I have studied how, why, and under what circumstances do people appear to change their understanding, in particular of physical phenomena. My experience includes teaching physics and physical science at the 12th and 9th grade levels, and being a member of the physics faculty at Oklahoma State University and Boise State University. Along the way I have served as an Advisory Editor in College Physics for John Wiley
Prologue In Radical Constructivism (RC) (Glasersfeld 1991) we judge our understanding by what can... more Prologue In Radical Constructivism (RC) (Glasersfeld 1991) we judge our understanding by what can be accomplished using that understand-ing. Realists do not understand the notion that RC is not about truth, but about fit to experience. In this article, we look at evidence ...
The development of two new units for the Powerful Ideas in Physical Science (PIPS) Project of the... more The development of two new units for the Powerful Ideas in Physical Science (PIPS) Project of the American Association of Physics Teachers, funded by the National Science Foundation has motivated another look at the learning and teaching of kinematics and force. These and some of the other units of the PIPS Project are unique in that they advocate and model a particular student understanding driven approach to instruction as opposed to the more common content driven approach. Several novel ways to view the results of using these new motion and force materials are introduced and made possible by a diagnostic capable of indicating the degree of presence of multiple views (the Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation by Thornton and Sokoloff). The performance of individuals on pre and post diagnostic measures ranges widely from almost no change to more than 6 standard deviations. Factors are identified which appear to differentiate the student performances. The identification of these factors motivated additional rounds of modifications to the materials, departing even further from a content driven orientation toward an even more student understanding driven approach. The resulting instruction appears to induce routinely even under adverse teaching and learning conditions 2.5 standard deviations change in the class average on the pre to the post instruction diagnostic scores.
... Wondering about physics: Using spreadsheets to find out investigations in physics. Post a Com... more ... Wondering about physics: Using spreadsheets to find out investigations in physics. Post a Comment. CONTRIBUTORS: Author: Dykstra, Dewey I. (b. 1947, d. ----. Author: Fuller, Robert G. PUBLISHER: Wiley (New York). SERIES TITLE: YEAR: 1988. ...
Prologue In Radical Constructivism (RC) (Glasersfeld 1991) we judge our understanding by what can... more Prologue In Radical Constructivism (RC) (Glasersfeld 1991) we judge our understanding by what can be accomplished using that understand-ing. Realists do not understand the notion that RC is not about truth, but about fit to experience. In this article, we look at evidence ...
The development of two new units for the Powerful Ideas in Physical Science (PIPS) Project of the... more The development of two new units for the Powerful Ideas in Physical Science (PIPS) Project of the American Association of Physics Teachers, funded by the National Science Foundation has motivated another look at the learning and teaching of kinematics and force. These and some of the other units of the PIPS Project are unique in that they advocate and model a particular student understanding driven approach to instruction as opposed to the more common content driven approach. Several novel ways to view the results of using these new motion and force materials are introduced and made possible by a diagnostic capable of indicating the degree of presence of multiple views (the Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation by Thornton and Sokoloff). The performance of individuals on pre and post diagnostic measures ranges widely from almost no change to more than 6 standard deviations. Factors are identified which appear to differentiate the student performances. The identification of these factors motivated additional rounds of modifications to the materials, departing even further from a content driven orientation toward an even more student understanding driven approach. The resulting instruction appears to induce routinely even under adverse teaching and learning conditions 2.5 standard deviations change in the class average on the pre to the post instruction diagnostic scores.
... Wondering about physics: Using spreadsheets to find out investigations in physics. Post a Com... more ... Wondering about physics: Using spreadsheets to find out investigations in physics. Post a Comment. CONTRIBUTORS: Author: Dykstra, Dewey I. (b. 1947, d. ----. Author: Fuller, Robert G. PUBLISHER: Wiley (New York). SERIES TITLE: YEAR: 1988. ...
Curriculum Dynamics is a mixed bag: a place to start reading references to postmodernism, a rathe... more Curriculum Dynamics is a mixed bag: a place to start reading references to postmodernism, a rather poor place to pick up much understanding of the science written about in the book, and possibly a source of inspiration to think differently about the notions of curriculum and education. The book is aptly described by the author in the following: ‘My hope for those who read this book is that they find meaning, purpose, and value, not answers, prescriptions, or formulas to follow.’ (p. 6) One might find meaning, purpose and value from the book, but a careful, thoughtful reader might be hindered by the distractions of the presentation of the science and subsequent references to it and of the lack of rigor in the popularizers relied upon in the text.
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