Research-Based Pedagogies: Beyond Content

Research-Based Pedagogies: Beyond Content A. Elby, E. F. Redish, and R. E. Scherr Department of Physics University of Maryland Calculus-Based Physics Course Conference

Plan of Presentation • Epistemology: Overview, Background, and Goals (Elby) • Reconciling:An Example (Scherr) • Building Intuition:Helping Students Reconcile (Redish) Calculus-Based Physics Course Conference

Epistemology: Overview, Background, and Goals Andy Elby Calculus-Based Physics Course Conference

Goal of this workshop • Focus attention on a key pedagogical issue (rather than a particular curriculum) • Make explicit a “hidden” reform-oriented goal other than improved conceptual understanding Calculus-Based Physics Course Conference

An opening example • Issue: Why is student 3 having trouble learning this material? Students 2 3 1 4 Calculus-Based Physics Course Conference

Background info for video clip • Class: Discussion sections, introductory college physics • Activity: Guided inquiry about light and shadows. • What happens to bright spot on screen if bulb is moved up? • What if we add a second bulb above the first? Calculus-Based Physics Course Conference

Background info - continued • Question under consideration: “What do your observations suggest about the path taken from the light to the screen.” • Right before we tune in: Discussing the two-bulb case. • Student 1: How do we get two images from one hole? • Student 2: Light goes through hole from 2 directions. Calculus-Based Physics Course Conference

Students 2 3 1 4 Why is student 3 having trouble? Calculus-Based Physics Course Conference

Introduction to epistemology • Epistemology = Views about the nature of knowledge and learning. • Examples (Lising, Hammer): • Jan seems to be seeking formalism rather than a common-sense explanation. Doesn’t expect coherence between them. • Daniel: “I feel that proving the formula is not really necessary for me, it doesn't matter if I can prove it or not, as long as I know that someone has proven it before . . . there's a concept, and . . . here I am paying $15,000 a year . . . . I'm not going to derive this thing for them; they're going to derive it for me and explain to me how it works.” Calculus-Based Physics Course Conference

Epistemology:What do you see? - 1 • After solving for KE of rotating wheel using rotational kinetic energy, Ken is asked whether you could also solve it using linear kinetic energy, as explained in the book: “[You] could do it that way. Just different ways of thinking about it . . . because . . . all rotation is is just . . . at any time, it's just a bunch of particles, with velocities going off tangentially.” Calculus-Based Physics Course Conference

Epistemology:What do you see? - 2 • Roger solves Atwood-type problem incorrectly: The 2 tethered blocks have different accelerations. “From what I put, I guess that's right . . . . Oh geez, how could one be accelerating faster than the other . . . . That would mean the velocities would have to be different . . . . Yeah, I guess so . . . . Well, I don't know; I'd check and see if I got the right answer. I'm 90% sure.” Calculus-Based Physics Course Conference

Epistemology:What do you see? - 3 • Tony finds angular velocity of an airplane flying in a straight line. Interviewer asks how it can have an angular velocity. “Here they're talking about instantaneously . . . . That's like when you sit there and watch a train come, you'll see it come, and it kind of sits there, and as it goes by, it zooms by . . . . The faster you turn your head that's what the angular velocity is.” Calculus-Based Physics Course Conference

Tony “reconciles” • Tony “reconciles” his intuitive ideas and everyday experiences with formal physics concepts. • Doing so relies upon… • The epistemological expectation of coherence. • Background knowledge and thinking skills needed to find that coherence. (Most students need more scaffolding.) Calculus-Based Physics Course Conference

Remainder of this workshop • Experiencing a reconciliation: Putting yourselves in your students’ shoes. • Example of curriculum designed to promote not just reconciliation, but also the underlying epistemological expectation of coherence. Calculus-Based Physics Course Conference

Reconciling:An Example Rachel Scherr Calculus-Based Physics Course Conference

A “reconciling” task Identical block infrictionless bowl; Slope same as ramp Block on frictionless ramp Task:Draw the free-body diagram for each block, and compare. Calculus-Based Physics Course Conference

Building Intuition:Helping Students Reconcile E. F. (Joe) Redish Calculus-Based Physics Course Conference

Goals: What do we want our students to learn? • Content • facts, equations, principles • Concepts • What’s it “about”? • How to “think physics” • coherence, intuition Calculus-Based Physics Course Conference

Instruction works! • Traditional instruction focuses on content • students can successfully learn vocabulary,algorithms, and quantitative exercise solving • Reformed-1 instruction focuses on concepts • students can successfully learn concepts and qualitative problem solving • The next step: learning to “think physics” • Can we help students successfully learn coherence, intuition building, and complex problem solving? Calculus-Based Physics Course Conference

Modes of instruction • Traditional • passive observation, active repetition of simple tasks • Reformed-1 • active learning, qualitative reasoning • cognitive conflict (elicit / confront / resolve) Calculus-Based Physics Course Conference

Cognitive conflict may undermine intuition building • “Here’s another quiz to show me how stupid I am about physics.” • “Math doesn’t lie.” • “Doing science well means suppressing my intuition.” Calculus-Based Physics Course Conference

Reform-2 • Physics as a “refinement” of everyday thinking. • Reconciliation rather than replacement. • “Learning bifurcation” (LB) pairs • promote expectation of reconciliation • promote expectation of seeking coherence • promote respect for and development of intuition Calculus-Based Physics Course Conference

A (Reformed)2 Tutorial Calculus-Based Physics Course Conference

Does it work? 1 Calculus-Based Physics Course Conference

Does it work? 2 Calculus-Based Physics Course Conference

Research-Based Pedagogies: Beyond Content