Diagnosis-based Teaching: Teaching Sequences in the Physics Classroom

Leading team:

Prof. Bat Sheva Eylon
Dr. Esther Bagno
Ms. Esther Magen

Project team:

Prof. Edit Yerushalmi
Dr. Zehorit Kapach
Dr. Hanna Berger
Ms. Korina Pollinger
Ms. Irina Weissman

Brief

The project “Diagnosis-based Teaching: Teaching Sequences in the Physics Classroom” directly continues the “Research-based Development of a Diagnostic Questions’ Repository for the Physics Classroom” project. It intends to extend and diversify the tools offered to physics teachers to facilitate coping with typical student difficulties. In the project, we have developed six generic TS activities accompanied by examples from different content areas in physics. Twenty TS activities have been developed in total.

Each TS activity is accompanied by a "teacher guide" including detailed solutions and general guidelines.

The project also conducts research on how TS influence teachers and students.

Generic TS: Development and Implementation

Find the differences. Tackles students' inclination to confuse seemingly similar physical concepts (e.g., field vs. potential, acceleration vs. velocity)

Meaning of a formula. Assists students in understanding physical quantities and relationships in a formula.

The physics of the story. Guides students towards understanding the physical context of a problem before attempting to solve it.

Phew, so many formulas! Assists students to recognize the common and different features of all the formulas related to a specific topic.

Explain what is missing. Enhances the students' skills in phrasing a physical explanation.

Graph drawing. Boosts students' skills in presenting and reading graphic relationships between variables.

Each Teaching Sequence comprises three successive activities:

An activity that uses a diagnostic question and is meant to uncover the students' preliminary knowledge.
An activity that uses one of the six Teaching Sequences. The activity is allocated either by the teacher or by a computerized system.
A “Self-reflection” activity, in which students compare their newly adopted knowledge with the preliminary knowledge (revealed in activity a).

The generic nature of the Teaching Sequences allows teachers to repeat activities familiar to the students on different occasions with different content.

The implementation of the Teaching Sequences is entrusted to physics teachers who undergo intensive training, primarily through the physics teachers' communities.

Research and Evaluation

Ongoing research and evaluation suggests that the Teaching Sequences contribute significantly to “learning focused” teaching of physics in Israel. Results indicate that teachers become more sensitive to their students’ learning. They report that through the recurrent use over the physics curriculum of the TS innovative research-based tools, the teachers can respond to students’ learning difficulties. On-going studies are conducted to investigate methods for enhancing the routine integration of the TS in teaching and learning.

International Conference

On the 19-20.10.2020 we organized an international virtual conference which aimed to discuss central research, development and implementation issues of diagnosis-based teaching among researchers and leading educators. Prof. Marcia Linn from the University of California Berkeley and Prof. Paula Heron from the University of Washington Seattle participated in the conference.

The first day targeted science and mathematics educators from the academy and had 189 participants. The second day targeted physics education researchers and leading teachers with 83 participants. The second part of the second day included a closed workshop with 38 leading teachers, mentors and members of the physics education group at the Weizmann Institute.

The organizing committee: Esther Bagno, Bat-Sheva Eylon, Smadar Levy, Esther Magen, Edit Yerushalmi (Alphabetical order).

Our thanks to the Eddie and Jules Trump Family Foundation for their support of the project.