1 / 24

Physics Teacher Preparation at University of Helsinki, Finland

Ari Hämäläinen, University of Helsinki Dan MacIsaac, Buffalo State College. Physics Teacher Preparation at University of Helsinki, Finland. Education System in Finland [1]. Finnish Education System. Free and universal No high-stakes testing, except

kaori
Download Presentation

Physics Teacher Preparation at University of Helsinki, Finland

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Ari Hämäläinen, University of Helsinki Dan MacIsaac, Buffalo State College Physics Teacher Preparation at University of Helsinki, Finland

  2. Faculty of Science / Ari Hämäläinen Education System in Finland [1]

  3. Faculty of Science / Ari Hämäläinen Finnish Education System • Free and universal • No high-stakes testing, except • Matriculation examination in the end of the Upper Secondary School • Entrance examinations to universities etc.(often the same thing) • Less than in most other countries´ school systems: • school hours & homework • testing & grading • control of schools & teachers • variation between schools

  4. Faculty of Science / Ari Hämäläinen Finnish Grade School detail • National, obligatory curriculum guidelines; schools make their localized curricula based on the guidelines • In lower grades, same teachers usually follow the class for several years, becoming expert on individual child and accountable for child’s learning • Approximately half of all Finnish children receive formal special education intervention; differentiated instruction, career guidance, counseling, and special education are integrated as required

  5. Faculty of Science / Ari Hämäläinen Finnish Grade School detail (cont.) • Gr 5-9 physics is conceptual(Hewitt at grades 7-9 in KSYK1) • HS physics is algebraic (Knight alg-trig at KSYK) • HS has 8 physics courses, of which 1 is compulsory; courses are short & intensive, 5-7 weeks • HS “long form” sequence math ends about US Calc IILong form math: 13 courses, 10 compulsoryRegular form math: 8 courses, 6 compulsory • Readiness: University of Helsinki first year physics starts with Calc Based Intl Ed of Knight in English • Kulosaari secondary school, http://www.ksyk.fi/en/ is an international school following the national curriculum

  6. Faculty of Science / Ari Hämäläinen “Less is more” Ranking of Finland in Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) surveys [2]

  7. Faculty of Science / Ari Hämäläinen Teacher Education: General • Attractive • Academic • Research-based • Master's Degree

  8. Faculty of Science / Ari Hämäläinen Subject Teacher Education: General • Two main paths to enter • In the beginning of one's academic studies • After completing a Master's degree in one major and 1-2 minor subjects • Cooperation • Subject department: subject-matter program for teachers • Department of Teacher Education: pedagogical studies

  9. Faculty of Science / Ari Hämäläinen Physics Teacher Preparation Program at University of Helsinki Physics as the first teaching discipline • Bachelor's degree in physics • Master's degree in physics education • Total of 300 ECTS credits, 3 + 2 years(1 credit equals 25 – 30 h full-time studying) • Physics content targets fostering deep conceptual understanding of the physics studied in grade school • No upper-division physics courses such as Classical Mechanics, Mathematical Methods, etc.

  10. Faculty of Science / Ari Hämäläinen Bachelor's degree (3 years) • Physics contents: the same as for all physics students • Mechanics • Electromagnetism • Electrodynamics • Waves and fields • Basic relativity • Thermophysics • Measurement methods • Structure of matter • Laboratory work

  11. Faculty of Science / Ari Hämäläinen Bachelor's degree (cont.) • Minor in the second teaching discipline (usually mathematics or chemistry) • General studies (IT, language, etc) • Subject teacher studies at Department of Teacher Education • Developmental psychology and learning • Special education • General and subject-specific didactics • Basic teaching practice in Teacher Training School • Seminar: teacher as a researcher. Preparation of a research plan. • Bachelor´s thesis (Dept of Physics) • often has the same topic as the upcoming Master's thesis

  12. Faculty of Science / Ari Hämäläinen Master's degree (2 years) • Specific physics courses for teachers (Dept of Physics) • Teachers' laboratory I & II • Concepts and structures of physics I & II • History and philosophy of Physics • Teachers' thesis seminar • Optional physics courses

  13. Faculty of Science / Ari Hämäläinen Master's degree (continued) • Subject teacher studies at Department of Teacher Education • Social, historical and philosophical foundations of education • Advanced and final teaching practices in Teacher Training School or Field School • Seminar: teacher as a researcher. Completing the research • Master's thesis (Pro Gradu) (Dept of Physics)

  14. Faculty of Science / Ari Hämäläinen History of Physics • Development of physics as a science and a discipline • Utilizing history of physics as a didactical tool • How central physics phenomena were found • Progress of the scientific method • Historical viewpoint to evolution of concepts, models and theories

  15. Faculty of Science / Ari Hämäläinen Concepts and structures of physics I & II • Structure of physical knowledge • Goals of physics as a science • How does the scientific method and the interaction between empiry and theory control the evolution of the concept structure that is typical for physics • Practical aims: • Learn the physics way of thinking • Learn “how to speak good physics” in teaching • Learn how to use cooperation of theory and empiry for developing teaching strategies and setting goals

  16. Faculty of Science / Ari Hämäläinen Teachers' laboratory I & II • Learn to implement and design teaching based on empirical concept formation • Learn to use various equipment, including computer-based lab tools • Lectures cover experiments in main physics topics from primary to upper secondary school • Students choose 2+3 topics • Written plan + concept map (links are experiments) • Making the experiments • Written report + revised concept map

  17. Faculty of Science / Ari Hämäläinen Teachers' laboratory I & II Forming concepts: Interaction, impulse, and inertial mass

  18. Faculty of Science / Ari Hämäläinen Pro Gradu: examples of topics • Teaching the electron in high school physics and chemistry • Environment and society in physics teaching: climate change • The view of learning embedded in physics textbookshttp://per.physics.helsinki.fi/kirjasto/ont/msloan/Gradu%20Final.pdf • Constructing a set of concept map tools for teaching • Teaching dynamics by experiments to visually impaired students • Physics for preschoolers • Physics for musicians • Physics of clay shooting • Quantitative exploration of the Doppler effect in teaching

  19. Faculty of Science / Ari Hämäläinen Physics Teacher Preparation Physics as a second teaching discipline • Most physics in schools is taught by math teachers! • Most physics teachers are also math teachers First teaching subject of participants of Teachers' Lab courses in 2004 – 2011, N = 310

  20. Faculty of Science / Ari Hämäläinen Physics as a second teaching discipline • Physics Education Minor program is part of the Bachelor's Degree (Physics Education Major program is a part of the Master's Degree) • Basic studies in physics for minors • Motion and forces • Heat and energy • Electricity and magnetism • Matter and radiation • Laboratory work (together with majors)

  21. Faculty of Science / Ari Hämäläinen Physics as a second teaching discipline (continued) • Compulsory subject studies in physics • Concepts and structures of physics I & II for minors • Teachers' laboratory I & II for minors • Optional subject studies in physics • History and philosophy of physics • 2-3 Bachelor's Degree courses in physics, astronomy, geophysics or meteorology

  22. Faculty of Science / Ari Hämäläinen Teacher Qualification • To get a tenure, one must be qualified (today, must have Master's Degree) • Qualification is proven by a personal diploma given by the university; no central record of certifications • Schools are allowed to hire unqualified teachers in temporary positions • Many pre-service teachers work part-time as substitutes during their studies

  23. Faculty of Science / Ari Hämäläinen References and links • Sahlberg, P. Finnish Lessons. What can the world learn from educational change in Finland? Teachers College, Columbia University. www.finnishlessons.com.Pasi Sahlberg is a past Finnish math and physics teacher, amongst many other things. • www.pisa.oecd.org • www.oph.fi/english • per.physics.helsinki.fi/eng/ • www.helsinki.fi/teachereducation/ • tinyurl.com/Jan2011poster-ppt

  24. Faculty of Science / Ari Hämäläinen Thank you • Questions, please! • Ari.Hamalainen@helsinki.fi

More Related