virginia instructors of physics spring newsletter 4-11

8/7/2019 Virginia Instructors of Physics Spring Newsletter 4-11

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VIP is an affiliate of the Virginia Association of Science Teachers (VAST), vip.vast.org 1

April 2011http://vip.vast.org

Hi everyone,

Hope your school year is going well. I am looking forward to our annual VIP spring

meeting at UVA later this month. It is coming fast! Hope to see everyone on April 30. Be

one of the first 20 to RSVP and reserve your Make N Take kit. This meeting we will be

building a longitudinal slinky wave machine courtesy of Greg Matthes.

In this months newsletter there is a lot to discuss. A big thank you to Frank Noschese of

Action-Reaction, John Burk ofQuantum Progress, Rhett Allain ofDot.Physics, and Shawn

Cornally of ThinkThankThunk. With permission, I am reprinting some of their recent

thought-provoking blog posts. Every heard ofpseudoteaching? How about Khan

Academy? Ever thought of teaching acceleration with a Wiimote? I hope you find

something here that will get you thinking about your teaching and encourage more

innovation in the classroom.

Cheers,

Timothy Couillard

President, Virginia Instructors of Physics (VIP)

Virginia Instructors of Physics Spring Meeting Information

Who: Physical Science, Physics teachers, and University physicists.

When: April 30th (time agenda below) 8:30 AM 3:00 PM

Where:Department of Physics Jesse Beams Laboratory, University of Virginia

382 McCormick Rd

Charlottesville, VA 22903

There is a good web map at

http://www.virginia.edu/webmap/GMcCormickRoadArea.html The physics building is

#41. You may want to park behind #38 off of stadium road. Do not park at the physics

building. This is 24/7 permit parking.

Cost:Free!!!

RSVP IF ATTENDING FIRST 20 GUARANTEED MAKE AND TAKE EQUIPMENT

[email protected]

VIPs mission is to foster

communication among

teachers ofphysics and

physical science as well as to

provide unique learning

experiences forteachers and

their students.
http://fnoschese.wordpress.com/http://fnoschese.wordpress.com/http://quantumprogress.wordpress.com/http://quantumprogress.wordpress.com/http://quantumprogress.wordpress.com/http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/dotphysicshttp://www.wired.com/wiredscience/dotphysicshttp://www.wired.com/wiredscience/dotphysicshttp://101studiostreet.com/wordpress/http://101studiostreet.com/wordpress/http://www.virginia.edu/webmap/GMcCormickRoadArea.htmlhttp://www.virginia.edu/webmap/GMcCormickRoadArea.htmlmailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.virginia.edu/webmap/GMcCormickRoadArea.htmlhttp://101studiostreet.com/wordpress/http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/dotphysicshttp://quantumprogress.wordpress.com/http://fnoschese.wordpress.com/


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Spring Meeting Agenda (April 30th

2011)

8:30 to 9:00 Welcome, Coffee, and Refreshments

9:00 to 9:30 Business Meeting: PDI planning, Elections,

other business

9:30 to 10:15 Dan Meyers TED Talk, WWYDWT and

Perplexity Discussion

10:15 to 11:15 Share Session I: Bring an idea and 35

copies the write up to share!

11:15 to 11:30 Video Analysis and Discussion

11:30 to 12:30 Lunch on the Corner (We will head to local

restaurants for lunch together, but as far

as costyoure on your own)

12:45 to 1:45 Make and Take Session

1:45 to 2:45 Share Session II2:45 to 3:00 Door Prizes and Closing

In this Issue

Pseudoteaching: MIT Physics by

Frank Noschese

Five Quick Blog Links

Pseudoteaching: Hunting Monkeysby John Burk

New on the VIP Website

Pseudoteaching from Dot. Physics

by Rhett AllainOpportunities for Physics Teachers

Technology Corner: Acceleration

(Wiimotes) by Shawn Cornally

Join the VIP Online Conversation

Khan Academy: Innovation or

Indictment

Support and Sponsors
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/02/pseudeoteaching/http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/02/pseudeoteaching/


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Pseudoteaching: MIT Physics

February 21, 2011 by Frank Noschese

What is pseudoteaching?

This term was inspired by Dan Meyerspseudocontext, which sought to find examples of

textbook problems that on the surface seemed to be about real world problems and

situations, but actually were about make believe contexts that had little connection to

the real world, other than the photographs that framed the problems.

After reading many of Dans pseudocontext posts, John Burk and I had the idea of

pseudoteaching [PT] which we have defined as:

Pseudoteaching is something you realize youredoing after youve attempted a lesson

which from the outset looks like it should result in student learning, but upon further

reflection, you realize that the very lesson itself was flawed and involved minimallearning.

We hope that though discussion, well be able to clarify and refine this definition even

further. The key idea of pseudoteaching is that it looks like good teaching. In class,

studentsfeel like they are learning, and any observer who saw a teacher in the middle

of pseudoteaching would feel like hes watching a great lesson. The only problem is,

very little learning is taking place.

The Scene

Take, for example, Walter Lewins amazing physics lectures at MIT, which are available

online at MIT OpenCourseware [Mechanics | E&M].

Professor Lewin is full of energy. He clearly loves physics, and he also loves sharing it

with his students. His demonstrations were thrilling. His board work was impeccable.

Lewin worked hard to make it look effortless he ran through each lecture 3 times

before presenting it to students.

The Breakdown

So what happened result as the semester progressed? Attendance at his physicslectures fell 40% by the end of the term and an average of 10% of students failed

Mechanics and 14% failed E&M. Surprised?

If you look past his enthusiasm and his displays of physics awesomeness, Lewin was

pseudoteaching. It looks like good teaching, but he was the one doing all the talking. It

looks like the students are learning, but they werejust sitting there watching. Its like
http://fnoschese.wordpress.com/2011/02/21/pt-pseudoteaching-mit-physics/http://fnoschese.wordpress.com/author/fnoschese/http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=8002http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=8002http://quantumprogress.wordpress.com/http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/physics/8-01-physics-i-classical-mechanics-fall-1999/http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/physics/8-02-electricity-and-magnetism-spring-2002/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Zc9Nuoe2Owhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raurl4s0pjUhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raurl4s0pjUhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Zc9Nuoe2Owhttp://ocw.mit.edu/courses/physics/8-02-electricity-and-magnetism-spring-2002/http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/physics/8-01-physics-i-classical-mechanics-fall-1999/http://quantumprogress.wordpress.com/http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=8002http://fnoschese.wordpress.com/author/fnoschese/http://fnoschese.wordpress.com/2011/02/21/pt-pseudoteaching-mit-physics/


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trying to learn to play piano or play a sport by watching your teacher or coach. It doesnt

work well.

Ironically, it was over 30 years before Lewins famous lectures that the great physicist

Richard Feynman realized more interactive engagement is necessary. From pagexxixof

Feynmans Six Easy Pieces (a greatest-hits of his lectures to freshman when he taughtintroductory physics at Cal Tech from 1961-1963):

I think, however, that there isnt any solution to this problem of education other than to

realize that the best teaching can be done only when there is a direct individual

relationship between a student and a good teachera situation in which the student

discusses the ideas, thinks about the things, and talks about the things. Its impossible to

learn very much by simply sitting in a lecture, or even by simply doing problems that are

assigned. But in our modem times we have so many students to teach that we have to

try to find some substitute for the ideal. Perhaps my lectures can make some

contribution. Perhaps in some small place where there are individual teachers and

students, they may get some inspiration or some ideas from the lectures. Perhaps they

will have fun thinking them throughor going on to develop some of the ideas further.

RICHARD P. FEYNMAN

June 1963

The Resolution

So what did MIT do after Lewins show-stopping lectures failed to change declining

attendance and large failure rates? They created interactive learning spaces like TEAL,

which stands for Technology Enhanced Active Learning. From the New York Times articleAt M.I.T., Large Lectures Are Going the Way of the Blackboard:

Instead of blackboards, the walls are covered with white boards and huge display

screens. Circulating with a team of teaching assistants, the professor makes brief

presentations of general principles and engages the students as they work out related

concepts in small groups.

Teachers and students conduct experiments together. The room buzzes. Conferring with

tablemates, calling out questions and jumping up to write formulas on the white boards

are all encouraged.

For more information on TEAL, I suggest reading:

Why TEAL Works (http://tech.mit.edu/V130/N49/normandin.html )

andLessons Learned from TEAL.(http://tech.mit.edu/V123/N56/belcher56.56c.html )
http://books.google.com/books?id=4OT7QsmboN8C&printsec=frontcover&dq=feynman+6+easy+pieces&hl=en&ei=jshiTbWFCYep8Ab42ejcCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=feynman%206%20easy%20pieces&f=falsehttp://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/13/us/13physics.html?_r=1&pagewanted=allhttp://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/13/us/13physics.html?_r=1&pagewanted=allhttp://tech.mit.edu/V130/N49/normandin.htmlhttp://tech.mit.edu/V130/N49/normandin.htmlhttp://tech.mit.edu/V123/N56/belcher56.56c.htmlhttp://tech.mit.edu/V123/N56/belcher56.56c.htmlhttp://tech.mit.edu/V123/N56/belcher56.56c.htmlhttp://tech.mit.edu/V123/N56/belcher56.56c.htmlhttp://tech.mit.edu/V123/N56/belcher56.56c.htmlhttp://tech.mit.edu/V123/N56/belcher56.56c.htmlhttp://tech.mit.edu/V130/N49/normandin.htmlhttp://tech.mit.edu/V130/N49/normandin.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/13/us/13physics.html?_r=1&pagewanted=allhttp://books.google.com/books?id=4OT7QsmboN8C&printsec=frontcover&dq=feynman+6+easy+pieces&hl=en&ei=jshiTbWFCYep8Ab42ejcCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=feynman%206%20easy%20pieces&f=false


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But you dont need a high-tech classroom filled with bright-and-shiny gadgets to do

what M.I.T. did. A class set of $2 Interactive Whiteboards will do just fine.

I admit I was doin the Lewin my first years of teaching. I was up late each night,

creating Powerpoints and crafting worksheets. All students had to do was follow along

and fill in the blanks. Then Id work a problem on the chalkboard and the studentswould finish the rest for homework. The next day, the whole cycle would repeat with a

new topic. I planned lessons by answering the question What am I going to do in class

tomorrow? Now, I plan lessons by answering the questions What are my students

going to do tomorrow? How will it help them progress towards our learning goals?

Pseudoteaching was relatively easy. It fit nicely with The Hidden Contract that exists in

the majority of classrooms. I still fall back lazily into pseudoteaching on occasion,

especially when I feel pressed for time or when I sense student resistance to work. Real

teaching provides struggles (large and small, for teachers and students) each day.

Whats your pseudoteaching story?

Head on over to the pseduoteaching page on the Action-Reaction Blog

(http://fnoschese.wordpress.com/pseudoteaching/ ) where youll currently find links to

other new pseudoteaching posts.

We all hope pseudoteaching will become a valuable lens for critically examining our own

teaching, and that the idea will spread to other teachers as well. Wed love for you to

contribute your own examples of pseudoteaching. Just email me a link to your

pseudoteaching post and Ill add it. Thanks!

Frank Noschese

Pseudoteaching: Hunting Monkeys

February 21, 2011 by John Burk, quantumprogress

Id like to begin this post with the coining of a new term: Pseudoteaching. This term was

inspired by Dan Meyerspseudocontext, which sought to find examples of textbook

problems that on the surface seemed to be about real world problems and situations,but actually were about make believe contexts that had little connection to the real

world, other than the photographs that framed the problems.

After reading many of Dans pseudocontext posts,Frank Noscheseand I had the idea of

pseudoteaching [PT] which we have defined as:
http://fnoschese.wordpress.com/2010/08/06/the-2-interactive-whiteboard/http://www.box.net/shared/mf6koczmm9http://fnoschese.wordpress.com/pseudoteaching/http://fnoschese.wordpress.com/pseudoteaching/http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=8002http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=8002http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=8002http://fnoschese.wordpress.com/about/http://fnoschese.wordpress.com/about/http://fnoschese.wordpress.com/about/http://fnoschese.wordpress.com/about/http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=8002http://fnoschese.wordpress.com/pseudoteaching/http://fnoschese.wordpress.com/pseudoteaching/http://www.box.net/shared/mf6koczmm9http://fnoschese.wordpress.com/2010/08/06/the-2-interactive-whiteboard/


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Pseudoteaching is something you realize youre doing after youve attempted a lesson


reflection, you realize that the very lesson itself was flawed and involved minimal

learning.

We hope that though discussion, well be able to clarify and refine this definition evenfurther. The key idea of pseudoteaching is that it looks like good teaching. In class,

students feel like they are learning, and any observer who saw a teacher in the middle

of pseudoteaching would feel like hes watching a great lesson. The only problem is,

very little learning is taking place. Were hoping that Pseudoteaching will become a

valuable lens for critically examining our own teaching, and that the idea will spread to

other teachers as well. Frank is keeping a collection of pseudoteaching examples at his

blog, Action Reaction, on customPseudoteaching Page. We hope youll contribute some

of your own examples of pseudoteaching as well.

Scene: Hunting Monkeys and Pseudoteaching

My example of Pseudoteaching is super fresh. This week, I decided to do an exercise

where we explored the famous monkey hunter problem. In case you havent seen it,

heres the basic setup. A monkey is hanging from a tree, a height above the ground.

Its a nervous monkey, and so it will drop from the tree at the same instant it hears any

disturbing noise. Youd like to shoot a banana at the monkey (yes, this problem has

been sanitized from its previous monkey hating roots), and you are a horizontal distance

away from the landing spot of the monkey. You wonder how you should aim at the

monkey if you want to hit it with the banana. Should you aim at the monkey, below the

monkey, or above it?

The unintuitive answer from physics is that you should aim at the monkey, since both

are falling; even through the banana is traveling upward on its way to the monkey.

Being the masochistic teacher I can be, I thought this presented a great opportunity to

dust off our algebra skills and prove, once and for all, that you should aim atthe

monkey.

So I drew this diagram on the board, and started by asking my students to tell me what

the velocity of the monkey should be.
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As I usually do, I asked the students to explain how to draw as many graphs as possible

for these two objects. And we quickly got to the following velocity graphs.

From these graphs, I ask the students to write the equations for the x and y positions of

these objects, assuming an origin at the starting location of the banana.

and

Then I ask what must be true if the banana is to hit the monkey, and the students tellme that the x and y positions must be the same at the time of impact. So we write

and

They also see that the last equation can simplified to

Now we have two equations that relate describe the motion of the banana
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With some coaxing, my students see you can solve the first equation for t_i, to get

, and this can be substituted into the second equation to get

Which rearranges to

We stop and puzzle here, since this seems to be relating the horizontal and vertical

components of the velocity to the initial height and distance of the monkey. I say, to a

physicist, this says aim at the monkey! How can we see this? I get them to draw a

triangle for the initial velocity of the banana and its components:

Soon my students see that the ratio and are just the tangents of and must be

the same:

And the only way this can be true is if , so you aim at the monkey!

Breakdown: Why this is Pseudoteaching

After the lesson was over, I felt great. Id basically run through this on the fly, and

everyone seemed to be participating and understanding. I stopped along the way to

make sure everyone was following the discussion, and to pick apart the particularly

difficult parts. Courageous students asked good questions when they couldnt follow,

and I was sure that Id made my former professors proud.

Then the next day, I decided to see how well my students could do this same derivation

on their own. So I gave them this follow-up worksheet:

View this document on Scribd
http://www.scribd.com/doc/49151702http://www.scribd.com/doc/49151702http://quantumprogress.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/screen-shot-2011-02-19-at-10-01-29-am.pnghttp://www.scribd.com/doc/49151702


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And as soon as they started working on itI head the questions start rolling in:

Wait, what are we supposed to be doing?

I dont get it.

How should we begin?

And boomit hit me. Yesterdays great lesson really wasnt much more than me

showing off my algebra skills. Students were saying the right things when I paused long

enough and gave them enough hints to get to the right answer likeClever Hans, but

theres no way they were learning this to symbolically reason through a challenging

problem, which was my goal.

Pseudoteaching rears its ugly head right in my classroom. Ugh.

Resolution

This experience taught me a vital lesson. If I want my kids to be able to reason their way

through difficult problems, using symbolic reasoning, I cant teach it to them by walking

them down the narrow road of my enlightened physics understanding. Since this is

how almost all of my physics classes were in high school and college, and I turned out

ok, I thought this would be a great way to learn from time to time. Of course, I forgot

how poorly I understood physics when I graduated from college and started teaching. I

didnt figure out most of these things until I was forced to puzzle through them on my

own as a teacher.

I need to make time and space in my teaching for students to take on challenges like

with this, struggle with them, get lost, fail, and keep going until they get to the solution.So thats what we did. My classes worked on this for more than half an hour. A few got

right to the finish, and were able to then try to figure out how high off the ground the

monkey would be when it got hit. Others really struggled to figure out how to interpret

their graphs to get equations, but got there in the end, and a few never finished, and I

need to find a way to give them more opportunities and scaffolding so that they, too,

can see success.

I also need to find a way to assess this skill more.Goal-less problemsare a great start,

and I really likeKelly OSheas exam designthat gives students an opportunity to show

synthesis.

John Burk
http://researchinpractice.wordpress.com/2009/10/24/required-reading-for-math-teachers-i/http://researchinpractice.wordpress.com/2009/10/24/required-reading-for-math-teachers-i/http://researchinpractice.wordpress.com/2009/10/24/required-reading-for-math-teachers-i/http://quantumprogress.wordpress.com/2010/11/20/goal-less-problems/http://quantumprogress.wordpress.com/2010/11/20/goal-less-problems/http://quantumprogress.wordpress.com/2010/11/20/goal-less-problems/http://kellyoshea.wordpress.com/2011/02/08/sbg-semester-exams/http://kellyoshea.wordpress.com/2011/02/08/sbg-semester-exams/http://kellyoshea.wordpress.com/2011/02/08/sbg-semester-exams/http://kellyoshea.wordpress.com/2011/02/08/sbg-semester-exams/http://quantumprogress.wordpress.com/2010/11/20/goal-less-problems/http://researchinpractice.wordpress.com/2009/10/24/required-reading-for-math-teachers-i/


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Pseudoteaching

February 21, 2011 byRhett Allain

John Burk (ofQuantum Progress) and Frank Noschese (ofAction-Reaction) have decided

to promote the termpseudoteaching. Their definition:

Pseudoteaching is something you realize youre doing after youve attempted a lesson


reflection, you realize that the very lesson itself was flawed and involved minimal

learning.

If you have been teaching (or facilitating learning as I like to call it) for quite some time,

you have to have noticed this. Just because I clearly explain something on the chalk

board does not mean that everyone gets it.

I like to use the example of a uni-cyclewhich I actually dont know how to ride.

Suppose I was riding a uni-cycle in front of the class and showing all sorts of tricks.

Would this help the students learn how to ride it? No.

Lecture as Pseudoteaching and Not

I have a couple of examples of pseudoteaching which I still do from time to time.

Actually, I can do something that could be both pseudoteaching and facilitating learning.

Here is the scenario. Suppose I solve a conservation of momentum problem in class on

the board. For students that have looked at this kind of problem, this might be a great

opportunity to fill-in the missing parts of their understanding. Sometimes lectures aregreat for learning.

Now take this exact same situation. Say there is another student in that same class. This

student has not yet worked on conservation of momentum. For this student, the

presented solution might seem to make sense. However, I doubt it will really help in that

students understanding.

Pseudoteaching in Lab

Here is another example. When I first started teaching lab courses, I tended to write(or borrow) my own labs and post these online. Then for the first 30 minutes or so of

the lab class, I would go over what we were going to do that day. It isnt difficult to

realize that this mini-lecture at the beginning does nothing to help them.

Now, I post the labs and give a 5 minute lecture. At the beginning of each class I let

students ask ANY questions about the lab material. Often it is clear that they have not

yet read or prepared for the lab. In this case, my lecture would be useless (except to
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/author/rhettallain/http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/author/rhettallain/http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/author/rhettallain/http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/02/pseudoteaching/quanutmprogress.wordpress.comhttp://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/02/pseudoteaching/quanutmprogress.wordpress.comhttp://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/02/pseudoteaching/quanutmprogress.wordpress.comhttp://fnoschese.wordpress.com/http://fnoschese.wordpress.com/http://fnoschese.wordpress.com/http://fnoschese.wordpress.com/pseudoteaching/http://fnoschese.wordpress.com/pseudoteaching/http://fnoschese.wordpress.com/pseudoteaching/http://fnoschese.wordpress.com/pseudoteaching/http://fnoschese.wordpress.com/http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/02/pseudoteaching/quanutmprogress.wordpress.comhttp://www.wired.com/wiredscience/author/rhettallain/


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waste time). If there are no questions, I might give some brief tips on specific equipment

use (like be sure to clamp this thing down).

Overall I am happy with this new format. I still have students that arent sure what to

do, but it is clear that they should read the stuff beforehand. It also gives me more time

for individual interactions with students.

Pseudoteaching in Blogging

Yes. I said it. Blogging is my last strong hold of pseudoteaching. Really, this is just like the

lecture thing. Is it possible that my blog posts could be useful? Absolutely. Could the

help the student that needs help right before the test? It is possible, but highly unlikely.

So, the blog posts can be a form of pseudoteaching but it depends on who you are.

If no pseudoteaching, then what?

I understand that it seems like there is nothing to do but lecture. Moving away from a

pure lecture based course can lead to some awkward moments. Actually, this happens

to me all the time. I tell the students:

Ok. You need to read chapter 3. The text does a pretty good job explaining this stuff.

Also, here is some extra online stuff that might help. You dont have to completely

understand this material, but if you dont even try you will be lost. In class we will do

more useful things.

Then, in the next class I will maybe give the students some problems to work on. It ispartially painful to see students just sitting there with no idea of where to start and not

even asking for help. It is clear that some of these students are not prepared. Maybe I

should give them a lecture on the material they didnt read. Should I? If I do, they will

never read this stuff before class. This is awkward time.

So, here is my typical class time recipe:

Maybe give a super short summary of the concepts (maybe like 5 minutes). Yes,this is pseudoteaching and yes I just said you shouldnt do this. Sometimes I do

this after they have read it and sometimes I dont even do this.

If the students have questions on the reading or the homework, I will try to givenice answers. If they havent worked on the homework or read the text, they

likely wont have any questions.

Give some student response multiple-choice questions (clickers). Usually, I justfind some to give rather than making my own. However, it is pretty easy to make

some. They dont have to be super hard or elaborate questions. The clicker

questions are just a starting point for a discussion.


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Practice problems. I call these practice test questions to motivate them. Duringthis time, I tell them the best thing is that they work the problem just like it was

a test question. If they cant do that, then ask for help either from a classmate,

from the text or from me. The absolute worst thing they could do would be to

just sit there and wait for someone to give the answer.

Rinse. Repeat.If you want to look at some more examples of pseudoteaching,Frank should be keeping

a list of posts on his site.

-Rhett Allain

Khan Academy: Innovation or Indictment of Education

Flip and Manage the Classroom with Khan Academyhttp://blogs.jefftwp.org/wordpress/walker/2011/04/12/flip-and-manage-the-

classroom-with-khan-academy/

Khan Academy and the Effectiveness of Science Videoshttp://www.veritasium.com/2011/03/khan-academy-and-effectiveness-

of.html

Khan Academy is an Indictment of Educationhttp://fnoschese.wordpress.com/2011/03/30/khan-academy-is-an-indictment-of-education/

Proof of concept: could students learn more if Kahn made mistakes?http://quantumprogress.wordpress.com/2011/03/25/proof-of-concept-could-

students-learn-more-if-kahn-made-mistakes/
http://fnoschese.wordpress.com/pseudoteaching/http://fnoschese.wordpress.com/pseudoteaching/http://fnoschese.wordpress.com/pseudoteaching/http://fnoschese.wordpress.com/pseudoteaching/http://blogs.jefftwp.org/wordpress/walker/2011/04/12/flip-and-manage-the-classroom-with-khan-academy/http://blogs.jefftwp.org/wordpress/walker/2011/04/12/flip-and-manage-the-classroom-with-khan-academy/http://blogs.jefftwp.org/wordpress/walker/2011/04/12/flip-and-manage-the-classroom-with-khan-academy/http://blogs.jefftwp.org/wordpress/walker/2011/04/12/flip-and-manage-the-classroom-with-khan-academy/http://blogs.jefftwp.org/wordpress/walker/2011/04/12/flip-and-manage-the-classroom-with-khan-academy/http://www.veritasium.com/2011/03/khan-academy-and-effectiveness-of.htmlhttp://www.veritasium.com/2011/03/khan-academy-and-effectiveness-of.htmlhttp://www.veritasium.com/2011/03/khan-academy-and-effectiveness-of.htmlhttp://www.veritasium.com/2011/03/khan-academy-and-effectiveness-of.htmlhttp://www.veritasium.com/2011/03/khan-academy-and-effectiveness-of.htmlhttp://fnoschese.wordpress.com/2011/03/30/khan-academy-is-an-indictment-of-education/http://fnoschese.wordpress.com/2011/03/30/khan-academy-is-an-indictment-of-education/http://fnoschese.wordpress.com/2011/03/30/khan-academy-is-an-indictment-of-education/http://fnoschese.wordpress.com/2011/03/30/khan-academy-is-an-indictment-of-education/http://fnoschese.wordpress.com/2011/03/30/khan-academy-is-an-indictment-of-education/http://quantumprogress.wordpress.com/2011/03/25/proof-of-concept-could-students-learn-more-if-kahn-made-mistakes/http://quantumprogress.wordpress.com/2011/03/25/proof-of-concept-could-students-learn-more-if-kahn-made-mistakes/http://quantumprogress.wordpress.com/2011/03/25/proof-of-concept-could-students-learn-more-if-kahn-made-mistakes/http://quantumprogress.wordpress.com/2011/03/25/proof-of-concept-could-students-learn-more-if-kahn-made-mistakes/http://quantumprogress.wordpress.com/2011/03/25/proof-of-concept-could-students-learn-more-if-kahn-made-mistakes/http://quantumprogress.wordpress.com/2011/03/25/proof-of-concept-could-students-learn-more-if-kahn-made-mistakes/http://quantumprogress.wordpress.com/2011/03/25/proof-of-concept-could-students-learn-more-if-kahn-made-mistakes/http://quantumprogress.wordpress.com/2011/03/25/proof-of-concept-could-students-learn-more-if-kahn-made-mistakes/http://fnoschese.wordpress.com/2011/03/30/khan-academy-is-an-indictment-of-education/http://fnoschese.wordpress.com/2011/03/30/khan-academy-is-an-indictment-of-education/http://fnoschese.wordpress.com/2011/03/30/khan-academy-is-an-indictment-of-education/http://www.veritasium.com/2011/03/khan-academy-and-effectiveness-of.htmlhttp://www.veritasium.com/2011/03/khan-academy-and-effectiveness-of.htmlhttp://www.veritasium.com/2011/03/khan-academy-and-effectiveness-of.htmlhttp://blogs.jefftwp.org/wordpress/walker/2011/04/12/flip-and-manage-the-classroom-with-khan-academy/http://blogs.jefftwp.org/wordpress/walker/2011/04/12/flip-and-manage-the-classroom-with-khan-academy/http://blogs.jefftwp.org/wordpress/walker/2011/04/12/flip-and-manage-the-classroom-with-khan-academy/http://fnoschese.wordpress.com/pseudoteaching/http://fnoschese.wordpress.com/pseudoteaching/


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Technology Corner

INQUIRY STYLEE: ACCELERATION (WIIMOTES!)

byShawn Cornally on May 5, 2010.

My secret objective is for them to think of an idea and follow it to fruition in a

scientifically meaningful way. Thats it.

Ive introduced Energy Conservation already by this time in the course, and the next

towering giant to be seen is Newtons Second Law. I know some of you will find this

approach to be crass, but my kids dont seem to benefit from the trad itional way that

physics is presented.

Why wait to introduce these huge ideas until kids have done all sorts of kinematics and

other mathematical abstractions? I know the standard arguments for book structure,

and I disagree: Were always preparing them for the most important idea. Screw that.

Give them the important ideas and flesh them out as the year goes on. Things will start

elementary (i.e. Just KE and gPE) and move into complicated abstraction as their

understanding follows. Energy conservation and F=ma are pretty much the only things I

want my kids to remember, so why not stress them throughout the whole course?

How to teach F=ma, the eternal quandary. So simple, vital, and nuanced. I know it

hinges on their understanding of acceleration. Acceleration in turn is one the trickiest

topics to teach, not because its hard to manage, but because everyone comes with

misconceptions about it. English usage of words like acceleration, velocity, speed, and

their ilk are totally muddled. I need kids to understand the differences between them. Ineed them to understand how units underpin the connection of math to the sciences. I

need them to reject their current misunderstandings about the magic pushes and pulls

that comic books and movies have shown them.

This type of teaching towards misconceptions is not new, but I think it bears reminding.

If you ask a student why something continues to move after youve thrown it, they will

often respond with something quite cobbled and illogical:

Well the force from my hand is like still pushing it in the air, and when it runs out of

force, it falls to the ground.

Yikes. A little evidence for the maligned ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny theory

(which is a bit bunk, just to be clear): This child is positingAristotles position, and she

doesnt even know it! This theory worked for a few centuries, but in the end it just

doesnt match all the data we have today about how things move. Our current most -

used theory connects force to acceleration. That is, if something doesnt feel a force, it
http://101studiostreet.com/wordpress/?author=1http://www.iep.utm.edu/aris-mot/http://www.iep.utm.edu/aris-mot/http://www.iep.utm.edu/aris-mot/http://www.iep.utm.edu/aris-mot/http://101studiostreet.com/wordpress/?author=1


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doesnt change speed. Whether from stop to go, or from fast to slow, those changes

require a force, and thats that. If youre not feeling it, youre not changing it.

How can I address this misconception? Wii Remotes! What? Yes! Wiimotes happen to

be the cheapest and most fun accelerometers on the market. Theres a slew of websites

dedicated to jail breaking and otherwise non-traditional uses of your Wiimote. I use apiece of software called DarwiinRemote.

1Kudos to the development team for this

community-driven gem.

A quick

Bluetooth sync (hit Find Wiimote and then holddown the 1and 2 buttons on your

Wiimote), and youre up and running! Notice the awesomeness that is the real-time

graph. Notice the fact that the Z-axis is offset by negative g when the Wiimote is sittingstill. *Geek Out*

What using the Wiimotes gains me is a little street cred. and some serious connections

to things that they want to know about. How does this thing work?2

How does it know

what Im doing? These are questions anyone has asked when interacting with a video

game, let alone one as revolutionary as the Nintendo Wii.3

How does this go in physics class? We drop them. We slide them. We put wheels on

them and make Wiimote cars. We put wings on them and throw them out windows.

Whatever it takes.

We do a lot of great experiments with the Wiimotes. I generally start an inquiry cycle

with them. My guided investigation is usually along the lines of dropping the Wiimotes,

or attaching it to a pulley with a constant force. Anything I can do to help separate the

ideas of acceleration, velocity, and force. The kids then think of all sorts of insane things

to do with these. As Ive said earlier, my goal is to start them off with something simple.

Almost painfully simple really, in order to get them thinking about what could be cooler.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/darwiin-remote/http://101studiostreet.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Picture-14.pnghttp://sourceforge.net/projects/darwiin-remote/


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My secret objective is for them to think of an idea and follow it to fruition in a

scientifically meaningful way. Thats it. If it takes a short lame investigation to model a

piece of technology, then thats what Ill do to get them thinking.

Id love to hear your ideas about what you do with this! These Wiimotes come back all

semester. What theyve gained for me is a foothold when talking about F=ma at theboard. (I spend more time at the whiteboard than you think). Were always fighting to

connect board ideas to real experiences. My favorite battle.

1. This is OS X software. If you have a PC, heres a link to a similar program, but I dont

run Windows, so no promises.

2.The Wiimote is actually a camera with a Bluetooth transceiver in it. The sensor bar is a

misnomer. Its actually just two infrared diodes that shine into the Wiimote camera. The

placement of the dots from the sensor bar in the picture taken by the Wiimote conveys

where the Wiimote is, which it then sends back the Wii via Bluetooth. The

accelerometer and other data are also sent to the Wii via Bluetooth. No information is

actually sent to the sensor bar!

3. Shawn Cornally is not affiliated or being paid by Nintendo, but he wouldnt mind it. Id

look great in blue overalls, or perhaps a green tunic

Five Quick Links: Physics Teaching Blogs

Three Incorrect Laws of Motion

Veritasium, an element of truth

http://www.veritasium.com/2011/03/three-incorrect-laws-of-motion.html

Goal-less Problems

Physics! Blog!by Kelly OShea

http://kellyoshea.wordpress.com/2011/03/05/goal-less-problems/

Chains of Reasoning: Sand and Standing Waves

Newtons Minions

http://tatnallsbg.blogspot.com/2011/03/chains-of-reasoning-sand-and-sw.html

Scientific Habits of Mind

Physics&Parsimony, about physics and teaching by Mark Hammond

http://physicsparsimony.wordpress.com/2011/04/10/scientific-habits-of-mind/

The $2 Interactive Whiteboard

Action-Reactionby Frank Noschese

http://fnoschese.wordpress.com/2010/08/06/the-2-interactive-whiteboard/
http://onakasuita.org/wii/index-e.htmlhttp://onakasuita.org/wii/index-e.htmlhttp://www.veritasium.com/2011/03/three-incorrect-laws-of-motion.htmlhttp://www.veritasium.com/2011/03/three-incorrect-laws-of-motion.htmlhttp://kellyoshea.wordpress.com/http://kellyoshea.wordpress.com/http://kellyoshea.wordpress.com/2011/03/05/goal-less-problems/http://kellyoshea.wordpress.com/2011/03/05/goal-less-problems/http://tatnallsbg.blogspot.com/http://tatnallsbg.blogspot.com/http://tatnallsbg.blogspot.com/2011/03/chains-of-reasoning-sand-and-sw.htmlhttp://tatnallsbg.blogspot.com/2011/03/chains-of-reasoning-sand-and-sw.htmlhttp://physicsparsimony.wordpress.com/http://physicsparsimony.wordpress.com/http://physicsparsimony.wordpress.com/2011/04/10/scientific-habits-of-mind/http://physicsparsimony.wordpress.com/2011/04/10/scientific-habits-of-mind/http://fnoschese.wordpress.com/http://fnoschese.wordpress.com/http://fnoschese.wordpress.com/2010/08/06/the-2-interactive-whiteboard/http://fnoschese.wordpress.com/2010/08/06/the-2-interactive-whiteboard/http://fnoschese.wordpress.com/2010/08/06/the-2-interactive-whiteboard/http://fnoschese.wordpress.com/http://physicsparsimony.wordpress.com/2011/04/10/scientific-habits-of-mind/http://physicsparsimony.wordpress.com/http://tatnallsbg.blogspot.com/2011/03/chains-of-reasoning-sand-and-sw.htmlhttp://tatnallsbg.blogspot.com/http://kellyoshea.wordpress.com/2011/03/05/goal-less-problems/http://kellyoshea.wordpress.com/http://www.veritasium.com/2011/03/three-incorrect-laws-of-motion.htmlhttp://onakasuita.org/wii/index-e.html


16/19


New atvip.vast.org

Nano Technology resources and lesson plans Reasonable Speeds PPT HomoPolar Motor Welding Nails Candle -Nature of Science Activity

Opportunities for Physics Teachers

VAST Mini-Grant

Need funding for an innovative curriculum activity? VAST's minigrant application for

funding is due June 1. The application is short and can be found here:

http://www.vast.org/index.cfm/go/forms.minigrant

Professional Development

Matter and Interactions Distance Education Course

http://www.matterandinteractions.org/Content/HSteachers/teachers.html

Modeling Instruction in High School Physics Workshopshttp://modeling.asu.edu/MW_nation.html

NSTA

Urban Science Education Leadership (USEL) Academy 2011

http://www.nsta.org/conferences/2011/uselacademy.aspx?lid=con

National Conference: Indianapolis

http://www.nsta.org/conferences/2012ind/?lid=con

"Science of Nuclear Energy & Radiation" 2011 4-DAY Science Teacher Workshop,

http://local.ans.org/virginia/public_education.html

Math Science Innovation Center Summer Conference, June 22-24, 2011

http://www.msinnovation.info/tea/pg_conferences.htm
http://vip.vast.org/http://vip.vast.org/http://vip.vast.org/http://vip.vast.org/NanoResources/default.htmlhttp://vip.vast.org/NanoResources/default.htmlhttp://vip.vast.org/VAST2010/Resonable_Speeds/default.htmlhttp://vip.vast.org/VAST2010/Resonable_Speeds/default.htmlhttp://vip.vast.org/VAST2009/homopolarmotor/index.htmlhttp://vip.vast.org/VAST2009/homopolarmotor/index.htmlhttp://vip.vast.org/VAST2010/welding_nails/index.htmlhttp://vip.vast.org/VAST2010/welding_nails/index.htmlhttp://vip.vast.org/VAST2009/nos/default2.htmlhttp://vip.vast.org/VAST2009/nos/default2.htmlhttp://www.vast.org/index.cfm/go/forms.minigranthttp://www.vast.org/index.cfm/go/forms.minigranthttp://www.matterandinteractions.org/Content/HSteachers/teachers.htmlhttp://www.matterandinteractions.org/Content/HSteachers/teachers.htmlhttp://modeling.asu.edu/MW_nation.htmlhttp://modeling.asu.edu/MW_nation.htmlhttp://www.nsta.org/conferences/2011/uselacademy.aspx?lid=conhttp://www.nsta.org/conferences/2011/uselacademy.aspx?lid=conhttp://www.nsta.org/conferences/2012ind/?lid=conhttp://www.nsta.org/conferences/2012ind/?lid=conhttp://local.ans.org/virginia/public_education.htmlhttp://local.ans.org/virginia/public_education.htmlhttp://www.msinnovation.info/tea/pg_conferences.htmhttp://www.msinnovation.info/tea/pg_conferences.htmhttp://www.msinnovation.info/tea/pg_conferences.htmhttp://local.ans.org/virginia/public_education.htmlhttp://www.nsta.org/conferences/2012ind/?lid=conhttp://www.nsta.org/conferences/2011/uselacademy.aspx?lid=conhttp://modeling.asu.edu/MW_nation.htmlhttp://www.matterandinteractions.org/Content/HSteachers/teachers.htmlhttp://www.vast.org/index.cfm/go/forms.minigranthttp://vip.vast.org/VAST2009/nos/default2.htmlhttp://vip.vast.org/VAST2010/welding_nails/index.htmlhttp://vip.vast.org/VAST2009/homopolarmotor/index.htmlhttp://vip.vast.org/VAST2010/Resonable_Speeds/default.htmlhttp://vip.vast.org/NanoResources/default.htmlhttp://vip.vast.org/


17/19


"Promoting Active Learning in Introductory Courses with Research-Based Curricula

and Tools

Chautauqua Course 2011, June 11-13, 2011 Dickinson College Carlisle, Pennsylvania

http://uoregon.edu/~sokoloff/chaut1.htm

UVA Professional Development Opportunities in Physics Educationhttp://k12.phys.virginia.edu/home.html

Virginia Association of Science Teachers Profession Development Institute (VAST-PDI)

The New Face of Science Education

November 17 - 19, 2011at the Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center

http://www.vast.org/index.cfm/go/content.dspcontent/Page_Name/2011-PDI.html

Virginia Aerospace Science and Technology Scholars Teacher Institute,

August 14th

-19th

, 2011 at NASA Langley Research Center, in Hampton, Virginia.

http://www.vasts.spacegrant.org/institute

AAPT Summer Meeting http://www.aapt.org/Conferences/sm2011/

Professional Organizations

Virginia Association of Science Teachers(VAST)

American Association of Physics Teachers(AAPT)

American Modeling Teachers Association

(AMTA)

http://www.modelingteachers.org/

National Science Teachers Association

(NSTA)
http://uoregon.edu/~sokoloff/chaut1.htmhttp://uoregon.edu/~sokoloff/chaut1.htmhttp://k12.phys.virginia.edu/home.htmlhttp://k12.phys.virginia.edu/home.htmlhttp://www.vast.org/index.cfm/go/content.dspcontent/Page_Name/2011-PDI.htmlhttp://www.vast.org/index.cfm/go/content.dspcontent/Page_Name/2011-PDI.htmlhttp://www.vasts.spacegrant.org/institutehttp://www.vasts.spacegrant.org/institutehttp://www.aapt.org/Conferences/sm2011/http://www.aapt.org/Conferences/sm2011/http://www.nsta.org/http://www.aapt.org/http://www.vast.org/http://www.aapt.org/Conferences/sm2011/http://www.vasts.spacegrant.org/institutehttp://www.vast.org/index.cfm/go/content.dspcontent/Page_Name/2011-PDI.htmlhttp://k12.phys.virginia.edu/home.htmlhttp://uoregon.edu/~sokoloff/chaut1.htm


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Do you blog? Are you on Facebook, LinkedIn, or PD360?

Send us your blog url and well add it to our list of recommended links. There are some

really great teaching ideas out there.

VIP on LinkedIn

http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2992762&trk=myg_ugrp_ovr

VIP on PD360

http://www.pd360.com/pd360.cfm?showwall=284216#tab=groups&page=groupsBrows

e

VIP on Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/groups/edit.php?gid=123151287705275#!/group.php?gid=1

23151287705275

If you have any physics-related news, please post it to the yahoogroup

(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/va-inst-phys/) or send it to us directly.

Contact Info

Email:[email protected]

Twitter: coolyrd
http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2992762&trk=myg_ugrp_ovrhttp://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2992762&trk=myg_ugrp_ovrhttp://www.pd360.com/pd360.cfm?showwall=284216#tab=groups&page=groupsBrowsehttp://www.pd360.com/pd360.cfm?showwall=284216#tab=groups&page=groupsBrowsehttp://www.pd360.com/pd360.cfm?showwall=284216#tab=groups&page=groupsBrowsehttp://www.facebook.com/groups/edit.php?gid=123151287705275#!/group.php?gid=123151287705275http://www.facebook.com/groups/edit.php?gid=123151287705275#!/group.php?gid=123151287705275http://www.facebook.com/groups/edit.php?gid=123151287705275#!/group.php?gid=123151287705275http://groups.yahoo.com/group/va-inst-phys/http://groups.yahoo.com/group/va-inst-phys/http://groups.yahoo.com/group/va-inst-phys/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://groups.yahoo.com/group/va-inst-phys/http://www.facebook.com/groups/edit.php?gid=123151287705275#!/group.php?gid=123151287705275http://www.facebook.com/groups/edit.php?gid=123151287705275#!/group.php?gid=123151287705275http://www.pd360.com/pd360.cfm?showwall=284216#tab=groups&page=groupsBrowsehttp://www.pd360.com/pd360.cfm?showwall=284216#tab=groups&page=groupsBrowsehttp://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2992762&trk=myg_ugrp_ovr


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VIP is an affiliate of the Virginia Association of Science Teachers (VAST) vip vast org 19

Support

This newsletter and our spring meeting are graciously hosted by the Physics Department

of the University of Virginia. The Make N Take session is funded by the Virginia

Association of Science Teachers (VAST) of whom we are an affiliate and Jefferson

National Laboratory. Spring meeting door prizes generously donated by Vernier, CPO,

Sargent-Welch, Frey, Arbor Scientific.

Thank you for all you do to promote physics education in Virginia and beyond!
http://www.arborsci.com/http://education.jlab.org/http://www.freyscientific.com/http://www.cposcience.com/home/Home/tabid/119/Default.aspxhttp://sargentwelch.com/physics/c/4758/http://www.vernier.com/http://www.vast.org/http://www.phys.virginia.edu/

virginia instructors of physics spring newsletter 4-11

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