Click here for a print-friendly version of this syllabus. COURSE DESCRIPTIONStudents are going to be a part of an exciting approach to learning called Modeling Physics. In this approach, they will be confronted with a series of situations in which they will decide what variables in a physical situation might be related and how they might go about measuring these variables. They will learn how to use a computer to both collect and graphically analyze data and will learn how to clearly describe the relationships found using a variety of representations. Students will then go on to explore how the relationships can be applied to a wide variety of new situations. Experience, student discourse, and critical thinking—not lecture—are the key tools for learning in this course. Course content deals largely with the macroscopic world. Students will study different ways in which objects move (constant velocity, constant acceleration, circular motion) and how objects interact with their environment (force, energy, and momentum). SCIENCE STANDARDS DICTATE THE COURSE DESIGNCurricular reform movements at both the state and national level have dictated the need for students to become more scientifically literate. Most recently, the National Research Council (NRC), which was created by the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineers, created A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas (The National Academies Press; 2012) which provided the foundation for the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). The NRC identified a set of practices that need to be developed and experienced in the K-12 classroom. These practices include:
The Framework states, "We recognize that students cannot reach the level of competence of professional scientists and engineers...Yet students' opportunities to immerse themselves in these practices and to explore why they are central to science and engineering are critical to appreciating the skill of the expert and the nature of his or her enterprise." (A Framework for K-12 Science Education; p. 49) A significant research base additionally shows that students are significantly deficient in their understanding of the nature of science in the following four fundamental areas:
In short, students need to be participants in a “community of learning” in order to maximize their learning experience. This course, in its modeling tradition, is designed to help students achieve gains in understanding by actively engaging in all of these practices.
ITEMS FOR CLASS
UNIT WORKStudents will receive a coversheet for each unit stating the learning targets as well as a simple rubric that will help them to assess the depth of their progression through a unit. All unit tests are derived directly from this sheet, so it serves as an excellent study guide for the unit. The coversheet also lists all readings, handouts, problem sets, labs, quizzes, and assessments. These unit coversheets provide a comprehensive summary of the course content. Cooperative groups usually contain 3-4 students. Students will collect data, analyze data, and summarize results together in their groups. Groups are also responsible for creating consensus on solutions to assigned problems and occasionally presenting and defending the solutions to classmates. The emphasis throughout this process is to build a culture of inquiry where students come to understand the general principles involved and how they solved the problem rather than on the final answer. Group composition will vary frequently throughout the year. Homework (Formative)
Homework will be assigned frequently over the course of each unit in the form of readings, problem sets, videos, online formative quizzes, and web-based simulations and learning games. The problem sets are designed to challenge students' understanding of the concepts being developed in class. It is reasonable to expect that they will often experience difficulty in setting up and solving these problems, and it's not such a bad thing that they struggle a bit in trying to solve them (that’s why they are called “problems.”). Problem sets are not graded, but they are practice situations for applying the models that we are developing in class and are integral to understanding the course content. Cooperative work using a whiteboard as a problem-solving tool facilitates students sharing their ideas and getting feedback on their understanding of the physics concepts. Feedback comes in the form of discourse, not in the form of copying answers. Students should focus on understanding how the answer is achieved rather than on “getting the right answer.” The principles learned from problem sets provide the basis for the Moodle quizzes and for each unit assessment. Ultimately, classroom success will be directly impacted by the effort individual students put into the problem set process. Labs (Formative)
Labs are designed to foster a deeper understanding of concepts through experience and will be the prime forum for introducing physics concepts. Some labs provide students the opportunity to apply learned concepts to analyze new situations. Formal For the opening investigation of each unit, groups will collect data together, analyze data together, and jointly write a formal report using Google docs. Groups that are focused and on task should have ample class time to complete this process. The teacher will mark and provide feedback on the group reports electronically. Groups are expected to edit and resubmit formal lab reports until the group attains proficiency. Informal Many units will have additional labs which will not require a formal report. Students are expected to satisfactorily complete these informal labs and understand the results, attaining proficiency prior to the administration of the unit test. Scores will be recorded in Infinite Campus (see below, Scoring Codes Used in Infinite Campus). Attaining proficiency by the due date determines the conditions under which a student may reassess the lab test (for formal labs) or, in part, the unit test (for informal labs). Successful and timely completion of all labs plays a role in the 10% formative grade that goes into the course grade. Lab Tests (Summative)
The lab grade for the course comes from the lab tests, individual accountability tools that reflect lab work documented in the formal lab reports. Only students who fully participate in the laboratory process with their group will likely be able to demonstrate proficiency on the lab test. All students will take the lab test on the assigned day, barring extenuating circumstances with prior approval from the teacher. Any lab test score below 60% will be recorded as an IE (Insufficient Evidence). Any student may opt to reassess each lab test once within the 2 week correction window that follows. To qualify to retake the lab test, the following must take place:
If the lab report was proficient prior to the administration of the test, the retest score will replace the initial score: a higher score on the reassessment will result in the higher score being recorded, a lower score on the reassessment will result in the lower score being recorded. The scores are not averaged, truncated, or capped. If the lab report was not proficient prior to the administration of the test, the student can score, at most, 75% on the retest. After the 2 week correction window (which starts once the lab test score has been recorded), lab test scores become permanent. A student may have IEs for individual lab tests, but must maintain a score of 60% or higher in the Lab Tests category to pass the course. Moodle Quizzes (Formative)
Quizzes (mostly online in Moodle) are designed to give students direct teacher feedback of their understanding of physics concepts and are based on preceding readings, assignments, and class work. When students meet the proficiency requirements for a quiz, the result is recorded in Infinite Campus (see below, Scoring Codes Used in Infinite Campus). Successful and timely completion of all quizzes plays a role in the 10% formative grade that goes into the course grade. We do not want a situation where students are attempting these quizzes many times before passing. If after 2 or 3 attempts the student still is not proficient on a quiz, there is a problem and the student should seek out assistance. Successful completion of all quizzes in a unit determines, in part, the conditions under which students can retake a unit test. Moodle Discussion Forums (Summative)
While group work can be an effective way to get students to discourse with one another, it is also an easy way to piggyback on another’s ideas without engaging in original or critical thinking. We will use Moodle discussion forums as another method of promoting student discourse. Two times first semester, we will post a question online that students will think through and discuss via a virtual environment. Students can enter each discussion as often as they want while the forum is open. The focus of this activity isn’t getting the right answer, but rather exploring one’s own ideas, weighing evidence, and constructing and critiquing arguments. Students will receive a rubric that delineates the expectation for this component of the course. Generally, this work should be completed outside of the physics class. Before the teacher scores the discussion, each student will need to complete self-assessment rubric which will include the student's final answer to the forum prompt. Students who opt not to participate in Moodle or who participate but score below 60% will receive an IE (Insufficient Evidence) once the forum closes. These students will be given the opportunity to increase their score to 70% by entering the forum, reviewing the discussions, identifying compelling arguments, and then giving a detailed explanation of their own final answer. Two weeks after the Moodle forum score has been posted, the score becomes permanent. A student may have IEs for individual Moodle discussion forums, but must maintain a score of 60% or higher in the Moodle Discussion Forum category to pass the course. Unit Tests (Summative)
The unit tests are a mixture of multiple choice, short answer, paragraph response, and problem-solving questions. They are not designed to measure a student's ability to simply regurgitate information, but rather to think about relationships between variables and to problem solve. All students will take the unit test on the assigned day, barring extenuating circumstances with prior approval from the teacher. A student may opt to reassess each unit test once, completing the reassessment prior to administration of the next unit test, or until a passing score is achieved. Full-credit reassessment
The most recent test score will be the score recorded: a higher score on the reassessment will result in the higher score being recorded, a lower score on the reassessment will result in the lower score being recorded. The scores are not averaged, truncated, or capped. Capped 75% reassessment Students who are not proficient on all quizzes and informal lab activities prior to the administration of the test may reassess for up to a score of 75%. In order to qualify to reassess, the student must
The most recent test score will be the score recorded up to a score of 75%; the scores are not averaged. A mark of IE, Insufficient Evidence, in Infinite Campus indicates that the student either did not ever take the unit test or scored below a 60% on the assessment. A single IE in the Units Tests category will prevent a student from passing the course, regardless of the cumulative grade shown in Infinite Campus. SCORING CODES USED IN INFINITE CAMPUS
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| 4 | Applied to formative work (lab reports & write ups, Moodle quizzes) that is proficient by the due date. |
| 3 | Applied to formative work (lab reports and write-ups, Moodle quizzes) that is proficient but is submitted after the due date. |
| 2 | Applied to formative work (lab reports and write-ups, Moodle quizzes) that is not proficient. |
| M | Applied to formative work (lab reports and write-ups, Moodle quizzes) that is not submitted for evaluation. |
IE (Insufficient Evidence)
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Applied to summative assessments (units tests and Moodle discussion forums) that are not taken or that had a score below 60%. This code will not be applied to formative assessments. |
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GRADING
| The semester work is weighted as follows: |
The semester grade is weighted as follows: |
| Problem Sets |
0% | Semester Work | 80% |
| Labs (reports, write-ups) & Moodle Quizzes. Moodle quizzes are weighted twice as heavily as all other assignments in this category. |
10% | Final Exam | 20% |
| Lab Tests | 25% | ||
| Moodle Discussion Forums | 15% | ||
| Unit Tests |
50% |
IMPORTANT: A single IE in the Units Tests category will prevent a student from passing the course, regardless of the cumulative grade shown in Infinite Campus. As such, it is imperative that students and parents are aware of both the Progress Grade and the marks for all unit tests. A student can pass the course with IEs in the Lab Tests and Moodle Discussion Forums categories as long as each of these category grades is 60% or greater.
The table below is the same one shown in the Oregon High School Grading Practices Parent & Student Handbook and shows the correlation between course letter grade and course percent score.
| A | 93-100% |
C |
73-76% |
| A- | 90-92% |
C- | 70-72% |
| B+ | 87-89% |
D+ |
67-69% |
| B | 83-86% |
D |
63-66% |
| B- | 80-82% |
D- |
60-62% |
| C+ | 77-79% |
F |
0-59% |
BEHAVIORAL EXPECTATIONS / ATTENDANCE
The format of this course and the philosophy of the modeling method require that all students are engaged and focused in class. This means that all students are in attendance, are prompt, and participate in the daily learning environment. In short, students need to be physically, mentally, and emotionally present. Such participation allows the teachers to check often for individual understanding of concepts.
Classroom discourse allows the class to negotiate the meaning of physics concepts and to understand the concepts being learned. This requires students to question and challenge each other. Everyone is learning from everyone else. Our role as teacher is to facilitate and steer discussions in such a way that students can make valid judgments of the physics concepts we study and to bring closure to discussions as needed.
District policy dictates that we will be assessing students' learning skills in the following areas:
- timely and consistent homework completion,
- cooperation with students and staff, and
- active engagement in classroom learning.
Learning skills grades will be based on these areas as dictated by district and school policy.