Students' conceptions of particle physics - part 1 Julia. Woithe@cern Students' conceptions of particle physics - part 1 Julia.Woithe@cern.ch

What is S’Cool LAB? Use new pictures

hands-on particle physics learning laboratory For high-school students and teachers International audience from more than 20 countries Independent experimentation in small groups 40 000 students per year 570 from Czech rep.

200 m2 modular laboratory space at CERN State-of-the-art IT equipment incl. videoconferencing Showcase for experiments for schools linked to CERN’s scientific programme and technologies

test bed for physics education research Development and evaluation of student activities accompanied by research in physics education

Aims of S’Cool LAB UNDERSTAND DISCOVER Make CERN’s physics and technologies understandable to students through hands-on experimentation Give insights into the working methods, technologies and research of the world's largest particle physics laboratory

Experiments Particle Acceleration Basics & Applications Particle Detection electrons & electric fields HALL effect FRANCK-HERTZ experiment cloud chambers supercon-ductivity electrons & magnetic fields PET scintillation detectors pixel detectors (MEDIPIX) particle traps RUTHER-FORD experiment PLANCK’s constant X-ray machines ionisation chambers … and many more to come

Why students‘ conceptions? "For museum professionals, knowledge of the audience’s conceptions of the issue to be presented in an exhibition should always be considered in the exhibition development process, and it should be noted that the audience’s conceptions may prevent the intended interpretation of information presented at a museum.“ Henriksen, E., & Jorde, D. (2001). High school students’ understanding of radiation and the environment: Can museums play a role? Science Education 85, 189–206.

Why students‘ conceptions? “students’ prior knowledge can interfere with how they observe and remember lecture demonstrations” 1 out of 5 observations of a demonstration is inconsistent with the actual outcome students who understand the underlying concepts are more likely to observe it and remember it correctly students are more likely to observe a demonstration correctly if they predict the outcome first (no matter whether wright or wrong) conceptual learning is supported by correct observations Miller, K., Lasry, N., Chu, K., & Mazur, E. (2013). Role of physics lecture demonstrations in conceptual learning. Physical review special topics – Physics education research 9.

Predict-Observe-Explain White, R. T., & Gunstone, R. F. (1992). Probing Understanding. Great Britain: Falmer Press. 20/01/2016

Help us validate our questionnaire! Cloud chamber X-Ray unit Electron tube 11

Expert rating by teachers In this questionnaire, we would like to get to know you better and to find out, what your conceptions of particle physics are and what you think might be difficult for students. Please choose for every question ONE of the given answers, which you think is right. Please rate your level of confidence with this answer. Please rate, how difficult you think this question is for high-school students (age 18) Please explain, why you think so. Many thanks in advance for your help! Your ratings as well as first results from students will be presented on 14/07/16 10:45!