Unit 1: Normal forces (Camp and Clement)

SOCS-I: I think that perhaps I am skeptical because I love the modeling materials so much, but I find it difficult to see my own students making the conceptual leaps between the different demonstrations illustrated in this unit. I really think my students need to be doing their own investigations. I of course have no alternative for dealing with the normal force misconception, but I would like to make this lesson more interactive.

Minstrell

SOCS-C: I love the sequence for this lesson. I can really imagine using these demonstrations to facilitate a great discussion in my classroom. I expect, however, that what we have in store for us tomorrow morning in the workshop may be better. :)

Arons 2.8-2.19

SOCS-C: Another reason we should integrate the history of science into our science classrooms from Arons. Perhaps classes could discuss the methods/thinking of Galileo to glean modern science practices. Maybe in future years, I will have my advanced classes analyze "A Discourse of Two Sciences" for scientific thought/phenomena.

Learning and Instruction in Pre-College Physical Science (Mestre)

SOCS-C: The idea that teachers tend towards a more traditional, transmission model of teaching because they are pressured by all the topics they have to cover really resonates with me. I hope that the NGSS can relieve some of that pressure.

Two Approaches to Learning Physics (Hammer)

SOCS-P: At the very beginning of the reading, Hammer describes the fact that many courses have a "hidden agenda" for students to gain a greater skill set in scientific thinking. I question whether we should keep this agenda hidden. I think there's a good set of reasons to tell students that we are not only helping them understand physical concepts but also practice acting like scientists.

Arons Reading 2

SOCS-P: Students must experience physical concepts and definitions in one form or another to really understand them. We can't just tell them as teachers and expect them to get it.

McDermott

SOCS-C: I am happy to see that McDermott can cite evidence that using conceptual teaching and qualitative problem-solving like in the Modeling materials does not lower test scores. In fact, students generally do better on both conceptual and quantitative problems.

Arons Reading 1

SOCS-I: It is vital to integrate proportional reasoning, calculating areas and volumes and other important mathematical reasoning skills into physics instruction because not only do many students not possess this skills, but they also will not remember to use them outside of a specific context if they are not part of the physics learning process.

Force Concept Inventory (David Hestenes)

Incorrect ideas about physics are normally called "misconceptions." This is not fair, however, because many of these ideas are reasonable hypotheses based on real observations and experiences.

SOCS-P

Wherefore a science of teaching? (David Hestenes)

SOCS-I:

Teachers must know their student's cognitive levels in order to design their instruction. Students at the high school level do not usually have the Formal Reasoning skills for basic physics concepts.

Taking the FCI

Our first assignment for the modeling workshop required us to take the Force Concept Inventory. I assign this same exam for each of my students as a pre and post test to see how they improve with the course. I haven't however, ever actually taken it myself. (Bad Mrs. D!) I was nervous, therefore, that I wouldn't do too well. I was pleasantly surprised that I only missed three. (And all three were relatively silly mistakes.)

I could tell as I read through the possible answers which misconceptions each question was targeting. I can see many of my students answering many of the questions incorrectly, at least at the beginning. (They did significantly improve after the course... so that's good!)

I do love that each of the questions target a specific misconception and don't test something other than physics. I know that math, for example, is a necessary part of physics, but it is nice to see what actual physics concepts my students (or I) don't understand.