Elementary Physics Course Based on Guided Inquiry

职前教师开设的本科理科课程通常采用以教科书为中心的授课形式。有必要设计新的课程，运用在最近的教育研究中发现的有益思想。这个项目是这个课程的延续和扩展，这个课程已经进行了大约两年。这门适合职前教师的基础物理课程，体现了近年来教育理论和实践的一些创新。人们发现，专题报道的广度必须从标准水平上大大减少，以确保学生实际学习和保留所涵盖的内容。“能源”这一主题被用作一个概念支点，将各个主题联系在一起。学生对物理现象的预/误解——由预测试确定——指导演示、活动和讨论。学生对各种实验结果所做的预测，这些预测构成了班级讨论的基础。测试他们预测的调查是由学生进行的，他们以小组为单位，通过指导的“小型研究项目”进行研究。课堂讨论以学生的调查结果（以及与预测的比较）为中心，由讲师进行系统的总结，以提供观点，并与下一个主题领域“能源转换和节约”的主题联系起来。在课程交付期间，持续的测试和其他评估指导主题报道的节奏和深度。目标读者是未来的小学和中学教师，以及其他非技术学生。该项目有可能显著改善那些对大学物理科学的典型体验往往是令人反感和无价值的人对物理的知识和态度。

Undergraduate science courses taken by preservice teachers typically have textbook-centered lecture formats. There is a need for new course designs that implement ideas found beneficial in recent educational research. This project is a continuation and extension of such a course that has been under development for about two years. This elementary physics course, appropriate for preservice teachers, embodies a number of the recent innovations in educational theory and practice. It has been found that the breadth of topical coverage has to be substantially reduced from standard levels, in order to ensure that what is covered is actually learned and retained by the students. The theme of "energy" is used as a conceptual pivot to tie together the various topics. Students' pre/misconceptions regarding physical phenomena--as determined by pretesting--guide the presentation, activities, and discussion. The pretests form the basis for a thorough class discussion of the predictions made by students regarding the outcome of various experiments. Investigations to test their predictions are carried out by the students, working in small groups, through guided "mini-research-projects." Class discussions, centered around the results of the student investigations (and comparison with the predictions), lead to a systematic summing-up by the instructor to provide perspective, and tie into the next topical area with the thread of the theme "energy transformation and conservation." During course delivery, ongoing testing and other assessment guide the pacing and depth of the topical coverage. The target audience is prospective elementary and middle-school teachers, and other non-technical students. The project has the potential to significantly improve the knowledge of and attitude towards physics on the part of those whose typical experience with college physical science tends to be distasteful and nonproductive.