A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Audience Approved by PEP for students in grades 10-12 with backgrounds in beginning algebra, especially for those students who need additional motivation to learn the concepts and practical applications of physics.

Description Physics Resources and Instructional Strategies for Motivating Students (PRISMS) blends exploratory activities, concept development and application activities into a learning cycle. The concepts addressed in the PRISMS Teacher Resource Guide are those typically included in most high school physics courses including kinematics, dynamics, work and energy, internal energy and heat, wave phenomena, electricity and magnetism, and atomic and nuclear physics. High interest activities involving cars, bicycles, balloon rockets, dart guns, sailboats, etc., are utilized to teach the major concepts in physics. Exploration activities encourage students to observe relationships, identify variables, and develop tentative explanations of phenomena. Concepts are introduced through the experiences in this exploration phase. The student tests the generalization through observations in the application stage.

For each of 125 activities there are student sheets and teacher notes including teaching strategies, sample observations and calculations, a summary of the concept or outcome of the activity, and time required to conduct the activity. In most cases, there are multiple activities to support the learning cycle. The activities in the guide are an appropriate replacement of traditional laboratory experiments rather than supplementary materials. Student evaluation aids include a check list of indicators of student involvement in the laboratory activities and a computer test bank of over 2,000 questions keyed to course objectives and ranked by levels of reasoning according to Bloom's Taxonomy of educational objectives.

Evidence of Effectiveness During one academic year of physics instruction, 10th - 12th grade students showed a significantly greater gain in physics achievement relative to a comparable control group which used conventional materials and teaching strategies. Gain was measured using two forms of the New York Regents Physics Examination on a pre-posttest basis. In addition, PRISMS students had higher gains in reasoning/science problem-solving skills compared to a control group which used conventional materials and strategies. Change was measured by using two forms of the Test of Integrated Process Skills (TIPS II) on a pre-posttest basis.

Requirements To implement the program, the normal science laboratory facilities should be available. Several optional activities are provided that use computers for data acquisition. The physics teacher should understand the teaching strategies and be familiar with many of the activities before implementing the program. Inservice training for one week or a total of 32 hours is required.

Costs PRISMS materials include the Teacher Resource Guide, two video tapes, and a test bank of questions for evaluating student learning at a cost of $175. Assuming 15-20 teachers attending a one-week training period, the cost for the training is approximately $150 per teacher.

Services Awareness materials are available at no cost. Training is conducted during the summer at the development site at the University of Northern Iowa. In addition, staff are available to conduct workshops at other locations with costs to be negotiated. For demonstration sites available for visitation near you, contact the PRISMS Program Office.

Contact

Roy D. Unruh, PRISMS, Physics Department, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA 50614. (319) 273-2380. Tim Cooney, Earth Science Department, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA 50614. (319) 273-2918, FAX (319) 273-5813.

Developmental Funding: Iowa Department of Education and U.S. Department of Education--Secretary's Discretionary Fund.
JDRP No. 87-4 (5/28/87)

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