|
PURPOSE
- To assess the effects of the reforms implemented in a physical science
class intended for pre-service teachers.
NATURE OF THE REFORMS
- Developed especially for pre-service elementary teachers
- An integrated lab and lecture course based on PHS 110 at ASU
- Curriculum based on Powerful Ideas in Physical Science
- Curriculum aligned to AZ Science Standards, which elementary school
teachers will be teaching to
- Reformed teaching with discourse and interactive engagement
- Course was first offered in Fall 1999; data from Fall 2000, Spring
2001 and Fall 2001
- Real world examples relate to the students' everyday life to develop
strong connections with everyday phenomenon.
EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
- Pre-test/post-test design was carried out in the Fall 2000, Spring
2001 and Fall 2001
- A professor with a Ph. D. in physics conducted the Fall 2000 and Spring
2001 courses.
- A professor with a Ph. D. in science education conducted Fall 2001
course.
- The test:
- 8 items selected from the Lawson Test of Scientific Reasoning
- 12 items selected from the Physics Concept Survey (PCS)
- 6 items from Introductory Astronomy Survey Version 2.0
- 4 items from the instructor
BASIS FOR COMPARISON
Hake report
- A mechanics survey of more than 6500 high school, college and university
students enrolled in introductory physics
- Roughly 2000 students were enrolled in "traditional"
courses
- Roughly 4500 students were enrolled in "reformed" courses
- Conclusion: Results suggest that reformed teaching methods "can
increase mechanics-course effectiveness well beyond that obtained in
traditional practice." (Hake 1998)
RESULTS
This chart shows that:
- Total student gains increase every semester.
- Overall, the gains for the professor who taught PHS 101 for Fall 2000
and Spring 2001 increased the second semester of teaching PHS 101.
- Overall, there is no significant difference in gains between the two
professors except in scientific reasoning and mechanics.
- Compared to Hake's student gains from "traditional" courses,
our student gains from the reformed PHS 101 are greater than gains of
traditional courses.
CONCLUSIONS
- Students in the reformed PHS101 learned significant basic physics
content.
- The more a professor teaches a course, the more s/he can adapt the
curriculum to the students' needs.
- E & M curriculum needs to be revised to reflect the small student
gains.
- Physics or physical science courses that incorporate reformed practices
have the potential of significantly improving students' scientific reasoning
and understanding of physics concepts.
FURTHER ANALYSES
- Data analysis from one semester has suggested a difference in gains
between male and female students. Further analysis of male vs. female
gains for other semesters needs to be completed.
- Grades can be added to the analysis to determine any correlation between
student gains and grades.
- Other physics classes, PHY 111 and PHY 161, have completed the same
pre/post tests. These classes are taught in a more traditional manner
so data analyses should show significantly more gains from PHS 101 students
than those of PHY 111 or 161.
References
Hake, R. "Interactive-engagement vs. traditional methods: A six-thousand-student
survey of mechanics test data for introductory physics courses."
American Journal of Physics. 66, 64- 74 (1998)."
Falconer, K & Eastwood, K. " Astronomy Conceptual Gain Analysis
for PHS 101: Physical Science for Everyday Life." Talk presented
at the summer 2001 AAPT meeting.
Special Thank you to the following for their help in this project:
Kathleen Falconer, Jim Maxka, Kathleen D. Eastwood and Nathan Marler.
Funding for this project came from AzTEC (Arizona Teacher Excellence
Coalition).
|