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