TITLE: Student-Centered Activities for Large Enrollment University Physics

SPEAKER: Professor Stephen J. Beichner,

TIME: Thursday Feb. 19, 2004 at 4 PM

PLACE: George P. Williams, Jr. Lecture Hall, (Olin 101)

SCALE-UP is an effort to utilize interactive, collaboratively-based instructional methods in classes of up to 100 students. Relative to students taught in traditional sections, SCALE-UP students are better problem solvers, achieve four times the gain on some conceptual tests, have better attitudes toward science, and report greater satisfaction with their instruction. Retention rates for females are 5 times those seen in regular classes and rates for minority students are nearly that good. Technology is used to provide a phenomenological focus for students, allowing data collection, analysis, mathematical modeling, and advanced simulations. As student attention is drawn into analyzing different physical situations, teachers circulate around the room and engage students in Socratic dialogs. Lecturing is minimal, primarily for motivation and to provide an overview of topics. Some of the instructional techniques we employ will be presented, along with evaluation methods, classroom design specifications, and teacher materials that are available.