4 October 2010XIII SEMANA DE LA ENSENANZA DE LA FISICA Active-Engagment Strategies that help students learn how to 'Think Like a Physicist' Corinne Manogue

4 October 2010XIII SEMANA DE LA ENSENANZA DE LA FISICA Support National Science Foundation –DUE , , –DUE , , Oregon State University Oregon Collaborative for Excellence in the Preparation of Teachers Grinnell College Mount Holyoke College Utah State University

4 October 2010XIII SEMANA DE LA ENSENANZA DE LA FISICA Our Thanks César Herreño XIII Semana de la Enseñanza de la Fízica For inviting us to come and meet all of you and learn about physics education in Colombia!

4 October 2010XIII SEMANA DE LA ENSENANZA DE LA FISICA

4 October 2010XIII SEMANA DE LA ENSENANZA DE LA FISICA The Purpose of Education —Reflection “For an educational process to be truly successful, it must encourage students to reflect on the conceptual foundation of their own education.” —FUNDAEC Fundación para la Aplicación y Enseñanza de las Ciencias—Colombia

4 October 2010XIII SEMANA DE LA ENSENANZA DE LA FISICA A Question for the Audience

4 October 2010XIII SEMANA DE LA ENSENANZA DE LA FISICA Main Message Physics is about things Teach geometric reasoning.

4 October 2010XIII SEMANA DE LA ENSENANZA DE LA FISICA Visualization—Table

4 October 2010XIII SEMANA DE LA ENSENANZA DE LA FISICA Visualization—Level Curves

4 October 2010XIII SEMANA DE LA ENSENANZA DE LA FISICA Visualization—Graph

4 October 2010XIII SEMANA DE LA ENSENANZA DE LA FISICA Curvilinear Coordinates

4 October 2010XIII SEMANA DE LA ENSENANZA DE LA FISICA Curvilinear Basis Vectors

4 October 2010XIII SEMANA DE LA ENSENANZA DE LA FISICA Curvilinear Basis Vectors

4 October 2010XIII SEMANA DE LA ENSENANZA DE LA FISICA Look for a unifying idea that allows students to see the coherence of the subject. Main Message

4 October 2010XIII SEMANA DE LA ENSENANZA DE LA FISICA The Vector Differential

4 October 2010XIII SEMANA DE LA ENSENANZA DE LA FISICA The Vector Differential

4 October 2010XIII SEMANA DE LA ENSENANZA DE LA FISICA The Geometry of Change

4 October 2010XIII SEMANA DE LA ENSENANZA DE LA FISICA The Master Formula where

4 October 2010XIII SEMANA DE LA ENSENANZA DE LA FISICA The Hill

4 October 2010XIII SEMANA DE LA ENSENANZA DE LA FISICA Visualization—Gradient

4 October 2010XIII SEMANA DE LA ENSENANZA DE LA FISICA Main Message Plan for a concept to build over time. Vibrant juxtapositions within a single class. Important concepts across several classes.

4 October 2010XIII SEMANA DE LA ENSENANZA DE LA FISICA Cross Product

4 October 2010XIII SEMANA DE LA ENSENANZA DE LA FISICA Cross Product

4 October 2010XIII SEMANA DE LA ENSENANZA DE LA FISICA Area Elements Find the area elements on the surface of a cylinder.

4 October 2010XIII SEMANA DE LA ENSENANZA DE LA FISICA Area Elements On top:On side:

4 October 2010XIII SEMANA DE LA ENSENANZA DE LA FISICA Main Message Understand ALL the different skills that students need to solve a problem. Help them break a complex problem into smaller pieces.

4 October 2010XIII SEMANA DE LA ENSENANZA DE LA FISICA An Example Typical of EARLY upper-division work for physics majors and many engineers. Solution requires: –many mathematical strategies, –many geometrical and visualization strategies, –only one physics concept. Demonstrates different use of language.

4 October 2010XIII SEMANA DE LA ENSENANZA DE LA FISICA Potential Due to Charged Disk What is the electrostatic potential at a point, on axis, above a uniformly charged disk?

4 October 2010XIII SEMANA DE LA ENSENANZA DE LA FISICA One Physics Concept Coulomb’s Law:

4 October 2010XIII SEMANA DE LA ENSENANZA DE LA FISICA Superposition Superposition for solutions of linear differential equations:

4 October 2010XIII SEMANA DE LA ENSENANZA DE LA FISICA Chopping and Adding Integrals involve chopping up a part of space and adding up a physical quantity on each piece.

4 October 2010XIII SEMANA DE LA ENSENANZA DE LA FISICA Computational Skill Can the students set-up and do the integral?

4 October 2010XIII SEMANA DE LA ENSENANZA DE LA FISICA Constants vs. Variables Which of these symbols are constants and which are variables?

4 October 2010XIII SEMANA DE LA ENSENANZA DE LA FISICA Limits (Far Away)

4 October 2010XIII SEMANA DE LA ENSENANZA DE LA FISICA Active Engagement

4 October 2010XIII SEMANA DE LA ENSENANZA DE LA FISICA Large-enrollment Classrooms

4 October 2010XIII SEMANA DE LA ENSENANZA DE LA FISICA Summary of Strategies Make the students do it/checking in –Small white boards –Kinesthetic activities Multiple reps –Cross Products Geometric Reasoning –Maple Activities Breaking apart complicated expressions –Small group activities—Potential due to a disk What kind of a beast is it –Parameters vs constants Chunking –Unifying ideas—Master formula Organization –Build the concept over time. –Concept Maps Content ordering –Math & physics together

4 October 2010XIII SEMANA DE LA ENSENANZA DE LA FISICA Lecture vs. Activities The Instructor: –Paints big picture. –Inspires. –Covers lots fast. –Models speaking. –Models problem- solving. –Controls questions. –Makes connections. The Students: –Focus on subtleties. –Experience delight. –Slow, but in depth. –Practice speaking. –Practice problem- solving. –Control questions. –Make connections.

4 October 2010XIII SEMANA DE LA ENSENANZA DE LA FISICA Socratic vs. Groups How does it feel to teach in these ways? vs. Everyone knows everything vs. No one knows anything