Physics can put students on their own intellectual feet<\/p>\n
By D.K. Nachtigall<\/p>\n
SINGARAJA, Bali (JP): Physics appears to be boring,
\nmeaningless, and not useful for daily life. The reason is that
\nmost physics teachers focus upon providing the subject matter on
\ndefinitions and formulas in physics. They do not provide learners
\nwith understanding about physics. Memorization still has priority
\nover application of physics to meaningful events. Therefore, rote
\nlearning earns good marks, but thinking is often neglected.<\/p>\n
To me, the main goal of teaching physics in school is to put
\nour students on their own intellectual feet and show them how to
\nwalk for themselves. Since this has not been conducted very much
\nin physics classes, the outcome of physics classes in terms of
\nthinking ability are meager improvements. Major improvements can
\nbe only made possible when physics teachers adopt a new self-
\nconcept.<\/p>\n
They should no longer be a god-like information provider, who
\nindoctrinates pupils with concepts they do not understand.
\nInstead, physics teachers should act as helpers for further
\ndevelopments, both intellectually and ethically. This will also
\ninclude the three insights of teaching and learning, as follows:
\n(1) to present subject matter is not teaching, (2) to store stuff
\naway in the memory is not learning, and (3) to memorize what is
\nstored away is not proof of understanding.<\/p>\n
The role of a helper for development implies that the teachers
\nshould become aware of the existence of preconceptions in the
\nminds of students. The minds of students who come to a physics
\nclass for the first time are not like empty bottles into which
\n\"the physics\" can be poured.<\/p>\n
They are already occupied by naive world views, simple rules
\nof belief, primitive experiences and practical \"working
\nhypothesis\", by means of which students make sense out of their
\nenvironment. We call them preconceptions because they exist
\nbefore we give our physics classes. The concepts on which they
\nare based, in most cases, do not conform with the physics
\nconcepts.<\/p>\n
These preconceptions are deeply rooted in the students' minds.
\nThey are truly \"private mental property\" because their generation
\nis biographically determined. They are sometimes contradictory to
\neach other, and often unconscious, but they are a common tool to
\nhandle the events in the daily life-world. When students learn
\nphysics, their preconceptions must be transformed into physics
\nconcepts. When we want to do this with success, then we must:<\/p>\n
* make the individual preconceptions conscious to the students in
\nthe class,<\/p>\n
* confront them with each other,<\/p>\n
* observe, reflect, and compare,<\/p>\n
* show contradictions among them,<\/p>\n
* demonstrate that they often fail, in particular when we want to
\nmake predictions,<\/p>\n
* introduce the physics concept, the idea first, the definition
\nlater, and finally, the mathematical representation which must
\nalways be interpreted,<\/p>\n
* let students feel a mental conflict because the physics concept
\nis different, and often counterintuitive,<\/p>\n
* show that the physics concept is more powerful, explains more,
\nhas a longer range of validity and allows -- first of all --
\nquantitative predictions,<\/p>\n
* create, in general, an environment whereby the students can
\ndevelop strong conceptual understanding of physics through
\nexamination of everyday phenomena.<\/p>\n
Teachers often claim that it is too time consuming to discover
\nand transform the preconceptions. They must cover textbook
\ncontent and syllabus and cannot discuss the \"crazy\", wrong,
\n\"stupid\" ideas appearing in the preconceptions. So, they ignore
\nthe preconceptions, or try to destroy them in saying that they
\nare nonsense and that the only truth in physics is what is
\nwritten in their textbooks. This must be learned, and everything
\nelse shall be forgotten.<\/p>\n
Both \"strategies\" fail because physics concepts, taught in
\nthis way, are normally not or poorly understood and the homemade
\npreconceptions survive all physics courses given in this
\nunscientific way. The result of this kind of \"giving lessons\" is
\nthat students just memorize physics vocabulary but remain on the
\npreconceptional level of understanding. When they have to solve
\nreal problems in physics, they express their preconceptional
\nthinking by means of physics vocabulary and the result is what we
\ncall misconceptions. All students come to their first physic
\nclasses with preconceptions. Being taught in the described way
\nmeans most of them leave school with lots of misconceptions.<\/p>\n
This is certainly not the goal of teaching and learning
\nphysics. In my course presented to future physics teachers at
\nSTKIP Singaraja, Bali, I have given many examples of
\npreconceptions; have shown how one can discover and transform
\nthem into physics concepts; have demonstrated that even physics
\nteachers may have -- and teach -- misconceptions; and have
\nprovided the students with strategies to overcome them. I think
\nthat improvement of education urgently requires the
\nimplementation of such a course into the curricula of science
\nteacher education.<\/p>\n
Dr. D.K. Nachtigall is a visiting professor of physics
\neducation from the University of Dortmund, Germany. He has been
\nworking for four weeks at STKIP Singaraja, Bali.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/physics-can-put-students-on-their-own-intellectual-feet-1447893297",
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