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Monday afternoon
question, model, test, and evaluate their own ideas, rather than
follow a prescribed set of directions or recipes for experiments. The
curriculum evolves on the basis of the ideas that students bring up,
and the role of the teacher is to recognize, draw out, and build on the
nascent scientific ideas that students offer. Data from my third grade
classroom will highlight what responsive teaching is, how teacher
pedagogy and planning are affected, and the ways that students de-
velop skills and routines that are critical to the discipline of science.
*Sponsored by Amy Robertson
DG02:
4-4:30 p.m. The Content Outcomes of Responsive
Teaching in Physics
Invited – Leslie J. Atkins, California State University, Chico, 400 W 1st
St., Chico, CA 95926;
“Responsive teaching” has been described as an instructional ap-
proach that can bridge the epistemological and content goals of
physics teaching. That bridge, however, is never straightforward. For
while there are regularities in student ideas and classroom dynamics,
a consequence—even a hallmark—of responsive teaching is the idio-
syncratic nature of student inquiries. Such variation is apparent in my
own classes, in both the routes taken and the “destinations” that are
reached. And even as I intend to cover similar sets of topics from one
class to the next, I find that the final products of those inquiries vary
from year to year, and the nature of these products can be difficult to
compare to one other and even to the canon. In this talk, I discuss the
content outcomes of a responsively taught inquiry course, highlight-
ing both the significant physics that students learn, and the challenges
that their ideas pose.
DG03:
4:30-5:00 p.m. Learning to Teach Responsively:
Implications and Challenges for Teacher Education
Invited – Janet Coffey, Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation, 1661 Page
Mill Road, Palo Alto, CA 94304;
In this talk I’ll consider responsive teaching from the perspective of
teacher education—”what does it mean for how we think about work
with prospective teachers?” Drawing on data from a one-year master’s
teacher certification program, I examine some of the more significant
factors at play as prospective teachers learn to listen and respond to
the substance of student ideas in science. Data suggests that learning
to teach responsively has disciplinary grounding, which raises impli-
cations for science coursework for prospective teachers.
DG04:
5-5:30 p.m. Trying for Responsiveness in Lecture
Invited – David Hammer, Tufts University, Paige Hall, Medford, MA
02155-5555;
The notion we are considering in this session, “responsive teaching,”
is of attending to, making sense of, and working with the substance of
student thinking. Much of the point is epistemological: When student
questions become the focus of conversation, students can see that
their understandings and experiences are central to what is taking
place. But it seems like a notion of teaching that’s only for small class-
es. My purpose here is to consider possibilities in lecture, using one or
two video examples from my attempts. I’ll talk, mostly as a practitio-
ner, about attending to student thinking in that context, how there is
evidence for individuals and for the “class as a whole” in clicker tallies
and in student statements, certainly, but also in affective displays,
something like “the feeling of the room.” Of course, interpreting the
evidence is challenging, especially for on-the-fly decisions.
Session DH: Using History to
Teach Astronomy and Physics
Location: Salon 10
Sponsor: Committee on History and Philosophy in Physics
Date: Monday, January 6
Time: 3:30–5:10 p.m.
Presider: Todd Timberlake
DH01:
3:30-4 p.m. On the History and Future of Teaching
Science Through History
Invited – Travis Norsen, 210 Middle St., Hadley, MA 01035;
For those interested in the incorporation of historical material into
the physics/astronomy curriculum, Santayana’s dictum -- that “those
who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” -- sug-
gests taking a careful look at the surprisingly long and interesting his-
tory of this project. The talk will thus survey past and present attempts
to bring historical content and themes into the science classroom,
searching especially for practical lessons, convincing motivations, and
viable strategies that might help history achieve more success in the
future.
DH02:
4-4:30 p.m. Contact with the Past, Hands on the
Phenomena: Laboratory Activities in Ancient
Astronomy
Invited – James Evans,* University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, WA
98416-0002;
Ancient astronomy is rich in opportunities for hands-on learning,
about the natural world, as well as about intellectual and cultural his-
tory. This talk will illustrate some ways in which students can develop
a deeper appreciation of the history of science while also learning
some astronomy that is still perfectly valid and applicable today. Top-
ics to be covered include constructing a sundial, making a parapegma
(a star calendar), and predicting the position of a planet in the zodiac.
*Invited by Todd Timberlake
DH03:
4:30-5 p.m. Teaching Physics with Conceptual
History
Invited – Chuck Winrich, Babson College, 231 Forest St., Babson Park,
MA 02457-0310;
Andrew Duffy, Peter Garik, Nicholas Gross, Manher Jariwala, Boston
University
The Improving the Teaching of Physics (ITOP) Project at Boston
University combines physics content with the conceptual history of
physics and physics education research (PER) literature in professional
development courses for physics teachers. Teachers are introduced to
the history of conceptual development of mechanics, thermodynamics,
optics, electricity, magnetism, electromagnetism and modern physics
through readings from original and secondary sources. This historical
development is exploited to help teachers better understand the nature
of scientific models. It also supports readings from the PER literature
in which misconceptions of modern students often echo archaic
models. Interactive classroom discourse is fostered through the use
of compare-and-contrast exercises between the archaic and modern
theories. In addition to examples of these exercises, we will present
examples of how the teachers use history themselves, and discuss the
barriers they perceive to the use of history in the physics classroom.
DH04:
5-5:10 p.m. Exploring Artificial Solar Systems with
Ptolemy and Copernicus
Contributed – Todd K. Timberlake, Berry College, Mount Berry, GA
30149-5004;
I have developed a series of projects in which students model an
artificial solar system based on their own observations.
1
The students
use computer simulations to observe the shadows cast by a gnomon
and the motion of planets against the starry background. From their
observations students can construct detailed models for their solar
system using either the principles of Ptolemy or Copernicus. By
constructing both models, students gain a better understanding of
the relationship between Ptolemaic and Copernican astronomy. This
deeper understanding helps them to see why Ptolemaic astronomy
was so successful and to appreciate the elegance of the Copernican
model. Students can also verify that their Copernican model adheres
to Kepler’s laws of planetary motion.
1. Todd Timberlake, “Modeling the History
of Astronomy,”
Astron. Educ. Review
12
,
010201 (2013).
