Pathway –24/7 Online Pedagogical Assistance for Teachers of Physics
Dean Zollman & Brian Adrian
Kansas State University, 116 Cardwell Hall, Manhattan, KS 66506; 785-532-1824; fax 785-532-6806;
Scott Stevens, & Michael Christel Carnegie Mellon University
The Physics Teaching Web Advisory (Pathway) is a research and development effort to demonstrate the ability to address issues of many physics teachers via the Web. Pathway’s “Synthetic Interviews” are a unique way to engage inexperienced teachers in a natural language dialog about effective teaching of physics. These virtual conversations and related video materials are now providing pre-service and out-of-field in-service teachers with much needed professional development, and well-prepared teachers with new perspectives on teaching physics. In effect Pathway is a dynamic digital library and goes beyond creating a collection of teaching and learning materials. It provides continuously improving assistance and expertise for teachers, all of which is related to the results of contemporary physics education research. The database is a growing digital library and now contains about 6,000 different recorded answers and over 10,000 question/answer pairs. Pathway is available at http://www.physicspathway.org
Supported by the National Science Foundation under Grants 0455772 & 0455813.
Showing posts with label high school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label high school. Show all posts
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Escalada: Ph.D. Dissertation, 1997
Investigating The Applicability Of Activity-Based Quantum Mechanics In A Few High School Physics Classrooms
Lawrence Todd Escalada, Ph.D. Dissertation, 1997
Quantum physics is not traditionally introduced in high school physics courses because of the level of abstraction and mathematical formalism associated with the subject. As part of the Visual Quantum Mechanics project, activity-based instructional units have been developed that introduce quantum principles to students who have limited backgrounds in physics and mathematics. This study investigates the applicability of one unit, Solids & Light, that introduces quantum principles within the context of learning about light emitting diodes. An observation protocol, attitude surveys, and questionnaires were used to examine the implementation of materials and student-teacher interactions in various secondary physics classrooms. Aspects of Solids & Light including the use of hands-on activities, interactive computer programs, inexpensive materials, and the focus on conceptual understanding were very applicable in the various physics classrooms observed. Both teachers and students gave these instructional strategies favorable ratings in motivating students to make observations and to learn. These ratings were not significantly affected by gender or students’ attitudes towards physics or computers. Solids & Light was applicable in terms of content and teaching style for some teachers. However, a mismatch of teaching styles between some instructors and the unit posed some problems in determining applicability. Observations indicated that some instructors were not able to utilize the exploratory instructional strategy of Solids & Light. Thus, Solids & Light must include additional support necessary to make the instructor comfortable with the subject matter and pedagogical style. With these revisions, Solids & Light, will have all the key components to make its implementation in a high school physics classroom a successful one.
Lawrence Todd Escalada, Ph.D. Dissertation, 1997
Quantum physics is not traditionally introduced in high school physics courses because of the level of abstraction and mathematical formalism associated with the subject. As part of the Visual Quantum Mechanics project, activity-based instructional units have been developed that introduce quantum principles to students who have limited backgrounds in physics and mathematics. This study investigates the applicability of one unit, Solids & Light, that introduces quantum principles within the context of learning about light emitting diodes. An observation protocol, attitude surveys, and questionnaires were used to examine the implementation of materials and student-teacher interactions in various secondary physics classrooms. Aspects of Solids & Light including the use of hands-on activities, interactive computer programs, inexpensive materials, and the focus on conceptual understanding were very applicable in the various physics classrooms observed. Both teachers and students gave these instructional strategies favorable ratings in motivating students to make observations and to learn. These ratings were not significantly affected by gender or students’ attitudes towards physics or computers. Solids & Light was applicable in terms of content and teaching style for some teachers. However, a mismatch of teaching styles between some instructors and the unit posed some problems in determining applicability. Observations indicated that some instructors were not able to utilize the exploratory instructional strategy of Solids & Light. Thus, Solids & Light must include additional support necessary to make the instructor comfortable with the subject matter and pedagogical style. With these revisions, Solids & Light, will have all the key components to make its implementation in a high school physics classroom a successful one.
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