Modeling Instruction
in High School Physics, Chemistry, Physical Science, and Biology
The Modeling Method of High School Physics Instruction has been under development
at Arizona State University since 1990 under the leadership of David Hestenes,
Professor of Physics. The program cultivates physics teachers as school experts
on effective use of guided inquiry in science teaching, thereby providing schools
and school districts with a valuable resource for broader reform. Program goals
are fully aligned with 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. In 2000 the program was extended to physical science and
in 2005 to chemistry, by demand of committed teachers. In 2009, we wrote proposals
for a new program in biology.
Objectives
- Articles for everyone
- Articles, presentations, recommendations for educators
- Resources for the
modeling classroom
Action Research, useful dissertations, papers/presentations
by teachers, adaptations for 9th grade physics; how to use whiteboards
effectively and where to buy them, what equipment will help you run a
Modeling Instruction course, ideas for remodeling your classroom, funding
sources and sample grants for teachers.
- Web links for modelers
(Modelers' websites; other modeling programs in biology,
middle school, advanced high school sciences, college; computer modeling,
simulations; articles for administrators.)
- Compilations of teachers' posts to the Modeling listserv
and ChemMod listserv
260 compilations! Helpful hints on concerns that arise
in each unit of instruction, suggestions by Modelers about classroom management,
pace, AP, whiteboarding and more...
- Workshops for
professional development in your school district or in
partnership with a local university. Sample workshops from 2 hours to
3 weeks duration. How to organize and run them. Grant proposals, surveys,
recruitment, ideas.
- Lab practicums
- Activities that teachers can use at the end of a unit to assess how
well their students have learned the concepts in that unit.
- Curriculum materials for Modeling
Instruction
- Here are sample materials that give you some sense of what Modeling Instruction
is about.
Workshop participants have access to the most current materials and resources
on the password protected "Participants Resources" webpage.
- Material in this web site is based upon work supported by the National Science
Foundation under Grant No. ESI-9353423. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions
or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and
do not necesarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
List of Modeling Workshop
leaders by state
Hundreds of teachers are eager to lead local reform of physics, chemistry,
and physical science. Here's an incomplete, outdated list of leaders. As of
2008, about 3000 high school and college teachers in 48 states have taken
a Modeling Workshop. Please ask Jane
Jackson for contact information of others in your locale. -
- The Force Concept Inventory (FCI), Mechanics Baseline Test (MBT), and Views
About Science Survey (VASS) as well as published papers on these instruments,
findings of the Modeling Workshop Project, evaluation reports, and taxonomies
of student conceptions in mechanics.
This page is maintained by Jane Jackson- jane.jackson@asu.edu
last updated on May 3, 2009
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