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Full-Text Articles in Education
Shark Teeth Classification, Tom Brown, Sally Creel, Velda Lee
Shark Teeth Classification, Tom Brown, Sally Creel, Velda Lee
Faculty and Research Publications
On a recent autumn afternoon at Harmony Leland Elementary in Mableton, Georgia, students in a fifth-grade science class investigated the essential process of classification--the act of putting things into groups according to some common characteristics or attributes. While they may have honed these skills earlier in the week by grouping their own shoes or school supplies, this class provided the unique opportunity to classify objects that are inherently fascinating to students--shark teeth fossils! This article describes how by using the teeth to estimate the length of ancient sharks, students got a classification activity they could really sink their teeth into.
Strongly And Weakly Directed Approaches To Teaching Multiple Representation Use In Physics, Patrick B. Kohl, David Rosengrant, Noah D. Finkelstein
Strongly And Weakly Directed Approaches To Teaching Multiple Representation Use In Physics, Patrick B. Kohl, David Rosengrant, Noah D. Finkelstein
Faculty and Research Publications
Good use of multiple representations is considered key to learning physics, and so there is considerable motivation both to learn how students use multiple representations when solving problems and to learn how best to teach problem solving using multiple representations. In this study of two large-lecture algebra-based physics courses at the University of Colorado (CU) and Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, we address both issues. Students in each of the two courses solved five common electrostatics problems of varying difficulty, and we examine their solutions to clarify the relationship between multiple representation use and performance on problems involving …
The Esa21 Project: A Model For Civic Engagement, John Pratte, Matthew Laposata
The Esa21 Project: A Model For Civic Engagement, John Pratte, Matthew Laposata
Faculty and Research Publications
There have been many systematic approaches to solving the problem of how to make science courses interesting to students. One that is currently receiving attention in the sciences is the use of civic engagement within the classroom. This approach works well in small enrollment courses, but it is logistically difficult to implement in large enrollment courses. Large enrollment classes lend themselves more naturally to other civic engagement approaches, such as special topics courses with individual or group research projects. The authors choose to meld the two approaches, thus creating a collection of activity modules for environmental science courses that use …