topics or materials from the workshops because the
modeling method is a WAY to teach, not an independent topic to teach. (Art
Woodruff, Sanford, FL)
It is the finest example of constructivist teaching in the U.S. It has
changed my life and the way I teach. (Don Yost, near Sacramento)
----------------------------
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>
"The greatest shortcoming of the human race is
our inability to understand the exponential function."
- Prof. Al Bartlett, University of Colorado