Encouraging a “Romantic Understanding” of Science: The Effect of the Nikola Tesla Story

Hadzigeorgiou, Yannis; Klassen, Stephen A.; Klassen, Cathrine Froese

doi:10.1007/s11191-011-9417-5

Cited by 55 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…However, improved student buy-in to the course pedagogy through use of MLMs could explain the improvements in cognitive achievement. Hadzigeorgiou et al report such an effect, where a novel "romantic understanding" through story-telling influenced student buy-in, leading to improved cognitive performance on topics in alternating current [33]. As discussed in the next section, we did also measure a significant difference between MLM and non-MLM groups with respect to their attitudes towards instruction.…”

Section: Cognitive Achievementmentioning

confidence: 94%

Efficacy of Multimedia Learning Modules as Preparation for Lecture-Based Tutorials in Electromagnetism

Moore

2018

Education Sciences

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Abstract:We have investigated the efficacy of on-line, multimedia learning modules (MLMs) as preparation for in-class, lecture-based tutorials in electromagnetism in a physics course for natural science majors (biology and marine science). Specifically, we report the results of a multiple-group pre/post-test research design comparing two groups receiving different treatments with respect to activities preceding participation in Tutorials in Introductory Physics. The different pre-tutorial activities were as follows: (1) students were assigned reading from a traditional textbook, followed by a traditional lecture; and (2) students completed on-line MLMs developed by the Physics Education Research Group at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign (UIUC), and commercially known as FlipItPhysics. The MLM treatment group earned significantly higher mid-term examination scores and larger gains in content knowledge as measured by the Conceptual Survey of Electricity and Magnetism (CSEM). Student attitudes towards "reformed" instruction in the form of active-engagement tutorials were also improved. Specifically, post-course surveys showed that MLM-group students believed class time was more effective and the instructor was more clear than reported by non-MLM students, even though there was no significant difference between groups with respect to in-class activities and the same instructor taught both groups. MLM activities can be a highly effective tool for some student populations, especially when student preparation and buy-in are important for realizing significant gains.

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Section: Cognitive Achievementmentioning

confidence: 94%

Efficacy of Multimedia Learning Modules as Preparation for Lecture-Based Tutorials in Electromagnetism

Moore

2018

Education Sciences

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“…And if emotions are crucially important in the context of teaching and learning school science [38][39][40][41][42], and the empirical evidence so far suggests that that engagement in science is an important parameter of the learning process [2,3,43,44], then the categories identified by the present study should be seriously considered by the science education community. Certainly, further in-depth studies of the reasons students themselves give for their motivation to study physics, and science in general, need to be conducted, as these studies will help us better understand what makes students "want to learn".…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

What Really Makes Secondary School Students “Want” to Study Physics?

Hadzigeorgiou

Schulz

2017

Education Sciences

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This paper reports on a mixed-methods study with high school students. The study focused on the reasons they give with regard to "what they find interesting about their physics lesson" and "what makes them want to study their physics lesson" during a school year. The sample consisted of 219 students, who attended public high schools, located in various geographical regions of Greece. Journal entries made by all students-that is, students from junior high and senior high schools-were content-analyzed through a grounded theory approach. A total of eight categories were identified. Quantitative differences between these categories, and between the two groups of students, were also identified. Even though some of the identified categories are well-known motivators in science education, three specific categories deserve particular attention: "connection to one's own self", "purpose", and "utility". Notwithstanding the limitations of the present research design (i.e., volunteer sample, lack of standardization in students" and especially in teachers' activities), these categories, along with two quantitative indicators-that is, number of journal entries and student percentages-challenge us to rethink what makes the ideas of science, especially those of physics, meaningful or simply relevant to the life of the students.

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“…Arguing that a story engages science learners in making meaning while interpreting it, and in integrating that meaning into their longterm memory (Klassen 2010), Klassen and colleagues craft stories that infuse the science with enduring human qualities. Their recent study compared a control group that did lessons on electricity with an experiment group that also discussed their story about Nicolai Tesla, and were shown to outperform the others on science tests (Hadzigeorgiou et al 2012). Experimental group students listened enthusiastically; journals they kept up to a month after discussing the story reveal wonderment about electricity and ''romantic'' understandings of Tesla and his heroism.…”

Section: Historical Materials In Science Teachingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many times I want to disagree with my father and my teacher but in the end I agree with them. (Hadzigeorgiou et al 2012(Hadzigeorgiou et al , p. 1136 This student's affinity with Tesla through resistance resonates across history and in classrooms including mine, where new ideas struggle unsupported (Harouni 2012).…”

Section: Historical Materials In Science Teachingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Learning Science as Explorers: Historical Resonances, Inventive Instruments, Evolving Community

Cavicchi

2014

Interchange

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Doing science as explorers, students observe, wonder and question the unknown, stretching their experience. To engage students as explorers depends on their safety in expressing uncertainty and taking risks. I create these conditions in my university seminar by employing critical exploration in the classroom, a pedagogy developed by Eleanor Duckworth, based on Jean Piaget and Bärbel Inhelder. My students observe nature and evolve trust in working together. They experience historical resonances through constructing their own diagrams and proofs of Euclid's geometry and experimenting with motions in response to Galileo's 1632 Dialogue. Historical figures become virtual members in the classroom, whose historical discourse is treated as if written by a current collaborator. Finding parallels between their thinking and history, students invent such instrumental assists as modeling moonrise through configurations of their bodies, balls and a lamp in the darkroom, which they later test observationally. In the process, their curiosity becomes self-sustaining, instigating further investigation. Drawing on diverse strengths of participants, collaboration among explorers is not like a chain; it can be ''as strong as its strongest link.'' One person's insightful confusion can take the whole group's understanding to a new and different place; an experiment or diagram beginning in one person's hands soon engages all. Their collaboration has at its disposal the union of life experiences of its members. As students generate multiple concurrent, conflicting perspectives, they diverge from the goal-directed curricula of most schools today. They learn how to observe; how to question; how to communicate; how to determine what is reasonable and what is not; how to create knowledge rather than just accepting it.

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Encouraging a “Romantic Understanding” of Science: The Effect of the Nikola Tesla Story

Cited by 55 publications

References 25 publications

Efficacy of Multimedia Learning Modules as Preparation for Lecture-Based Tutorials in Electromagnetism

Efficacy of Multimedia Learning Modules as Preparation for Lecture-Based Tutorials in Electromagnetism

What Really Makes Secondary School Students “Want” to Study Physics?

Learning Science as Explorers: Historical Resonances, Inventive Instruments, Evolving Community

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