DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS
(Subject to ongoing vision; last updated December 8, 2020)
| COMPUTER APPLICATIONS IN HIGH SCHOOL PHYSICS | 1 s.h. (Online Asynchronous Lab Course) | Autumn |
1 hr of PHY 270 req.
Applications of electronic technologies in the teaching of high school physics.
Name: Dr. Carl J. Wenning, Physics Teaching Specialist (retired)
ISU Physics Teacher Education Program (Director 1994-2008)
Office Hours: Online by appointment using Zoom
Office Location: N/A
Office Phone: N/A
Mobile Phone: (309) 830-4085 (cell)
E-mail address: carlwenning@gmail.com (Please avoid using cjwennin@ilstu.edu because I check it only infrequently.)
This course is officially scheduled for Thursdays from 4:40 to 7:30 PM beginning August 20th. Asynchronous Zoom presentations will be available by 4:40 PM through the Course Outline section of this syllabus. Class presentations by the instructor will be recorded for later viewing by students.
With the current COVID-19 pandemic, there is a strong campus-wide movement away from holding classes (including labs) face-to-face (f2f) at ISU, especially with the upswing in the number of infections we are now experiencing (August 2020). With significant co-morbidities, your instructor is prone to catastrophic consequences should he catch Corona virus. Therefore, this course will be taught entirely online.
While this is not my preferred approach to teaching this course, I believe that this course can be taught effectively using Zoom meetings and having you work independently. What you normally would have learned directly through me, you will now learn through Zoom presentations, readings, YouTube videos, and tutorials developed by myself or product manufacturers. You may make an appointment to meet with me over Zoom. Email your requested date and time to the address given above.
The focus in this course is on the use of the laboratory experience as a pedagogical tool for demonstrating the nature of science and the processes of physics. Teacher candidates will encounter the computer and other electronic devices as adjuncts in both class and lab settings. In this course, students become familiar with a variety of commonly used computer-based, calculator-based, and cell-phone-based applications for teaching high school physics. PHY 302 is not a textbook-based course; it makes extensive use of web-based resources. Project guidelines, examples, scoring rubrics, and other resources will be found hyperlinked to this course syllabus.
Emphasis will be placed on an Assessment-for-Learning Policy. That is, assessments of student performance will be used not only to assign scores, but to improve student performance. Unsatisfactory work will be returned to the student for improvement. A student's score can be improved by appropriate revision and resubmission so long as all deadlines are met or extensions are given. Unapproved post-deadline submissions may be submitted with a 50% penalty for assessed revisions. This policy does NOT apply to quizzes or numerical homework associated with the Student Laboratory Handbook.
All assignments should be submitted electronically to carlwenning@gmail.com. When assignments are submitted, students should expect to receive feedback. The only way this is possible is if students submit work electronically in original files. Submit projects in MS Word if possible and PDF if not. (Avoid using other versions of word processors because your instructor might not be able to open them.) Students should submit assignments early if they want to take full advantage of the above Assessment-for-Learning Policy.
There will be several assigned readings from my second edition books (Wenning, C. & Vieyra, R. (2020). Teaching High School Physics in 3 volumes). The first edition is no longer available and the second edition has not yet been released. Therefore, selected chapters will be provided to you as password protected PDF files. Please speak directly with me about this so you can receive the appropriate password-protected files.
There are multiple and varied assessments in this course. They are presented here in no particular order.
Students will take reading-associated quizzes/essays, participate in one-on-one discussions (using Zoom), and complete exercises that assume that teacher candidates have not only read assignments (e.g., Student Lab Handbook, Teaching High School Physics, syllabus-linked PDFs, etc.), but have come to understand the substance of the readings through study.
Students will use Physics Toolbox Sensor Suite (a Pro version is also available for a price) to conduct four (4) equally weighted, at-home labs of their choice (but topics must be pre-approved by instructor) and turn in lab reports following specific guidelines. Each activity must employ a different sensor. You will need access to a smart phone or tablet do run Physics Toolbox Sensor Suite. You may download software for iOS and Android devices from the usual locations.
Students must complete a number of small projects using free Physics-related freeware:
Students must complete a number of MS Office-based exercises that deal with the use of equations, presentation outlines with graphics, descriptive statistics, data analysis, statistical testing, simulations, and graphing.
Students must independently design and upload to a publicly accessible Internet server an html-based web page suitable for use during student teaching. There are a number of freely available WYSIWYG ("what you see is what you get") html editors out there such as https://html5-editor.net/ that are web-based and requires no download. Once you create your website, you can upload it to your share of the ISU Datastore and send the link to your course instructor for project review.
Students must familiarize themselves with a variety of interactive simulations in Physics and then develop a simulation worksheet following specific requirements. Of particular note are the following:
Students must convert one (1) assigned standard "cookbook" lab into a guided inquiry lab using provided resources and specific guidelines.
There is a large and growing set of online physics teaching resources available. The student will review and report on five (5) of the following resources using specific guidelines.
All activities will be scored on a 0% to 100% scale. Assignments will be weighted as noted in Assignments section above. The course grade will be determined on the percentage of total score points earned according to the following schedule:
A > 94% |
87% < B < 94% |
79% < C < 87% |
70% < D < 79% |
F < 70% |
The above grading scale might seem a bit high to the student, but it assumes that students will maximize both learning and accomplishments by taking regular advantage of the instructor's Assessment-for-Learning Policy. Meet with your instructor at any time to see where you stand relative to submitted assignments.
| Thur. |
Activity |
Homework to be completed before next class period |
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| CL#1 8/20 |
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| CL#2 08/27 |
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| CL#3 09/03 |
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CL#4 09/10 |
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| CL#5 09/17 |
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CL#6 09/24 |
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CL#7 10/01 |
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CL#8 10/08 |
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CL#9 10/15 |
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CL#10 10/22 |
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| CL#11 10/29 |
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| CL#12 11/05 |
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CL#13 11/12 |
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CL#14 11/19 |
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THANKSGIVING BREAK WEEK |
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| CL#15 12/03 |
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To be turned in by the end of the last day the the semester before finals week:
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12/10 |
Finals Week / Course Evaluation |
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Please make a habit of regularly backing up your computer work -- e.g. make multiple copies. Missing computer files or crashed hard drives are not legitimate excuses for lost work or missed deadlines. Backup, Backup, Backup! When updating versions of work, avoid overwriting earlier versions. The later version might be flawed in some significant way. When making updated versions, label successive projects Job1, Job2, Job3, Job4, etc. You can throw away the very earliest versions if you run out of memory, but be certain to retain the latest two versions at a bare minimum. Make backups of diskettes or flash memories that you will be carrying around. A little bit of effort at the right time now can save a lot of extra effort later (and even a poor grade). Please back up regularly! There is no excuse for doing otherwise.
Also, consider bringing a flash memory to every lab session for backing up course work. If you don't have one, you might want to purchase one. Alternatively, be prepared to save you files to a remote server or copy onto a 100 Meg ZIP disk or similar. Contact your course instructor for a ZIP disk if you would like to borrow one.
Caution: Keep in mind as you progress toward student teaching that as a student teacher your students will have an interest in finding out about you. This will lead them to Internet searches. Don't put anything on a web page, YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, etc., that you wouldn't want students, parents, teachers or administrators to see.
Disposition Concerns: The College of Education, in an effort to ensure top quality graduates, provides faculty members and interested others with the opportunity to provide input into the teacher preparation process. One of these inputs is in the area of disposition concerns. Education faculty, in particular, are encouraged to bring to attention of CECP any significant problems associated with the following major areas. If three or more filed dispositions concerns have not been resolved, the teacher candidate will be blocked from advancing in Professional Studies.