Hands-on Universe Unit Development: Gravitation and Orbital Motion HOU National Conference June, 2008

Acknowledgements Carl Pennypacker IISME Teacher Program CSEE (Center for Science & Engineering) Yerkes Observatory Bechtel Corporation All of You

Initial Goals Combine HOU curriculum with effective, research-based pedagogy (Modeling Physics) Develop additional activities to strengthen student understanding of fundamental concepts behind HOU Jupiter activities

Current Aims Effective pedagogy needs to be explicitly explained and clearly evident in learning activities Curriculum needs to be adaptable to a variety of levels and settings Make materials available for field testing and refinement

The Importance of Pedagogy Explaining ≠ Learning CLEAR explanations ≠ Learning PASSIONATE, clear explanations ≠ Learning Even on my best days, my students are not necessarily developing a deeper understanding of how the universe works!

Elements of Effective Pedagogy Students are guided to ask specific questions about phenomena Students investigate the phenomena in a hands-on, minds-on fashion Students communicate results, and are guided toward clear, useful models to explain the phenomena

Elements of Effective Pedagogy Teacher’s role: effective questioning (Socratic Dialogue) –Teacher is aware of student preconceptions –Questioning challenges (“exposes”) inadequacy of naïve beliefs Multiple representational tools are explicitly developed to represent the phenomenon Student apply the model in interpreting the phenomena in new situations

The most important single factor influencing learning is what the learner already knows. Ascertain this and teach him accordingly. Ausbuel, 1968

The Curriculum Flexible –Adaptable to multiple levels –Target 8th-9th grade; provide advanced activities as well Coherent story line: concepts should flow logically Increase teacher awareness of effective pedagogy (KEY!) Make use of a variety of learning activities

Development Process Collaborative Ongoing Ultimate Goals Increasingly large community of teachers using HOU and practicing effective pedagogy Students who gain a deeper understanding of the universe and grow up to be astronomers and HOU teachers!