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Introduction
Computer software and innovative pedagogical methods can
support the creation of significantly more effective
learning environments. Constructing Physics Understanding (CPU) presented a solution
to this challenge. The CPU development team built on previous work
incorporating computer technology to build a
constructivist-oriented learning environment (Goldberg, F.
& Bendall, S., Am. J. Phys. 63(11),
978-991, 1995). Guided by an inquiry-based pedagogy,
CPU developed a set of curriculum
units and associated
simulation
software that soon will be available from
this site.
Through its work with
twenty-five Leadership
Teams, CPU has had a broad impact
throughout the United States on hundreds of teachers and
their students. Workshop
Highlights takes an in-depth
look at this impact, and in Classroom
Tales, CPU teachers and
students share their thoughts. Special
Recognition & Activities
spotlights the contributions of some teachers who have been
members of CPU Leadership Teams.
The CPU
development team included over
forty people between 1995 and 2000, including those involved
with software
design and development,
authoring
the curriculum units, and
providing technical support.
CPU
Curriculum Units
The
CPU team developed seven curriculum units:
Light
and Color, Force
and Motion, Waves
and Sound, Static
Electicity and Magnetism,
Current
Electricity, Underpinnings,
and Nature
of Matter. Brief unit
descriptions are available on this web site by clicking on
the unit icons. Longer unit
overviews are also available
as both web pages and Microsoft Word documents.
CPU units are designed to be
worked through on the computer, and this use of technology
provides opportunities that are not available in a pencil
and paper format. However, the units can be printed out and
used in classrooms not equipped with computers, or perhaps
equipped with only one demonstration computer and an LCD
panel.
CPU
Simulation Software
CPU
simulation software were programmed
in Java.
As the Java software was
developed, the capabilities of the CPU software programs
were revised and expanded, and new programs for the Waves
& Sound Unit were developed. This updated, revised, and
expanded CPU
Simulation Software package will soon be
available for download from this site. The software is also available
online, along with related physics education software.
CPU
Pedagogy
CPU
pedagogy and materials are closely aligned with the
NRC National
Science Education Standards
(NSES) and the AAAS
Benchmarks for Science Literacy.
In addition to content and pedagogy standards, the project
is in alignment with the standards in areas such as the
nature of science, science as a human endeavor, and nature
of scientific inquiry. The pedagogy is based on cycles
of:
- eliciting students' ideas
- guided development in which
students modify or discard their old ideas and/or develop
new ones in a movement towards target ideas
- application of target ideas to new
situations
The cycles of elicitation, development
and application are more fully described in the
Pedagogy
section of this
site.
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