kaleidoscope ert production of educational formats case presentation: the “balloon”

KALEIDOSCOPE ERT Production of Educational Formats

Case Presentation: The “Balloon” (analysis of an applied educational scenario on

the basis of the Greenboard categories)

The balloon case

Aims and Objectives

The balloon case

1. aims description

Problematique

One of the most fundamental problems in teaching physics is the problem of language use. The actual use of words and expressions of our everyday language in a completely different context is a fact that actually produces many misinterpretations and difficulties (eg. space, displacement, distance) These concepts although taught in a plethora of teaching hours still consist a terra incognita for many students and that is due to the fact that these concepts are used in a completely different notional content.

The balloon scenario (teacher manual)

1. aims description

Aims and Objectives

• “science practice”:

to zoom in aspects of the idea students shape about science and what is referred to as “scientific practice”.

•conceptual changeto point out elements of the procedure through which students as users of the specific software application (the balloon microworld) place terms of everyday language to a scientific conceptual context. That is, how they give new meanings to specific concepts of “school science”, which themselves and their peers use on an everyday basis, quite differently.

Aims and Objectives

2. Objectives description

subject domain:

1a. Teacher: Clarification of basic notions of kinematics and understanding in a science context. Such notions are displacement, distance velocity.

1b. Researcher: zoom in the way by which students handle or shape the above notions.

2a. Teacher: Analysis of the physical phenomenon of two bodies meeting. Meeting in the science context is being at the same place at the same moment.

2b. Researcher: point out misconceptions connected to the way students conceive the notion of simultaneity, that is, the coexistence at a certain point in space, and the notion of limit (marginal meeting)

Aims and Objectives

2. Objectives description

subject domain:

3a. Teacher: Use of multiple representations to observe the alterations of a physical magnitude 3b. Teacher: Representations of mathematical relations as well as visual representations of physical parameters 3c. Researcher: Study of the mechanism developed by students in order to achieve the transmission from one form of representation to another, and of the codes they use to translate the information they see or think they see in one representation

Aims and Objectives

2. Objectives description

technology use relatedUse of software functionalities, word processing

social and action related aspects of the learning process Students handle the problem in collaboration in groups of 2 or 3, expressing opinions and developing argumentation. The skills they are expected to enhance are those of group work, collaboration and argumentation.

The balloon scenario (teacher manual)

Aims and Objectives

2. Objectives media format

microworld work sheets videos

Aims and Objectives

media format

Teacher: •A computer microworld•Open ended student work sheets

Researcher: •observation journals•tape and video transcripts•questionnaires•semi structured interviews

ΚΟΛΛΕΓΙΟ ΨΥΧΙΚΟΥ

ΓΥΜΝΑΣΙΟ φυλλάδιο 3…

Τμήμα Φυσικών Επιστημών τμήμα…………

Φυσική Γ’ Γυμνασίου

Ονοματεπώνυμο………………………………..

Α. Λέξεις κλειδιά: Συνάντηση, οριακή συνάντηση, σχετική ταχύτητα, σύστημα αναφοράς, απόσταση σωμάτων

Β. Μετά την ολοκλήρωση αυτής της ενότητας ο μαθητής θα είναι σε θέση: 1. Να περιγράφει αναλυτικά τις διαδικασίες και τις προϋποθέσεις που πρέπει να ισχύουν για

να πραγματοποιηθεί η συνάντηση δύο σωμάτων. 2. Να αναγνωρίζει τους παράγοντες από τους οποίους εξαρτάται ο χρόνος και το σημείο

συνάντησης. 3. Να συσχετίζει μεταξύ τους τις μεταβολές της θέσης με τις μεταβολές της ταχύτητας των

σωμάτων που μελετά. 4. Να ερμηνεύει τα σημεία τομής των δύο γραφικών παραστάσεων y=f(t) για την πέτρα και

το αερόστατο. 5. Να συσχετίζει τη μαθηματική αναπαράσταση του φαινομένου με το ίδιο το φαινόμενο.

Γ. Δραστηριότητες

Ένα αερόστατο ελευθερώνεται από την γη. Η ταχύτητα του μετά τα πρώτα ελάχιστα μέτρα της κίνησής του παραμένει σταθερή. Λίγα δευτερόλεπτα αφού ξεκινήσει το αερόστατο κάποιος άνθρωπος προσπαθεί να πετάξει ένα πακέτο με στόχο να το πιάσουν οι επιβάτες του αεροστάτου. Για να πετύχει το εγχείρημα θα πρέπει να ανακαλύψουμε τους παράγοντες που επηρεάζουν την κίνηση των αντικειμένων και τις συνθήκες συνάντησή τους.

1. Ανοίξτε το αρχείο αερόστατο ρ3 και πειραματιστείτε με την κίνηση των δύο σωμάτων αλλάζοντας τις αρχικές ταχύτητες τους καθώς και την χρονική καθυστέρηση στην κίνηση του πακέτου. Πως φαίνεται στο γράφημα θέσης - χρόνου η συνάντηση των δύο σωμάτων.

Καταγράψτε συνδυασμούς αρχικών τιμών για τις οποίες τα δύο σώματα : ταχύτητα

αερόστατου ταχύτητα πακέτου

χρονική καθυστέρηση πακέτου

Συναντούνται δύο φορές Συναντούνται μία φορά Δεν συναντούνται καθόλου Τι παρατηρείται από τα πειράματα σας: ....................................................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................................................

ΘΕΜΑ ΔΙΕΡΕΥΝΗΣΗ: Παιχνίδια του Λούνα Πάρκ Ενότητα 3: Συνάντηση δύο σωμάτων

1. Subject domain media format

Contents

1. Subject domain description

Science – Physics – Kinematics

Level: 3rd Gymnasium (14-15 year old students)

Rectilinear normal motion and steadily accelerated rectilinear motion

Student book (available on line at http://www.pi-schools.gr)

Worksheets (to be filled in by each student after studying specifically designed simulation)

1. situated content media format

Contents

1. situated content description

Students carry out experiments involving letting a balloon go up and then throwing a missile at it. Buttons and sliders are used for the parameters, a graphical and an animation representation is in place simultaneously. The script of the simulation is specially designed so that the students can inspect and change it to create their own versions of the simulation.

The balloon microworld (available on line at

http:// http://seed.01p.gr/Communities/Communities/GreekCommunity/GrDownloads/default.aspx http://seed.01p.gr/Communities/Downloads/default.aspx )

1. profile media format

Students info

1. profile description

The program will be implemented with students of third grade high school (14-15 years old). The students before their participation to the program they will have been taught kinematics at their physics class, so that they will have been familiarized with the concepts they will deal with during the project and with the scientific terminology and methodology.

Students info

2. needs description

The needs we aim at exploring are those related to:

• students meta-knowledge, that is the ability they develop in order to use the knowledge attained during the Science lesson, as well as the knowledge of scientific methodology, to solve problems expressed in everyday language terms.

•Students ability to use symbolic representations to study the alteration of a magnitude, their ability to decode data coming from a scientific conceptual framework and to conceive the information contained in those.

1. number media format

Social orchestration

1. number description

whole class of 3rd Gymnasium students (20 – 25 students)

2. grouping media format

Social orchestration

2. grouping description

Students are distributed in groups of 2 or 3 and each group is involved in the problem solving process in front of a PC. The composition of the groups is strictly based on alphabetical order and not on any other predefined criterion.

3. interaction media format

Social orchestration

3. interaction description

Each group of students jointly fills one work sheet, while the questionnaires are filled by each student separately. The negotiation among each group’ s members is considered substantial in terms of revealing the way students compose their understandings of scientific concepts and place the latter in a scientific context.

4. roles media format

Social orchestration

4. roles description

Students are given the role of researcher – scientist. They define the problem, discuss on the solving strategy and accordingly alter the microworld environment, try out experiments and keep notes of the solutions they think of.

Actions

1. Action pattern description

STEP 1Draw a thick brown line on the ground (the point of departureof the body).

In the course of this activity the students are expected to be involved in the following actions (in relation to the use of the software application):

STEP 2Rename the START button to: “Start Position”.

STEP 3Draw a “support” vertical line, to comprehend the different inclination of x=f(t) in different speeds, in order to identify that the fast moving vehicle, in the same time as theslow moving one, arrives at a more distant point.

STEP 4 Place a text box next to each axis with a symbol of its magnitude and units

On a higher level and to the extend to which the teacher is familiarized with the E-Slate environment, he/she can show the students the code that guides the balloon, as well as the 4 quills-turtles which impress the graphic representations. Then the students can compare the codes that "produce" the graphic representations of shift associated to time, answer a question with regard to the difference of the two codes and explain the different form of the two graphic representations.

2. We consider that, each time, the ground is at the point of departure of the body. The body can begin its movement from any point of the ruled surface. For this to happen, we place it where we want and define that this is its initial position, by pushing the INITIALIZATION button. As soon as this is done, all drawn graphic representations are extinguished and the canvases of graphic representations remain empty.

1.The body moves on the scene, which provides a pair of axes. The horizontal axis passes from the point of the scene, which we have defined as a point of report, but this axis, as well as the vertical one are mobile and users can move them without having the potential of also changing the place of the point of reference.

3. We cease the motion where we wish, by clicking on the PAUSE button. Then, the body comes back automatically at the position of departure, while the graphic representations remain drawn, so that a comparison to the next can be made. With the START key the body restarts moving from the position we have defined as initial. If we let it move for sufficient duration, after some time it will automatically stop and return to the point of departure.

Actions-Action Pattern

4. The study of movement takes place with the aid of graphic representations and students are asked to recognize the identity of their axes. The graphic representations can show up or disappear at will. The existing graphic representations are: x=f (t), r=f (t), t=f (x), v=f (t) where the x is the shift, r is the distance from the point of reference which always remains locked, t is the time, which begins to count from the moment where it the body begins, and v is the speed of the body.

5. We can restore the body on the point of reference, from which the horizontal axis also passes initially, with the REPOSITION button. Then, automatically, the point of reference is also fixed as a position of departure. It is the unique case where we can study two movements with different points of departure on a common pair of axes.

6. In order to draw objects on the “scene” or on any of the graphic representations (auxiliary straight lines), we select with the mouse the particular component and from the Tools menu we select component handling. On the appearing menu we set the tools and the menus to be visible, so we can select the suitable tool and import any object we wish.

Actions- Action Pattern

4. roles media format

Teacher

1. roles description

Teacher:

•Presents and explains the process to be followed by students•Guides the exploration of the microworld environment and functionalities •Reminds –while discussing- the basic theoretical points students will need to study the problems (graphical representations, basic scientific concepts, elements of mathematical formalism)

4. roles media format

Teacher

1. roles description

Researcher

•Encourages the work groups, observes their course work, intervenes to point out issues, answers questions, in order to guide students to discover their own answers. •Corrects the worksheets, analyses them, interprets and evaluates the results

4. teaching and learning methods media format

Teacher

2. teaching and learning methods description

teachers’ and researchers’ notesin emails exchanged during the development of the software

Balloon scenario (teacher’ s version)

•Lecture: introduction to the microworld

•Questions and answers to repeat theory

•Problem solving and brainstorming to implement the activities and fill in the work sheets

Microsoft Document

Microsoft Word Document

1. context media format

Organisational and Cultural Context

1. context description

institutional profile and specific information about the school:http://www.haef.grhttp://www.haef.gr

Greek private school with an intensive programme, where it is expected from the school “audience” to embed innovative activities and initiatives into the formal curriculum

1. physical characteristics media format

Space

1. physical characteristics description

Computer lab with 13 PC station. The computers are interconnected and are set in circle all around the room. In this way there is free space in the middle of the room available for

the teacher to move around and observe what the students are doing with their computers.

2. use media format

Space

2. use description

In the classroom, the teacher, who is mainly responsible for carrying out the activity, coexists with a researcher, who performs mild interventions to specific groups, where considered necessary, aiming at pointing their interest to certain aspects of the problem or to facilitate their problem solving efforts. There is also a second researcher, who handles the camera and whose role is to record what is happening in different areas in the classroom and to focus on anything interesting.

Teacher and researcher researcher teacher

1. formative assessment media format

Assessment

1. formative assessment description

2. summative assessment media format

Assessment

2. summative assessment description

Teacher •The responses to the questions in the worksheets Researcher •The responses at the questionnaires which the students will answer some time after the completion of the project. •Interviews with the teacher and selected students•Data collected by videotaping and tape recording

1. evaluation media format

Evaluation

1. evaluation description

Formative evaluation is taking place permanently and informally through the observation of student’s teams by the teacher. During the project it is possible that the teacher will interfere in order to change some of the questions addressed to the students or to add some supplementary questions (final or intermediary) depending on the program’s outcomes.

1. externalization media format

Traces

1. externalization description

Report with the description of the research and report about the results

2. activity traces media format

Traces

2. activity traces description

•Student worksheets (versions), •half-finished student artifacts (miscroworlds), •filled questionnaires.

2. activity traces media format

Traces

2. activity traces description

•Student worksheets (versions), •half-finished student artifacts (miscroworlds), •filled questionnaires.

1. availability media format

Artifacts and Materials

1. availability description

The lessons and activities take place in the computer lab of the school, and therefore, the particular application and the software should be installed in every work station. Two or three students will work on each machine, so the suitable seating arrangements should be made in the room in advance.

Two or three students will work on each machine, so the suitable seating arrangements should be made in the room in advance.

2. use media format

Artifacts and Materials

2. use description

Students worksheets as a word doc

E-Slate (general authoring program) manual and microworlds downloadable at: http://seed.01p.gr/Communities/Communities/GreekCommunity/GrDownloads/default.aspx

http://seed.01p.gr/Communities/Downloads/default.aspx

•PCs•Software (installed in each workstation) •Work sheets (given to students), •Software manual•questionnaires

Microsoft Document

3. status media format

Artifacts and Materials

3. status description

•PCs: tool•Software (installed in each workstation): primary tool •Work sheets (given to students), •Software manual: resource for the students and teacher•Questionnaires: resource for the researcher

1. duration and step media format

Time

1. duration and step description

School program also available at the school Website (http://www.haef.gr)

4 to 5 teaching hoursIt is intended to implement the activity within 5 school days, during the official daily school program.

Adobe Acrobat Document

1. pedagogical stance media format

Theory

1. pedagogical stance description

Balloon scenario(Teacher version)

Learning through the process of constructing Connection to previous cognitive areaLearning through social interaction

Microsoft Word Document