Altering the Misinterpretations of Newton's Third Law Through Inquiry and Hands On Discovery '/5. art,li 'npf'J;' Debora Shafer, Department of Physics, State University of New York: Buffalo State D,v College, 1300 Elmwood Ave. Buffalo NY 14222 ybecausel110{yahoo.com 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 ofNewtonian force concepts. The results ofthe 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;ft ' Acknowledgements: This manuscript was prepared as part of requirements for PHY690: Master's Project. Y Buffalo A' f)' f State College, under the direction of Dr. Dan MacIsaac, Prof Joe Zawicki, and . Dave bbott. \,1' 'QV" yJJl 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 9:) ,,:!J\ I & 0-- Yl')eI'>- l \.. f t' )I JpJ(/ ) f.,f . , ,If \ 'Jf' \A'IItF . J j4.. vP'k ;} J \n, p- P J P tf \ ,y-r}:-r .- ( )'0\ yu, 1J LJ '. lJ 1,/0 "c.4 /) \t 'J,Ii XL", \ lI'-c.o ';pI! Vi'"" r" ,; II" r VJ' t1. 0 J.-f' \lI' • V '1, 1 p,. Jr.'," \!vf') , JQ,' ...... Y',7 ,\ iI' '1'"" 'yJ .xo, .5\"tf \ I "''XI v'\ !1-) ) \r- $1A, ) "Truth is ever to be found in the simplicity,JJ nOJ-the and confltsion\V I things." - Sir Isaac Newton ';,tJi. \N'" )Q • X\1 x/ u'x )I'':if"< %. • . J \.) I i;j..r /\VV (J . 01 "'\1'1" ,\." ," N\I , -, v· 0Introduction ,.uJ,v'.') \ eform in physics teaching is the result of many teaching techniques that are new to the c1assr m..Jit:nquiry based learning is teaching by asking questions, in a Socratic manner where students ar led to . J discover what they know about a given topic. The use of whiteboards and peer-teaching are Iso 7f..Prr-e 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. ('I .. . 5 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) . . e . I' f'-' ?f 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 Ideast-W 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. ,lIt" (t· tl lJ ,,(;1'-'. ,..et • \' c .,J Student Misconceptions about Newton's Third law (: The students thought size was the determining it has more Jet The students saw forces coming from al,1 directions. the force of G ll" . II V, v J1f ) '-..."-.--..... .doCi IIPJ fAJ q-fe v--v I • 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,...., \ f " 1/....p..? i ,) '1"'"'(11/)Procedure ,r-",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 "-'-- the answers they choose. After our discussions about their beliefs I knew they had to see the ..J; 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
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