ASU Modeling Instruction & MNS Degree Programs: legacy site

This is the original Modeling Instruction Program website. We update it often for:
* ASU's summer graduate program for teachers (click below),
* research & evaluation (scroll down and click),
* resources for the modeling classroom, and weblinks for modelers (nationwide!)
For basics about the high school program, scroll down to "Modeling Instruction in High School Sciences" and click.

Visit our scale-up partner's Modeling Instruction site, hosted by the American Modeling Teachers Association (AMTA), for updated instructional resources for teachers worldwide.

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ASU Summer Graduate Program for Teachers of Physical Sciences
Modeling Workshops, interdisciplinary STEM courses, and contemporary physics courses for teachers of high school and two-year college physics and chemistry and junior high physical science. MNS degree with concentration in physics. (updated in November 2016.) Download a flier.

The ASU Modeling Instruction program and MNS degree program meet the following needs. The National Science Education Standards (NRC, 1996) emphasize that "coherent and integrated programs" supporting "lifelong professional development" of science teachers are essential for significant reform. "The conventional view of professional development for teachers needs to shift from technical training for specific skills to opportunities for intellectual professional growth." The Glenn Commission report Before It's Too Late (2000) states: "We are of one mind in our belief that the way to interest children in mathematics and science is through teachers who are not only enthusiastic about their subjects, but who are also steeped in their disciplines and who have the professional training—as teachers—to teach those subjects well. Nor is this teacher training simply a matter of preparation; it depends just as much—or even more— on sustained, high-quality professional development."

These ASU programs were rated "Accomplished" in 2015 by Change the Equation .

Nationwide opportunities for professional growth:

Modeling Workshops nationwide for summer 2017 are listed at the American Modeling Teachers Association (AMTA) website. Workshop descriptions are at the PhysTEC website. (More workshops will be added, so visit often.)

For historical purposes and for continuity, here is the link to the 50 Modeling Workshops nationwide in summer 2012.

Modeling Instruction is Effective (2000): data summary.
Modeling Instruction is Effective (2011): published FCI data for ~1100 high school physics students. Download.

NSF report: Findings of the Modeling Workshop Project: 1994-2000. pdf
NSF report: Findings of the ASU Summer Graduate Program for Physics Teachers (2002-2006) pdf

Modeling Instruction in colleges and universities nationwide, as of 2015: testimonies. .doc Website of Dwain Desbien & Tom Okuma's modeling-friendly short workshops for two-year college and high school teachers (NSF-funded until 2015). 25 modeling-friendly labs & activities from this project. Remodeling University Physics: NSF-supported research at ASU until 2003 to reform introductory physics at the university/college level. Peer leaders: Dwain Desbien, Eric Brewe, Michael Politano. (website updated in 2007)

Research & Evaluation

Research findings, publications and evaluation instruments [Force Concept Inventory (FCI), Mechanics Baseline Test (MBT), Views About Science Survey (VASS), RTOP & Modeling Self-Assessments, links to research-based concept inventories in sciences]. Dissertations; evaluations of Modeling Instruction and other programs. Two taxonomies of student conceptions about force and motion.

Cognitive Instruction in Mathematical Modeling The CIMM program is transforming mathematics education to include conceptual understanding (grouping structure), symbol construction (algorithmic manipulations), problem solving and mathematical reasoning. (updated in 2011)

STEM Professional Development: our vision, policy, and actions

Science teachers need professional development! convince your policy makers. Also, see Federal ESSA grant opportunities in 2017.
Organize a Modeling Workshop or school inservice with these documents (1 1/2 hours to 3 weeks).

Remodeling Science Education, what is needed -- by David Hestenes (an invited talk in Taiwan, 2011)
    AMTA Camp 2014: plenary slides of David Hestenes' 3-fold vision, and a group picture

A role for physicists in STEM education reform (a guest editorial by David Hestenes), Am. J. Phys. 83: 101 (2015). Posted with permission by the AAPT. http://dx.doi.org/10.1119/1.4904763+
Modeling Instruction for STEM Education Reform, a major proposal by David Hestenes (2009).
A Critical Role for Physics Departments in K-12 Science Reform -- article by David Hestenes and Jane Jackson (2004).

University - School partnerships for sustained science education reform. (NSF grant, 1999-2002).
Activities and Significance of the Modeling Workshop Project (1994-2000), by David Hestenes. David Hestenes' vision for high school physics is reflected in the activities, contributions, and significance expressed in the 10-page document submitted to the NSF.
National Center for Physics Education -- a proposal to stimulate action by the physics community, submitted by David Hestenes in 2000 to the AAPT.

National community
Local Physics Alliances - Learning communities of physics teachers

To subscribe to any of 5 modeling listservs for physics, chemistry, biology, or physical science teachers, email jane.jackson@asu.edu .

STEMteachersNYC is the first of a nationwide group of local science alliances of, by, and for K-20 teachers who are committed to effective STEM education.

Arizona community

The Arizona Crisis in Physics Education in 2016: a 1-page summary. View . Download.

Mike Vargas' PowerPoint presentation on the physics shortage in Arizona. (Sept. 2016)

The physics teacher shortage in Greater Phoenix is worsening (2016): evidence (7 pages). View. Download.

Why high school physics enrollment needs to double in Arizona (2 pages of research & policy, pdf). View.

STEM Pathways & Literacy in Arizona: A huge increase in STEM graduates occurred in Arizona's universities by 2007, due to Modeling Instruction (3 pages, pdf). View. (July 2016)

How to increase physics enrollment in high school.