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Suttida Rakkapao1

Institute for Innovation and development of Learning Process, Mahidol Institute for Innovation and development of Learning Process, Mahidol UniversityUniversity11

Kwan Arayathanitkul, Passakorn Pananont2

Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Mahidol Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Mahidol UniversityUniversity22

April 2, 2008 , Institute for Innovation and development of Learning April 2, 2008 , Institute for Innovation and development of Learning Process, Mahidol University, Bangkok, THAILAND.Process, Mahidol University, Bangkok, THAILAND.

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• IntroductionIntroduction• Pilot studyPilot study• Research objectivesResearch objectives• Research questionsResearch questions• Research Research methodologymethodology• Expected outcomesExpected outcomes

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Do you remember Do you remember the great disaster

in Thailand 2004 ?in Thailand 2004 ?

4(http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/eqlists/graphs.html)

Earthquake Facts and Earthquake Facts and Statistics Statistics

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What are the earthquake What are the earthquake risks risks

in Thailandin Thailand ? ?

What is the probability that What is the probability that an earthquake will occur an earthquake will occur in in

ThailandThailand ? ?

6http://www.dmr.go.th/knowledge/geology.htm

Active Active faults in faults in ThailandThailand

7(From http://www.dmr.go.th/geohazard/earthquake/PhayaoFault.htm)

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(From http://www.dmr.go.th/geohazard/earthquake/KanchanaburiFault.htm)

Three Pagoda Fault

9http://www.dmr.go.th/News_new/cabinet/p4.jpg

Sri Sa Wat Fault

Three Pagoda Fault

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Are earthquakes really on the increase?

From http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learning/faq.php?categoryID=6&faqID=110

NO !!!!!!!

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The education about The education about earthquakesearthquakes

MisunderstandiMisunderstandingng

Evaluating Evaluating ToolsTools

Teaching Teaching ProcessesProcesses

4 1.5( ) 2.5 10 ME in joules

~ 31.6 times

In 1991, E.S. Oberhofer [1] pointed out a common misunderstanding of “magnitude” term when applied to earthquakes. For Richter magnitude scale, it is believed that for each increase in one magnitude there is 10 times more energy being released.

In 2005, Libarkin, J.C., and Anderson, S.W., [2] constructed a multiple-choice assessment instrument for using in the Earth science called GCI (The Geoscience Concept Inventory). These test items cover topics related to general physical geology concepts, as well as underlying fundamental ideas in physics and chemistry, such as gravity and radioactivity, these are integral to understanding the conceptual Earth.

In 2003, C Fazio et al. [3] constructed an activity-based teaching unit that aimed to improve the understanding about properties of seismic waves focusing on analyzing the properties of very small earthquakes produced through mechanical shock waves in slabs of different materials.

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( in 2001)

The education about The education about earthquakes earthquakes in Thailandin Thailand

Subtopics of earthquakes on the 6th strand of science following foundation education curriculum Buddhist Era 2544 (http://www.ipst.ac.th/sci_curriculum/)

• Causes of earthquakes • The seismometer• Seismic waves• Mercalli and Richter scale• Earthquakes in Thailand • Safety procedures from earthquakes and Tsunami

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Explore students’ understanding of earthquakes after finishing the 6th strand of science by means of traditional teaching.

Method :Method : The earthquake conceptual survey

Sample Sample ::

171 student participants ( from 6 high schools )

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Question: Are zone of rainy countries more risky to occur earthquakes than that of dry countries? Why?

70%

30%

Percentage of Students

Yes

No, depend on plate boundary

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36%

15%17%

14%

18%

Percentage of Students

Question : Which country Thailand or Japan that has the most probability to occur earthquakes? Why?

Plate boundaries

Volcano eruption

Topography

Islands

Others

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1. To determine high school students’ misunderstanding of earthquakes.

2. To construct a novel teaching module for earthquakes (related to the cause of earthquakes and the principle of an earthquake detector).

3. To increase students’ conceptual understanding of earthquakes by using a novel teaching module.

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1. What concepts of earthquakes do students misunderstanding?

2. What is a novel teaching module for earthquakes?

3. Does a novel teaching module increase high school students’ conceptual understanding of earthquakes?

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Survey students’ understandingSurvey students’ understanding

Design a new teaching moduleDesign a new teaching moduleConstruct the earthquake Construct the earthquake

conceptual test and a conceptual test and a questionnairequestionnaire

Use the new teaching moduleUse the new teaching module

Analysis and conclusionsAnalysis and conclusions

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Methods Methods ::

- The document reviews

- The earthquake conceptual survey

- The interviews

Sample Sample ::

High school students

Purpose Purpose ::

To find out students’ misunderstanding of earthquakes

Survey students’ understandingSurvey students’ understanding

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Results :Results :

Most students believe that :

• The amount of rain affect to earthquakes.

• All earthquakes create visible cracks on the Earth's surface.

Survey students’ understandingSurvey students’ understanding

1) The characteristics and cause of natural earthquakes

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Results :Results :

Most students believe that :

• Seismograms are used for measuring the magnitude of an earthquake, not for locating its epicenter.

• The mass of a seismometer will move when earthquakes occur.

Survey students’ understandingSurvey students’ understanding

2) The basic principle of seismometers

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Results :Results :

Most students believe that :

• The seismic waves of the 8 Richter magnitude scale propagate faster than those of the magnitude 6 because of its violence and vibration.

Survey students’ understandingSurvey students’ understanding

3) The seismic wave velocity

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Results :Results :

Most students believe that :

• The ratio of the ground vibration amplitude of 8 Richter magnitude scale to that of 6 Richter magnitude scale is 2:1.

• A change of one magnitude on the Richter scale corresponds to a difference in released energy 10 times.

Survey students’ understandingSurvey students’ understanding

4) The Richter magnitude scale

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Results :Results :

Survey students’ understandingSurvey students’ understanding

1) The characteristics and cause of natural earthquakes

2) The basic principle of seismometers

3) The seismic wave velocity

4) The Richter magnitude scale

4 Groups of the students’ misconceptions

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Construct the earthquake Construct the earthquake conceptual test and a conceptual test and a

questionnaire questionnaire

Purpose Purpose ::

To construct the evaluating tools used in the teaching module.

Students’ conceptual understanding

Students’ satisfaction to the teaching module

The earthquake conceptual test (a multiple choice test)

A questionnaire

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Design a new teaching moduleDesign a new teaching module

Materials Materials ::

- Seismograms

- A Simple Seismometer

- A Convection Cell set

Purpose Purpose ::

To construct an active based teaching module on the topic of earthquake.

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Results :Results :

Survey students’ understandingSurvey students’ understanding

1) The characteristics and cause of natural earthquakes

2) The basic principle of seismometers

3) The seismic wave velocity

4) The Richter magnitude scale

4 Groups of the students’ misconceptions

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The characteristics and cause of natural earthquakes

An example An example ::

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Activity 1 : What happened beneath the earth?

To demonstrate the convection cell phenomena as the cause of plate movement.

Purpose:

Materials Materials ::

• A convection cell set

• A worksheet

• Fact and fiction videos

30A convection cell set

A laser pointer

Seeding particles mixed water

an alcohol lamp

A filter

Papers

How to use this How to use this instrument?instrument?

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Results :Results :

Survey students’ understandingSurvey students’ understanding

1) The characteristics and cause of natural earthquakes

2) The basic principle of seismometers

3) The seismic wave velocity

4) The Richter magnitude scale

4 Groups of the students’ misconceptions

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The basic principle of seismometers

Examples :Examples :

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Activity 1 : Locating the epicenter of an earthquake

Purpose:

To locate the epicenter of an earthquake by using online seismograms.

Materials Materials ::

• a rope

• 3 seismograms

• a pair of compasses • a worksheet

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Procedure :

1) Students discuss and share some idea for finding the position of the gold by using the three intersection point method.

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2) Students use 3 seismograms to locate the epicenter of an earthquake

Procedure :

Result :

Most students can draw and write to describe the idea about locating an earthquake epicenter.

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Students’ satisfaction responses to the activity 1

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What is a seismometer and how does it work?

Activity 2 : An earthquake detector

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http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~braile

HANDHELD SEISMOMETER (constructed by Larry Braile et al., Perdue University, 2000)

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REAL Datalogging seismograph(constructed by Dave Dobeson, UniServe Science at Sydney University, 2005)

http://science.uniserve.edu.au/school/Seismograph/

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A frame

A massA recording part

A motor

A frequency control box

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A box with bearing balls

How to use in the demonstration ?

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The seismograms

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What topics can be taught by this seismometer?

1. The main parts of seismometers and their properties.

2. The recording earthquake signals.

3. The characteristics of seismograms.

4. Anatomy of a wave (amplitude, wave length, period, frequency, crest, trough).

5. The relation between magnitudes of earthquakes and amplitudes of waves on seismograms.

6. Anatomy of p waves, s waves and surface waves on seismograms.

7. The coming order of seismic waves.

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Analysis and conclusionsAnalysis and conclusions

Assess students’ concepts

- The earthquake conceptual test- Interviews

Assess the teaching module

- A questionnaire- Interviews

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1. The understanding of students’ misconceptions of earthquakes

2. A novel teaching module for earthquakes (related to the cause of earthquakes and the principle of an earthquake detector)

3. The increasing of students’ understanding of earthquakes

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TIME TABLE

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[1] E.S. Oberhofer. (1991). Different Magnitude Difference. The physics teacher, May, 273-274.

[5] Perter W. Hodder. (2001). “Earthquake!”- A cooperative learning experience. Journal of Geoscience Education, 49(3 ), 280-285.

[3] C Fazio, R M Sperandeo-Mineo and G tarantino. (2003). How did Roman buildings survive

earthquake?. Physics Education, November, 480-484.[4] Bernard J. Feldman. (2004). The Nimitz Freeway collapse. The physics teacher, 42, 400-402.

[2] Libarkin, J.C., and Anderson, S.W., 2005. Assessment of Learning in Entry-Level Geoscience Courses: Results from the Geoscience Concept Inventory; Journal of Geoscience Education; v. 53. p. 394-401.