PER-based Active Learning Experiences in San Luis, Argentina

JULIO BENEGAS, MYRIAM VILLEGAS, SILVINA GUIDUGLI, JULIO SIRUR FLORES & CECILIA FERNANDEZ GAUNA

Greensboro, NC, USA.

Conferencia; 2007 Summer Meeting Amer. Assoc. of Physics Teachers (AAPT); 2007

Amer. Assoc. of Physics Teachers (AAPT)

  During the last 30 years there have been great advances in the understanding of how people learn basic physics and, subsequently, on the development of appropriate and very successful physics teaching methodologies. Nevertheless, little of all these materials are reaching the physics and physical science classrooms of most countries. In this work we present results of several experiences of applying PER-based curricula in high school and introductory university courses in Argentina. In each case different curriculum developments have been complementarily used according to their main classroom objective: theory, laboratory or recitation sessions. This process is programmed, under Redish’s premises or Principles (1999) for a science of physics education. They should "help us to make sense of what happens in the physics classroom" guiding the planning of our teaching approach. They are the Constructivism Principle, the Context Principle, the Change Principle, the Distribution Function Principle and the Social Learning Principle. These general principles, within a research-oriented instruction, have been used to guide the selection of course sequence, curricular material, particular teaching strategies and overall course evaluation