Bridging the Concerns of Yesterday and the Challenges of Tomorrow by Using Multimedia KEYNOTE ADDRESS FOR SMILE 2001, June 12, 2001 UNIVERSITI TENAGA NASIONAL

SMILE 2001 QUOTES “I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think” - Socrates. “I never teach my pupils, I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn’ - Einstein. “Education consists mainly in what we have unlearned” - Mark Twain.

SMILE 2001 Recall the difficulties you encountered: (Kindergarten - learn and play. (Primary School - formal passive learning. (Secondary School - passive learning, lots of formulas and memorization. (College -more formulas and memorization. (Postgraduate - highly mathematical. Down Memory Lane

SMILE 2001 Paul G. Hewitt, Conceptual Physics “…. Physics is about the rules of nature - so beautifully elegant that it can be neatly described mathematically. That’s why many physics courses are treated as applied math…..”

SMILE 2001 Paul G. Hewitt, Conceptual Physics

SMILE 2001 Most Students taking physics or otherwise; Hewitt, Rigden, Hobart

SMILE 2001 French, 1988 “..Memorization is not only useless but counterproductive..” Whitaker, 1985 “..Introductory physics courses have been structured to cover so much content to be covered in a very short period..”

SMILE 2001 Physics students at Dickinson College, Pennsylvania “…. Taking (conventional) physics…. is like trying to drink from a fire hose. There are far too many topics presented… too many abstract theories which relates to reality… insufficient concrete experiences with everyday phenomena to comprehend the math representation of them……”

SMILE 2001 Behaviorist View with the following characteristics:  Break up a complex process into component parts.  Teach students each component.  Teach students how to tie together the components until desired behavior is achieved. Behavior displaying competence indicates process is learned. Views on Learning

SMILE 2001 Not considered by the behaviorist view:  Cognitive mechanism to learn a complex process.  An interest on whether the process learned makes sense  Implications: New knowledge cannot be learned in a meaningful sense due to conflicts with existing knowledge. Hence, students will resort to memorization. Views on Learning Is this approach considered as training or educating?

SMILE 2001 Constructivist view:  Students actively construct the knowledge they possess.  Construction of knowledge is a life long process.  Effortful process requiring significant mental engagement.  Existing knowledge affects ability to learn new knowledge. Views on Learning

SMILE 2001 Constructivist Principle: Students “construct” their ideas and observations - pulling together what they see and hear into a “mental model” (MM). Views on Learning

SMILE 2001 Constructivist Principle: Students “construct” their ideas and observations - pulling together what they see and hear into a “mental model”. Views on Learning A picture of an animal: “Some (mental) assembly required”. Can you recall how it looks like before the image “construction”?

SMILE 2001 Constructivist Principle: Students “construct” their ideas and observations - pulling together what they see and hear into a “mental model”. Features of MM Features of MM: Propositions, images, rules of procedures and statements as to the context in which it is being used. Views on Learning Students will accept ideas within a classroom boundary but will not view its implications to the real world events or their personal experience.

SMILE 2001 Views on Learning Context Principle:  It is reasonably easy to learn something that matches or extends an existing mental model..  It’s hard to learn something we don’t almost already know. What’s this? How sure are you? Taken from a greeting card by artist Jay Palefsky. Kutzkies Artworks, Garrison NY,  Everything we learn is learned within a “context”.

SMILE 2001 Views on Learning Context Principle Context Principle:Interpretation of information in a physics class includes not just the classroom & labs but also the context of all previous learning experience. Most important context is state of mind when information is presented. When the card is opened up. Taken from a greeting card by artist Jay Palefsky. Kutzkies Artworks, Garrison NY, 1995.

SMILE 2001 Change Principle: It is very difficult to change an established mental model substantially. Views on Learning Drawing of an old woman. Or is it a young one? From Harvard- Radcliffe Cognitive Science Society, Caly Budin, Pres. Reading & listening to lectures, for most students, are ineffective ways to change their mental models. or removing misinterpretation..

SMILE 2001 Change Principle: It is very difficult to change an established mental model substantially. Removing misinterpretation?  An effective way? Cognitive conflict.  Provide environment to elicit and confront existing mental models. Views on Learning

SMILE 2001 “Distribution Function” Principle: Since students construct their own mental structures based on their own experiences, different students have different learning styles and responses. Views on Learning

SMILE 2001 “Distribution Function” Principle: Hence, No unique way to address the question : “What is the best way to teach a subject?” Our individual experiences (transmittalist instruction) may have little relevance to how to best teach our students. Views on Learning

SMILE 2001  Acknowledge that students “have” materials and they “make sense” of it before coming to our physics class.  Help students confront their incorrect beliefs to induce significant learning.  Ways to help students comprehend concepts that they cannot naturally build.  Ways to actively engage students who learn differently than us, the so-called experts. Concerns on Learning: Missing Links

SMILE 2001  Lack of research to observe indigeneous students & interpret their behavior in a classroom setting.  Lack of reliable instruments to probe beliefs.  Not willing to use results from physics education research.  Not willing to sacrifice on the “syllabus” or breadth of study.  Limited avenues to source funding and arena (peer- reviewed journals) for educators to meet and exchange ideas. Concerns on Learning

SMILE 2001 Confucious I hear and I forget Quotes I see and I remember I do and I understand

SMILE 2001 Verbal Reasoning:  Physical meaning of 5 multiply by 2 and 2 multiply by 5.  Dividing 100 to 5 (ratio of the numbers).  Ratio of 100 grams to 10 cubic centimeter.  Ratio of 10 cubic centimeter to 100 grams. Concerns on Learning - Realities

SMILE 2001 Concerns on Learning - Realities Verbal Reasoning:  Ratio of RM20.00 to 5 kilogram of vegetable.  Ratio of 5 kg of vegetable to RM20.00 purchase cost.  Meaning of area & volume.  Changes in area or volume due to increase of the linear dimensions..

SMILE 2001 Research on Malaysian students:  Probing beliefs of students about force and motion.  Identifying change in beliefs after instruction. the Force Concept Inventory  Use the Force Concept Inventory to probe conceptual beliefs. the Mechanics Baseline Test  Use the Mechanics Baseline Test to probe quantitative ability. Concerns on Learning - Instructional Failure

SMILE 2001 Instrument: FCI & MBT 4 FCI (30 items multiple-choice) –designed to be meaningful to students without formal training in mechanics –probes beliefs over a wide range of Newtonian concepts on force & motion 4 MBT (26 items multiple-choice) –designed to emphasize concepts that cannot be grasped without formal knowledge of mechanics

SMILE 2001 Desc. Statistics (UiTM) - Gender

SMILE 2001 Results & Discussion Focus on the gains Average Gain, G G = %Posttest, S f - %Pretest, S i Standardized Average gain = G / Max G where max G = %S i

SMILE 2001 FCI & MBT - Gender

SMILE 2001 FCI - Compared  this work  Collaboration with Prof. Khalijah Salleh, Jabatan Fizik, UKM, unpublished  Hake, R.R., “ A six-thousand -student survey of mechanics test data for introductory physics courses”, AJP, 66, (1998)

SMILE 2001 FCI - Compared  this work  Collaboration with Prof. Khalijah Salleh, Jabatan Fizik, UKM, unpublished  Hake, R.R., “ A six-thousand -student survey of mechanics test data for introductory physics courses”, AJP, 66, (1998)

SMILE 2001 % of wrong answers

Instrument: FCI - Q1 1.Dua biji bola A dan B mempunyai saiz yang sama tetapi bola A beratnya dua kali ganda berat B. Bola-bola tersebut dijatuhkan serentak daripada bumbung sebuah bangunan dua tingkat. Masa yang diambil untuk bola-bola tersebut sampai ke tanah ialah: SMILE 2001

Instrument: FCI - Q1 (A)bola A mengambil masa separuh sahaja masa yang diambil oleh bola B. (B)bola B mengambil masa separuh sahaja masa yang diambil oleh bola A. (C)lebih kurang sama. (D)bola A lebih cepat sampai tetapi tak semestinya separuh masa yang diambil oleh bola B. (E)bola B lebih cepat sampai tetapi tak semestinya separuh masa yang diambil oleh bola A. SMILE 2001

SMILE 2001 Samples FCI (UKM) - Q1

SMILE 2001 Samples FCI (UiTM) - Q1