Hillsdale College science departments introduce interactive technology
Maria Schmitt
Issue date: 10/11/07 Section: News
Hillsdale College science departments introduced a new interactive teaching method designed to help students eradicate misconceptions about the material they learn.
The method is part of a nationwide program called Physics Education Research that aims at discovering student preconceptions about physics to help them discover the truth, said Physics Department Chairman Jim Peters.
"We use specific techniques to get students to realize their views are incorrect," Peters said. "Then they are in an excellent position to learn physics."
In his Physics 201 class, Peters introduced a student response system that includes a computer, video system and "iclicker." Peters asks his students a question and students select a multiple-choice answer using their clickers. A bar graph of the class' answers then appears on a screen at the front of the class.
"Often, most of the class chooses the wrong answer," Peters said. "I don't just tell them the right answer, sometimes I do a demonstration or experiment to show the answer.
Sometimes we reason from what they already know."
Peters believes this teaching method works better than traditional methods.
"Now students spend class time thinking about physics and doing physics instead of just copying down lecture notes and memorizing them later," he said. "It's really made a huge difference."
Chris Van Orman, dean of natural sciences, also said the interactive system helps student learning processes.
"You get a sense of where the students are immediately," Van Orman said. "It's a great idea."
Peters also tries to have students reason through questions on tests rather than immediately resort to a memorized formula.
"The students I think are responding very well to this new method. It's very exciting," Peters said.
Junior Walter Pettus, a physics student, said he thinks the new method is a good idea.
"The whole point of it is to see what works for different people," he said. "I think mixing it up a little bit will give positive results."
Assistant Professor of Physics Cyrill Slezak studied different teaching approaches at the University of Cincinnati before bringing new ideas to Hillsdale. An example is the Personal Response System method, the general term used for systems like Peters' iclicker system.
Another new technique implemented this fall in the Physics 201 class is "Mastering Physics," an online homework suite. Students complete and turn in homework online where it is instantly graded and returned to them, Slezak said.
"These [systems] have been studied and have been shown to significantly improve students' performance when used correctly," he said. "Our goal is to make better students."
Heather Orlando contributed to this report.
The method is part of a nationwide program called Physics Education Research that aims at discovering student preconceptions about physics to help them discover the truth, said Physics Department Chairman Jim Peters.
"We use specific techniques to get students to realize their views are incorrect," Peters said. "Then they are in an excellent position to learn physics."
In his Physics 201 class, Peters introduced a student response system that includes a computer, video system and "iclicker." Peters asks his students a question and students select a multiple-choice answer using their clickers. A bar graph of the class' answers then appears on a screen at the front of the class.
"Often, most of the class chooses the wrong answer," Peters said. "I don't just tell them the right answer, sometimes I do a demonstration or experiment to show the answer.
Sometimes we reason from what they already know."
Peters believes this teaching method works better than traditional methods.
"Now students spend class time thinking about physics and doing physics instead of just copying down lecture notes and memorizing them later," he said. "It's really made a huge difference."
Chris Van Orman, dean of natural sciences, also said the interactive system helps student learning processes.
"You get a sense of where the students are immediately," Van Orman said. "It's a great idea."
Peters also tries to have students reason through questions on tests rather than immediately resort to a memorized formula.
"The students I think are responding very well to this new method. It's very exciting," Peters said.
Junior Walter Pettus, a physics student, said he thinks the new method is a good idea.
"The whole point of it is to see what works for different people," he said. "I think mixing it up a little bit will give positive results."
Assistant Professor of Physics Cyrill Slezak studied different teaching approaches at the University of Cincinnati before bringing new ideas to Hillsdale. An example is the Personal Response System method, the general term used for systems like Peters' iclicker system.
Another new technique implemented this fall in the Physics 201 class is "Mastering Physics," an online homework suite. Students complete and turn in homework online where it is instantly graded and returned to them, Slezak said.
"These [systems] have been studied and have been shown to significantly improve students' performance when used correctly," he said. "Our goal is to make better students."
Heather Orlando contributed to this report.
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