Promoting physics in action thru “Laro Ng Lahi-Based” physics activities

Author(s):  
Marc Vener del Carmen ◽  
Ferdinand Diano ◽  
Marie Paz E. Morales ◽  
Abel Ole

Culture and game-based physics activities are anticipated to promote active and fun learning of physics concepts. The study features non-conventional design and development of physics activities using traditional Filipino games also known as “Laro ng Lahi”. These non-conventional processes in the development comprise literature reviews, document analyses, and interviews. The eight developed “Laro ng Lahi”-based physics activities are presented as activity pack intended for highschool physics and introductory physics students. Key features of these activities include standard and synchronized rules and game mechanics, aligned and matched competencies in the K+12 science curriculum, inclination to student conceptual development, penchant for the preservation of Filipino culture and traditions, comprehensible texts and procedures and use of locally-available or indigenous materials. Results of the development study show that the “Laro ng Lahi”-based physics activities are content valid based on expert ratings (4.74 out of 5) with moderate to substantial agreement for the inter-rater reliability and an excellent over-all reliability index (0.90) suggesting a good and standard supplementary and support material for classroom use and for a wider goal of promoting active physics learning – Physics in Action.Keywords: Laro ng Lahi, culture-based, game-based, physics activities, material development

2000 ◽  
Vol 6 (S2) ◽  
pp. 1170-1171
Author(s):  
M. C. Henk ◽  
H. Silverman

LSU began introducing a prototype SCOPE-ON-A-ROPE (SOAR) to selected teachers in Louisiana and Tennessee three years ago as part of our K-12 outreach activities. It proved to be an invaluable aid to all K-12 classrooms as well as to college classrooms or laboratories in several disciplines. The SOAR is extremely easy to use in the normal classroom setting, but can also introduce sophisticated concepts usually possible only through complicated microscopy exercises with specialized instrumentation.The professional microscopist who occasionally teaches students how to use microscopes can only begin to appreciate the position of classroom teachers who are routinely faced with inadequate, insufficient microscopes for classes of 20- 30 students at a time. This SOAR, inspired by industrial inspection devices, aids the teacher in introducing valuable concepts in microscopy and scale while easily serving the functions of many different microscopes and accessories. It is a comfortably hand-held device that can be used capably even by a five-year-old to provide excellent,


2020 ◽  
Vol 122 (6) ◽  
pp. 1-72
Author(s):  
Christine Greenhow ◽  
Sarah M. Galvin ◽  
Diana L. Brandon ◽  
Emilia Askari

Background and Context The increasingly widespread use of social media to expand one's social connections is a relatively new but important phenomenon that has implications for teaching, learning, and teachers’ professional knowledge and development in the 21st century. Educational research in this area is expanding, but further investigation is necessary to better determine how to best support teachers in their professional development, collaboration, and classroom teaching. Prior literature reviews have focused extensively on higher education settings or particular platforms or platform types (e.g., Facebook, microblogging). This article provides needed insights into K–12 settings and encompasses work from a variety of social media types. We describe a systematic review of more than a decade of educational research from various countries to present the state of the field in K–12 teachers’ use of social media for teaching and professional learning across various platforms. Research Questions To define social media's potentially beneficial roles in teaching and learning, we must first take an in-depth look at teachers’ current social media practices. Toward this end, we approached our review with the following research question: How are social media perceived and used by K–12 teachers for their teaching or professional learning, and with what impacts on teachers’ practices? Research Design Guided by Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) established standards for rigor and quality in systematic literature reviews, this article reviews empirical research to examine how social media are perceived and used by K–12 teachers with what impacts on teachers’ practices. Findings We find that social media features offer several benefits for helping teachers fulfill their goals for classroom teaching, including enhancing student engagement, community connections, and teacher–student interactions, but these affordances come with challenges that must be navigated. The literature also suggests that social media features provide benefits for teachers’ professional learning within both formal professional development programs and informal learning networks. Conclusions Implications of this literature review for future research and the design of educational practices are discussed in the final section. Among our conclusions are calls for more data triangulation between teachers’ and students’ learning and experiences on social media, more attention to teachers’ observational behaviors on social media, and further exploration of how social media facilitates interplay between teachers’ formal and informal learning.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 121
Author(s):  
Pamela A. Maher ◽  
Janelle M. Bailey ◽  
Allan M. Tucka

In this case study, undergraduate students presented physics concepts to patrons at a planetarium. This created an early opportunity for these pre-professionals to practice the process skill of oral communication to a lay audience. The case study resulted from working with students participating in a grant called the da Vinci project. It reports on a situated experience pre-engineering and calculus-based physics students had working with their professor to create a brochure and present a physics concept to patrons visiting a public planetarium. Working closely with their professor, students were able to use this required professional skill in a real world (situated) context. This opportunity helped bridge the gap between these pre-professionals’ experiences in training and in their careers in STEM fields. Thirty students attending a two-year college in the Southwestern US self-selected to participate in the project. Each student participant built a kit-based model of a machine, designed an informational flyer aligned to state K-12 physical science standards, and presented informally to the public visiting a planetarium. Data were collected from the students via written reflections before and after the presentation and from email correspondence with their professor. Qualitative analyses of these reflections assessed the students’ progress toward a finished presentation. Results suggest that obstacles to public speaking fluency come from the fear of making mistakes or giving out misinformation. Opportunities to engage in informal public speaking helped overcome these obstacles. Students demonstrated increased confidence in their ability to share their knowledge with the public after undergoing guided informal speaking practice. The opportunity for students to practice public speaking during their undergraduate training can increase confidence and better prepare them for a career.


2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 187-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Orly Lahav ◽  
Nuha Chagab ◽  
Vadim Talis

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine a central need of students who are blind: the ability to access science curriculum content. Design/methodology/approach Agent-based modeling is a relatively new computational modeling paradigm that models complex dynamic systems. NetLogo is a widely used agent-based modeling language that enables exploration and construction of models of complex systems by programming and running the rules and behaviors. Sonification of variables and events in an agent-based NetLogo computer model of gas in a container is used to convey phenomena information. This study examined mainly two research topics: the scientific conceptual knowledge and systems reasoning that were learned as a result of interaction with the listen-to-complexity (L2C) environment as appeared in answers to the pre- and post-tests and the learning topics of kinetic molecular theory of gas in chemistry that was learned as a result of interaction with the L2C environment. The case study research focused on A., a woman who is adventitiously blind, for eight sessions. Findings The participant successfully completed all curricular assignments; her scientific conceptual knowledge and systems reasoning became more specific and aligned with scientific knowledge. Practical implications A practical implication of further studies is that they are likely to have an impact on the accessibility of learning materials, especially in science education for students who are blind, as equal access to low-cost learning environments that are equivalent to those used by sighted users would support their inclusion in the K-12 academic curriculum. Originality/value The innovative and low-cost learning system that is used in this research is based on transmittal of visual information of dynamic and complex systems, providing perceptual compensation by harnessing auditory feedback. For the first time the L2C system is based on sound that represents a dynamic rather than a static array. In this study, the authors explore how a combination of several auditory representations may affect cognitive learning ability.


Author(s):  
Esther Ntuli ◽  
Lydia Kyei-Blankson

Research indicates the need for teachers to be able to locate, evaluate, and use Internet resources in their teaching and learning processes. In addition, the Common Core State Standards require that students are able to think critically and know how to search and use alternative views and perspectives in their assignments. These skills are imperative for teachers and teacher candidates. This article reports the results of a study that sought to examine strategies used by teacher candidates when using Internet search engines, their ability to integrate the information they find into their own assignments, and use the acquired skills for future classroom use. The study employed a mixed-method approach in the collection and analysis of data gathered from a sample of 45 teacher candidates. Data sources included a survey, class assignments that required documentation of the search process as well as the located sources, and semi-structured interviews. Findings from the study revealed the need to teach teacher candidates how to conduct searches effectively, critically evaluate the sources, and integrate the information acquired from the online sources into professional and academic writing that models such behavior for their students. Suggestions for improvement of practice offered in this paper were piloted in one instructional technology course.


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