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Teacher Education at Illinois State University

PHYSICS 310 -- READINGS FOR TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PHYSICS

DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS

Spring Semester 2010

(Under revision; last updated 2/03/2010 - updated 2/17/10 class activities)

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Catalog Description:

READINGS FOR TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PHYSICS

3 s.h.

Spring

Essential background experiences for teaching high school physics that center around developing scientific literacy in students. Prerequisites: 10 hours in PHY.

Note well.

• PHYSICS 310 is a no-nonsense course designed for secondary-level science teacher education majors or mathematics education majors working on a designation in science (32 hours of science credit). There are only a limited number of seats in the classroom and a limited amount of materials for use in this course. Students not satisfying admission criteria will be asked to drop this course.
• We have been notified by the Illinois State Board of Education that individuals who will be applying for their initial teaching certification or additional endorsements as of 2/1/2012 must have a grade of "C" or above in all required coursework that is part of their program. This includes all endorsement areas, major courses and professional education.
• We have been notified that effective immediately, anyone who wants to complete any clinical experiences in schools must have passed a Criminal Background Check prior to starting. Bushue Background Screening does these checks every Thursday at the Regional Office of Education #17 located in Normal. Call for an appointment at 217/342-3042. Before you go, however, read additional information and be certain to download the required ISU form at the Teacher Education Center website.

WARNING: Associated with this course is one or more NSTA-mandated summative performance assessments linked with Professional Studies' Admission to Student Teaching gateway for students taking this as a required course. Failure to adequately demonstrate a required competency in a timely fashion by students required to take this course will result in the teacher candidate being barred from student teaching.

Instructor:

Name: Dr. Carl J. Wenning, Physics Education Specialist
Physics Teacher Education Program
Office Location: Moulton Hall, Room 301-C

Telephones: 438-2037 (office); 830-4085 (cell)
E-mail address: wenning@phy.ilstu.edu

Meeting Days/Times/Location:

The class will meet on Wednesdays, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. without a formal break. If we want to add a 20-minute break as is traditional, the class will run until 8:50 p.m. Class meetings will be held in Moulton Hall room 307-B.

Methodology:

This course will have a learning environment that is student centered, knowledge centered, assessment centered, and community centered. This course will be student centered to the extent that the teacher builds on knowledge students bring to the learning situations. This course will be knowledge centered to the extent that the teacher helps students develop an organized understanding of important concepts in the physics teaching discipline. This course will be assessment centered to the extent that the teacher makes students' thinking visible so that ideas can be presented and verified. This course will be community centered to the extent that the teacher establishes classroom norms that learning with understanding is valued and students feel free to explore what they do not understand.

Emphasis will be placed on an Assessment-for-Learning Policy. That is, assessments of student performance will be used not only to assign grades, but to improve student performance. Unsatisfactory work will be returned to the student for improvement. A student's scores can be improved following appropriate revision and resubmission of "unsatisfactory" course projects, so long as all conditions and deadlines are met. Note: The Assessment-as-Learning policy does not apply to examinations and reading quizzes. Consistent with the Assessment-as-Learning Policy, students are encouraged to write drafts of essays or other projects, submit them for review by the course instructor, and make revisions based upon the instructor's written comments. Please keep in mind the that very best papers/projects in this course typically have been produced by students who submit their papers/projects for review 2 to 3 times before submitting the final copy. Electronic attachments are the preferred form of submission.

This is a "readings heavy" course; students must keep up with daily reading requirements. The amount of reading increases toward the end of the course. Therefore, reading ahead and taking notes is strongly encouraged. This course can be overwhelming due to the heavy work load; don't fall behind.

Students will be required to use Mallard one or more quizzes. Mallard is a web-based application requiring only a web browser. Access information (login, password) for the Mallard web site is provided in the Student Performance Assessments section below.

Student will be required to complete 10 clock hours of case studies by working as tutors with students enrolled in PHY 102, 105, 108, and/or 109.

Course Goals:

This course provides essential background for teaching high school physics that centers around developing scientific literacy in students. It will provide students with philosophical and pedagogical background in the teaching of physics. The course as such is built around both pedagogical knowledge - a knowledge of generic teaching practices - and pedagogical content knowledge - a knowledge of how to actually teach the content of physics. Physics content knowledge per se is assumed.

This course is based on the belief that teachers must act on grounded principles, and not arbitrarily. What teachers do as they present their lessons should be rooted deeply in their attitudes about issues that concern them, their students, the scientific profession, and society -- balancing declarative knowledge with procedural knowledge, balancing expository teaching with inquiry learning, balancing depth of coverage with breadth of content, emphasizing learning over teaching, and knowing what values and knowledge are worth learning in light of national and state standards, and the needs of the student and society. The goals of imparting such attitudes are to improve the educational process, enhance the achievement of the learner, produce better and more productive citizens, and improve society. The aim is to prepare all students for life in a democratic society. This course provides essential background for PHY 311 -- Teaching High School Physics.

Performance Objectives for All Undergraduates:

Course Alignment with Teacher Education Unit's Conceptual Framework:

Conceptual Framework	Course Objective No.
Moral Virtues:
Sensitivity toward the varieties of individual and cultural diversity.	1, 2, 11, 14
Disposition and ability to collaborate ethically and effectively with others.	1, 11, 14, 15
Reverence for learning and seriousness of personal, professional, and public purpose.	1, 2, 7, 8, 14, 15
Respect for learners of all ages, with special regard for children and adolescents.	1, 7, 11, 14
Intellectual Virtues:
Wide general knowledge and deep knowledge of the content to be taught.	1-9, 12, 14, 15
Knowledge and appreciation of the diversity among learners.	1, 9, 11, 14
Understanding what affects learning and appropriate teaching strategies.	1, 7, 8, 10-15
Interest in and an ability to seek out informational, technological, and collegial resources.	1, 9-15
Contagious intellectual enthusiasm and courage enough to be creative.	1, 3, 4, 9-11, 15

Course Outline:

Student Performance Assessments: (Note: Points associated with any scoring process will be normalized so that percentages associated with course grades are strictly observed. Additionally, when it is available, the correct student-completed scoring rubric must be submitted along with every assignment. All submissions must be made electronically - sent as e-mail attachments to the course instructor.)

310A: Position Papers (10% of course grade)

Students must write two short essays during the semester dealing with the following topics: (1) Personal Teaching Philosophy and (2) Physics Teaching Rationale. Written work will be evaluated using an official essay scoring rubric. Each essay will be equally weighted.

310B: Nature of Science Cumulative Performance Assessment (20% of course grade)

Students must complete a Nature of Science cumulative performance assessment. The assessment consists of a four-part project: (1) Scientific Epistemology Essay, (2) Nature of Science Book Review, (3) the Nature of Science Literacy Test (NOSLiT), and (4) and a Mallard-based Technical Terms and Concepts Quiz. An official essay scoring rubric will be used to assess whether or not the student has demonstrated the required competencies summatively assessed in parts 1 and 2. All parts will be worth 5% of the course grade. Login and password information for Mallard: login = university e-mail name (e.g., crmello); password = university ID number (e.g., 812344375). Note: The Mallard-based quiz will not be available until just before the first grading period ends. See course outline for details.

310C: Scientific Literacy Essay (5% of course grade)

Student must write a short Scientific Literacy Essay. The essay will be scored using an essay scoring rubric.

310D: Student Performance Objectives (2.5% of course grade)

Teacher candidates must write twelve Student Performance Objectives based on Bloom's Taxonomy that can be used as the basis for student assessment in a single subject matter area. Two objectives must be written for each of the six domains of Bloom's Taxonomy. Successfully prepared objectives will be written and assessed following specific guidelines.

310E: Syllabus Project (5% of course grade)

Teacher candidates will employ a curriculum development process to create a semester-long course syllabus that aligns curriculum goals with Illinois Learning Standards, subject matter, activities, resources, and assessments; demonstrates an understanding of the depth of coverage vs. breadth of coverage argument; and incorporates community resources to enhance scientific literacy. Definitive performance criteria are available in the form of a scoring rubric.

310F: Professional Development Plan (2.5% of course grade)

Teacher candidates will complete a 95-minute standardized physics test with multiple-choice questions. Based upon the results of this test, the students will prepare a professional development plan to remediate deficiencies in identified areas. This assessment and project are designed to help students prepare for their science content examination that is part of the Illinois Teacher Certification System.

310G: Weekly Journal Reflection (12.5% of course grade)

Teacher candidates will become familiar with physics education research and pedagogical content knowledge. Students will use Five Easy Lessons: Strategies for Successful Physics Teaching (Knight, 2004) to write continuous weekly reading reflections. Each week, students must write a one-page, single-spaced report on the assigned reading(s) in which the following questions are addressed: (1) What are the important point of the chapter(s)? and (2) In what ways have your understanding of the topic(s) changed as a result of reading the chapter(s)? New reflections should be added to reflections from previous weeks so that only one file is created and updated. Please submit your Weekly Journal Reflection via e-mail as an attachment using MSWord or PDF.

310H: Midterm and Final Exams (20% of course grade)

Teacher candidates will complete both a midterm and a final examination based upon designated course readings. The midterm will cover information from the beginning of the course up to the exam; the final will cover readings from the midterm examination to the end of the course. Exams will be scored with a Essay Exam Scoring Rubric. Each exam will be equally weighted.

310I: Discussion Leadership (10% of course grade)

Teacher candidates must demonstrate a knowledge of science, pedagogy, and educational psychology, and be able to use this knowledge effectively through active participation in class discussions. Students will be evaluated on the degree of their contributions to in-class discussions and other group activities. Students will lead discussions for a variety of topics using specific guidelines. Performance will be peer assessed separately from class participation using a standardized discussion leadership scoring rubric. The discussion leader will be selected and announced immediately before the start of the discussion; every student should come to every class prepared to lead a discussion of assigned readings. Each student will lead the same number of discussions. Discussions typically will be limited to 15 minutes maximum, and will be cut off when a reasonable time limit is exceeded.

310J: Case Studies in Tutoring (12.5% of course grade)

Teacher candidates must possess and demonstrate an understanding of the physics curriculum and course content, student difficulties and effective instructional strategies associated with a particular concept, and informal assessment methods. To this end, class participates will provide not less than 10 clock hours of tutoring (either free or paid) to at least three different students (a maximum of 4 hours credit each) enrolled in UHS Physics, or ISU PHY 102, 105, 108, and/or 109 by participating in any of three available options. Teacher candidates must complete one reflection associated with each hour of tutoring following documentation and reflection guidelines. Performance will be assessed separately from class participation using a standardized case studies scoring rubric. Reflections and documentation will be scored with the use of a Case Study Assessment Form.

310K: Class Participation (0% of course grade)

Teacher candidates must demonstrate a knowledge of science, pedagogy, and educational psychology, and be able to use this knowledge effectively through active participation in class discussion and projects, and an ability to think critically. Students must also demonstrate the moral and intellectual virtues contained within the ISU Teacher Education Conceptual Framework. Students will be evaluated on the degree of their contributions to in-class discussions and other group activities. Class participation will be assessed with the use of a Participation Scoring Rubric. Class participation will be assessed with the use of a Participation Rubric. While such participation will evaluated, it will not contribute in a positive sense to the final course grade. It will, however, be used to help the PTE program coordinator to make recommendation about admission to student teaching.

Assessment Scores:

You may view your latest assessment scores online by going to the Mallard web site for this course.

Grading:

The following table represents the relative weighting of the tasks and activities:

The final course grade will be determined on the basis of a composite score according to the following schedule:

Satisfactory completion of ALL student performance assessments is a prerequisite for a passing grade for physics teaching majors. In addition, the student is expect to attend class regularly and participate fully. Teacher candidates must do well enough on all course assignments to receive a positive recommendation from the teacher education program coordinator for admission to student teaching. Without a positive recommendation teacher candidates will not be admitted.

Required Texts and Readings:

Readings in this course will come from a variety of sources. All seven of the following publications are "required":

• American Association for the Advancement of Science (1990). Science for All Americans: Project 2061, Washington, DC: Author.
• Illinois State Board of Education (1997). Illinois Learning Standards for science, grades 6-12, Springfield, IL: Author.
• National Research Council (1996). National Science Education Standards, Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
• National Research Council (1999). How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience and School, Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
• National Research Council (2000). Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards, Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
• Knight, R.D. (2004). Five Easy Lessons: Strategies for Successful Physics Teaching, San Francisco: Addison Wesley.

Most publications are available online or for loan from the course instructor. A hard copy of the Illinois Learning Standards can be obtained free of charge by requesting it from the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE).

Reading Assignments:

POLICIES:

Academic Integrity: Students are expected to be honest in all academic work. A student's name on any in academic exercise shall be regarded as assurance that the work is the result of the student's own thought and study. Offenses involving academic dishonesty include, but are not limited to the following: cheating, computer dishonesty, plagiarism, grade falsification, and collusion. For more information about this important topic, visit the Student Dispute Resolution Web site.

Penalty for Late Submissions: There WILL be a penalty for late submission of course work -- 20% of rubric-based score for each day (Saturdays and Sundays included) following the electronic submission deadline (by 11:59 p.m. on the due date). Submissions more than 5 days late will be of no value whatsoever. Submissions of DUE projects MUST be made using e-mail attachment. Hard copy submissions of DUE projects are NOT acceptable.

Discussions: A student discussion leader will be "randomly selected" and announced immediately before a scheduled class discussion; every student should come to class prepared to lead a discussion of assigned readings if their name is chosen. All students will be called upon to lead the same number of discussions during a given semester. If the first student identified as a discussion leader cannot or will not lead the discussion, that student will score a zero and another student will be selected to lead the discussion. All discussions will be time limited.

Accommodations: It is not uncommon for secondary-level math education and non-physics science education majors to take this course. Because this is a physics teaching methods course, minor accommodations only will be made for non-physics majors.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

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.

• Collaboration Issues: The ability to work together, especially in a joint intellectual effort.
• Honesty/Integrity: The ability to demonstrate truthfulness to oneself and to others; demonstrate moral excellence and trustworthiness.
• Respect: The ability to honor, value, and demonstrate consideration and regard for oneself and others.
• Reverence for Learning: Respect and seriousness of intent to acquire knowledge.
• Emotional Maturity: The ability to adjust one’s emotional state to suitable level of intensity in order to remain engaged with one’s surroundings.
• Reflection: The ability to review, analyze, and evaluate the success of past decisions in an effort to make better decisions in the future.
• Flexibility: The willingness to accept and adapt to change.
• Responsibility: The ability to act independently, demonstrating accountability, reliability and sound judgment.

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, uTube, Facebook, MySpace, etc., that you wouldn't want students, parents, teachers or administrators to see.

Please note that before any teacher candidate is admitted to Professional Studies/Teacher Education, he or she must complete the required "Successful Experience with Children or Youth" form, and submit it to the PTE coordinator for processing and forwarding to CECP.

At the April 2, 2002, meeting of the Council for Teacher Education meeting, the following motion was passed: Teacher candidates who will be student teaching beginning with Spring 2003 and beyond will be required to pass the State content area test prior to student teaching. In the case of Physics, this mean September 1 of the year prior to student teaching. PLEASE NOTE THAT NO EQUATION SHEET IS PROVIDED FOR THIS EXAMINATION.

Examinees may now register online for teacher, school service personnel and administrative certification tests; view and download study guides; and access their test results. The site address is: www.icts.nesinc.com/. This new service will provide certification candidates with easy access to teacher certification testing materials and registration activities. To give students a second chance to pass this test, an early test date is recommended. Test framework (objectives) for the science content exam for Field #116 (Physics) are available for download here.

Now strictly enforced are the following policies:

• Students must fulfill requirements for admission and retention in teacher education at least one semester prior to student teaching. September 1 is the deadline for student teaching during spring semester -- the only semester that the Physics Department permits student teaching. (The September 1 deadline does not apply to case studies, ten of which will be completed during autumn semester in PHY 311.)
• In order to register for PHY 311, students must be admitted to the teacher education program; no registration overrides will be given.
• Students must be given departmental approval for admission to student teaching by their major department.

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