active physics · what do we value in active physics? • how people learn research •...

Active Physics

NSTA – BostonMarch 28, 2008Arthur Eisenkraft

What are our goals as physics teachers?

• Higher student achievement• Engaged students• Appreciation (love?) of physics in the

world• Critical thinking

• Five years later: what is physics?

How do we reach these goals?

• Good, strong content• Labs• Demonstrations• Connections of physics to students’ lives

– Physics of sports– Physics in music– Physics and technology

• And we do our best in each of these domains– The question is, “How can our text support us?”

Active Physics

• Your grade book will look the same• All content will be covered (or should we

say “uncovered)• Students will be actively involved• Students will have higher achievement• Your text will support your efforts

What is a Sport?

• Attributes of a sport– Ball– Uniforms– Physical movement– Scoreboard– Competition– Large space

Is Science Everywhere

• Choose a sport.• Describe where we find science in the

sport.– Volleyball – projectile motion– Foottball – forces, motion, projectiles– Baseball – momentum, energy, inertia– Cycling – simple machines, energy– Hockey – friction, torque

Can the science be entertaining?

• Voice overdub of your sport and science for PBS.

What do we value in Active Physics?

• How People Learn research• Instructional models• Inquiry• What engages students intellectually• Equity issues• Problem based learning models• National Science Education Standards• The teacher as a primary resource• IT’S ALL IN THERE – inquiry. content, math,

assessment, the 7E instructional model

What we don’t value in Active Physics

• Read the chapter, answer the questions• Passive “learning” – telling the students• Experiments which only verify what the teacher

or book has said (at some time)• Teaching methods that have only worked with a

small selection of students in the past.• The need for teachers to use supplements in

labs, math, assessments, relevance • The need for the teacher to have to gather

resources to put together a comprehensive program.

What engages students intellectually?

The class that always goes well?

When Are Students Most Engaged Intellectually

(Dimensions of Learning)

• Students help define content and task• They had time to wonder - to find a

particular direction that interested them.• Subject topics had a “strange” quality -

something discrepant or seen in a new way evoking a “lingering” question.



• Teachers permitted - even encouraged -different forms of expression and respected student views.

• Teachers were passionate about their work

• Students created original and public products; they gained some form of expertness.



• Students did something - participated in a a political action, wrote a letter to the editor, worked with the homeless.

• Students sensed that the results of their work were not predetermined or fully predictable.

How do they do it?

• Challenge on 1st day• Rubric on the 1st day

The Grading Rubric

• List criteria– apply science concepts– Exciting– True to the sport– Relate to the sport– Predictive - tell more than others would know– Scientifically correct– Quantitative when applicable– Multiple concepts ***– Timeframe 2-3 minutes

The Grading Rubric

• List criteria– Entertaining– Use a set amount of physics terminology

– Follow instructions – 2 -3 minutes– Delivery– Creativity

The grading rubric +/-

Student Grade Teacher GradeA A

A C

C C

How do they do it?

• Challenge on 1st day (< 1 period)• Rubric on 1st day (< 1 period)• Activities/labs (5 weeks)

– WDYT?; For you to Read; Chem talk– Reflecting on the Activity and the Challenge– Post lab discussions– Chemistry to Go

• Challenge (2-3 periods)

The Active Learning Challenge

• Review the content multiple times in different contexts (How People Learn)

• Learning takes place during the transfer from activity to challenge (How People Learn)

• Motivation (What engages students intellectually)

• Expertness (What engages students intellectually)

• Their interest, their culture (Equity)

• It frames instruction without compromising content

Student challenges

• Moon volleyball• Swimming• Basketball/football hybrid

A Teacher’s Experience

• Background in Biology and Natural Resources

• MAT program -- project-based learning and inquiry

• Invited to physics pilot• Taught Active Phyics with only high school

physics background• Back to school--attained physics

certification

Reflections

• First curriculum I saw that was pedagogically sound as written– Projects– Inquiry– 7Es

• Gave me a chance to focus on facilitating science learning. I didn’t have to write curriculum!

Indicators of successful impact of Active Physics

• 1) Growing student enrollment

PHYSICS ENROLLMENT TRENDS

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

1997-98 1998-99 1999-00 2000-01 2001-02

Num

ber

of st

uden

ts

Little Rock Public Schools Data Summary



• 2) Student performance

Question of FCI

Pre-Test - 9th grade Active Physics

students

Post Test-9th grade Active Physics

students

1st year college engineering students

pre-testItem # 4 13% 67% 27%

Item # 15 25% 48% 20%

Item # 16 13% 70% 64%

Item # 29 13% 26% 32%

Student Performance(Robert Endorf, Ph.D., University of Cincinnati )

Newton’s 3rd Law




• 3) Increase number of students taking higher-level science and advanced placement courses

Increase of Students taking Upper Level Science Courses

0

200

400

600

T o tal Enro lled 279 266 331 378 407

Successful 183 179 245 248 302

97-98 1998-99

1999-00

2000-01

2001-02





• 4) Teacher responses

Seattle teacher survey for 2002 and 2003

2002 Seattle 9th grade teachers used a formerly adopted traditional approach text

2003 Seattle 9th grade teachers used Active Physics, Active Chemistry and Earth Comm

% teachers reporting this score in 2002

% teachers reporting this score in 2003

chi-square value

Level of significance

significant difference due to curriculum

1) Hinders 9.5 0 8 0.01 highly significant

2) Fails to support

28.5 12.5 3.2 >.05 no

3) Neutral 28.5 25 0.098 >.05 no

4) Support 33.5 37.5 0.08 >.05 no

5) Facilitates 0 25 18 0.001 very highly significant





• 4) Teacher responses

• 5) Endorsement of higher educational academic communities

Endorsed by academic communities

“ The faculty who reviewed the materials submitted….observed that the new curriculum, using Active Physics as its core text, taken at the 9th grade level would provide a solid foundation for students in preparation for work at the college level. In particular, they liked the way in which the proposed curriculum helps students to develop a deeper conceptual understanding of physics, as opposed to the traditional approach to physics instruction, which emphasizes solving numerical problems.”

Carla M. Ferri, Director, Undergraduate Affairs and Student Academic Services, University of California.

Research Anecdotes

• More content learned• Follow-up experiments in science fairs (Boston)• Better retention in AP Physics class the following

year or two.• Facilitates the instruction that teachers and

administrators want.

• Long term learning – challenges facilitate retrieval of information in the future

Classroom experiences

• Student engagement– High-interest projects– Participation in development of understanding

• Inclusion classes– Differentiated instruction

• Multi-modal instruction– Reading, investigation, writing, kinesthetic

models

Why Active Physics Works

• Independence of Chapters– New topics, new motivation, new interest– Fresh start for students who did not excel– Limited Horizon of 4 weeks– Transition students

• Richness – Real challenge for ALL people• Relevance: Why are we learning this?

The Problem Based Learning Model

• improves attendance • minimizes behavioral problems• insures equity and appeal to the broad

range of students: racially, ethnically, culturally

• insures a blend of pedagogy, content, assessment

• supports your efforts to include inquiry• Increases achievement

Additional Teacher Support• Teacher edition

– Background information– Content– Physics info-mall– Alternative (low-tech) labs– Traditional tests– Student misconceptions– Rubrics, solutions, additional problem sets

• Videotapes of each activity• Professional development

– Distance learning course for 1st unit– Workshops focusing on each chapter– Content specific pedagogy– List serves: building a community of learners


• How People Learn research• Instructional models• Inquiry• What engages students intellectually• Equity issues• Problem based learning models• National Science Education Standards• The teacher as a primary resource• IT’S ALL IN THERE – inquiry. content, math,


Active Physics• Funded to provide an alternative to books that have

been around for many years and have not:– Increased enrollment in physics– Increased minorities or women in physics– Been written with ALL high school students in mind– Been correlated with what we know about how people learn– Been created from day one with the NSES in mind

• Funded to provide a comprehensive, engaging, thematic, problem-based learning model of physics where “it’s all in there”

• Funded to provide a program where teachers can be supported through the materials as they change their teaching to be better correlated with what the schools value.

Active Physics• Challenge• Activity level

– What do you think?– For you to do– For you to read (This is your traditional program)– Physics Talk (This is your traditional program)– Reflecting on the Activity and the Challenge– Physics to Go (This is your traditional program)– Stretching exercise

• Mini challenge – engineering design• Challenge Project – Problem Based Learning• IT’S ALL IN THERE – inquiry. content, math,



• How People Learn research• Instructional models• Inquiry• What engages students intellectually• Equity issues• Problem based learning models• National Science Education Standards• The teacher as a primary resource

Instructional Models

• Karplus– three-phrase learning cycle

• exploration, invention and discovery

• Lawson– exploration, term introduction, and concept

application• Bybee 5E

– Engage, explore, explain, elaborate, evaluate• 7E clarification of 5E

7E instructional model

• Engage• Elicit• Explore• Explain• Elaborate• Extend

Evaluate

• Enhancing the 5E model: The Science Teacher (9/03)Available at www.cosmic.umb.edu

4 Q Assessment Model

• What does it mean?

• How do we know?

• Why should I believe?

• Why should I care?

• What did you say?

• Should we take notes?

• When is class over?

• Will this be on the test?

ABC• Why Activity before Concept?

– Experience is required – science is experiments• Learn baseball without ever seeing the game• Learn baseball without ever having equipment• Knitting without instruction

– There is no common experience• TV, music, food, vacation, movies, travel, home• Can someone imagine what a mango tastes like?• Can someone imagine having a child?• TRADITIONAL BOOKS ARE FILLED WITH “You know; Imagine”• Examples from your teaching• Examples from literature or movies

– Misconceptions research: You’re asking people to change the way they look at the world. They must have some evidence and some experience.

• Why CBV – concept before vocabulary?

Quote from Re-reading by Amy Fadiman

National Academy ReportInvestigating HS Labs

• Labs in context• Labs connected to content• Labs as an integral part of the program

• Most lab programs are poor in these regards

Reform

“Reform, reform, don’t speak to me of reform. We have enough problems already.”

- Lord Thomas Macaulay(19th century British politician)

www.cosmic.umb.edu

Be the change you want to see in the

world.

Mahatma Gandhi

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