Developing the skills of scientific inquiry with
webcams and Vernier’s LoggerPro3 software.
Michael Komljenovic
Abbey Park High School
Halton District School Board
STAO 2005
My Website-http://chatt.hdsb.ca/~komljenovicm
My Blog-http://novemberlearning.com/blogs/komljenovicm/
Agenda
Closing the digital disconnect with the millennial students.
Webcams as a scientific instrument: developing inquiry skills
Assessing & evaluating scientific inquiries.
Moving from cookbook labs to independent inquiries.
Lessons learned from practice
Time to play!
Millennial Students (born 1980 – 2000)
Closing the gap between internet-savvy students and their schools.
Millennials are the first generation that have grown up surrounded by digital media.
Webcams as a Scientific Instrument: Developing Inquiry Skills
Empowering students through technology and a constructivist approach.
• students use new technological modeling tools & software
• students carry out activities that are much more like real science
• encourages learner inquiry, students can learn the nature of science as a model of reality
• acknowledges the critical role of experience in learning; learning as a process
• nurtures learners natural curiosity
• bases itself on the principles of the cognitive theory, “brains-on” approach
• supports cooperative learning
• involves learners in real world situations
COOKBOOK LABS INDEPENDENT INQUIRIES/
GUIDED DISCOVERY LABS
Beginning of unit/ course End of unit/ course
References
“A Modeling Method for High School Physics Instruction”, Malcolm Wells, David Hestenes, & Gregg Swackhammer. “” Am. J. Phys., 63(7) (1995): 606-619 http://modeling.asu.edu/modeling-HS.html
Millennials at Workhttp://www.generationsatwork.com/articles/millenials.htm
Vernier Software http://www.vernier.com/index.html
What can a physics teacher do with a computer? Joe Redishhttp://www.physics.umd.edu/perg/papers/redish/resnick.htmlhttp://www.physics.umd.edu/perg/papers/redish/resnick2.htmlhttp://www2.physics.umd.edu/~redish/Book/ on-line book - The Physics Suite