Dean Zollman
University Distinguished Professor & Head
Physics
Department of Physics
Kansas State University
116 Cardwell Hall
Manhattan, KS 66506-2601
Manhattan, KS 66506-2601
Phone:
785-532-1619
FAX:
785-532-6806
http://web.phys.ksu.edu/vqm/index.html
What are, to you, the key issues in creating learning resources that support your teaching style and your student's learning styles?
We need to develop high quality activities which are consistent with contemporary understanding of the learning process. The materials need to actively involve students in the learning process and help them see connections b\among the various courses and concepts with which they are involved.
What is your vision for the "textbook" of the future and what impediments do you see to realizing that vision? I have two "visions"
1. There is no textbook. Students attend class and complete learning activities. They then go to the Web and find material which helps them learn the material. In some ways this is happening already. My students frequently suggest web sites that I should look at. The biggest issue is quality control. Students can find web sites that look really nice but are outdated or just wrong.
2. From the authors' side, the future textbook will be constructed more like Wikipeida than like textbooks are now. Different topics will be written be different people who (hopefully) have knowledge of both the content and the pedagogy. Revisions and customizations on individual sections to local situations will be easily done. From the instructors' side I will be able to select chapters and sections that my students need and construct a book which the students use. Again the primary issue is quality control. Also someone needs to manage the process. Finding administrators, in the sense of Wikipedia administrators, is probably not feasible unless there is a profit involved.
Describe briefly any research you have undertaken on teaching or learning. 1. There is no textbook. Students attend class and complete learning activities. They then go to the Web and find material which helps them learn the material. In some ways this is happening already. My students frequently suggest web sites that I should look at. The biggest issue is quality control. Students can find web sites that look really nice but are outdated or just wrong.
2. From the authors' side, the future textbook will be constructed more like Wikipeida than like textbooks are now. Different topics will be written be different people who (hopefully) have knowledge of both the content and the pedagogy. Revisions and customizations on individual sections to local situations will be easily done. From the instructors' side I will be able to select chapters and sections that my students need and construct a book which the students use. Again the primary issue is quality control. Also someone needs to manage the process. Finding administrators, in the sense of Wikipedia administrators, is probably not feasible unless there is a profit involved.
That's the only research that I do.
1. Research on ways to use technology in teaching abstract concepts, particularly quantum physics, to students who have limited mathematics and/or physics background. The focus is on visualizations.
2. Research on mental models that students build and the way they transfer there knowledge from one concept (or course) to another.
3. State of the art video-based data bases for helping high school teachers with the pedagogy of physics.
Have you created publicly accessible learning resources? 1. Research on ways to use technology in teaching abstract concepts, particularly quantum physics, to students who have limited mathematics and/or physics background. The focus is on visualizations.
2. Research on mental models that students build and the way they transfer there knowledge from one concept (or course) to another.
3. State of the art video-based data bases for helping high school teachers with the pedagogy of physics.
How would you like to contribute to the workshop?
Be involved in discussions and/or actions that focus on the application of contemporary pedagogy in learning materials and on moving away from text-based "textbooks".
What would you like to take away from the workshop? Ideas about the next steps in the things mentioned directly above.
