Hands-on Universe

Unit Development: Gravitation and Orbital Motion

HOU National ConferenceJune, 2008

Acknowledgements

• Carl Pennypacker

• IISME Teacher Program

• CSEE (Center for Science & Engineering)

• Yerkes Observatory

• Bechtel Corporation

• All of You

Initial Goals

• Combine HOU curriculum with effective, research-based pedagogy (Modeling Physics)

• Develop additional activities to strengthen student understanding of fundamental concepts behind HOU Jupiter activities

Current Aims

• Effective pedagogy needs to be explicitly explained and clearly evident in learning activities

• Curriculum needs to be adaptable to a variety of levels and settings

• Make materials available for field testing and refinement

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

The Importance of Pedagogy

• Explaining ≠ Learning• CLEAR explanations ≠ Learning• PASSIONATE, clear explanations ≠

Learning• Even on my best days, my students are not

necessarily developing a deeper understanding of how the universe works!

Elements of Effective Pedagogy

• Students are guided to ask specific questions about phenomena

• Students investigate the phenomena in a hands-on, minds-on fashion

• Students communicate results, and are guided toward clear, useful models to explain the phenomena

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Elements of Effective Pedagogy

• Teacher’s role: effective questioning (Socratic Dialogue)– Teacher is aware of student

preconceptions– Questioning challenges (“exposes”)

inadequacy of naïve beliefs

• Multiple representational tools are explicitly developed to represent the phenomenon

• Student apply the model in interpreting the phenomena in new situations

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

The most important single factor influencing learning is what the learner already knows. Ascertain this and teach him accordingly.

Ausbuel, 1968

The Curriculum

• Flexible– Adaptable to multiple levels– Target 8th-9th grade; provide advanced activities

as well

• Coherent story line: concepts should flow logically

• Increase teacher awareness of effective pedagogy (KEY!)

• Make use of a variety of learning activities

Development Process

• Collaborative• Ongoing

Ultimate Goals

• Increasingly large community of teachers using HOU and practicing effective pedagogy

• Students who gain a deeper understanding of the universe and grow up to be astronomers and HOU teachers!