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Using The Algebra Project Method To Regiment Discourse In An Energy Course for Teachers

The Algebra Project, led by R. Moses, provides access to understanding of algebra for middle school students and their teachers by guiding them to participate actively and communally in the construction of regimented symbolic systems. We have extended this work by applying it to the professional development of science teachers (K‐12) in energy. As we apply the Algebra Project method, the focus of instruction shifts from the learning of specific concepts within the broad theme of energy to the gradual regimentation of the interplay between learners’ observation, thinking, graphic representation, and communication. This approach is suitable for teaching energy, which by its transcendence can seem to defy a linear instructional sequence. The learning of specific energy content thus becomes more learner‐directed and unpredictable, though at no apparent cost to its extent. Meanwhile, teachers seem empowered by this method to see beginners as legitimate participants in the scientific process.

“Energy Theater”: Using The Body Symbolically To Understand Energy

In what we call “embodied learning activities,” instructors deliberately arrange for human bodies, or parts of the body, to stand in for entities in the description or explanation of a phenomenon. Embodied learning activities (ELAs) are intended to promote and externalize conceptual understanding in physics, for the benefit of the learner, the instructor, and the researcher. We describe an example of an embodied learning activity called “Energy Theater,” in which each participant identifies as a unit of energy that has one and only one form. Objects in the scenario correspond to regions on the floor, and as energy moves and changes form in the scenario, participants move to different locations on the floor. This representation models energy as a substance‐like quantity, a model that promotes concepts of conservation, storage, transfer, and flow. The activity becomes a richly featured disciplined symbolic workspace, supporting future studies for both description and analysis.

Energy Tracking Diagrams.

Energy is a crosscutting concept in science and features prominently in national science education documents. In the Next Generation Science Standards, the primary conceptual learning goal is for learners to conserve energy as they track the transfers and transformations of energy within, into, or out of the system of interest in complex physical processes. As part of tracking energy transfers among objects, learners should (i) distinguish energy from matter, including recognizing that energy flow does not uniformly align with the movement of matter, and should (ii) identify specific mechanisms by which energy is transferred among objects, such as mechanical work and thermal conduction. As part of tracking energy transformations within objects, learners should (iii) associate specific forms with specific models and indicators (e.g., kinetic energy with speed and/or coordinated motion of molecules, thermal energy with random molecular motion and/or temperature) and (iv) identify specific mechanisms by whic...

Understanding the learning assistant experience with physics identity

Learning Assistants (LAs) have been shown to have better conceptual understanding and more favorable beliefs about science than non-LAs, and are more likely to choose a career in K-12 science teaching [1]. We propose that connections between elements of identity, persistence, and participation in an LA program can be explained using the concept of the community of practice and its intimate relationship to identity [2]. In separate work, Hazari et al. found that physics identity was highly correlated to expressed career plans in physics [3]. We hypothesize that a thriving LA program has many features of a well-functioning community of practice and contributes to all four elements of physics identity: personal interest, student performance, competence, and recognition by others. We explore how this analysis of the LA experience might shape decisions and influence outcomes of adoption and adaptations of the LA model.

Information flow in group exams

Collaboration is an integral part of science, and as our classrooms become more collaborative, so too can our assessments. Group exam data gives us a new kind of data about how our students relate to each other. Network analysis provides many tools for describing, visualizing, and analyzing student networks. In particular, we have used Directed networks to describe student collaboration, explored relationships between measures of network position on exam performance, and examined what the different micro-structures tell us about the different kinds of collaboration on an exam. Furthermore, we describe trends in these collaborative practices over a semester-long time-scale.

An Evolving Model for Seeing Colored Objects: A Case Study Progression

We document the experience of a single participant in a course for secondary teacher professional development in order to track the changes in her thinking about how light interacts with colored objects. Our two main interests in conducting this analysis are first, to better understand learners’ ideas about light and color, and second, to observe changes in learners’ thinking as they occur in real‐time classroom events.