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Using Technology for Conceptual Learning in Physics Teacher Education Engaging Teacher-Candidates as Learners and Teachers. Proudly supported by TLEF. Proudly supported by TLEF. Marina Milner-Bolotin, Heather Fisher & Alexandra MacDonald Saturday, July 13, 2013 IPTEL.
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Using Technology for Conceptual Learning in Physics Teacher EducationEngaging Teacher-Candidates as Learners and Teachers Proudly supported by TLEF Proudly supported by TLEF Marina Milner-Bolotin, Heather Fisher & Alexandra MacDonald Saturday, July 13, 2013 IPTEL
UBC’s Commitment to Teaching: TLEF • TLEF support 2012-2014: $95 000
Getting to Know Each Other How important is technology in teacher education? Essential Very Important Important Somewhat Important Irrelevant
Getting to Know Each Other In education, is it enough to know how technology works? Yes No
Getting to Know Each Other How important is it for students to be actively engaged? Essential Very Important Important Somewhat Important Irrelevant
Thinking about Pedagogies What are your reasons for choosing the pedagogies you implement in your classrooms? How do you know your pedagogies are impacting your students?
Objectives Model AE in the context of the course content Explore a possible mechanism for AE pedagogy Investigate the effect of Active Engagement (AE) on teacher-candidates’ (TCs’) epistemologies
Navigating the Resource http://scienceres-edcp-educ.sites.olt.ubc.ca/
Logical reasoning If m and p are positive integers and (m + p) x m is even, which of the following must be true? If m is odd, then p is odd. If m is odd, then p is even. If m is even, then p is even. If m is even, then p is odd. m must be even.
Area Question Title Question Title What is the area of the figure below? • 24 m2 • 76 m2 • 100 m2 • 124 m2 • Not enough information 6 m 4 m 10 m 10 m
Solution Comments Comments Answer: B Justification:One way to find the area is to imagine a 10 m by 10 m square and subtracting a 4 m by 6 m rectangle. 6 m 4 m A = 10 m x 10 m – 4 m x 6 m = 76 m2 6 m Alternatively, the shape’s area can be found by dividing it into 2 rectangles and adding the areas together. 10 m 4 m 10 m
Research Project Secondary Physics Methods Course (+ 2-week short practicum) 13 students 13 weeks Pre-Practicum Interviews (8) Timeline Extended Practicum 10 weeks Enhanced Practicum 3 weeks Post-Practicum Interviews (7) Focus Group (1)
TPCK Koeler & Mishra, 2007
Pre-Practicum TPCK “It really opens the door for umm discussions between people. Um regarding a) you know, what is the right answer, and b) how would you explain that to uh either teacher-candidates or to your potential students.” Pre-Interview 2
Pre-Practicum TPCK Content Knowledge Pedagogical Knowledge Technological Knowledge “It really opens the door for umm discussions between people. Um regarding a) you know, what is the right answer, and b) how would you explain that to uh either teacher-candidates or to your potential students.” Pre-Interview 2, Participant 9
Post-Practicum TPCK “So, if you set it up in a dynamic where… different types of people have [different needs], so if you need to talk to someone, you still get that, if you need silence, you get to think on it on your own, and then people aren’t so stressed… And they actually get to argue and talk back and forth and they’ll remember it more. So for them, I think they’ll master it more.” Post-Interview 2, Participant 20
Post-Practicum TPCK “So, if you set it up in a dynamic where… different types of people have [different needs], so if you need to talk to someone, you still get that, if you need silence, you get to think on it on your own, and then people aren’t so stressed… And they actually get to argue and talk back and forth and they’ll remember it more. So for them, I think they’ll master it more.” Post-Interview 2, Participant 20 Content Knowledge Pedagogical Knowledge Technological Knowledge
Modified-TPCK Milner-Bolotin, Cha, Chachashvili-Bolotin, Raisinghani, 2013
“…physics is…not about applying formulas, and doing math. It is…about gaining an appreciation of the world around us. And, being able to use your understanding and extrapolate … explain what’s happening around you. [It] has nothing to do with math formulas.” Post-interview 1 Emerging Themes • Student understanding as beyond current classroom context • Role of TCs previous conceptual understanding VALUE OF CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING
“… some of the physics 11s who are just doing it to do a science, and are just, ‘Alright, Physics, I’ll try it out.’ Some of them were not as en-engaged, and I think doing the… voting-style questions helped get them more into it and more involved. So I’d say… it’s helpful to get those students who hide at the back in these 30 person classes.” Post-interview 3 Emerging Themes • Necessary for conceptual understanding • Classroom realities are single most limiting factor in application of this value ROLE OF STUDENT ENGAGEMENT
“It wasn’t just the clickers alone. It was also in…. the presentation of the question. It wasn’t a simple plug in the answer-type question. It had to be conceptual, in which you could… , the Bloom’s taxonomy, the higher learning of students. So, in itself, clickers… is only a tool. But it needs to be complemented with good conceptual questions in order to make it work.” Pre-Interview 5 Emerging Themes • No purpose without sound pedagogical support • Conceptual understanding optimal outcome of this pedagogy • Alternative mechanisms can achieve similar outcome CLICKERS AS A MECHANISM
Returning to Objectives “I’m there as a teacher, (pause) but I’m also there as a student. Conversely, they’re there as a student, but they’re also there as a teacher. That doesn’t mean they’re teaching necessarily, teaching me. They’re teaching each other... You’re always a student-teacher, regardless of whether or not, what your position says. The-the moment you step out, and you meet someone, you now are both a teacher and a learner.” Post-Interview 1 Investigate the effect of Active Engagement (AE) on teacher-candidates epistemologies Modeling impacts TCs epistemologies, regardless of successes/challenges in practicum Model AE with the course content
Returning to Objectives “Coming into the program, we were all sort of thought that we were expected to be masters, and if the instructor puts up a clicker question, you think ‘Jeez, I don’t actually know the answer’ – immediately you think well, we’re all supposed to be masters, I’m probably the only one who doesn’t know. But uh when the responses come in, you see other people think like you, it’s definitely reassuring.” Pre-Interview 2 Explore a possible mechanism for AE pedagogy Clicker-enhanced pedagogy works as a mechanism for AE pedagogy in a small class
Resources • Beatty, I., Gerace, W., Leonard, W., & Defresne, R. (2006). Designing Effective Questions for Classroom Response System Teaching. American Journal of Physics, 74(1), 31–39. • CWSEI Clicker Resource Guide: An Instructors Guide to the Effective Use of Personal Response Systems (Clickers) in Teaching. (2009, June 1). • Lasry, Nathaniel. (2008). Clickers or Flashcards: Is There Really a Difference? The Physics Teacher, 46(May), 242-244. • Milner-Bolotin, Marina. (2004). Tips for Using a Peer Response System in the Large Introductory Physics Classroom. The Physics Teacher, 42(8), 47-48. • Mishra, P., & Koehler, M. J. (2007). Technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPCK): Confronting the wicked problems of teaching with technology. In Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference (Vol. 2007, pp. 2214–2226). Retrieved from http://www.editlib.org/p/24919/