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American Journal of Physics -- December 2010 -- Volume 78, Issue 12, pp. 1265

Design principles for effective physics instruction: A case from physics and everyday thinking

Fred Goldberg1, Valerie Otero2, and Stephen Robinson3

1Department of Physics, San Diego State University, San Diego, California 92120
2School of Education, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309
3Department of Physics, Tennessee Technological University, Cookeville, Tennessee 38501

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Although several successful inquiry-based physics and physical science curricula have been developed, little has been published that describes the development of these curricula in terms of their basic design principles. We describe the research-based design principles used in the development of one such curriculum and how these principles are reflected in its pedagogical structure. A case study drawn from an early pilot implementation illustrates how the design principles play out in a practical classroom setting. Extensive evaluation has shown that this curriculum enhances students’ conceptual understanding and improves students’ attitudes about science.

© 2010 American Association of Physics Teachers

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors would like to thank the instructors who field-tested PET for their helpful feedback. The authors would also like to thank one of the anonymous reviewers, who made substantive suggestions for improving the evaluation section of this paper. The development of PET (and PSET) was supported by National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0096856.

Article Outline

  1. INTRODUCTION
  2. DESIGN PRINCIPLES
    1. Learning builds on prior knowledge
    2. Learning is a complex process requiring scaffolding
    3. Learning is facilitated through interaction with tools
    4. Learning is facilitated through interactions with others
    5. Learning is facilitated through the establishment of certain specific behavioral practices and expectations
  3. DESIGN OF THE PHYSICS AND EVERYDAY THINKING CURRICULUM
    1. Structure and goals of the PET curriculum
    2. Structure of a chapter
    3. Structure of an activity
  4. CASE STUDY: STUDENT LEARNING AND THE DESIGN PRINCIPLES
    1. Context of study
    2. Initial ideas
    3. Collecting and interpreting evidence
    4. Summarizing questions
  5. COURSE EVALUATION
  6. CONCLUSIONS

KEYWORDS and PACS

Keywords

educational courses, physics education

PACS

  • 01.40.Fk

    Research in physics education

RELATED DATABASES

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History
Received Nov 2009
Accepted Jul 2010

PUBLICATION DATA

ISSN

0002-9505 (print)  

Publisher

$abstract.society.value is a Member of CrossRef American Association of Physics Teachers

ARTICLE DATA

Digital Object Identifier
http://dx.doi.org/10.1119/1.3480026

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