Physics Teacher Training Program Honored by U.S. Department of Education

Physics is a challenging, but very important field in contemporary
education -- it is the basis of all modern science and the source of most
of the technological achievements of modern life. An innovative program at
Arizona State University has found what promises to be a better way to
teach it, according to the United States government.

The U.S. Department of Education announced on September 12 that the
Modeling Instruction Program at Arizona State University is one of seven
K-12 educational technology programs designated as exemplary and promising,
out of 134 programs submitted to the agency last year. The list can be
found on the Department of Education's website at
<http://www.ed.gov/offices/OERI/ORAD/LTD/panel.html> .

The Modeling Method of High School Physics Instruction has been under
development at ASU for more than a decade under the leadership of David
Hestenes, now Professor Emeritus of Physics. The program cultivates physics
teachers as school experts on the use of technology in science teaching and
encourages teacher-to-teacher training in science teaching methods, thereby
providing schools and school districts with a valuable resource for broader
reform.

With funding from the National Science Foundation and other sources, 200
leading high school physics teachers nationwide have learned Modeling
Instruction, as well as half of the 230 physics teachers in Arizona and
another 400 science teachers in the nation. Two-thirds of Phoenix area
physics teachers teach using the Modeling Method, including most inner city
Phoenix physics teachers.

The Modeling Method involves the use of carefully selected student
activities designed to encourage critical and analytic thinking and to
teach science through active student engagement rather than rote learning.

The teacher sets the stage for student activities, typically with a
demonstration and class discussion to establish common understanding of a
question to be asked of nature. Then, in small groups, students collaborate
in planning and conducting experiments to answer or clarify the question.
Students are required to present and justify their conclusions in oral
and/or written form, to develop models for the phenomena in question and to
evaluate their models by comparing them with data collected in experiments
that they design. Computers are used throughout the process as scientific
tools, with groups of three students working at one computer workstation
that includes a lab interface and sensors/probes.

"Although infusion of technology into the classroom is a key component of
this program, it is secondary to pedagogical reform," notes Jane Jackson,
co-director of the Modeling Instruction Program "The project goals are
fully aligned with the National Science Education Standards. The Modeling
Method corrects many weaknesses of the traditional lecture-demonstration
method, including fragmentation of knowledge, student passivity, and
persistence of naive beliefs about the physical world.

" Unlike the traditional approach, in which students wade through an
endless stream of seemingly unrelated topics, the Modeling Method organizes
the course around a small number of scientific models, thus making the
course coherent," she said.

According to Jackson, in classes where teachers fully implement Modeling
Instruction student achievement shows large gains - more than double the
gains achieved under traditional instruction (measured by a standard test
of basic physics understanding). The Modeling Method has proven success
with students who have not traditionally done well in physics, while also
enhancing the performance of all students. Experienced Arizona modelers
report increased enrollments in physics classes, parental satisfaction, and
enhanced achievement in college courses across the curriculum.

"The greatest promise of computers is to augment and extend human powers to
think," said program director Hestenes.  "In Modeling Instruction, students
learn to optimize the use of new tools, especially technological tools.
Students thereby learn to evaluate computer models. Such skills help
students become proficient and critical consumers of educational technology
and prepare them for entering a technology-infused work place."

The Modeling Instruction Program has stimulated formation of the Arizona
Science and Technology Education Partnership (AzSTEP), a university - high
school partnership to drive sustained reform of science teaching with
technology.  AzSTEP is an activity of ASU's Center for Research on
Education in Science, Mathematics, Engineering and Technology (CRESMET).
Northern Arizona University and the University of Arizona are partners with
ASU in AzSTEP.

                               ASU

More information on the program can be found at <http://modeling.la.asu.edu>