giving the physics bug to elementary education students

IL-AAPT Spring ‘04 : Pg 1www.physics.uiuc.edu

Giving the Physics Bug to Giving the Physics Bug to Elementary Education Students Elementary Education Students

Mats Selen, UIUC

Inga Karliner, Sheila Ashbrook, Barbara Hug, Steve Zoerb, Lauren Denofrio, Jeff Condis, Dept. of Physics, Women In Engineering


Why ?Why ? Many (most) elementary school teachers are not confident in their knowledge of

math & science, in particular physics. This can’t help but rub off on their students. This is particularly bad for girls since most elementary school teachers are

women.

Content:

Methods:

The typical elementary education curriculum does not deal directly with this. The UIUC science & math requirements are shown below:


In addition to the obvious (Physics, Astronomy, and Chemistry), these do:

Elementary Ed students typically take Food Science and Nutrition and Geography (or Geology) to satisfy their PS requirement

So, what counts as a “Physical Science” ??


Contrast this with the National Standards:www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/nses/html/6c.html


Some details of these requirements…

Q: Where will the teachers learn this stuff ?

A: Not here ?


What about their education What about their education courses?courses?

These are methods classes. Focus should on how to teach, not on content.

The if students don’t know content coming into these classes the instructor must take some class time to cover very basic content before discussing methods. This is a problem !

» Seriously takes away from the real purpose of class.

» All sciences are covered (physics, chemistry, biology) which means that any meaningful content can’t be adequately taught anyway.


Our IdeaOur Idea Create a class that will give students confidence in their

ability to understand physics concepts.Should come out with a positive “I can do this” attitude.When their own students ask them a science question

their response should be one of two things:» “Great question. Let me explain the answer…”» “Great question. I don’t know the answer, but I know

we can find out what it is…”

Considerations:Students must be attracted to the class.Methods used in this class should be consistent with the

way they will ultimately teach their own classes.» No point making it if no-ones takes it.

Must have appropriate scope.» Can’t cover all of the materials in the national

standards.Must give students appreciation for concepts without

math.


Mostly women (all 24 this semester, in fact) Almost all had physics in high school.

» Most liked their high school physics class ! They are all very smart but lack confidence.

» Especially true in math & physics. They socialize extremely well and enjoy working in

groups.» Took me a while to really appreciate how nice

this is. Not true for all physics and engineering majors

They love getting their hands on stuff and playing. They love to learn.

Who are the students?


The simple things we can do:Make the class count toward “Physical Science”

requirement.Make class count toward “Lab” requirement.Schedule it not to conflict with required ED classes.

The things that require more thought:Make it “fun” (more on this).Make it relevant.

» Use methods similar to ones they will use. Hands on “guided inquiry” lab.

» Give them materials & ideas to use in their own classroom.

The Tub.» Important to have appropriate scope.» Challenge them to produce their own lesson plans.

This is where some of the topics not discussed in class can be covered.

Students must be attracted to the class.


Hands on labs “inquiry” based activities: “Hard Core” inquiry is not quite appropriate.

» Very good but very slow» Would not cover enough materials to make class

attractive We are trying what you might call “guided inquiry”

» Don’t demand that they have to discover every last detail from scratch.

» Give help when appropriate to move things along. Have them use materials and do activities that they can

replicate in their own classrooms.» Inexpensive “equipment”

Washers from Farm & Fleet ($1.09/lb), Cheap thermometers, stopwatches etc Show heat capacity demo

Methods used in this class should be consistent with the way they will ultimately teach their own classes.


There are 11 full 3 hour labs in a semester (14 weeks – 3 special*). We can cover at most 11 topics. We need to choose the right ones:

1. Uncertainty and the Nature of Science

2. Atoms and the States of Matter

3. Heat and Temperature

4. Mass, Weight and Balance

5. Volume, Density, Floating, & Sinking

6. Measuring and Graphing Motion

7. Simple Forces & Newton's Laws

8. Investigating Gravity

9. Simple Machines

10. Simple Circuits

11. Magnets & Motors

Appropriate Scope* Student projects

Our picks


A different topic is covered each week. Each week has the following structure:

All required materials are given to students each week in the Monday lab.

The web based homework and preflights probes conceptual understanding: Homework is used as part of each students grade. Preflights provide feedback for designing Wednesdays

“lecture”.

Class Structure

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Hands-on lab (2pm –

5pm)

See Example

Web-BasedHomework

&Preflights

Lecture/Discussion(4pm – 5pm)

- -


Grading: Class Participation (Lab and Discussion) 40% Web Based Homework & Preflights 25% Final Quiz (copied from Homework & Labs) 10% Final Project (includes write-up & presentation) 25%

Final Project: Students work in groups of 4 to create a 30 minute hands on

lab» Just like the ones they did in class all semester. » The need to provide:

Lab materials (paid for by me) Lab write-up. Lesson plan.

These “labs” are taught to their fellow Physics 123 students during the last 2 lab periods of the semester.

Class Structure…


Hands on labs Let them “live” the math whenever possible

» Example: F = ma (actually, they learn a = F/m)» Skateboards, ropes & spring scales (demo).

Turns out that “a little” math is actually OK as long as its in the context of some concept they understand. Balance (i.e. torque) demo

Appreciation for concepts without math.


Students work in groups doing hands-on projects. Encourage competition between groups.

» Prizes Make projects interesting & unusual

» i.e. egg drop, clay boat, magnets, motors etc

Halftime Take a 10 minute break in the middle of 3 hr lab to have a

snack and do something different.» Get to know the others, share stories etc» Share hobbies (origami, crocheting…)» Music

Let the students guide what happens in the lecture/discussion. Use Preflights to probe their understanding. Answer their “I always wondered why…” type science

questions. Do as many cool demos as possible.

What about the “Fun” part?


Lets look at answers to this one (we did not specifically discuss this in class at all)

Preflight Example:


We got this idea about half way through the semester:


This question always gets very interesting results:

Click here to see web page…

This is a great opportunity to show students “how to figure out”the answer to questions they will get from their class some day.


DirectFeedback:


Overall I am delighted with the way the course is going. We have covered quite a bit of physics ! The students like it and I know they are saying good things about it to their friends. This is

really very important.» Expect big enrollment in Spring/05.

There are details of every lab that were good & bad. These will be tuned for next spring. Need to create bonus activities to keep faster groups from getting bored when waiting for

slower groups to finish.

The students are simply wonderful. Most fun class I have ever taught.

Lessons Learned

giving the physics bug to elementary education students

Documents

class structure

class count

high school physics

class time

class attractive

math physics

students dont

students confidence