Active Learning

Strategies in Physics
Options to incorporate more active
learning strategies into your pedagogy
toolbox.
Sentiments about Physics
• Were you excited about your first physics class?

• Did you have anxiety about the class?

• Do you think your students would learn physics if they just listened
carefully to lectures?
Table of Contents
• Why do we need active learning?
• What can we learn from Physics education research?
• What are active learning strategies?
– Interactive Demonstrations
– Ranking Tasks
– SDI & ADI Labs
– Tutorials
– Two-stage Cooperative Assessments

• Where can I find more active learning strategies?

Why do we need active learning?
• Force Concept Inventory (FCI) quantifies student progress in physics
understanding
• Correlation between an increase in FCI scores and interactive
education strategies compared to traditional lecture-based classes
• A second correlation exists between students with higher scientific
reasoning skills and greater gains from the FCI
• Scientific reasoning must be taught and can be identified as including:
– Proportional reasoning
– Restrained impulsiveness
– Social construction
– Metacognition
Evaluation Tools
• If interested in using the FCI to assess student progress, it can be
found at:
– https://www.modelinginstruction.org/effective/evaluation-instruments/
– Consider using the simplified FCI for freshmen physics classes

• The MBT-Mechanics Baseline Test can also be useful to determine

student understanding (should be used more cautiously, only
after instruction)
• Evaluation tools are necessary to develop data-driven methods
in our pedagogy
What can we learn from Physics
education research?
• Traditional teaching methods
work for a minority of students
• Interactive engagement
increases student buy-in
• Interactive instruction is more
equitable
• Developing understanding in
science requires social
construction
What are traditional teaching
methods?
• Lecture -> Practice -> Verification Labs -> Test -> Repeat
• What are some of the issues with this style?
– Minimal, infrequent feedback
– Students are more passive
– Preconceptions or alternative conceptions not explicitly addressed
– No or very little construction of personal models
– Provides less context for learning
– Students focus on passing tests
What are active learning methods?
• A constructivist approach that encourages
students to construct their own understandings
with guided instruction

• Characteristic of active learning:

– Students spend more time active engaged
in doing/thinking/talking, not listening
– Students interact with peers
– Students receive immediate feedback
– Instructor is a facilitator
– Students take more responsibility for their
knowledge
Active Learning
Strategies
Interactive Demonstrations
• A demonstration that challenges
preconceptions and creates an opportunity
for students to articulate their reasoning

• Students:
– Predict the outcome of the
demonstration. Individually then pair up
and share.
– Experience the demonstration. Make
observations or analyze data to confirm
their prediction (or not).
– Reflect on the results. Consider why they
made their prediction and which way
the demonstration confirmed or
contradicted their thinking.
Give it a Shot
• Predict – will the ball hit the
monkey if it is released at the
same time the ball is fired?
Will it go too high? Too low?
– Discuss your reasoning with your
partner. Make sure you have a
reason, not just a guess.
Helpful Resources for Interactive
Demonstrations
• SERC Pedagogic Service Project
– https://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/demonstrations/index.html

• Interactive Lecture Demonstrations by David R. Sokoloff

& Ronald K. Thornton
– https://www.wiley.com/en-
us/Interactive+Lecture+Demonstrations%2C+Active+Learning+in+Introduct
ory+Physics-p-9780471487746
Ranking Tasks
• Easy to engage activities that
address common student
preconceptions and aid in
getting students to articulate
their thinking
– Can be used as warm-ups,
think-pair-share prompts,
conceptual questions on
assessments
– Excellent source of peer
interaction and discussion
Helpful Resources for Ranking Tasks
• Ranking Task Exercises in Physics: Student Edition
– https://www.pearson.com/us/higher-education/program/O-Kuma-
Ranking-Task-Exercises-in-Physics-Student-Edition/PGM196053.html

• TIPERs: Sensemaking Tasks for Introductory Physics

– https://www.pearson.com/us/higher-education/program/Hieggelke-TIPE-
Rs-Sensemaking-Tasks-for-Introductory-Physics/PGM127414.html

• Newtonian Tasks Inspired by Physics Education Research: nTIPERs

– https://www.pearson.com/us/higher-education/program/Hieggelke-
Newtonian-Tasks-Inspired-by-Physics-Education-Research-n-TIPE-
Rs/PGM151844.html
Socratic Dialog-Inducing and
Argument Driven Inquiry Labs
• Guided inquiry labs designed to promote construction of student
models and involve them in peer discussion and Socratic
dialogue
– Students use a guided experience that challenges their conceptions and
creates new experiences
– Encourages small-group work and peer discussion to come to a consensus
– Elaborates on this by including a Socratic-style dialogue with other groups
and the instructor
– Incorporates all typical skills found in labs, but more directed to develop
student understanding
Helpful Resources for Socratic-
Inducing Labs
• Richard R. Hake, Indiana University (SDI)
– https://web.physics.indiana.edu/sdi/

• Argument Driven Inquiry

– https://www.argumentdriveninquiry.com/
Tutorials in Physics
• Guided inquiry worksheets where
students in groups and instructor
engage in Socratic dialogue.

• Students are working to answer

their own questions as they are
introduced to new physics
concepts
– Good for small groups
– Helpful to include
whiteboarding
– Can be used to have class
discussions
Helpful Resources for Tutorials
• Open Source Tutorials
– https://www.physport.org/curricula/MD_OST/

• Activity Based Tutorials

– http://www.physics.umd.edu/perg/abp/abptutorials/abptuts.htm

• Tutorials in Physics
– https://www.pearson.com/us/higher-education/program/Mc-Dermott-
Tutorials-In-Introductory-Physics-and-Homework-Package/PGM235744.html
Two-Stage Cooperative Assessments
• Two stage exam where students do first part individually and
then a second stage as a group
• Second stage should be weighed less than individual part and
should be more conceptual
– Provides more immediate feedback to students
– Turns assessments into a learning opportunity
– Decreases stress levels
Give it a Shot
• Look at the problem shown to An airplane is flying 1200 m above
the right. Consider how you
could modify the problem to the ground at a speed of 200 m/s. It
elicit more discussion and be
drops a practice bomb, how far does
more conceptual.
the bomb travel horizontally?
Helpful Resources for Two-Stage
Cooperative Assessments
• Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative
– https://cwsei.ubc.ca/sites/default/files/cwsei/resources/instructor/Two-
stage_Exams.pdf

• University of Guelph, Office of Teaching and Learning

– https://otl.uoguelph.ca/system/files/Two%20Stage%20Exams%20handout_
0.pdf

• Physics Exams that Promote Collaborative Learning

– https://cwsei.ubc.ca/sites/default/files/cwsei/outcomes/SEIresearch/Wiem
an-Rieger-Heiner_Two-Stage-Exam_PT2014.pdf
What are your thoughts?
• Please complete the feedback form:
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