Modeling Instruction in High School Physics

Modeling Instruction in High School Physics is recommended as an Exemplary
science program.

Program Description. Modeling Instruction in High School Physics is
grounded on the thesis that scientific activity is centered on modeling:
the construction, validation, and application of conceptual models to
understand and organize the physical world. The program uses computer
models and modeling to develop the content and pedagogical knowledge of
high school physics teachers and train them to be leaders in science
teaching reform and technology infusion in their schools and districts. The
program relies heavily on professional development workshops to equip
teachers with a teaching methodology. Teachers are trained to develop
student abilities to make sense of physical experience, understand
scientific claims, articulate coherent opinions of their own, and evaluate
evidence in support of justified belief. For example, students analyze
systems using graphical models, mathematical models, and pictorial diagrams
called system schema.

Professional Development Resources and Program Costs. High school physics
teachers attend a series of intensive workshops over two years. Most
participants proceed to share their new pedagogical insights and techniques
with colleagues, and many commit to conducting modeling workshops. The
project plans to sustain and extend science teaching reforms instigated by
the workshops through the development of local infrastructures to support
the continued professional development of teachers. Regional Science and
Technology Education Partnerships (STEPs) are planned between university
physics departments and local physics teacher alliances. Foundations for
statewide partnerships already have been established in Arizona and
Wisconsin.

The cost for an individual teacher to implement the mechanics modeling
program includes tuition for a four-week summer workshop, $120 for
instructional materials, and travel/room/meal expenses. For a group of
school districts to implement the mechanics modeling program for 24 physics
teachers, minimal workshop costs include fees of $5000 x two master
teacher-leaders and $120 x 24 teachers for instructional materials.
Implementation of mechanics in the classroom is best accomplished with
computers that have laboratory interface (ULI) and three MBL probes: motion
detector, pair of photogates, and force probe. Typical cost of one
workstation is $2000. One computer for every three students is recommended.

Program Quality. Reviewers stated that the program's goals are explicit and
reflect current research on learning theory. As a supplement to any physics
course, the program's learning goals include reinforcement of the most
important concepts with the study of mechanics. The physics content
embedded in the units is fundamental to mechanics, physics, and all
science. The program's content is aligned with its stated goals, and the
instructional approach emphasizes important mechanics problems in depth.
Modeling Instruction in High School Physics utilizes experimental design,
control of variables, and calls for reasoning and application of skills in
solving various kinematics and dynamics problems. There is strong use of
student discourse, as evidenced by the need for students to present and
justify conclusions derived in the laboratory. Multiple strategies for
problem-solving are encouraged, reflecting sensitivity to individual
student differences and abilities. The program contains a rich, integral
system of assessment that is one of its strongest features, and the
multiple modalities it employs provide teachers with ample entry points
into the students' learning processes.

Usefulness to Others. Reviewers noted that many aspects of the teaching
methodology can be successfully transferred to other settings. The program
offers a wide range of teacher support, including information on
laboratory, extension, application, and deployment activities. The program
recommends teacher training of eight weeks over two summers to accomplish
pedagogical transformation and a large infusion of equipment and technology
in the classroom. Some school districts may need to seek external aid to
meet the costs of the program.

Educational Significance. The goals of the program strongly mirror the
vision promoted in the national science standards. Reviewers emphasized
that the program is impressive in its awareness of and attention to the
national content, teaching, and assessment standards. The program is
exceptional in its modeling and emphasis on the skills, attitudes, and
values of scientific inquiry. It addresses important individual and
societal needs by providing constructivist pedagogy for the fundamental
mechanics that are crucial to understanding the physical world.

Program Effectiveness and Success. Reviewers found that the program
provided extensive and persuasive evidence of gains in student
understanding of science and in inquiry, reasoning, and problem-solving
skills. Data also confirmed that an important factor in student learning is
the degree of implementation by teachers of modeling methods learned in the
workshops. There were repeated findings that greater degrees of program
implementation of the modeling methods were associated with larger student
gains. Reviewers commented that these repeated findings negated the
possibility that student improvements might be attributable to more
motivated teachers.

The program presented numerous evaluations that (a) utilized a pre-post
measure, Force Concept Inventory (FCI), on large numbers of both treatment
and matched comparison groups; (b) were carried out in multiple sites
during several years; and (c) made empirical connections between
implementation of the approach and results. Sample sizes varied from year
to year, with most final merged datasets ranging in size from about 1300
students and 50 teachers, for Phase I 1995-97 data collection, to over 3000
students and 70-80 teachers for the larger number of participants in Phase
IIa 1997-98 and Phase IIb 1998-99 data collection. Student data came from
three major high school course types: regular and introductory physics,
honors level physics, and advanced placement physics.

The FCI instrument has high reliability and was developed to assess the
effectiveness of introductory physics instruction, specifically the
effectiveness of mechanics courses to teach students to reliably
discriminate between the applicability of scientific concepts and naive
alternatives in common physical situations. FCI data on 24,000 students in
courses of hundreds of high school, college, and university teachers
indicated that students' na=EFve beliefs about motion and force are little
changed when using traditional instructional methods, while greater changes
can be achieved with instructional methods derived from modeling.

Repeated findings demonstrated greater gains for program students in
physics content knowledge when compared to physics students of the same
teachers in the year before the teachers implemented the program and
students in traditional physics classes and alternative reform programs.
The Modeling Instruction in High School Physics students exceeded the
performance of the comparison groups by margins that in some cases exceeded
two standard deviations.

=46or Further Information Contact:
Jane C. Jackson
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Box 871504
Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-1504
Telephone: (480) 965-8438; Fax: (480) 965-7331
E-mail:[email protected]
Web site: http://modeling.asu.edu