Active Physics and Inquiry

An independent school in New York City provides an excellent example of a successful application of the Active Physics curriculum, but aspects of Modeling Instruction could have potential to make the course even more dynamic. Active Physics is a project-based curriculum with a conceptual focus, designed to be used with ninth graders. Active Physics groups concepts by themes, such as "Communication," "Sports," or "Home," in an attempt to make ...

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Colleague Response to a PF Inquiry on the Scarcity of PF Research

I get teased by some friends about it, but I'm a very proud member of a couple of physics teacher clubs. In one, around 20 or so individuals meet monthly to discuss experiences in physics teaching and share ideas. Recently, a teacher wrote to this group to inquire about teachers' experience with Physics First, and a friend in the group named Yoav Bergner wrote a response that very eloquently gets at the heart of some of the questions about its ...

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"Conservation of Momentum" in a Transition to Physics First

Two teachers at the same school facilitate essentially the same lab activity, but with different levels of commitment to the process of inquiry. In a time of transition from a traditional BCP sequence to a Physics First sequence, schools or districts are often faced with a distinct challenge of limited personnel. A ninth grade physics class is fundamentally different from both a ninth grade biology class or a physics class directed toward juniors ...

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Creativity and Introductory Physics

Open-ended, "creative" assignments can be an effective way of making science relevant to students, but there are more direct ways to exercise the creativity needed to excel in the fields of science and engineering. "Creativity and Introductory Physics" is the title of an essay in the January, 2012 issue of The Physics Teacher on the importance of giving physics students opportunities for creative, divergent thinking (page 42 if you've got it handy).  ...

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Yale-Lynn Hall Teacher Action Research Prize

A quick one: A friend of mine just let me know about an informal PER project that won an interesting prize in March of last year: the Yale-Lynn Hall Teacher Action Research Prize. It's timely only because the deadline for projects this year is coming up in early February. One of the winners of the $1000 prize last year was a teacher at Camden Hills Regional High School in Rockport, Maine. She carried out an investigation into the effect of in-class personal response systems, or clickers, on student FCI scores and AP-C Mechanics scores. So get your research in by February 3!! This particular ...

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