Initial Publication Date: September 5, 2024

Russell Sage College: Using the TIDeS module in SCI-104: Physical and Earth Sciences

Sandra Penny, Russell Sage College

Why I Revised My Course

About the Course

SCI-104: Physical and Earth Sciences

Level: Level: This is a general-education course open to all majors at my institution, but it is a required course for our education majors and about two thirds of the students are early childhood education majors. Many (but definitely not all) of these students self-describe themselves quantitatively weak and they have avoided science courses in the past. It is a challenge teaching to students of such varied backgrounds, but it is with this population in mind that the course was developed.

Size: 25-30 students
Format: Two 80-minute lecture sessions per week

Show Course Description

In this course, we learn how energy and forces make things move, and I want students to have at least a few moments to sit in awe at the realization that they finally understand something that they've wondered about since they were a kid. We work to build confidence in science, inspire scientific curiosity, and prepare future teachers to incorporate science education standards into future classrooms. The topics covered include energy, waves, density, pressure, position, velocity, acceleration, and force, and for each of these topics we seek to understand a larger "motivating question" that inspires us. This course is designed to include daily hands-on activities, laboratory exercises, and class discussions.

Syllabus for SCI-104: Physical and Earth Sciences (Acrobat (PDF) 184kB Mar5 24)

Before I took over this course, it was a traditional lecture classroom with a handful of hands-on "lab" activities sprinkled throughout. In this TIDeS course, we really push the limits on what can be accomplished in a traditional classroom in a good way. Students get used to completing mini-labs and activities virtually every day and lecture/class discussions are used just for introduction and wrap-up/synthesis.

This is a physics class, but most of the applications and examples are relevant in an Earth science class. Make no mistake, though: we tackle all the major topics of a typical physics class: energy, forces, waves, density, and more. These Earth-tinted applications are a strength, not a weakness. Students tune out when they hear about frictionless carts on ramps, but they tune in when they are asked to look through data to explain how hurricanes and home heating systems share the same physics principles because they are both heat engines.

A student stated in their anonymous end-of-semester course evaluations:

The labs were very effective! I really like these because I am a visual learner. I like using my hands to stay engaged. Giving me an activity and allowing me to work with others is extremely beneficial. I tend to talk myself through my work as it is so this worked out well. Communicating my ideas and writing them up, almost as a reflection, allowed me to go over the material multiple times, wrap my head around it, and further communicate it when doing the weekly reflections or end-of-the-unit projects. Speaking of the end-of-the-unit projects, I really liked the lesson plans!! It was nice to be able to actually do something I would have to do for my teaching career. This was the first class I have ever done a lesson plan in and the requirements for it were set up very well. It was easy for me to understand them and it gave me a good way to communicate what I know.

My Experience Teaching with TIDeS Materials

My course is a typical 3-hour lecture class that meets in a normal classroom, which means: 1) I don't have five hours a week like lecture+lab courses, 2) there's a class in the room just before, making setup a challenge, 3) the tables in the room don't move easily, and 4) there are three buildings, four elevator rides, and one wheelchair ramp between the place where my materials are stored and my classroom. This is a challenge!

If you're in a situation like mine, then you'll want to check out the unit-by-unit notes below as they highlight the things you can skip for time and the ways that I modified some of the messier experiments to a classroom environment. I have taught this course twice, and in the first pilot I didn't get close to finishing the course! The timings and descriptions below are from the second time through when I did get through everything but had to skip some units that I'm still sad about.

Here are some general suggestions that worked well for me:

Get two classrooms near each other. A lot of the labs ask students to spread out. On days that we were doing labs that required space, I'd have everyone meet in the "main" classroom for announcements and to organize our thoughts, and then groups could spread out after that. My sensory students who don't work well in a loud environment especially enjoyed this option.
Get permission to store your materials in (or very near) your classroom. It was a lot of work for me to use a cart (four elevator rides, a wheel chair ramp, and three buildings...), but with enough planning I could almost carry a box by hand a little bit at a time.
A lot of the labs and activities in Unit 3 require using water. This is very dangerous for students who have their personal laptops and phones out. Remind students constantly to keep these things in backpacks or on designated water-free tables.

A Unit-by-Unit Breakdown of How I Taught this Module

Unit Breakdown

Unit 1:

I completed this unit over three classes, and skipped the bubbles extension lab. Three classes (1.5 weeks of my course) was a lot of time to spend on introductions and I'd love to find a way to get this down to two. While I really enjoyed the measuring sticks lab, that's another place to think about pairing down in the future.
Unit 1.1:
- In drawing relationships with science, one student drew two stick figures labeled "science" and "me" on opposite sides of his paper, with the word "distance" between them. Another student drew two stick figures doing a "high five." What a cool way to demonstrate our different entrances to the classroom.
- I was worried about assigning the two 10-minute videos to watch before the very first class, so I took time in class to show them. This definitely took away from time that I did not have. I wish I'd trusted my students to do this out of class, and I will be doing that next time!
- Make sure to save the student drawings of their relationship with science and their two goals. You'll return to this at the end of the semester.
Unit 1.3: I've taught conversion factors a lot and I think this was the best "first day" of conversion factors I've ever had! However, if you're prepared to delete the portions of many labs later that ask students to complete unit conversions (mph to m/s, for example), then this is something you could potentially skip.

Unit 2:

Unit 2.1 (two classes): I included this entire unit in my course. We're asking our students to get comfortable with failure from the very beginning in this course! Getting accurate and precise data from this lab in a single class period is asking a lot. Remind your students that we'll come back to re-do this lab in a better way when we analyze slow-motion videos in a future class.
Unit 2.1E (one class): I completed the Tsunami Data lab but not the Water Waves Experiment. They're both extension labs that can be skipped for time if needed. The Water Waves Experiment is a lot easier to do in a traditional lab setting!
Unit 2.2 (one class): I included the Slow-Motion Slinky Lab only. I was very sad to give up the Vortex Cannons Lab due to time constraints. Vortex Cannons is a fun lab - I'm going to try my best to find time to bring that back in the future! I did not include the Waves in a Bottle Lab.
Unit 2.3 (one class): I included this entire unit in my course.
Unit 2.4: I did not complete this unit in my course. This is a fun lab, but we don't return to the topic of Power anywhere else in the course.
Unit 2.5 (one class): I included this entire unit in my course. I had no trouble fitting all of this into my 80-minute class, and that included 10 minutes at the start of class for the Check Your Understanding worksheet from Unit 2.3 and also 10 minutes at the end of class to begin Unit 2.6.
- I didn't complete the opening activity as a gallery walk and instead did this as a think-pair-share - this saved a lot of time.
- For group system mapping, I gave my students the option of using the editable google slides OR to draw their maps up on the board in my classroom (I have board space for four groups). About half chose the digital format, and half chose the board format.
Unit 2.6 (two classes): I included this entire unit except for the Heat Engine Boat Extension Lab.
Unit 2.7 (1.5 classes): I included this entire unit, but I spent only one class period on the materials and assigned the rest as out-of-class homework. I had some issues in my first pilot doing this because students sometimes chose activities that weren't from this unit or activities that we didn't do in this course. In the second time teaching these materials, I made sure to have a conversation with every single student about their game plan. In the future I'm considering requiring a two paragraph summary/description to be due 1 week before this full assignment is due that you grade with a very fast turnaround.

Unit 3:

Unit 3.1: I skipped this unit. It is a very nice unit for establishing the motivating question of observing the unobservable, but it doesn't deal with density topics.
Unit 3.2 (1.5 classes): I included this entire unit in my course. I combined a half class period from this unit with a half class period for working on the Unit 2 Lesson Plans (Unit 2.7).
Unit 3.3 (three classes): I included this entire unit in my course, and it was a full 1.5 weeks in my class - probably the longest unit of the semester. I did the Modeling the Ocean Activity as an interactive lecture demonstration in front of the class. I decided it was too messy and time consuming to attempt in my classroom!
Unit 3.4: I skipped this unit in my course. I absolutely love the Art Your Graph Activity and it doesn't have to go here. I saved it for the end of the semester to complete if I had time. I didn't have time, but I hope to make time next year!
Unit 3.5 (1.5 classes): I did not include the lab on measuring the densities of solids in my course, but I did everything else. The lab I skipped is very similar to the measuring densities of liquids lab in Unit 3.3. In the Jigsaw Activity, I completed Group 1 as a class before dividing up the rest of the class because that activity is so interactive and fun. This definitely cost me some time though!
Unit 3.6 (1.5 classes): I included this entire unit in my course.
Unit 3.7 (one class): As with the Unit 2 Lesson Plan, I completed this entire unit but I only spent one class period working on it.

Unit 4:

Unit 4.1 (two classes): In my course, I did not complete the Tracker Extension but I did include everything else. The Pirates Vectors activity didn't work well in my very difficult classroom - it took five minutes to move all the desks out of the way, five minutes to to complete the mapping activity, and then five minutes to put everything back together.
Unit 4.2 (two classes): I included this entire unit in my course.
Unit 4.3 (two classes): I included the Rube Goldberg Lab but not the Plate Tectonics Box model. The Rube Goldberg Lab occupied the final day of class as a prep/planning day and then we met during our scheduled Final Exam time for a two-hour meetup to build the final projects. Students LOVED this as a final project and something light/fun to do during finals week.
Unit 4.4 (one class): I included this entire unit in my course, though I had to shorten some of the discussion slides due to running out of time at the end of the semester. My lack of attention and time showed in the work the students turned in!

Assessments

This class has daily pre-class assignments, daily science journals, weekly reflections, and monthly lesson plan summative assignments. This structure and layout was great from the student perspective - there are no tests/quizzes/anxiety-causing assessments, and after a few weeks the students are used to the routine and know what to expect

Pre-Class Assignments: Pre-Class Assignments generally fall into two different categories: reading/watching assignments that prepare students for the learning of that day, and Scientist Spotlights. I gave credit to students for turning these in, and when the questions were particularly relevant I would summarize student responses before class. These were always graded for credit, not correctness.

In this course we complete 10 "Scientist Spotlights" that showcase an array of scientists in fields relevant to the topics of the day, some from long ago and others young and active today, together representing a diversity of people who all have a passion for science. I was shocked at how much my students resonated with/enjoyed these. They frequently came up in reflections or course evaluations as valued parts of the course.

Science Journals: Every unit has at least one (often two, sometimes three!) activities/labs, so there are lots of opportunities for students to complete Science Journals (i.e., Lab Journals). In the beginning of the semester when I was establishing "Science Journal Norms," I would start class by adding a few "favorite" examples from science journals submissions from the previous day (always with names redacted, and I gave students the opportunity to opt out of ever being featured by emailing me).

You'll find that most units also have a worksheet/handout option that can be completed in lieu of a science journal. Handouts are definitely faster, but they do not ask your students to engage as deeply with the practices of science. I went back and forth between the two formats depending on how much time we had on the day.

Reflections: These are assigned approximately weekly at the conclusion of (almost) all units. These assignments are great because students are asked to demonstrate higher-order thinking by putting their learning into their own words and also to apply their knowledge. When we reflect, this allows us to consider our understanding of our own thought processes which is an integral part of the learning process. I tried to actually read through and grade all of the reflections (500 words x 30 students x 15 weeks...), and I won't be doing that again. I highly recommend coming up with an alternate plan (ideas: ungrading, reflections are summarized by small groups at the start of class, have students post their reflections in an anonymous discussion forum and require them to read/comment on each others' reflections, grade some reflections for completion only).

Lesson Plan Summative Assessments: Only about two thirds of my class are education majors, and the rest are there because this class meets a general education science elective. You'd think that would mean this assignment is only worthwhile for the education majors, but you'd be wrong! Lesson plans are a great way for students to demonstrate their understanding and growth on their own terms. Rather than asking students to do what we do on a typical test (memorize every detail about every little thing and then forget it immediately), students do the thing that research has shown leads to longer-lasting learning and higher-order thinking (spend a bunch of thinking thoughtfully, effortfully, and deeply about a single topic). Bonus: I was very clear that I expect lesson plans to reflect the language and understanding from our class, and that made it a challenge for students to outsource this assignment to AI and/or google. I'm already trying to think about how I can use this same format in my other general education courses.

Outcomes

My main goal for this course was to model what a physical science course in a K-12 classroom SHOULD look like and that is how I approached it. This is a deliberate choice. I want my students to become teachers who inspire their future students to love math and science, but many of them have been raised in a system that teaches physics as "hard" and something they aren't "smart" enough to get through. Throughout the course, we discuss WHY certain instructional strategies are used (ex: how is this material requiring you to engage with your slow brain or encouraging a growth mindset?) and emphasize that learning is a process by de-incentivizing the idea that you need to have "right" answer or that you can't fail if you want to make progress on your understanding. I would say that my course was very successful in achieving these goals!

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