Workshopping* Inquiry Labs (Physics 1)
Developed for:
High school teachers of physics. (A chemistry version of this course is also available.)
Format:
A 12-session workshop (2.5 hours each) plus 15 hours of practice in each teacher’s own classroom.
Goal:
To investigate the pedagogical soundness of new labs by debriefing student experience with them.
Content:
Participants will:
- Learn 10 inquiry physics labs that you can carry out with ninth and tenth graders.
- “Workshop” four of the labs with their students. Each lab will include a pre-lab discussion and a debriefing discussion with students. The rubrics used for evaluating these four tasks will be provided at the start of the workshop.
- Infuse inquiry thinking into labs and investigations.
- Critique science labs in terms of scientific soundness, inquiry pedagogical standards, and appropriateness for adolescents.
Features:
The workshop will provide opportunities for participants to:
- Implement four assigned labs with students, and prepare critiques of the labs.
- Participate in each session’s discussions.
- Record reflections on the discussions of the labs.
- Discuss and critique the assigned readings and other recent professional literature or findings about the inquiring adolescent and contextual inquiry.
- Engage in seminar-like discussions in which participants share teaching experiences with the labs.
To learn more about this opportunity, contact Joe Flynn at highschool@edc.org or 617-618-2684
*Trying an activity, evaluating whether it works, and providing feedback to colleagues in a workshop setting
