Physics+Modeling+Workshop+2011


 * Event Title: Modeling Physics (Electromagnetism workshop)**
 * Date: Summer 2011**
 * Location: FIU**
 * Name(s) of Attendees: Greg Nguyen**

Description of Workshops, Classes, Institutes, Etc.:
This three week program concluded a trilogy of workshops that I have taken over the past three summers. The first two concentrated on mechanics and light/optics. This workshop presented an approach to introduce concepts of electromagnetism to students. The idea is to design labs that will serve as a model for understanding physics concepts. Students would be observe a phenomenon (e.g., electrical attraction between two strips of scotch tape), design a lab to understand the phenomenon, running the lab, taking data, analyzing data, and then (through student driven discussion) ultimately determining an explanation and/or mathematical relationship for the phenomenon. In other words, students would understand physics from their own observations/data rather than learning from a lecture or the text.

How I Hope to Apply What I Learned At Ransom, and/or, What My Colleagues Might Try at Ransom:
Following this approach, students lead the classroom and the teacher (to whatever extent possible) takes a step back. The teacher directs the students and gives advice or ideas, but students would ultimately be responsible for learning the material. Students would help each other by comparing data, sharing ideas about what the data means, and presenting their ideas with other students. This approach can be applied to many different disciplines at the high school level.