Modeling Instruction in High School Physics, Chemistry, Physical Science, and Biology
The Modeling Method of High School Physics Instruction has been under development at Arizona State University since 1990 under the leadership of David Hestenes, Professor of Physics. The program cultivates physics teachers as school experts on effective use of guided inquiry in science teaching, thereby providing schools and school districts with a valuable resource for broader reform. Program goals are fully aligned with National Science Education Standards. The Modeling Method corrects many weaknesses of the traditional lecture-demonstration method, including fragmentation of knowledge, student passivity, and persistence of naive beliefs about the physical world. Unlike the traditional approach, in which students wade through an endless stream of seemingly unrelated topics, the Modeling Method organizes the course around a small number of scientific models, thus making the course coherent. In 2000 the program was extended to physical science, in 2005 to chemistry, and in 2008 to 11th grade biology, by demand of committed teachers.

Founders and directors
Objectives

Articles, presentations, recommendations

• Synopsis of the Modeling Method
• Detailed description of the Modeling Cycle
• A Modeling Method for high school physics instruction
  Read the article (AJP 7/95) describing the use of the Modeling Method in Malcolm Wells' classroom.
• QuickTime movie of Malcolm Wells, the high school teacher who originated Modeling Instruction (7 minutes, 42 megabytes,1990).(warning! big file!)
• Two QuickTime movies of Larry Dukerich's classroom teaching (on mechanics and sound waves). You need to have FLASH (which you can download free at the website) and QuickTime.
• Modeling Methodology for Physics Teachers
  David Hestenes' seminal paper on models and modeling

• David Hestenes' Lectures on Modeling Instruction:
  Click on these links to download pdf files of David Hestenes' lectures to participants in the summer Modeling Workshops.
  Hestenes' Lectures 1. Expertise 2. Preconceptions 3. Improving Student Discourse 4. Cognitive Foundations 5. What to Teach

• Convincing arguments
  Click on the links below to download MS Word files of documents you might need to convince colleagues and administrators of the value of the Modeling Method of instruction.
  Supporting documents ASU Press Release Description of Modeling Instruction Effectiveness

• Powerpoint presentations on Modeling suitable for colleagues, parents, administrators, school boards

• Key articles by Modeling Teachers
  

   Making Work Work - Gregg Swackhamer

   My first year of using Modeling Instruction - Mark Schober
     Mark described his experiences at the AAPT Summer meeting in 1999.

   Modeling and block scheduling: a good match - Wayne Finkbeiner

   Modeling Instruction: the jazz approach to high school physics - Dave Braunschweig

• Resources for the modeling classroom
  including action research projects
  Action Research, useful dissertations, papers/presentations by teachers, adaptations for 9th grade physics; how to use whiteboards effectively and where to buy them, what equipment will help you run a Modeling Instruction course, ideas for remodeling your classroom, web links for modelers. (Modeling in biology, middle school, advanced high school sciences; computer modeling)

• Compilations of teachers' posts to the Modeling listserv and ChemMod listserv
  Over 200 compilations! Helpful hints on concerns that arise in each unit in mechanics, suggestions by Modelers about classroom management, pace, AP, whiteboards and more...
  
  
  • Contributions made from 1995 - 2003
  
  
  • Contributions made from 2004 to 2008
  
  
  • Contributions to the ChemMod listserv

• Workshops for professional development in your school district or in partnership with a local university. Sample workshops from 2 hours to 3 weeks duration. How to organize and run them.

• Lab practicums - Activities that teachers can use at the end of a unit to assess how well their students have learned the concepts in that unit.

Curriculum materials

Here are sample materials that give you some sense of what Modeling Instruction is about.

Workshop participants have access to the most current materials and resources on the password protected "Participants Resources" webpage.

Material in this web site is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. ESI-9353423. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necesarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

List of Modeling Workshop leaders by state

Hundreds of teachers are eager to lead local reform of physics, chemistry, and physical science. Here's an incomplete, outdated list of leaders. About 3000 high school and college teachers in 48 states have taken a Modeling Workshop. Please ask Jane Jackson for contact information of others in your locale.

Research & Evaluation

The Force Concept Inventory (FCI), Mechanics Baseline Test (MBT), and Views About Science Survey (VASS) as well as published papers on these instruments, findings of the Modeling Workshop Project, and taxonomies of student conceptions in mechanics.

This page is maintained by Jane Jackson- jane.jackson@asu.edu
last updated on October 3, 2008

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