TMW student-mode becomes student-mode AF

One of the most powerful aspects of these modeling workshops is the opportunity to step out of teacher-mode, chain our inner-explainer and try to approach physics discussions from the perspective of our students. As it turns out this is a very difficult thing to do because it isn't a matter of "playing dumb" as our students are far from dumb - they bring to the discussion years of observations about the world and a set of complex reasoning to explain them. So I think this exercise in retrospective amnesia where we try to remember what it was like to not "know" physics concepts can be a huge first step in identifying student (pre/mis)conceptions and where they might struggle (even with your crystal clear explanation and accompanying PowerPoint slides J).

As I reflect on the first week of the Waves Modeling Workshop I am struck by how authentic my student-mode has been. This isn't role play anymore. I am experiencing confusion, cognitive conflict, frustration. Translation: I'm uncomfortable. Translation: I'm learning.

How robust can my understanding of wave physics be if my underlying operational definition of a wave is flawed? While I "know" how waves interact with boundaries my personal understanding generally pivots on analogy to objects that bounce or change direction. While I had always considered waves to be one of the easier topics in the curriculum, I am realizing that teaching wave physics has much more nuance than I had given it credit. While it has been frustrating, this workshop is helping me work out my own conceptions so I can better help students do the same.

Retrospective Amnesia

It’s easy to become so familiar with concepts that they seem trivial. It’s difficult to remember when you didn’t know, but a little retrospective amnesia can go a long way.

(SOCS-P Arnold Arons: Teaching Introductory Physics)

Class demos can serve a purpose but it is important that students be involved in the thinking process. The punch line of the demo is the thinking, not "because of inertia" 

(SOCS-I Arnold Arons: Teaching Introductory Physics)

Value in the Struggle

Omissions and simplifications of challenging concepts is disrespectful of student abilities. They can do it if I can provide meaningful experiences and Socratic guidance.  There is value in the struggle.

(SOCS-P – Arons. Teaching Introductory Physics)

Relinquishing the Spotlight

It is evident that passive learning is ineffective. It is my goal to give my students center stage - allowing them to articulate and defend their understanding. I'm a guide.
(SOCS - I: Wells/Hestenes/Swackhammer)

One of the most challenging things for me this past year was making sure the discussions were meaningful and consistently helping students bring the discussion to a "timely and satisfying closure."
To this end, the types of questions I ask and the way I ask them are very important. Students need to buy in that my questions are going somewhere, rather than viewing the discussion as a game of 'guess what's in my head.'

Another thing I need to work on is patience. Allow for silence sometimes, as uncomfortable as it may be at first. Students are not used to their new role in the spotlight. I need to give them time to acclimate rather than taking the spotlight back because they are uncomfortable.

I also need to be patience with myself. After trying it for a year, I know that modeling is not easy. Just as with most skills, it takes practice. A lot of practice. I've been told it takes 5 years to become a good teacher. Actually I was told "you will suck for 5 years." This article told me I will suck for 10 years. I need to be ok with that, and diligently work at 'sucking less.'


 

Time

Real learning takes time. Students need opportunities and time to grapple with abstract ideas. Recursion allows students to assimilate concepts as they reencounter them in new and increasingly rich contexts.  

(SOCS-I: Arons, Arnold Teaching Introductory Physics)

What is Physics?

It's a warm summer's evening... (Big Bang Theory reference anyone?)

Students’ enter class with preconceptions of physical concepts as well as predetermined ideas of what physics (or learning in general) entails. Left unaddressed, the latter is as much an impediment to learning as content preconceptions. 

(SOCS- I: Hammer, Mestre)

To students, physics is a collection of formulas (handed down from on high) to be memorized/manipulated. Unfortunately our textbooks and traditional teaching methods can serve to reinforce this. As a result students develop ineffective problem solving strategies that center on finding the right equation rather than invoking experience-based intuition or some underlying conceptual understanding. 

Capturing the Fleeting Instant

A comprehensive understanding of motion is predicated on understanding the concepts of instantaneous position and clock reading. Without these, we cannot develop concepts of average velocity, instantaneous velocity, or acceleration.

(SOCS-C : Arons, Arnold. Teaching Introductory Physics)