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Research-Based Pedagogies: Beyond Content

This workshop, presented by Andy Elby, E. F. Redish, and Rachel Scherr, focuses on innovative pedagogical techniques in calculus-based physics courses at the University of Maryland. We aim to address key epistemological issues in teaching by highlighting the importance of coherence in student understanding. Participants will engage with guided inquiry activities, share observations, and explore examples that foster intuitive reconciliation of concepts. The workshop emphasizes a shift from traditional methods to reform-oriented strategies that enhance both conceptual understanding and student intuition.

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Research-Based Pedagogies: Beyond Content

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  1. 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

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

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

  4. 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

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

  6. 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

  7. 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

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

  9. 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

  10. 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

  11. 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

  12. 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

  13. 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

  14. 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

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

  16. 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

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

  18. 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

  19. 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

  20. 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

  21. 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

  22. 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

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

  24. Does it work? 1 Calculus-Based Physics Course Conference

  25. Does it work? 2 Calculus-Based Physics Course Conference

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