FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY

Department of Physics

Syllabus for Seminar in Physics Education - Spring 2008

Science Educational Theory and Practice

Class Web Site: http://www.fiu.edu/~kramerl/Teaching/3993S08/

Last Update: Saturday, December 29, 2007 10:38 AM

Instructors:

Eric Brewe

ZEB 259A

Office Hours:

(305) 348-3507

Eric.Brewe at fiu.edu

 
 

Laird Kramer

CP 211

Office Hours: 1:00 - 3:00 pm, TR

(305) 348-6073

Laird.Kramer at fiu.edu

http://www.fiu.edu/~kramerl

 

Leanne Wells

VH 167

Office Hours:

(305) 348-9305

Leanne.Wells at fiu.edu

 

Course Description

The course will touch on theoretical issues such as conceptual development, conceptual change, collaborative learning, technology in education, and students’ conceptions of various topics in physics, as well as practical issues encountered in facilitating learning, managing the classroom, formative and summative assessment, and differentiating instruction in a collaborative environment.  This is a seminar course where students are responsible for weekly readings (in lieu of a course textbook), in-class discussions, reflection papers and project presentations all based on the Learning Assistant placements. 

 

COURSE ORGANIZATION AND REQUIREMENTS

Course Description

This course is a seminar, and its success will depend on the active participation of all members in helping to shape its ultimate content and relevance. Our primary activity will be in-depth discussions of course topics and readings. Requirements include the following:

  1. Class discussion/participation/Journals. Class members are expected to contribute to class discussions. The purpose of these discussions is to help us as individuals, and as a group, develop meaningful interpretations of the ideas conveyed by the readings and to make connections to the Learning Assistant teaching experience. To help prepare for discussion, we encourage you to form study groups to talk about questions or issues you have about the readings. Additionally, at the end of each class period you are expected to write a paragraph or two just to reflect on the discussions that took place that day. You will be given 5-10 minutes at the end of each class period to jot down your thinking. Turn them in before you leave class.
  2. Short Article and Teaching Reflection Papers. For two class sessions during the semester, you are required to turn in a (two-page, double-spaced, 12 pt. font, reasonably margined) reflective paper on the readings for the week that includes the following:
    1. A summary of the central issue(s) or argument(s) contained in the readings. (If there are several readings by different authors, it is not necessary to analyze each individual reading separately. It is more appropriate to write a narrative that weaves together the central issues or arguments. Take the information from one article and compare/contrast it with the information from the others if possible.)
    2. Analyses of how these issues are connected to each other and to other readings.
    3.  A discussion of the relationship of the issues/topics and your teaching experiences as a Learning Assistant.
  3. One reflection is due by Feb 19, the second due by April 1 .
    Although you are expected to turn in only 2 reflections, it may be beneficial to you to
    keep a journal of your article reflections each week.
  4. Weekly Teaching and Reflections on LA Teaching Each student is expected to spend approximately 5-10 hours per week working with undergraduate mathematics and science students in collaborative, learner-centered, technology-enhanced environments. Each class member is expected to log a web-based reflection on his or her teaching and on student learning by 5:00 PM each Monday. You can find the online reflection forms at http://physics.fiu.edu/SOMETHING. You cannot pass the course if you do not complete your weekly online teaching reflections.
  5. Weekly meetings with Lead Faculty in Mathematics and Science to Plan Each week you are responsible for meeting with your lead faculty member and the other Learning Assistants in your department (sometimes including the graduate TAs) to plan and reflect on instruction and to discuss student achievement. You cannot pass the course if you fail to meet with your lead instructor each week (with allowances for necessary absences).
  6. Final Project: The purpose of this project is for you to apply and synthesize what you have learned related to teaching, learning, mathematics, technology, science, and students. You will develop a poster presentation that describes your current beliefs about student learning and the appropriate teaching that facilitates that learning. The aspects of teaching and learning you identify should reference sources in the literature and your experiences as a Learning Assistant. Since each presentation will address different FDE Performance-Based Standards for teachers, we anticipate that we will get a full review of the course content, your experiences, and connections as you visit and discuss the posters of your peers.

Email List: A class mailing list has been established. You are required to maintain contact with the list as important announcements will be made through the list. You are encouraged to post questions, answers, jokes, etc to the list. we will monitor the list and provide guidance when appropriate. You have been subscribed to the list through your FIU email account. You should have received an email with details including the location of the list archive. You may add or change the email account by contacting your instructor. You may also forward email from your FIU account to any other account. Note that the list is a closed list; therefore, all messages must come from a currently subscribed address.

Grading:

The grading breakdown is:

Participation

25%

Article Reflections

25%
Web Reflections
25%
Final Project
25%

 Course Outline / Reading List*

Week / Date

Topic

Reading (have read by this day)

1: Jan 8

Equity, Gender and Sexual Harassment Training

Fennema, E. (1993). Gender equity for mathematics and science. Paper presented at the conference of the Woodrow Wilson, Leadership Program for Teachers, Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, Princeton, NJ.

2: Jan 15

Discussion Techniques and Questioning Strategies: Dialogic versus Univocal; Formative Assessment

Knuth and Peressini (2001). Unpacking the Nature of Discourse in Mathematics Classrooms. Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, 6(5) pp. 320-325.

3: Jan 22

Learning Theory and Cognitive Science in Mathematics and Science Education; Formative Assessment

Redish, E. (1994), Implications of cognitive studies for teaching physics; American Journal of Physics, (62) 9.

4: Feb 5

Questioning and Discussion and Managing the Cooperative Classroom

Trowbridge, Bybee, Powell (2000). Questioning and Discussion, Prentice Hall, Chapter 12.

5: Feb 12

Student Epistemology its effects on learning strategies; Instructor impact on student epistemology

Hammer, D. (1994), Epistemological beliefs in introductory physics; Cognition and Instruction, (12) 2.

6: Feb 19

Learning Cycles in Mathematics and Science

Lawson, A.E., Renner, J.W. (1975), Piagetian theory and biology teaching; American Biology Teacher, (37) 6.

7: Feb 26

Metacognition and Argumentation

Schoenfeld, A. (1987). What’s All the Fuss About Metacognition?, In A. Schoenfeld (Ed.) Cognitive Science and Mathematics Education, Hillsdale, N.J. : Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 189-215. Jimenez-Aleixandre, M., Rodrigues, A., Duschl, R. (2000). “Doing the Lesson” or “Doing Science”: Argument in High School Genetics, Science Education, 84 757-792.

8: Mar 4

Self-Explanations and Tutoring: The Collaborative Construction of Knowledge

Chi, M.H. (1996). Constructing Self-Explanations and Scaffolded Explanations in Tutoring, Applied Cognitive Psychology 10, S33-S49. VanLehn, K., Siler, S., and Murray, C. (2003). Why Do Only Some Events Course Learning During Human Tutoring? Cognition and Instruction, 21(3), 209-249. Chi, M.H., Siler, S. and Jeong, H. (2004). Can Tutors Monitor Students’ Understanding Accurately? Cognition and Instruction, 22(3), 363-387.

9: Mar 11

Multiple Intelligences, Student Differences and Differentiated Instruction

Tomlinson, C.A. (1999), The Differentiated Classroom, Washington D.C.: ASCD. Armstrong, T. (2000). MI and Cognitive Skills. In Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom 2nd Ed. ASCD.

10: Mar 18

 

Spring Break

 

Cooperative Learning and The Nature of Science/The Nature of Mathematics

Johnson, D.W., Johnson, R.T. (1999), Making cooperative learning work; Theory into Practice, (38) 2. Johnson, D.W., Johnson, R.T., Smith, K.A. (1998), Cooperative learning returns to college; Change (98) 4. Lederman, N.G. (1998), The state of science education: Subject matter without context; Electronic Journal of Science, (3) 2

11: Mar 25

Teaching with Technology; Technology and Student-Centered Instruction

 Hooper, S., Rieber, L.P. (1995), Teaching with technology. In A.C. Ornstein (Ed.), Teaching: Theory into Practice, (pp. 154-170). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

12: Apr 1

Recruitment Open House

JILA 10th Floor: You will be present to speak with LA recruits about your experiences teaching.

13: Apr 8

The development of student conceptions from K-12 and the NRC Standards and AAAS Benchmarks; Summative Assessment and Learning Gains

Investigate the AAAS Project 2061 Website http://www.project2061.org/tools/benchol/bolintro. htm and the NRC National Science education standards website http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/nses/html

14: Apr 15

Qualities of effective teaching

Stronge, J.H., (2002), Qualities of Effective Teachers; Washington D.C.: ASCD.

15: Apr 22

Poster Session

Final Poster Projects

     

 

Grading

In order to foster cooperation and collaboration among as many of you as possible, grades will based on an absolute scale. This means that helping others will not jeopardize your grades, it will, most likely, improve your grade as explaining concepts to other develops understanding for yourself. The grading scale for both lecture and lab sections is:

Grade:

Minimum Average:

A
90
A-
85

B+
80
B
75
B-
70
C+
65
C
60
C-
55
D+
50
D
45
D-
40
F
0

 

 

*subject to change

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