Finding out about how people (at any age) learn has been one of the principal objectives of educational psychology. During the last decade physics teachers have finally started paying attention to this important collection of findings, and have conducted their own educational experiments. The results are pretty dramatic. They show us that very little learning takes place during a conventional college lecture. The person(s) doing the talking is(are) the person(s) doing the thinking. If you stand the door of one of these classrooms you'll see what I mean. Take a look at the faces of the students. They may be thinking alright, but they're thinking about the upcoming weekend, not the content being "dished out" at the front of the room. There are much better ways to teach.
Students have to be actively involved in a dynamic exchange. They need to be discussing the issues, problems, and concepts. But more than this, they also need to be creative. These higher-order cognitive activities help build structure, insight, and thought processes that are not only the very best way to learn difficult ideas, but also are essential qualities of a successful professional. There are many ways to encourage active-engagement learning in the classroom. However, what is really necessary is a new approach to teaching.
This theme was the subject of my presentation as the CSM 2001 Faculty Senate Distinguished Lecturer, entitled "It's Time for a Change to a More Effective Paradigm in College Teaching" . We are engaged with a change like this in the Physics Department at CSM.
The Physics Learning Studio is an integrated, computer-assisted learning system that we have developed over a period of four years. It is taught in a specially designed classroom in the Center for Technology and Learning Media (CTLM) .
| We use a two-day learning cycle, with two of these cycles per week. Each cycle includes a one-hour session designed to provide an overview and demonstration of new topics. Students participate in these sessions through infrared personal communicators. The instructor can obtain immediate feedback about understanding of difficult concepts. The second part of the cycle is a two-hour session in the studio classroom. Students work in partnerships,
using the equipment provided at computer workstations.
They learn how to form accurate descriptions of their observations
using both simple and sophisticated hands-on experiments. Many
activities involve real-time simulations that allow
investigations of scenarios that are difficult to physically
create. Considerable time is devoted to tutoring in problem-solving
and structured practice. Most of the lessons rely heavily on the
visualization, data acquisition, computation, and the communication
power of networked computers. The faculty instructor
in the Physics Learning Studio is a facilitator
and coach.
The entire system, including computerized homework and an outside-of-class communication network, operates as a web site. You can have a look for yourself by visiting |
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Students respond well to this approach. They like it. The get engaged with the material and they stay with it. Our assessment of the Physics Learning Studio has been very encouraging. The students are acquiring a much better understanding of the fundamentals of physics. In addition, they are learning problem-solving skills more effectively. Follow-up evaluations have shown that Learning Studio students end up doing better in PHGN200, the next course, compared to those who learned through conventional courses.
This has been an exciting process. The talented students what we have at Mines deserve the very best...this includes the very best teaching methods...so that they can achieve their potential.