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Increasing the Confidence of Junior High School Teachers in Teaching Physics by Acquiring
Qualitative Understanding
Roni Mualem and Bat-Sheva EylonDepartment of Science Teaching
The Weizmann Institute of ScienceRehovot, ISRAEL
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Central Goal of Physics Teaching at Central Goal of Physics Teaching at the Junior High School Levelthe Junior High School Level
Qualitative Understanding of Basic Concepts and Principles
and Their Application in Everyday Phenomena
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Everyday Phenomena
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What do We Mean ByWhat do We Mean By Qualitative Understanding?
Operational Definition:Understanding Performances*
*According to Perkins
The ability to: Explain, Give Examples, Predict and Apply.
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Science Teachers in Israel
• Have a background mainly in biology
• Their knowledge of physics is limited
• Have low confidence
• Don’t see the relevance of physics to everyday experience
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A Part from an Interview with a Junior A Part from an Interview with a Junior High School Science TeacherHigh School Science Teacher
“When I teach topics that are in the domain of biology, I can easily bring my students a large arsenal of examples that are extended far beyond the specific topic that is being discussed in class…This is not the case when I teach physics…I spend many hours in preparing myself for every single lesson throughout all the teaching of physics…
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All these reasons make me feel very uncertain… my self confidence is low and I feel stressed and even nervous. When I'm forced to solve problems that are raised during instruction, that I have not solved in advance, I project uncertainty in my answer… that it may be incorrect…what makes me feel embarrassed and uncomfortable… I don't like to teach this domain!"
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A New ApproachA New Approach
• Very successful with junior high school students
• Has a long-lasting effect
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Results of content knowledge questionnaire
(FCI + Additional Problems) GradenapproachPretest
(Sd)Posttest
(Sd)
<g*>
9th Graders106Yes36(18.6)
67( 21.4)0.48
P<0.001
Science Teachers
32No50( 14.9)
High School Advanced
98No62( 17.3)
<g>* = (posttest score – pretest score)/(100 – pretest score)
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Typical FCI QuestionsTypical FCI Questions
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Results of Two FCI Items Results of Two FCI Items (n=32)(n=32)
FCI item 4 FCI item 15
CorrectAR1CorrectAF1
40.6 (%)59.3 (%)15.6 (%)69 (%)
AR1- action reaction 1: greater mass implies greater forceAF1- active force 1: only active agents exert forces
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ProblemsProblemsContent knowledge
Confidence
Motivation to Teach
Implementation
Views of relevance
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How Can We Change Teachers’ Ability to Teach?
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Making a ChangeMaking a Change
• Enhancement in teachers' confidence in their knowledge of physics
• Change in teachers’ views about relevance and interest in physics
• Provide a useful pedagogy to enable teachers to instruct for qualitative understanding (pedagogical content knowledge)
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Prior (Naive) KnowledgePrior (Naive) Knowledge
Conceptual Framework
Problem Solving Strategy
Explain and Predict Real-Explain and Predict Real-Life SituationsLife Situations
Constraint: Quantitative Knowledge is Not an Option
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Conceptual FrameworkConceptual Framework
System approach Interaction
ForceMotion
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Problem-Solving StrategyProblem-Solving StrategySystem Characterization•Represent the situation by a block diagram• Construct of a table of interactions
From system to selected objects• Add force arrows to the rectangle representation
•Isolate a chosen object and show all the forces acting on it
Forces and Motion
Construct a force diagram (adjust the arrow sizes) based on motion information
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System CharacterizationSystem Characterization
Dog Rope Boy
Ground
Earth
DogRopeBoyGroundEarth
Dog0+-++Rope+0+-+Boy-+0++Ground+-+0+Earth++++0
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Dog
By the Earth
By Ground (Friction)
By Ground
By Rope
Dog Rope Boy
Ground
Earth
From System to Selected Objects
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Since the dog does not change its velocity, the net force must be zero .
Forces and Motion
Dog
By the Earth
By Ground
(Friction)
By Ground
By Rope
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If the dog is accelerating toward the boy..
Forces and Motion
Dog
By the Earth
By Ground
(Friction)
By Ground
By Rope
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“Who is Afraid of Physics?” • Three days special training intensive course of
20 hours – teachers as learners
• Implementation options: 5 (minimum), 10 or 15 (advanced) hours of instruction- feasibility
• Action research by the teachers, monthly meetings, a telephone “hot line” and e-mail- follow up
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Changes in the Teachers’ Views Before Changes in the Teachers’ Views Before and After the Workshopand After the Workshop
(Likert scale(Likert scale: : 1- 4 , n=15, αCh=0.95))
Concepts/LawsChange in knowledge
Change in ability to teach students
Change in ability to instruct other teachers
Focal concepts and principles
0.52 )p<0.01 (
0.39 )p<0.03(
0.25 (n.s.)
Other concepts and principles
0.38 (p<0.03)
0.08 (n.s.) 0.26 (n.s.)
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Spearman Correlation Coefficients Spearman Correlation Coefficients in Teachers' Post Viewsin Teachers' Post Views
(n=30, α=0.95)(n=30, α=0.95)
Viewsability to teach Students
ability to instruct other teachers
Knowledge of focal content
Knowledge of other content
0.87(p<0.0001)
0.93(p<0.0001)
0.62(p<0.0063)
0.46(p<0.05)
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Few Teachers’ RemarksFew Teachers’ Remarks
• “The teaching skills that were presented in the workshop were very important to me…”
• “The best thing in this workshop was its’ simplicity”
• “Simplifying complex concepts was the essences of this workshop…”
• “The simplicity of the use of the concept “interaction” allows me to provide the lower level students with the feeling of success…”
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SummarySummary
Students and teachers claim that they are empowered by the approach and it enables them to understand better the world around them.
Biology teachers who usually do not teach physics are more willing to, and are less afraid to teach physics with this method.
Students and teachers improve their views concerning the difficulty and interest of physics learning.