11/1/03calculus-based physics course conference1 research-based pedagogies: beyond content a. elby,...

11/1/03 Calculus-Based Physics Course Conference 1

Research-Based Pedagogies: Beyond Content

A. Elby, E. F. Redish, and R. E. Scherr

Department of Physics

University of Maryland


Plan of Presentation Epistemology:

Overview, Background, and Goals (Elby) Reconciling:

An Example (Scherr) Building Intuition:

Helping Students Reconcile (Redish)


Epistemology: Overview, Background, and Goals

Andy Elby


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


An opening example

Issue: Why is student 3 having trouble learning this material?

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Students 2 3 1 4


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?


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.


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Students 2 3 1 4Why is student 3 having trouble?


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.”


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.”


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.”


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.”


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.)


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.


Reconciling:An ExampleRachel Scherr


A “reconciling” task

Block on frictionless ramp Identical block infrictionless bowl;

Slope same as ramp

Task: Draw the free-body diagram for each block, and compare.


Building Intuition:Helping Students Reconcile

E. F. (Joe) Redish


Goals: What do we want our students to learn?

Content facts, equations, principles

Concepts What’s it “about”?

How to “think physics” coherence, intuition


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?


Modes of instruction Traditional

passive observation, active repetition of simple tasks

Reformed-1 active learning, qualitative reasoning cognitive conflict (elicit / confront / resolve)


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.”


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


A (Reformed)2 Tutorial


Does it work? 1


Does it work? 2

11/1/03calculus-based physics course conference1 research-based pedagogies: beyond content a. elby,...

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