Academic literature on the topic 'Physics teachers Victoria Case studies'

It is argued that appraisal of advanced skills in teaching should be based on the pedagogical content knowledge which good teachers, in biology for instance, could be expected to possess and which a well-trained biologist would not. Public acceptance of this claim is the key element in any argued case for a career restructuring which rewards the development of teaching expertise in schools and universities. Several initial schemes employed in Victoria for appraisal of Advanced Skills Teacher 1 are critically examined. An alternative to the competency-based approaches is presented, founded on research into the development of practical reasoning of teachers.

It is commonly agreed that experiments play a central role in teaching and learning physics. Recently, Inquiry-Based Learning (IBL) has been introduced into science teaching in many countries, thus giving another boostfor experiments. From a didactical point of view, experiments can serve a number of different goals in teaching and learning physics. First of all, experiments can support learners in understanding some of the centralconcepts of physics. Besides this function of “learning physics”, empirical evidence shows that experimental work in general has a high potential for promoting “learning about science” and finally “doing science”. Promoting aspects of how science works has become important, as the ideas of scientific literacy and competence orientation have been established as central educational goals in many national education systems. However, empirical studies show that the reality in schools does not match these expectations. Conventional physics classes still aim only at the mastery of content, and experiments that cognitively activate students and address issues related to the Nature of Science (NOS) have not been implemented extensively. The reasons for this can be found in teachers’ attitudes and beliefs, as well as in their PCK concerning experiments and scientific knowledge production. In past decades in Austria, teacher education did not focus a great deal on the didactical aspects of experiments or their integration into physics classes in order to promote aspects of scientific literacy and competence orientation. Furthermore, there is a lack of high quality continuing professional development courses that promote the concepts of Inquiry-Based Learning (IBL) in combination with relevant ideas of NOS. The present study examines inservice teachers’ beliefs about the function of experiments in science teaching and their meaningful integration into science classes. In the form of case studies, we follow the professional development of teachers in this field during continuing teacher training.

Lesson planning through backward design was introduced in the schools in one of the Dzongkhags in eastern Bhutan to enhance students' learning since 2017. This study was undertaken to find out the effectiveness of backward design lesson planning in teaching and learning physics. A qualitative case study approach implementing semi-structured interviews, classroom observation, and document analysis was used. A purposive sampling method was used to select eight physics teachers from four schools. The study found that lesson planning using backward design significantly influences students' understanding of the concept and promotes purposeful classroom engagement through realistic classroom learning. As the assessment is planned separately in this design, it provided teachers with an improved understanding of students' learning, the achievement of learning standards and, subsequently, scaffolding them to achieve greater learning performance. The other benefits include improved academic achievement and increased confidence of teachers. Some challenges were limited evidence of transferring students' learning to their everyday lives; more time requirements in the planning phase; teachers' limited knowledge in setting instructional goals; and developing reliable assessment tools and essential questions. This study recommends conducting similar studies in other subject areas involving more participants to offer richer perspectives on the effectiveness of the backward design.

Research should be focused on topics that are appropriate to the needs of the times so that the results of the research can be applied. Students in completing their studies are required to make final assignments in the form of research. Therefore, this study aims to identify the tendency of research of the Physics Education students Indicator the last five years and to determine the theme of educational research studies that allows for further study by Physics Education students in the future. This research was conducted in physics education program with research objects were taken from the written thesis of 2013 until 2017. This research design is a case study with data analysis technique of descriptive qualitative and quantitative. this study found the theme of research studies most studied by Physics Education students were a model of learning and research studies that may still be studied further, namely the evaluation of learning, learning media, and learning strategies on subjects other than temperature and heat and static fluids. The results of this study can be used as a consideration to determine the topic of the thesis and reduce the risk of plagiarism and increase the variety of research in the environment of the study program.Keywords: Physics Research, Research, Students' Researchers, Trend analysis

The purpose of this paper is to address the most significant contributions of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) involved in teaching physics. Most studies have observed the characterizations of PCK via specific content in the lower secondary and upper secondary curricula. Here, we present a number of studies that show evidence for the development of some PCK components, including those that present PCK as an articulating axis for physics teacher training models. The present work is a descriptive study that analyzes, by means of a case study, the changes in PCK through a physics teacher training intervention program. This program is based on reflections about teaching, concerning the electric field in physics education. The results show that categories, such as knowledge about the curriculum and teaching strategies, evolved after the intervention program, in contrast with knowledge about evaluation and pupils. This suggests that an approach involving a teacher’s reflection on what he/she designs allows for progression towards a teaching and learning process that is more focused on innovative tendencies.

This paper examines the incorporation of popular culture into science outreach activities as a means of improving the engagement level of secondary school pupils. Two activities make up the case studies discussed within this paper: „The Science of Sound‟ and „The Music Festival‟. Both case studies utilise the creation and consumption of popular music as a means to; convey physics principles; promote the continued study of physics and raise awareness of the broad range of careers that physics graduates can pursue. Consultation with a range of stakeholders involved in the development, delivery, and participation in the case study activities has been undertaken. This includes a focus group with participating Year 10 students and interviews with secondary school teachers and outreach coordinators. The purpose of this paper is to explore the advantages, disadvantages, and challenges in using popular culture to stimulate engagement in this way, and to share best practise to aid the effective delivery of similar initiatives.

Quantum physics involves counterintuitive abstract concepts and complex mathematical procedures that are difficult to understand by physics and chemistry students at university level. This study employs case study- one of the methods of qualitative study- and it aims to determine the difficulties prospective chemistry and physics teachers encounter in understanding quantum numbers. 17 students in total were included in the study. The data were collected via a test of three open-ended questions developed by the researchers. The collected data were then analysed by using the content analysis method. It was found accordingly that both prospective chemistry teachers and prospective physics teachers had difficulties in understanding quantum numbers. The findings obtained in this study were compared with the ones obtained in similar studies and were discussed accordingly.

In 2011, a renewed national curriculum for preschools in Sweden introduced explicit pedagogical tasks concerning chemistry and physics. This article is about the analysis of physics teaching supported by video productions with tablets, part of a three-year professional development programme on collaborative inquiry teaching of chemistry and physics in Swedish preschools. The temporal case studies reported here were focused on children’s and teachers’ communication during extended teaching sequences with three- to six-year-old children in two Swedish preschools. Eleven children and two teachers participated in this study. The children worked in small groups with one teacher. Results indicate that children’s video productions by tablets contributed to children’s learning, with differences indicated for children’s experiences of objects of learning in physics at different levels of abstraction. Consequences of the results for future teaching of early years physics are discussed.

Limited studies investigate the high school teachers’ challenges and ­strategies while teaching science and mathematics in English as the target language through the ­content and ­language integrated learning (CLIL) approach. Hence, this study aimed to ­investigate the ­challenges that science and math teachers encounter and the strategies they employ while fostering students’ development of proficiency in English as the target language in ­physics, ­chemistry, biology, and mathematics courses in the International General Certificate of ­Secondary ­Education (IGCSE) and International Baccalaureate Diploma Program (IBDP). The study utilized ­various qualitative tools such as semi-structured interviews, open-ended ­questionnaires, and lesson ­observations to analyze science and math teachers’ strategies and challenges at a case school in eastern Turkey. The study revealed that as part of the CLIL approach, the ­participant teachers indicated various challenges such as a lack of vocabulary repertoire, translation ­problems, and weak foundational knowledge. They used common strategies such as group work ­interactions, interdisciplinary activities, individualized feedback, the promotion of higher-order thinking skills, inquiry-based learning, and reinforcement of language used to deal with these ­challenges. The study presents further implications for good practices and recommendations to resolve ­challenges.

Problem-based learning (PBL) is an active teaching strategy that could be implemented in the South African educational system to assist in developing problem-solving skills, critical thinking skills, collaborative skills, self-directed learning and intrinsic motivation in students. Even though it is not easy to drift from a teacher-centred strategy to a student-centred strategy, but this drift is supposed to be a paradigm drift for the nation. ‘Physics is difficult’ has been the anthem of students in South African high schools. This has led to lower pass rates in physics and as a result low physics career person in society. Physics students in high schools need to be exposed to the PBL strategy since the PBL strategy focuses on real-life problems to develop problem-solving skills, critical thinking skills and self-directed learning in students which are the skills needed for concept formation in Physical Science. Basically, the education of Physical Science students focused on the ability to acquire skills to solve real-life problems. This study focuses on exploring the experiences of high school physics teachers at Entsikeni cluster, South African, when implementing problem-based learning (PBL) in their physics classrooms. The study uses the mixed-method approach where three different research instruments were used to collect quantitative and qualitative data sequentially. Questionnaires, RTOP and interview protocol were employed. The findings of the study indicate that teachers project positive attitudes toward the PBL strategy but may probably not continue to use it because it requires more time than that which is allocated in the Curriculum Assessment and Policy Statement (CAPS) Physical Science document and as a result may not be able to finish their ATP on time. Teachers are teaching physics with no specialization in physics, which probably could lead to poor, pass rates in Physical Science. Teachers were inexperienced in teaching physics in the FET and could probably affect students’ academic performance. It is recommended they apply the PBL strategy to correct the negative effect of their inexperience on students’ performance. It is evident that if inexperienced trained teachers apply an instructional strategy based on research, they tend to develop students' performance as compared to applying the traditional instructional strategy.
Science and Technology Education
M. Sc. (Physics Education)

There is a growing trend in the use of educational escape rooms (EER) in the classroom and therefore in the demand for case studies by teachers. This chapter shares the experience of designing, creating, implementing, and evaluating a digital escape room (DER) carried out in the context of the European research project Unlock. Practical advice will be given for the creation of escape rooms based on the literature review and the results of the evaluation of this work. In addition, there will be a discussion on the particularities of gamifying in the discipline of physics and other scientific disciplines.

The Australian Catholic University (ACU National at www.acu.edu.au) is a public university funded by the Australian Government. There are six campuses across the country, located in Brisbane, Queensland; North Sydney, New South Wales; Strathfield, New South Wales; Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT); Ballarat, Victoria; and Melbourne, Victoria. The university serves a total of approximately 27,000 students, including both full- and part-time students, and those enrolled in undergraduate and postgraduate studies. Through fostering and advancing knowledge in education, health, commerce, the humanities, science and technology, and the creative arts, ACU National seeks to make specific and targeted contributions to its local, national, and international communities. The university explicitly engages the social, ethical, and religious dimensions of the questions it faces in teaching, research, and service. In its endeavors, it is guided by a fundamental concern for social justice, equity, and inclusivity. The university is open to all, irrespective of religious belief or background. ACU National opened its doors in 1991 following the amalgamation of four Catholic tertiary institutions in eastern Australia. The institutions that merged to form the university had their origins in the mid-17th century when religious orders and institutes became involved in the preparation of teachers for Catholic schools and, later, nurses for Catholic hospitals. As a result of a series of amalgamations, relocations, transfers of responsibilities, and diocesan initiatives, more than twenty historical entities have contributed to the creation of ACU National. Today, ACU National operates within a rapidly changing educational and industrial context. Student numbers are increasing, areas of teaching and learning have changed and expanded, e-learning plays an important role, and there is greater emphasis on research. In its 2005–2009 Strategic Plan, the university commits to the adoption of quality teaching, an internationalized curriculum, as well as the cultivation of generic skills in students, to meet the challenges of the dynamic university and information environment (ACU National, 2008). The Graduate Diploma of Education (Secondary) Program at ACU Canberra Situated in Australia’s capital city, the Canberra campus is one of the smallest campuses of ACU National, where there are approximately 800 undergraduate and 200 postgraduate students studying to be primary or secondary school teachers through the School of Education (ACT). Other programs offered at this campus include nursing, theology, social work, arts, and religious education. A new model of pre-service secondary teacher education commenced with the introduction of the Graduate Diploma of Education (Secondary) program at this campus in 2005. It marked an innovative collaboration between the university and a cohort of experienced secondary school teachers in the ACT and its surrounding region. This partnership was forged to allow student teachers undertaking the program to be inducted into the teaching profession with the cooperation of leading practitioners from schools in and around the ACT. In the preparation of novices for the teaching profession, an enduring challenge is to create learning experiences capable of transforming practice, and to instill in the novices an array of professional skills, attributes, and competencies (Putnam & Borko, 2000). Another dimension of the beginning teacher experience is the need to bridge theory and practice, and to apply pedagogical content knowledge in real-life classroom practice. During the one-year Graduate Diploma program, the student teachers undertake two four-week block practicum placements, during which they have the opportunity to observe exemplary lessons, as well as to commence teaching. The goals of the practicum include improving participants’ access to innovative pedagogy and educational theory, helping them situate their own prior knowledge regarding pedagogy, and assisting them in reflecting on and evaluating their own practice. Each student teacher is paired with a more experienced teacher based at the school where he/she is placed, who serves as a supervisor and mentor. In 2007, a new dimension to the teaching practicum was added to facilitate online peer mentoring among the pre-service teachers at the Canberra campus of ACU National, and provide them with opportunities to reflect on teaching prior to entering full-time employment at a school. The creation of an online community to facilitate this mentorship and professional development process forms the context for the present case study. While on their practicum, students used social software in the form of collaborative web logging (blogging) and threaded voice discussion tools that were integrated into the university’s course management system (CMS), to share and reflect on their experiences, identify critical incidents, and invite comment on their responses and reactions from peers.

The University of Nottingham (UoN) recently established its own CubeSat programme, with the team commencing design, construction and testing of the first CubeSats in late 2020. However, one major challenge encountered was a common lack of practical applied electronics skills amongst students. This was repeatedly noted by students as a major obstacle to project success in progress reviews for WormSail, our first CubeSat project. Notably, these sorts of skills are also an area of common concern for young workers and employers in the UK Space Sector. This skill gap existed despite the student team coming from a variety of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) undergraduate backgrounds, including physics, computer science, and aerospace and mechanical engineering. With insufficient time to recruit students with electronic engineering backgrounds, it proved difficult to find "all-rounders" to join the team with the broad range of skills required for the project. One advantage that several students had however was their experience from informal hobbies involving Arduino and Raspberry Pi (RPi) based microcontroller electronics. These were found to endow highly transferrable skills, with these members providing significant contributions to the team through their skills and teaching. Team members found these so useful, that the “FlatSat” programme was set up to provide electronics teaching resources for new members of the CubeSat team. Sessions within the programme could be planned and delivered by the experienced team members, and hence be targeted to include applicable, referrable, and important skills and knowledge for building CubeSats. Through developing these resources, the team realised it may be beneficial to include this programme in taught modules offered in the Faculty of Engineering, to enhance practical skills for all students enrolled in these modules. This paper is intended to overview the work carried out in developing the FlatSat teaching workshop, and highlight the resources and their benefits to groups including other higher education space module conveners, developing CubeSat teams, School and further education teachers, STEM Outreach Coordinators, and general hobbyists. It is hoped that boosting confidence with such in-demand skills will be of great benefit to learners. We will also review case studies of the first large-scale workshop sessions and outline plans for future developments, particularly taking into consideration the feedback of demonstrators, students, and observers to the workshop.