next generation physical science and everyday thinking
TRANSCRIPT
Next Generation Physical Science and Everyday Thinking
A guided-‐inquiry, physical science curriculum for pre-‐service and in-‐service K-‐5 teachers
Overview Science courses or science methods courses Next Gen PET is intended primarily for university courses in physics or physical science for prospective elementary teachers. There is sufficient material for a one-‐semester (quarter) course or a two-‐semester (two-‐quarter) sequence. Next Gen PET is also appropriate for general education courses on conceptual physics or physical science, science methods courses, or workshops for in-‐service teachers. Next Gen PET materials are flexible and modular, and instructors can use them in a variety of ways, depending on audience, time, and learning objectives. NGSS alignment The Next Gen PET materials are aligned with the physical science disciplinary core ideas, crosscutting concepts, and science and engineering practices in the National Research Council K-‐12 Science Education Framework and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Next Gen PET consists of five modules: (1) Developing Models for Magnetism and Static Electricity; (2) Interactions and Energy; (3) Interactions and Forces; (4) Waves, Sound and Light; and (5) Matter and Interactions. Next Gen PET students will be prepared for teaching elementary-‐level science in alignment with the NGSS. Versions for small or large courses Next Gen PET is a suite of materials, with a Studio-‐style Class version for small lab and discussion classroom environments of 12-‐36 students; and a Lecture-‐style Class version for lecture-‐style classrooms. In both versions, students draw on evidence, discuss ideas, develop, test and modify models, and engage in practices of scientific argumentation. Explicit focus on teaching and learning Included Teaching and Learning activities help students make explicit connections between their own learning, the learning and teaching of children in elementary school, and the core ideas, science and engineering practices, and crosscutting concepts of the NGSS. These can be used optionally, as desired. Integrated Engineering Design Activities Each of the five content modules includes two Engineering Design Activities requiring application of the module’s physical science content. Research based and proven Next Gen PET has been developed over the past ten years by a team of scientists and science educators using design principles based on research on science learning. Next Gen PET uses a proven, guided-‐inquiry approach that engages future teachers in many of the practices of science while developing a deep understanding of core ideas of physics or physical science (physics and chemistry). Preliminary data from learning impact studies suggest that both the Studio-‐style Class and Lecture-‐style Class versions of Next Gen PET promote significant growth in students’ conceptual understanding. Studies of the earlier versions of Next Gen PET found significant gains in students’ conceptual understanding of core ideas from physical science and significant positive shifts in their attitudes and beliefs about the nature of science and their learning of science.
For more information:
Visit https://petcyberpd.iat.com or contact Fred Goldberg
Flexibility
Next Gen PET’s flexibility provides many options. In either the Studio-‐style Class or Lecture-‐style Class version, instructors can choose which modules to include, whether or not to include Engineering Design activities, whether or not to include Teaching and Learning activities, and which instructional format to use. This allows instructors to tailor their course to match their content focus, meeting time, classroom setting, and students’ interests. The Studio-‐style Class (SC) version is best suited for lower enrollment courses that meet ~5 hours/week and take place in a lab or workroom where students can work in groups around tables and perform experiments. In the SC version, students spend the majority of their time with their group of 3-‐4 peers making predictions, performing experiments, drawing conclusions, answering questions in a workbook, and discussing their ideas both within their group and with the class. Select modules from the SC version would also be ideal for science methods classes for credential students or professional learning workshops for in-‐service teachers. In either case the pre-‐service or in-‐service elementary teachers could work through a single unit (e.g. magnetism or forces), and then work through the associated engineering design activities and teaching and learning activities. Then they could build on their own learning experiences to talk about their roles as teachers and plan (or begin to plan) how they would help their students learn the NGSS. The Lecture-‐style Class (LC) version is best suited for courses that meet ~3 hours/week in lecture-‐style classrooms where students have desktops on which they can work. The LC version is suitable for courses with large enrollments, or in courses with smaller enrollments with limited meeting time and facilities. The content and pedagogical approach is similar to the SC version, but in the LC version: (1) students do experiments requiring simple materials on their desktops, but for more extensive experiments, they watch videos; (2) students respond to questions (using hand-‐held response devices [e.g., “clickers”] or smart phones) to share ideas with the whole class; and (3) the instructor manages the class time through a set of PowerPoint slides that align with the student materials.
Research-‐Based The development of Next Gen PET and its predecessor curricula was guided by five design principles based on research on learning. The following table shows how the design principles are put into action in Next Gen PET.
Design Principle Studio-‐style class (SC) Lecture-‐style class (LC) 1. Learning builds on prior knowledge.
Questions within activities are designed to elicit and build on students’ initial ideas.
Similar to SC.
2. Learning is a complex process.
Big ideas/science practices developed within & across units. A variety of question types guide students’ thinking. Extensions (HW) are computer-‐based tutorials that include online quizzes.
Similar to SC, except students do not write their own explanations; instead they evaluate carefully crafted explanations for accuracy. Extensions are the same as SC.
3. Learning is facilitated through interaction with tools.
Students use hands-‐on materials, data acquisition tools and simulations, and answer questions on activity sheets.
Students watch videos of experiments, demos and simulations, answer questions with ‘clickers’ and on lesson sheets.
4. Learning is facilitated through interactions with others.
Students engage in small group and whole class discussions.
Students discuss thinking with neighbors, limited sharing with whole class.
5. Learning is facilitated through establishment of certain specific behavioral practices and expectations.
Written prompts/instructor comments support expectations of providing evidence, active participation, and responsibility for learning.
Similar to SC except the degree of participation is less and students are expected to reach consensus at end of each lesson.