Dr. Meta Van Sickle
Department of
Foundations, Secondary & Special Education
Office: 9 College Way,
Rm 106
Phone: (843) 953-6357
vansicklem@cofc.edu
Dr. Jeff Wragg
Department of
Physics & Astronomy
Office: 322a Bell Bldg.
Phone: (843) 953-5781
wraggj@cofc.edu
Applications of Physics for Teachers - How Things Work
Fall 2001
Room 344 SciC, TR, 7:00 - 9:45 pm
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Handouts
Introduction Assumed Knowledge Attendance Goals Major Topics Journal Due Dates Homework Grades Email the class PBL rubric Web Resources |
Introduction
This course is for teachers at all levels. It is our aim to make this class relevant to your classroom, as well as to enhance your personal understanding of physics. We hope that we connect the physics to a wide variety of fields: biology, anatomy, geology, astronomy, and so on. We will also connect everything to the real world. Abstraction is good, but we want to make this material real for your students. This means that we need to be able to put every principle of physics in obvious terms to your classroom students.
We hope to empower you to function at a level such that you can meet the needs of every student, those exceptional ones on either side of the spectrum as well as those in the middle. This empowerment will enable you to analyze things outside of your normal curriculum, and to answer those embarrassingly frequent subtle and insightful questions that children ask.
If you have a question, please ask it. If you have a comment, please make it. Communication is the essence of the classroom experience.
Assumed Knowledge
No prior formal instruction in physics is assumed.
Attendance
Attendance, timeliness, and participation are critical to the learning process and an integral part of this course. Since class time is heavily invested in supplemental material you cannot possibly make up missed material simply by studying a text. In general, we believe that absence is its own punishment, that is, you miss things you can't possibly get by going over a classmate's notes. You are responsible for material covered that day. Contact one of your classmates for the notes. Failure to attend class on the day an assignment is assigned or due does not mean that you may turn in a late assignment without penalty. We record your attendance and participation after each session. You can lose up to two letter grades by failing to attend and participate.
Goals (standards)
- To begin to see science in everyday life (2)
- To provide the student with working knowledge of basic concepts and principles of physics (2)
- To provide opportunities for students to generalize their knowledge (2)
- To refine student problem solving and thinking skills (1,3,4)
- To develop and to expand students' physical intuition (4)
- To develop an appreciation for historical perspectives and a sensitivity for the interaction of society with science and technology (7)
- To participate in a variety of teaching styles (2)
- Assessment (6)
It is our job to create an environment and situations in which you can teach yourself. This course is organized by the above goals and objectives in order to achieve this end. The goal of education is to empower the individual student to be self-taught. We can't do this for you, but we can help a lot.
Possible Physics Topics
- Microwave oven
- Paper copier
- Elevator
- Global Positioning System (GPS)
- X-ray machines
- Refrigerators
- Lasers
- Electrostatic Precipitators
- Televisions
- Rigid Body Rotations
- Your own ideas??
Due Dates
Assignments are due at the beginning of class on the assigned day. Late assignments may be accepted (at our whim), but will ordinarily be penalized.
Journal
You need to keep a journal which is a commentary on your experiences and observations in this class. Include things such as the nature of the learning experience, teaching styles, relevance to your classroom, and physics content. It can be typed and/or handwritten, but must be legible. Journals will be collected bi-weekly.
Homework
Work problems neatly using only one side of the paper. Put your name on the top right corner on the back of the page. Neatness counts.
FINAL EXAM: Tuesday, Dec 4, 7:00 - 9:45 pm
Assessment
Your grade will be based on your performance in the 2 or 3 content exams (50 %), the Problem Based Learning lesson you develop (here is the rubric), the Structured Controversy debate, your Journal, the Final Paper (40 %), and attendance and participation (10 %).
updated: 02 Dec 01