5 art li npf J Altering the Misinterpretations of Newton s Third Law Through Inquiry and Hands On Discovery Debora Shafer Department of Physics State University of New York Buffalo State College 1300 Elmwood Ave Buffalo NY 14222 ybecausel110 yahoo com D v Abstract This paper shows how seven ecial student their thinking about fJ t Newtonian force concepts The ere tested for understanding and through eI J7pJJ inquiry based lessons along with useful activities as well as animations and visual aids the students mis conceptions were re formulated into a deeper cognitive understanding of Newtonian force concepts The results of the lessons were evaluated six months later to show the concepts were still clear to the students at a high enough understanding for them to be able to elaborate and use peer teaching methods in the classroom Jf r f Acknowledgements t This manuscript was prepared as part of requirements for PHY690 Master s Project Y Buffalo A f State College under the direction of Dr Dan MacIsaac Prof Joe Zawicki and Dave bbott QV Thank you also to my peers in Physics Workshops and colleagues along the way h helped meov broad understanding of the pedagogy that is involved in the teaching of physics y And special thanks to Fantrazzo to me read for so yeatt J I f yJJl 1 0 9 Yl eI JpJ l f If f f Jf II tF A t j4 vP k J n p P J P tf y r r 0 yu J lJ 1 0 t J Ii XL lI pI Vi r II r VJ t1 0 J f lI V 4 LJ c 0 I J 1 c o 1 1 p Jr o vf JQ Y 7 iI 1 yJ x 5 tf I X 1I v r 1 Truth is ever to be found in the simplicity JJ nOJ the things Sir Isaac Newton tJi X 1 x u x VV J J 01 N 1 1 and confltsion V I Q I if A I N I v i j r Introduction uJ v it eform in physics teaching is the result of many teaching techniques that are new to the c1assr m J n quiry based learning is teaching by asking questions in a Socratic manner where students ar led to discover what they know about a given topic The use of whiteboards and peer teaching are Iso methods whose popularity in the classroom has grown over the last decade Studies are leanl to a more student driven lesson rather than lecture and notes version of memorizing details e Literature Using the New York State Education Department s website http www emsc nysed gov ciai mst pub phycoresci pdf Teachers can find the New York State Physics Core Curriculum Related to this concept Standard 1 Key Ideas 1 2 and 3 Standard 4 Key Ideas 4 and 5 with performance indicators 4 1a c and d along with 5 1b d 5 1q and r Standard 6 Key idea 1 t W 5 f f J 7f Prr e I With a wide variety of teaching resources a teacher is able to reach a wide variety of students with just as varied a range in learning styles The lecture note taking classroom is too structured for the mentally immature special students According to the American Association for the Advancement of Science 1989 students should be conceptualizing science in terms of connected and interrelated themes which are linked across disciplines McCarthy 2004 The importance of relating the physical world to students personal experience in showing the interconnection to real time can help promote scientific literacy across the board In short the teacher needs to find out what the student ach accordingly With the introduction of hands on learning and animation even the mos juvenile tudents can understand concepts relating to real world applications Research states that activit a instruction may be more appropriate than the traditional textbook approach for students with unique learning needs McCarthY 2004 I I I it has more The students saw forces coming from al 1 directions the force of G ll doCi IIPJ II fAJ c 1 Jet V J1f v q fe The force of gravity was clearly a point of confusion for the students They realized that gravity was a consideration but never really thought about it unless it was mentioned Whenever the student s saw gravity as a choice in the answer they automatically chose it because they think it 1 lJ J Student Misconceptions about Newton s Third law The students thought size was the determining tl t et lIt v v f Procedure r p i 1 1 11 t he students iNere given a condensed version of the Force FCI D Hestenes 1992 to test their conceptual knowledge of Newtonian forces questions relating to Newton s Third Law After whicr they were classroom as to their reasoning behind J the answers they choose After our discussions about their beliefs I knew they had to see the results of forces in action because they were still asking questions dealing with the size of the objects First the students used the wall as a brace and held a bathroom scale up on the wall at chest height to find the force of their push on the wall and in doing so the force of the wall back on them pair forces Here I introduced the picture of Pears Forces I wanted to use activities because I believe that is how I learned There was the activity where the students got into groups ofthree and using the bathroom scales and the office chairs with wheels they were able to see with their own eyes about equal forces at work The students would take turns pushing or sitting in the chairs and reading the scale Using the learning cycle techniques Lawson 1999 1 J B 1956 f t fl students seemed to respond very well to the lessons The look in their eyes was priceless the A HA moment when the scales would read the same number I S t e use of spring scales and rubber bands can also be utilized here with the same results But the chairs in the hall are more fun therefore the memory is worth the activity The cycle technique used in reformed science education classrooms is paving the way to an W 4 r J exploratory way of teaching where the teacher very gently leads the children through their I j M PO i A f pv 1 v 5 I e J vJ J ll v JJ r in a Socratic manner This takes practice and every time I teach a lesson I get better The classroom discussion is student driven and the students get better the more this method is used as well When using certain key phrases this teaches children how to think about the process of problem solving For example how do you think that happened Or why do you suppose that is Content knowledge is built and once the concept is understood the students teach each other and in doing so retain the knowledge …
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