Physics 1110

PHYSICS 1110

Introduction to Physics Teaching

TERM 02 (Spring 2005)

• Lecturer: Dr. Chandralekha Singh

• Office: 218 A Allen Hall

• Office hours: stop by anytime I am in my office

• Phone: 624-9045

• E-mail: BEST WAY TO CONTACT ME clsingh@pitt.edu

• Lecture: Friday 2.50-5.40 pm (318 Allen Hall)

• Text: None, Journal articles for homework/class discussion will be assigned in class

• TA: Ummi Abbas (TA's office: 4th Floor Allen Hall Astrophysics Lab)

• Ummi's E-Mail: uma1@pitt.edu

Course Description

This is a three credit course for science and engineering majors interested in teaching at any level. It will introduce students to the principles of learning using concrete examples. Students will also have an opportunity to teach two introductory physics recitations using some of the principles of learning. Some of the class time will be used in discussion, analysis and assessment of the videos of student teaching. There will also be opportunity to reflect upon various aspects of the course and teaching and learning in general. The following is a tentative layout of the course: Jan 10: * Discuss the course goals and syllabus (including discussion of two teaching practicum during the semester and group formation by next class) * pre-diagnostic about attitude/expectations etc. * Implications of cognitive research to teaching physics (my talk and discussion of cognitive approach to instructional design) * next time reading: A. Collins, J. S. Brown, and S. E. Newman, Cognitive Apprenticeship: Teaching the crafts of reading, writing and mathematics, In L. B. Resnick (Ed.), Knowing, learning, and instruction: Essays in honor of Robert Glaser, Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum., 453-494, 1989. Jan 21: * remind groups must give names/ discuss outside of class the particular aspect of the topic on which they want to design their instruction/meet with the TA out of class * discuss paper read at home on cognitive apprenticeship * take a pretest on electric circuit * work on simple electric circuit model in Physics by Inquiry with 2 other people * discuss the Physics by Inquiry module * next time reading: L. C. McDermott, and P. S. Shaffer, Research as a guide for curriculum development: An example from introductory electricity. Part I: Investigation of student understanding, Am. J. Phys. 60, 994, 1992. erratum, ibid.20 61, 81, 1993; P. S. Shaffer, and L. C. McDermott, Research as a guide for curriculum development: An example from introductory electricity. Part II: Design of an instructional strategy, Am. J. Phys. 60, 1003, 1992 Jan 28: * discuss paper read at home * take a pretest on electricity * work on an electricity unit from Physics by inquiry with 2 other people * discuss that module with the class * next time reading: P. Heller, R. Keith and S. Anderson, Teaching problem solving through cooperative grouping. Part I: Group versus individual problem solving, Am. J. Phys. 60, 627, 1992; P. Heller and M. Hollabaugh, Teaching problem solving through cooperative grouping. Part 2: Designing problems and structuring groups, Am. J. Phys. 60, 637, 1992. * ask students to think about what students should be able to do as a result of the instruction that student teachers will deliver Feb 4 * discuss paper read at home * discuss the preliminary presentation ideas discussed by different groups, identify as group what cognitive principles are being used, how the model may be improved, how ideas discussed can be sharpened * have students work on some of the stuff in the class, listen to the types of group discussions that ensue * discuss that they should start considering designing pre/post test commensurate with instructional goals * ask students to think about what students should be able to do as a result of the instruction that they (student teachers) will deliver * next time reading: E. Bagno, B. Eylon, and U. Ganiel, From fragmented knowledge to a knowledge structure: Linking the domains of mechanics and electromagnetism, Am. J. Phys. Suppl. 68, S16-S26, (2000) Outside class: group rehearsal Feb 11 * discuss paper read at home * ask groups to present their improved version of instruction in condensed form * have students work on some of the stuff in the class, listen to the types of group discussions that ensue * discuss that they should start considering designing pre/post test commensurate with instructional goals * ask students to think about what students should be able to do as a result of the instruction that they (student teachers) will deliver * next time reading: J. Mestre and J. Touger, Cognitive Research-what's in it for physics teachers?, Phys. Teach. 27, 447 (1989) * ask students to sign up for which groups they will evaluate/Give them evaluation form, discuss how they will access the videos Outside class: group rehearsal Feb 18 * discuss paper read at home * ask groups to present their improved version in condensed form * have students work on some of the stuff in the class, listen to the types of group discussions that ensue * discuss that they should start considering designing pre/post test commensurate with instructional goals * ask students to think about what students should be able to do as a result of the instruction that they (student teachers) will deliver * go over their pre/post assessment to remove ambiguity that may be present * next time reading (for Feb 23): M. T. H. Chi, P. J. Feltovich, and R. Glaser, Categorization and representation of physics knowledge by expert and novices, Cog. Sci. 5, 121-152 (1981). Outside class: group rehearsal Feb 25: in-class presentations collect evaluation forms before class from students and look over them to discuss things during class next time March 4: SPRING BREAK March 11 * discuss paper read at home * review and assess videos: show sections of videos during the class and discuss what was good and what can be improved * introduce next practicum topic/ ask students to form new groups if they want to change * have short in class discussion on next practicum topic if time permits * give to student teachers posttest to see if they understand the material they taught * next time reading: E. F. Redish, J, M. Saul, and R. N. Stenberg, Student expectations in introductory physics, Am. J. Phys. 66, 212 (1998). Outside class: group rehearsal March 18 * discuss paper on student expectations in intro physics * give student teachers a pretest on material they will cover in their instruction (note that earlier instruction did not need a separate pretest since they took it while doing physics by inquiry module) * ask students to think about what students should be able to do as a result of the instruction that student teachers will deliver on new topic * discuss that they should start considering designing pre/post test commensurate with instructional goals on the new topic * go over their preliminary design of instruction * next time reading: * ask students to sign up for which groups they will evaluate/Give them evaluation form, discuss how they will access the videos D. R. Sokoloff, and R. K. Thornton, Using interactive lecture demonstrations to create an active learning environment, Phys. Teach. 35, 344 (1997). Outside class: group rehearsal March 25 * discuss previous paper * discuss and force student teachers to think about what students should be able to do as a result of the instruction that student teachers will deliver on new topic * look at their design of pre/post test and discuss how commensurate they are with instructional goals on the new topic/ make sure no ambiguity * go over their modified design of instruction and make further modification * next time reading: C. H. Crouch and E. Mazur, Peer Instruction: Ten years of experience and results, Am. J. Phys. {\bf 69} (9), 970--977 (2001). Outside class: group rehearsal April 1: in-class presentations collect evaluation forms before class from students and look over them to discuss things during class next time April 8: * discuss paper read at home * review and assess videos: show sections of videos during the class and discuss what was good and what can be improved * give student teachers posttest to see how good their understanding is of the concepts they taught * next time reading: L. C. McDermott, Millikan Lecture 1990: What we teach and what is learned-Closing the gap, Am. J. Phys. 59, 301 (1991) April 15: * post-diagnostic about attitude/expectations etc. * general discussions about the course and how it can be improved * Evaluating the course: visit from expert * wrap up * other courses to take, kinds of certificates and degrees one might get, the importance of having research experiences as well for improving ones teaching abilities in the sciences

Courseinfo

The syllabus for this course will be available at the courseinfo site for this course. You can access this site by going to http://courseweb.pitt.edu and typing your university unix account username and password. This site can also be used for discussion forums related to this course in which your fellow classmates and instructor can participate.

Homework

Reading material (Journal articles) will be assigned per week as shown above. You have to read the article at home, answer the following written questions and be prepared to discuss various issues related to the article with fellow students in the class: (1) Summarize the article in one page or less in your own words (please do not copy the abstract!). (2) In your opinion, what is the most important result of the article? Why? (3) What research questions related to the article can be pursued in future research?

Grading Scheme

Please see the attached sheet for grading scheme.

If you have any questions, please contact me at: singh@bondi.phyast.pitt.edu