Transcript sturgess_2-14_Crystal A_1130

PROBLEM BASED LEARNING IN THE PHYSICAL
SCIENCES
A Course for Elementary Education Majors
Keith Sturgess, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Physics
The College of Saint Rose
Albany, New York
Mary Cosgrove
Assistant Professor of Biology
The College of Saint Rose
Albany, New York
ABOUT THE COLLEGE OF SAINT ROSE
•Located in downtown Albany NY
•Four Schools
•Education
•Science and Math
•Arts and Humanities
•Business
•Approximately 4000 full time students
•Undergraduate and Masters-level
•1100 Childhood and Special
Education Majors
•450 Science Majors (no physics major)
BACKGROUND
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All Childhood Education majors are required to take a two
semester lab-based science sequence
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Science 100 – Physics and Chemistry team taught by 2 faculty
members
Science 200 – Earth Science and Biology (also team taught)
Each course consists of
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Two 75 minute inquiry-based classroom experiences per week
One 150 minute guided inquiry based laboratory per week
One 60 minute problem-based workshop per week
COURSE DESIGN
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Course Theme: The high price of Gasoline
Objectives:
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Present generally the same course content, but in the context
of the course theme
Robustly connect science and civic engagement by teaching
“through” complex, contested, current, and unresolved public
issues “to” basic science.
Invite students to put scientific knowledge and scientific
method to immediate use on matters of immediate interest
to students.
* The last 2 objective come from SENCER Ideals http://www.sencer.net/About/pdfs/SENCERIdeals.pdf
COURSE SYLLABUS DEVELOPMENT
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We began the course by having the students
make a list of “what they knew” and “what they
wanted to know” about the high price of
Gasoline. Some questions were:
 What
is gasoline?
 Where does it come from?
 How does a car engine work?
 What about hybrid and electric cars?
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Those lists drove the syllabus for the course.
SAMPLE LECTURE CONTENT
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How does gas make a car move?
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Where does gas come from?
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Physics: thermodynamics, forces,
kinematics
Chemistry: atoms, elements,
compounds, combustion reaction
Geology/Biology, organic chemistry
Hybrid and Electric Cars
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How they work, electricity, circuits,
generators
Which leads to electrical generation
by: wind, coal, solar, nuclear
Chemistry: Batteries, acid-base, pH
EXAMPLE LABORATORY EXPERIENCES
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Chemical properties of
gasoline
Making mousetrap powered
cars
Fractional distillation
Energy content of different
hydrocarbons
Making an electric
generator and motor
Wind Power
Solar Power
Problem Based Workshops
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The workshops are problem solving
sessions in which the students meet in
small groups guided by peer leaders.
The problems are designed by the course
instructors and are based on challenging
real scientific problems.
Guided by peer leaders, the students
propose and develop solutions as a group.
The workshops provide the students with
a deeper understanding of the scientific
topics being studied and a better
understanding that science is a process by
which knowledge is gained.
Examples
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Determine the height above the 1st floor of
the 4th floor railing in the science center.
Is the Ivory-billed Woodpecker extinct?
Create a periodic table for the planet Xeron
Peer Leaders
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Who they are:
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What’s in it for them:
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The peer leaders are students that have either successfully
completed SCI100/200 or are majoring/concentrating in a
science field.
The peer leaders gain valuable pedagogical experience and
reinforce their own knowledge.
Paid a small stipend
Training
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An intensive day-long class on techniques for engaging
students in small group discussions
Weekly meeting with faculty to discuss upcoming workshops
Weekly peer-leader only meeting to prepare lesson plans for
upcoming workshops
Service Learning
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Service learning is method of learning that provides a service to
the community using an authentic application of the course
concepts.
Students reflect upon and evaluate their experiences and
incorporate the new knowledge into their course work.
Service Learning is fundamental to the SCI100/200 program.
Students have an opportunity to use the science they have
learned in the classroom for the benefit of the community.
SCI100/200 students have volunteered in
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local schools,
environmental centers,
museums, and
discovery centers.
They have worked with children and adolescents with autism and
developmental disabilities.
All of these experiences are positive, real, meaningful, and offer
opportunities to solve problems in a real-world setting.
SOME INITIAL OUTCOMES
Question
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We administered an attitudinal
survey at the end of the course
(we used the SALG and added our
own questions)
There was no survey of attitudes
prior to the course, other than our
first day discussions with the
students about science. So data
is anecdotal at this time.
The scale used is 0 – 5 with zero
be strongly disagree and 5 being
strongly agree
Participating in groups is
helpful in learning science
I am confident that I can
prepare lessons to teach
science
I am confident that I can
teach science to
elementary students
Avg response
4
3.85
3.91
I am confident I can excite
students about science
3.72
After taking this course I
am interested in taking
additional science courses
1.96
INTERACTIVE LECTURE
DEMONSTRATIONS (ILD)
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Use of Computer Data Acquisition systems (Pasco) to do experiments for
students in real-time to confront their misconceptions.
• Example: Newton’s 3rd Law.
Students typically apply Newton’s 3rd law
correctly for a head-on collision between 2
equal mass vehicles, but almost always
predict that the smaller car will experience a
greater force than the larger car in an
unequal mass head-on collision.
• After using the Newton’s 3rd Law ILD
(Interactive Lecture Demonstrations, Active Learning in
Introductory Physics, Sokoloff and Thornton) my
elementary educations majors performed
BETTER than my calculus-based physics
students (who did not receive the ILD) on and
FCI question concerning Newton’s 3rd Law.
The Value of Interactive Lecture Demonstrations
Comparing performance on a force concept inventory (FCI) question with and without ILDs
In the following figure, Student A has a mass of 75 kg and student B has a mass of 57 kg. They sit in
identical office chairs facing each other. Student A places his bare feet on the knees of student B as
shown. Student A then suddenly pushes outward with both his feet, causing both chairs to move.
During the push, and while the two students are still touching one another,
1. Neither student exerts a force on the other.
2. Student A exerts a force on B, but student B does not exert any force on A.
3. Each student exerts a force on the other, but student B exerts a larger force.
4. Each student exerts a force on the other, but student A exerts a larger force.
5. Each student exerts the same amount of force on the other.
0.8
Fraction of Students Selecting each Answer
0.7
0.6
0.5
Physics 1 students (no ILDs)
0.4
El. Education Majors (with ILDs)
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
1
2
3
Answer Number
4
5
Correct Answer