CAREER: Learning Entropy and Energy Project (LEEP)

职业：学习熵与能量项目（LEEP）

• 批准号: 0450794
• 负责人: Walter Stroup
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Texas at Austin
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2004
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2004-01-01 至 2007-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0450794&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; Learning; Entropy; Energy; Project

Absent an adequate language to talk about change and the direction of change, sciencecurricula are fundamentally constrained to over-emphasize static constructs liketaxonomies and memorized sequences of events. In contrast with these over-simplified,statics-based curricula, the world students live in is complex and dynamic. Afundamental disconnect is created between what learners know of their world and thecurrent statics-based science they are taught in school. In addition to moving toward amath of change strand in school curricula and early university curricula (e.g. early non-calculussciences), a full dynamics-based curriculum needs to address the directed-nesswe experience in the world around us. When we get up in the morning, energy alwaysflows from our warm feet to the cold floor and never the other way around. The secondlaw of thermodynamics the entropy law is the only law of science that allowslearners to understand the directed-ness of physical process. Replacing statics-basedcurricula with a full dynamics-based reform depends vitally on being able to talk aboutchange but also on being able to talk about the direction of change. Recent educationalinnovations related to the early introduction of the math of change e.g. the use ofmotion detectors and powerful simulation software are starting to find their way intosignificant curricular reform. Unfortunately, entropy related fundamental research,materials development, and course-work aimed at advancing the dynamic-basedunderstanding of all learners is all but non-existent. This grant is aimed at addressingthis critical missing element in pursuing dynamics-based reform.Over a decade of entropy-based research and innovation leads me to believe thatentropy ideas can be incorporated into learning about energy dynamics early on inscience education, that entropy can be taught in a way that is cross-disciplinary and cross-level(from the very small to the very large), and that moving in this direction not onlyadvances student understanding of entropy but that the ability of all students to betterunderstand and succeed, at virtually all levels of their science learning, is significantlyadvanced. Although I intend for this entropy-focused work to impact science learningfrom late elementary through the wide range of undergraduate science courses, myprimary focus will be on two critical junctures in students' lives relative to formalscience learning: early high school and early university level work. Coming into thesejunctures many students are "still in the game" and are interested in further sciencestudy. Coming out of these junctures many students decide to leave, especially studentsfrom under-represented groups. Courses taught at these levels will serve both astestbeds for the efficacy of entropy-based learning and as research settings. In schools, Iwill focus primarily on the state-mandated, ninth-grade Integrated Physics and Chemistrycourse. At the university level I will focus on a newly developed undergraduate sciencecourse titled Entropy and Energy that I will co-teach with a research physicist who is alsoCo-Director of the completely restructured and rapidly growing new secondarycertification program called UTeach. Domain courses, such as this, in the new UTeachprogram are to model Standards-based teaching at the university level. Researchinsights related to student learning as such learning with entropy will be integratedwith my newly developed Knowing and Learning course that is the first requirededucation course for all the UTEACH students. Through the establishment of a workcircle of teachers in schools, through the establishment of a brown-bag seminar series atthe university, through research presentations and publications, and through thedevelopment of a Learning Entropy and Energy (LEEP) website, this project is intendedto support a larger conversation related to the efficacy and significance of learning aboutand with entropy as a vital part of moving towards a dynamics-based curriculum for allstudents.

由于缺乏足够的语言来谈论变化和变化的方向，科学课程从根本上被限制为过度强调静态结构，如分类法和记忆的事件序列。与这些过于简单化、基于静态的课程相比，学生生活的世界是复杂且动态的。学习者对世界的了解与学校当前教授的基于静力学的科学之间存在着根本的脱节。除了在学校课程和早期大学课程（例如早期非微积分科学）中转向数学变革之外，完整的基于动力学的课程还需要解决我们在周围世界中体验到的定向性。当我们早上起床时，能量总是从温暖的脚流向寒冷的地板，而不是相反。热力学第二定律熵定律是唯一能让学习者理解物理过程的定向性的科学定律。用完全基于动态的改革取代基于静态的课程在很大程度上取决于能够谈论变革，也取决于能够谈论变革的方向。最近的教育创新与早期引入变化数学有关，例如运动探测器和强大的模拟软件的使用正开始进入重大课程改革。不幸的是，旨在促进所有学习者基于动态的理解的与熵相关的基础研究、材料开发和课程工作几乎不存在。这笔赠款旨在解决追求基于动力学的改革中这一关键缺失要素。十多年来基于熵的研究和创新使我相信，熵的思想可以融入到科学教育早期对能量动力学的学习中，可以以跨学科和跨层次（从小到大）的方式教授熵，朝这个方向前进不仅可以增进学生对熵的理解，而且可以提高所有学生理解熵的能力。 更好地理解并取得成功，几乎在科学学习的各个层面上都显着进步。虽然我打算让这项以熵为中心的工作影响从小学后期到广泛的本科科学课程的科学学习，但我的主要重点将放在学生生活中与正式科学学习相关的两个关键时刻：高中早期和大学早期水平的工作。进入这些关头，许多学生“仍在游戏中”，并对进一步的科学研究感兴趣。在这种情况下，许多学生决定离开，尤其是来自代表性不足群体的学生。这些级别教授的课程将既作为基于熵的学习功效的试验平台，又作为研究环境。在学校，我将主要关注国家规定的九年级综合物理和化学课程。在大学层面，我将专注于新开发的本科科学课程，名为“熵与能量”，我将与一位研究物理学家共同教授这门课程，他也是完全重组且快速发展的新二级认证项目 UTeach 的联合主任。新的 UTeach 项目中的领域课程（例如本课程）旨在模拟大学层面基于标准的教学。与学生学习（例如熵学习）相关的研究见解将与我新开发的“知识与学习”课程相结合，该课程是所有 UTEACH 学生的第一门必修教育课程。通过在学校建立教师工作圈，在大学建立棕包研讨会系列，通过研究报告和出版物，以及通过开发学习熵和能量（LEEP）网站，该项目旨在支持与学习熵的功效和意义相关的更广泛的对话，并将熵作为向所有学生迈向基于动态的课程的重要组成部分。