USING LEARNING COMMENTARIESSteven JohnstonSUNY-Buffalo State CollegeSUNY-Buffalo State CollegeABSTRACTPHY 690 RESEARCH PAPERUSING LEARNING COMMENTARIES IN HIGH SCHOOL PHYSICSbySteven JohnstonPhysics 690SUNY-Buffalo State CollegeDr. Dan MacIsaacSUNY-Buffalo State CollegeABSTRACTThis paper reports on a general strategy for the use of Learning Commentaries as a method to evaluate student understanding within the Physics classroom. We have used and evaluated the effectiveness of Learning Commentaries within a classroom of RegentsPhysics students at Chautauqua Lake Central School in Mayville, New York. The Learning Commentaries consist of a short opening paragraph on an “Aha” moment that the student has encountered upon self reflection of two weeks worth of Physics classes. Asecond paragraph is used by the student to describe their general feelings about how they are coping with the course. The development of this strategy has been based on the lack of feedback that students provide to teachers and the fact that educational research suggests that the promotion of reflective learning aids students in their understanding of Physics principals. In this paper the general Learning Commentary procedure is describedand specific examples of the use of Learning Commentaries are presented. There is strong evidence that teachers using Learning Commentaries have an increased understanding of the problems facing students in the Physics classroom.The purpose of this research paper is to investigate the use of learning commentaries as a way to evaluate student understanding within the Physics classroom. A major deficiency in Physics teaching has always been the lack of feedback received from students in most traditional classrooms (Bonwell & Eison, 1991). There has been some work done in regards to trying to gauge students understanding of their reading assignments. Taylor (1992) employed the use of “reading memos” as students read their textbook. Students 1were asked to comment on their reading and to ask questions that could then be read by the instructor at the next lesson. The students were polled at the end of the semester and there was a significant portion of the classes that felt that these reading memos were beneficial to the students. To date, there have been no published reports of trying to understand the thought processes and struggles of students during lessons.The traditional classroom typically is lecture dominated with little interaction between the instructor and the student. Some teachers will ask questions of their students, providing some form of feedback. Unfortunately, even those teachers that do ask questions often fall into the trap of asking the more able students the question in order to keep the class moving in order to finish the course on time. It is no wonder that the middle of the road and below average students struggle so much in most Physics classrooms. These students simply “do not have a voice” within the traditional classroom (Lemke, 1993).A major impediment to the lack of interaction between the instructor and the typical Physics student is the fact that most students feel that their colleagues will view them as “sub standard” if they answer a question incorrectly in front of the class. This is often more evident in the Physics classroom due to the fact that most Physics students are high end learners and used to being in a competitive environment through years of taking advanced classes. Many of these upper level students have been taking classes together for years by the time they enter the Physics classroom. This leads to a highly competitive environment where a student’s reputation could be at stake if they were to answer a teachers question incorrectly (Tobias, 1990). This can produce a situation where no one inthe classroom is willing to take a chance and provide an answer to the teachers questions.It is extremely difficult to gauge individual understanding of the material or how they feelabout the subject in such an isolating environment. It is only after tests have been graded that the teacher has any indication of the true level of learning that has taken place within the classroom. In this paper, I hope to provide an alternative method for the less able Physics student to provide feedback to the instructor on what they are learning and how they feel about the subject.2Learning commentaries have been used by Professor Dan MacIsaac in his Physics 620 and 622 classes at Buffalo State College over the past few years. Learning Commentaries are reflective writing assignments intended to promote reflective practice and self regulated learning. Self reflection is not something new to other disciplines. Schön (1987)was a social scientist who had an interest in promoting self reflection within the educational environment. I was a student in two of Dr MacIsaac’s classes and found the Learning Commentaries tobe invaluable as a student. Dr MacIsaac would have us keep a weekly journal and then, for a homework assignment on Thursday evening write a learning commentary. The learning commentary consisted of two paragraphs. The first paragraph was used to comment on one “Aha” moment that the student had during the course of the week. An “Aha” moment consists of a situation where the student selects an insightful moment and eventually realizes that his theory on how something works in the physical world was built on invalid principals. A students new ideas lead him to a new idea or theory. The student has deconstructed his old theory and reconstructed a new theory. The second paragraph was used to openly discuss how the student felt about the week. A students response could include how they felt about the course or how they felt about what they had learned during the week. In short, it was an avenue for the student to communicate with Dr. MacIsaac.I found the learning commentaries as employed by Dr MacIsaac to be extremely valuableas it offered me a chance to reflect back on what I had learned during the week. It also encouraged me to keep a detailed journal as it was very easy to sit down on Thursday evening and write my “Aha” moment based on my journal writings. I felt that I had a much better understanding of my new Physics principals as I was essentially cycling through the material for a second time at the end of the week. This further solidified my understanding of the new ideas. I also appreciated having the opportunity to
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