PHSC 631:632
PHYSICS FOR TEACHERS
Catalog Entry
PHSC 631:632 Physics for Teachers
Credit Hours (3:2) A minimum of 100 contact hours for both courses.
Prerequisites: One year of college physics and one year of college mathematics. Examines physics concepts and instructional strategies essential to teaching modern secondary school physics.
Detailed Description of Content of Course
Because of the laboratory emphasis of the course and the differing needs of different classes, a detailed content description is neither possible nor desirable. Topics for study will be chosen from the traditional areas of general physics: Kinematics, dynamics, properties of materials, wave motion, sound, thermodynamics, electricity and magnetism, optics, atomic physics and nuclear physics. In a class one group may choose to work in one area while other groups choose to work in other areas. Choices are based on the needs and interests of the class participants. Whatever choices are made, class participants are urged to discover and emphasize the connections between their area of study and the larger context of science and society.
Once areas of concentration are chosen, class participants investigate those areas in a laboratory environment. Concurrently with developing their understanding of physics concepts, class participants also develop process skills, such as measurement techniques, data analysis and error analysis. Class participants accurately measure quantities, identify sources of error and estimate the size of errors. They graph their data using error boxes, draw smooth curves through the data points, determine the slope of the graph, approximate the area under the curve, and interpret each of these results. They also perform calculations using the data, estimating the error in the result due to errors in the data. These operations are done manually at the outset, and by computer after the students develop an understanding of the process. Group data is used in all data analysis.
Parallel readings assigned to class participants review the pedagogical, philosophical and psychological bases for inquiry based instruction. Participants also develop laboratory activities and materials for use in their classes. To the extent possible within time constraints, these participant-developed activities and materials will be tested and critiqued by other participants as a means of providing feedback to the developer, and the finished products will be shared among class participants.
Detailed Description of Conduct of Course
The class is conducted as a laboratory course, with the emphasis on open-ended inquiry. Class participants pick areas of inquiry to pursue and are encouraged to branch into areas that they find interesting. Outside assignments consist of readings to review concepts (with occasional lectures as needed), readings in the philosophy, psychology and pedagogy of inquiry-based instruction, and the development of laboratory activities that can be used in a school setting. The activities developed by the class participants will be tested by the class to the extent that time permits. All developed activities will be shared, so that class participants will be able to leave with a supply of laboratory activities to use in their own classrooms.
Goals and Objectives of the Course
1. The student will review and extend knowledge of some major physics topic(s).
2. The student will extend and deepen awareness of and understanding of connections between science, technology and society and the issues that arise from those connections.
3. The student will learn to incorporate more laboratory work into curricula by gaining hands on experience with laboratory exercises and materials.
4. The student will learn to incorporate more open-ended instructional activities into curricula by gaining hands on experience with such activities.
5. The student will develop and/or extend positive attitudes toward inquiry based instruction.Assessment Measures
Assessment will be multi-faceted. Traditional testing will assess the level of understanding of physics concepts, at both a qualitative and quantitative level. Performance on instructor-provided investigative activities will be assessed by written reports prepared by the class participants, both individually and as part of a small group. The quality of investigative materials developed by class participants will be judged (by the instructor and class participants together) on the basis of originality, appropriateness of grade level, the degree to which the activity challenges students to use higher level cognitive processes, and the degree to which the activity encourages further investigation on the part of the student.
Other Course Information
This syllabus is provided to all class participants at the beginning of the course.
APPROVAL AND SUBSEQUENT REVIEWS
DATE ACTION APPROVED BY
September 1991 Revised and updated Franklin Jones, Chair Physical Science Department
