first ‘experiment‘ or first ‘theory’ in teaching · d. discussion in the class about the...

First ‘Experiment‘ or

First ‘Theory’ in teaching

physics phenomena?

Marcel Dirkx

Wico Campus Salvator Hamont

Belgium

Preliminary information

PLC-Wico: 5 physics teachers from the school community WICO (B).

Inspired by Wim Peeters.

Marcel

Carine Greet

Valerie

Tom

5 teachers / 3 inquiries

• Valerie Vandenberk➢ RQ: How can the use of smartphone and specific apps make the

laboratory work more interesting for the students ?

• Carine Cools➢ RQ: When I give my students suggestion for (better) studying

physics, are these suggestion always effective?

• Marcel Dirkx➢ RQ: First ‘Experiment‘ or first ‘Theory’ in studying physical

phenomena?

Valerie Vandenberk

“How can the use of smartphone and specific apps make the laboratory

work more interesting for the students ?”

Positive:

❖ More intrinsic motivation, less external motivation;

❖ Students are more motivated.

Negative

❖ More distraction( facebook etc.);

5

Surprise

❖ No increase of study results;

❖ No increase of interest in the physics subjects.

Valerie (2)

6

Article: iMobile Physics: A Research and Development Project for Teaching and Learning

with Smartphones and Tablet PCs as Mobile Experimental Tools, By Pascal Klein, Jochen Kuhn, Andreas Müller

“When I give my students suggestion for (better) studying physics, are

these suggestion always effective? “After a test the teacher gave some study tips.

Carine Cools

7

2

24

8

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Not Less Much

Have you used the study tips of the teacher

The teacher organised a classical reading of an article abouth study

methods.

Carine (2)

8

Article : Eos, september 2013

https://www.eoswetenschap.eu/psyche-brein/studiemethoden-welke-werken-en-welke-niet

8

18

9

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Not Less Much

Study method changed after reading article

https://www.eoswetenschap.eu/psyche-brein/studiemethoden-welke-werken-en-welke-niet

Conclusion

❖ Study tips from the teacher have less influence on the study

methods.

❖ A reflection on the study method (in combination with the article)

gave the student more insight.

❖ Study tips at the request of the student improve the study results.

Carine (3)

9

‘Good advice is always certain to be ignored, but that's no reason not to give it. 'Agatha Christie

Marcel

• School: WICO campus Salvator Hamont

• Teacher: Marcel Dirkx

• Course: physics (3 lessons a week)

• Class: 6 Science and mathematic

• 8 students (5 F en 3 M), age 18 year

10

10

First ‘Experiment‘ or first ‘Theory’ in studying physics

phenomena?

Practitioner inquiry

11

1 Research project friction

12

a. Theory about friction between two surfaces: (Fw = µ . Fn )

b. Exercises and exams;

c. Practical investigation of friction between two surfaces;

d. Discussion in the class about the results.

Inquiry 1: Which step in this research project gave you

the best insight in the phenomenon of friction


13

Theory ExperimentLearning

conversation

most 1 most 1 most 6

… 0 … 5 … 2

least 6 least 1 least 0

Inquiry 2: Witch sequence is, according to you, the best

approach to investigate physics phenomena?


14

a theory experiment learning conversation 2

b experiment theory learning conversation 1

c learning

conversationexperiment theory 0

dtheory

learning

conversationexperiment 1

eexperiment

learning

conversationtheory 3

f learning

conversationtheory experiment 1

First Conclusion➢ Students prefer to do the experiment before the theory.

Surprise➢ The learning discussion is a crucial link between the experiment

and the theory.


15


16

theory

Learning discussion

experiment

2 Research project pendulum

17

a. General theory on harmonic

oscillations;

b. Nothing about the pendulum (which is

an example);

c. Research project of the pendulum.


18

Pre-investigation of the knowledge of the pendulum (formula)

Question 1: When a pendulum of length 1 m has a period T, what is theperiod of a pendulum of length 2 m?

0 2.T (1)

0 T (6)

0 T/2 (1)

0 (Fill in) …… (0)

None of the students knew the right answer.


19

Question 2: When a pendulum with mass 1 kg has a period T, what is theperiod of a pendulum with mass 2 kg?

0 2.T (4)

0 T (0)

0 T/2 (4)

0 (Fill in) ……

None of the students knew the right answer.


20

experiment discussion theory


21

The knowledge of the pendulum was tested

during the exams with the same questions.

➢ 7 out of 8 student gave the exact answer on

the two questions .

➢ 6 out of 8 students got the right answer on an

exercise on the pendulum (formula)

Conclusion

The sequence [experiment] > [learning discussion] > [theory] gives

significantly better results in understanding physics phenomena and

using these insights into applications.


22

literature

23

‘Inquiry-based learning

stimulated’ By Jetje De Groof, Vincent

Donche and Peter Van

Petegem

(Practice-oriented literature studies of educational research)

Commissioned by the Minister of Education

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