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APS Teaching Seminar
2008 |
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Doug Duncan and Nick Schneider |
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| Each week you are
expected to do the assigned readings, and |
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prepared to discuss points of interest that the paper brought up. |
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| We
will lead the first weeks of readings but quickly hand over to you leading
the discussions for the class. |
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| Students will sign
up to lead the discussion once
over the course of the term. These weeks you should be prepared to
present a |
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| 5-10 min summary of
the paper, and bring in some points of discussion for the class. |
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| Week |
Topics |
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| 1 |
Introduction to the course goals and to science
education research |
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| 14-Jan |
Introductions - what do you want from this course? |
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A demonstration of education resarch - what makes a
great teacher?* |
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The science and scholarship related to teaching and
learning - where to find sources |
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-- No, it's not just a matter of
opinion! |
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Five characteristics of the best teachers (handout and discussion) |
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:Why My Kids Hate Science" (Newsweek
Guest Essay) - how to avoid this! |
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Reading: |
Six Ways to Discourage Learning |
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Millikan Award Lecture - Edward Redish |
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For next week: Please come in
with a statement of your philosophy and approach to teaching (~ 1-2
paragraphs). |
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Specifically address: 1) what is good teaching? 2)
what is learning? 3) what is education? |
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| 2 |
The Basics of
Good Teaching |
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| 21-Jan |
6 Ways to Discourage Learning - The most important
mistakes to avoid when teaching |
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The importance of formalizing teaching goals |
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Items
that TAs and supervising professors should discuss |
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Your "classroom climate" - importance of
how wrong answers are treated |
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How to lead a good discussion |
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| x |
Readings: "Teacher Predictions vs. Student
Gains" - Lightman and Sadler |
x |
means student-led discussion |
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| 3 |
The Limitations of Good Lectures |
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| 28-Jan |
What does it mean to "learn astronomy,"
physics, or planetary science? |
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Critique last week's
class - good and bad… |
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Example of how small
group discussion engages everyone at once |
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Reading Discussion: Teacher Predictions... - led by N.
Nelson |
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The Monontillation of Traxoline |
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Blooms Taxonomy of levels of learning (Handout) |
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Class exercise - make up questions at different
"Blooms" levels |
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The importance of conceptual questions |
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| x |
Readings: |
"Transforming Physics Education" - Weiman
and Perkins |
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"Kolb Learning Style Inventory" |
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| 4 |
Students Learn in Different Ways - not all like you! |
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| 4-Feb |
Different approaches to teaching about the Solar
System (N. Schneider) |
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Gardiner's Multiple Intelligences |
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Gender Differences and teaching |
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The student-centered classroom; |
- Motivation research |
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How to get students more
engaged and working together (Introduction to these topics) |
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Readings: |
"Interactive Engagement Versus Traditional
Methods: a Six-Thousand Student |
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Survey of Mechanics Test
Data for Introductory Physics Courses", - R. Hake |
[J. Tao] |
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| 5 |
Methods for Getting Students Actively Engaged |
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| 11-Feb |
A Challenge to "conventional" teaching: A Private Universe (video) |
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Reading Discussion: Transforming Physics Education….led
by T. Mitchell |
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Reading Discussion: Kolb's Learning Styles led by A.
Dove (Kolb activity?) |
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Homework assignment: what do you think is required to get students to change
incorrect ideas? |
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| x |
Readings: |
"Ten Years Experience with Peer
Instruction" - E. Mazur |
[K. O'Malia] |
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Astronomy Education Review paper on
"Clickers" - D. Duncan |
[D. Han] |
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| 6 |
How student preconceptions make teaching difficult |
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| 18-Feb |
Video: Minds of Our Own - Vol. 1 (1 hour) |
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Video Discussion: led by
B. Zeiger and N. Schneider |
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| x |
Reading: |
Questioning and Discussion - Trowbridge |
[T. Yan] |
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| 7 |
Guest Lecture - Prof. Steve Pollock (physics) |
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| 25-Feb |
Five years experience improving physics teaching and
learning |
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Reading: |
"Ersatz Learning and Inauthentic Testing" |
skim |
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Assignment: Plan your
project. A class or lab you wish to observe (not your
own). A lesson you will teach? |
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| 8 |
Discussion of upcoming class and lab visits |
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| 3-Mar |
What will you do before
your visit? (find out the goals of class or lab!) |
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What will you do when you visit? |
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How to observe. How to interview - Leilani Arthurs
(GeoSci) |
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(compare with Motivation research; learning
styles, etc.) |
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Reading Discussion: Six
Thousand Student Study…led by J. Tao |
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| 9 |
Intro to Peer Instruction
and Clickers (handout description from
first few pages of Mazur book) |
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| 10-Mar |
Reading Discussion: Questioning and Discussion…led by
T. Yan |
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Reading Discussion: Peer Instruction…led by K. O'Malia |
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Reading Discussion:
Clickers…led by D. Han |
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| 10 |
Minds of Our Own - Vol. 2
(Video; 1 hour) |
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| 17-Mar |
Video Discussion: led by
E. Larson and K.Lynch |
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Reading |
"Implications of cognative studies for teaching
physics" - Redish |
[D. Han] |
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| 11 |
Spring Break |
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| 24-Mar |
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| 12-Jan |
How the PhET applets are
constructed (relate to "Minds of our Own"). Why most teaching
software has limited usefulness. |
| 31-Mar |
(also look at the Mastering Astronomy site) |
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Reading: |
"What's all the fuss about Metacognition?"
- Schoenfeld (applies to teaching advanced students) |
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Reading Discussion: Metacognition… |
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| 13 |
Student presentations |
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| Apr. 7 |
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| 14 |
Student presentations |
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| Apr. 14 |
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| 15 |
Student presentations |
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| Apr. 21 |
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| 16 |
In-class exercise - how
would you conduct a review session for an exam? |
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| Apr. 28 |
Items leftover from
previous classes or the "if time" subjects below |
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Three extra readings to
keep: The Scholarship of College Science Teaching; |
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Characteristics of
Exemplary College Science Courses - Society of College Science Teachers |
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Similarities and Differences between Science
Research and Science Teaching - Morrow (read this before |
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trying to work with a
K-12 teacher) |
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| if time |
Assessment - Leilani
Arthurs/Doug Duncan |
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Reading: |
Assessment Handbook from
the Astronomy Education Review - Brissenden |
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| if time |
Ideas about how to teach
"scientific" or critical thinking (D. Duncan) |
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Students won't learn this
unless they practice it |
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STUDENT PRESENTATIONS
(Click on number) |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
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