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Full-Text Articles in Education

Putting Physics First: Three Case Studies Of High School Science Department And Course Sequence Reorganization, Douglas B. Larkin Dec 2015

Putting Physics First: Three Case Studies Of High School Science Department And Course Sequence Reorganization, Douglas B. Larkin

Douglas B. Larkin

This article examines the process of shifting to a “Physics First” sequence in science course offerings at the level of the school district in the United States. This curricular sequence reverses the more common U.S. high school sequence of biology/chemistry/physics, and has gained substantial support in the physics education community over the past few decades. Using qualitative case study methodology, the present study focuses on the lessons learned in three school districts that successfully rearranged their course offerings and made physics a ninth grade subject for all of its students. Findings show that in all districts, the shift was undertaken …


Reasoning About Race And Pedagogy In Two Preservice Science Teachers: A Critical Race Theory Analysis, Douglas B. Larkin, Tanya Maloney, Gail M. Perry-Ryder Dec 2015

Reasoning About Race And Pedagogy In Two Preservice Science Teachers: A Critical Race Theory Analysis, Douglas B. Larkin, Tanya Maloney, Gail M. Perry-Ryder

Douglas B. Larkin

This study describes the experiences of two preservice science teachers as they progress through their respective teacher education programs, and uses critical race theory to examine the manner in which conceptions about race and its pedagogical implications change over time. Using a longitudinal case study method, participants’ conceptual ecologies of race and pedagogy are mapped both before and after student teaching, and each case is analyzed for evidence of conceptual change in these
areas. Findings show that conceptions about race and the pedagogical implications of race changed in ways that likely would have gone undetected in earlier studies because they …