Problem Based Learning in the Physical Sciences

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Problem Based Learning in the Physical Sciences

• A Course for Elementary Education Majors
• Keith Sturgess, Ph.D. Mary CosgroveAssistant
  Professor of Physics Assistant Professor of
  BiologyThe College of Saint Rose The College of
  Saint Rose Albany, New York Albany, New York

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About the College of Saint Rose

• Located in downtown Albany NY
• Four Schools
• Education
• Science and Math
• Arts and Humanities
• Business
• Approximately 4000 full time students
• Undergraduate and Masters-level
• 1100 Childhood and Special Education Majors
• 450 Science Majors (no physics major)

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Background

• All Childhood Education majors are required to
  take a two semester lab-based science sequence
• Science 100 Physics and Chemistry team taught
  by 2 faculty members
• Science 200 Earth Science and Biology (also
  team taught)
• Each course consists of
• Two 75 minute inquiry-based classroom experiences
  per week
• One 150 minute guided inquiry based laboratory
  per week
• One 60 minute problem-based workshop per week

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Course Design

• Course Theme The high price of Gasoline
• Objectives
• Present generally the same course content, but in
  the context of the course theme
• Robustly connect science and civic engagement by
  teaching through complex, contested, current,
  and unresolved public issues to basic science.
• Invite students to put scientific knowledge and
  scientific method to immediate use on matters of
  immediate interest to students.

The last 2 objective come from SENCER Ideals
http//www.sencer.net/About/pdfs/SENCERIdeals.pdf
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Course Syllabus Development

• We began the course by having the students make a
  list of what they knew and what they wanted to
  know about the high price of Gasoline. Some
  questions were
• What is gasoline?
• Where does it come from?
• How does a car engine work?
• What about hybrid and electric cars?
• Those lists drove the syllabus for the course.

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Sample Lecture Content

• How does gas make a car move?
• Physics thermodynamics, forces, kinematics
• Chemistry atoms, elements, compounds, combustion
  reaction
• Where does gas come from?
• Geology/Biology, organic chemistry
• Hybrid and Electric Cars
• How they work, electricity, circuits, generators
• Which leads to electrical generation by wind,
  coal, solar, nuclear
• Chemistry Batteries, acid-base, pH

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Example Laboratory Experiences

• Chemical properties of gasoline
• Making mousetrap powered cars
• Fractional distillation
• Energy content of different hydrocarbons
• Making an electric generator and motor
• Wind Power
• Solar Power

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Problem Based Workshops

• The workshops are problem solving sessions in
  which the students meet in small groups guided by
  peer leaders.
• The problems are designed by the course
  instructors and are based on challenging real
  scientific problems.
• Guided by peer leaders, the students propose and
  develop solutions as a group.
• The workshops provide the students with a deeper
  understanding of the scientific topics being
  studied and a better understanding that science
  is a process by which knowledge is gained.
• Examples
• Determine the height above the 1st floor of the
  4th floor railing in the science center.
• Is the Ivory-billed Woodpecker extinct?
• Create a periodic table for the planet Xeron

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Peer Leaders

• Who they are
• The peer leaders are students that have either
  successfully completed SCI100/200 or are
  majoring/concentrating in a science field.
• Whats in it for them
• The peer leaders gain valuable pedagogical
  experience and reinforce their own knowledge.
• Paid a small stipend
• Training
• An intensive day-long class on techniques for
  engaging students in small group discussions
• Weekly meeting with faculty to discuss upcoming
  workshops
• Weekly peer-leader only meeting to prepare lesson
  plans for upcoming workshops

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Service Learning

• Service learning is method of learning that
  provides a service to the community using an
  authentic application of the course concepts.
• Students reflect upon and evaluate their
  experiences and incorporate the new knowledge
  into their course work.
• Service Learning is fundamental to the SCI100/200
  program. Students have an opportunity to use the
  science they have learned in the classroom for
  the benefit of the community. SCI100/200 students
  have volunteered in
• local schools,
• environmental centers,
• museums, and
• discovery centers.
• They have worked with children and adolescents
  with autism and developmental disabilities.
• All of these experiences are positive, real,
  meaningful, and offer opportunities to solve
  problems in a real-world setting.

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Some Initial Outcomes
Question Avg response
Participating in groups is helpful in learning science 4
I am confident that I can prepare lessons to teach science 3.85
I am confident that I can teach science to elementary students 3.91
I am confident I can excite students about science 3.72
After taking this course I am interested in taking additional science courses 1.96

• We administered an attitudinal survey at the end
  of the course (we used the SALG and added our own
  questions)
• There was no survey of attitudes prior to the
  course, other than our first day discussions with
  the students about science. So data is anecdotal
  at this time.
• The scale used is 0 5 with zero be strongly
  disagree and 5 being strongly agree

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Interactive Lecture Demonstrations (ILD)

• Use of Computer Data Acquisition systems (Pasco)
  to do experiments for students in real-time to
  confront their misconceptions.

• Example Newtons 3rd Law. Students typically
  apply Newtons 3rd law correctly for a head-on
  collision between 2 equal mass vehicles, but
  almost always predict that the smaller car will
  experience a greater force than the larger car in
  an unequal mass head-on collision.
• After using the Newtons 3rd Law ILD
  (Interactive Lecture Demonstrations, Active
  Learning in Introductory Physics, Sokoloff and
  Thornton) my elementary educations majors
  performed BETTER than my calculus-based physics
  students (who did not receive the ILD) on and FCI
  question concerning Newtons 3rd Law.

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The Value of Interactive Lecture Demonstrations
Comparing performance on a force concept
inventory (FCI) question with and without ILDs
In the following figure, Student A has a mass of
75 kg and student B has a mass of 57 kg. They
sit in identical office chairs facing each other.
Student A places his bare feet on the knees of
student B as shown. Student A then suddenly
pushes outward with both his feet, causing both
chairs to move. During the push, and while the
two students are still touching one another, 1.
Neither student exerts a force on the other. 2.
Student A exerts a force on B, but student B does
not exert any force on A. 3. Each student exerts
a force on the other, but student B exerts a
larger force. 4. Each student exerts a force on
the other, but student A exerts a larger
force. 5. Each student exerts the same amount of
force on the other.
Correct Answer