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Re: [Phys-l] Physics First Revisited



Ok, looking at all of the materials, they all seem to use good buzzwords.
But is there any research that shows how well they get students to
understand science, and the curriculum that is presented?

While the correct words are used, such as activating prior knowledge, or
inquiry, how well do they actually do this. Of all of the sets, FOSS looks
the best because it is used in addition to inquiry, and not in place of it.
One problem with activating prior knowledge is that there is a short time
between the activation and the discrepant event for optimum learning. If
the time between the recall and the discrepant event is too long, the
recalled knowledge is stored back unchanged, and the discrepant event may no
longer be discrepant. This is a problem with the ILDs if the discussion
drags on too long during the prediction phase.

I did not notice any mention of the text being structured into a learning
cycle.

Without some research results I am fairly skeptical that a reading approach
will have much effectiveness. This of course is assuming you can get the
students to actually do the reading. Therein lies a big barrier.

An approach which might have better success would be a computer based
approach where they interact with simulations. So after reading a passage,
they make a prediction and "immediately" see the result. There have been a
number of studies including some recent ones in physics which showed that
computer simulations are very effective. The program could then proceed to
personalize the new information, and the sorts of follow up questions.

John M. Clement
Houston, TX


Some programs that do this to some extent are:

Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading
http://seedsofscience.org/

FOSS Science Stories
http://lawrencehallofscience.org/foss/components/k6/k6stories.html

Science and Technology for Children Books
http://www.nsrconline.org/curriculum_resources/science_readers.html

Also informative: Reading in Science
http://www.nsrconline.org/pdf/ReadingInScienceEssay.pdf