22501 - Teaching and History of Physics

Learning outcomes

The course is devoted to students willing to become formal and/or informal science educators. Conceptual/cultural/professional competences will be developed to allow personal reflexions on basic knowledge in Physics and on teaching/learning processes, aiming at the design of science teaching paths for secondary school education.

Course contents

The course will focus on some historical cases to reflect on physics as a discipline and on the forms of knowledge necessary for its understanding.

Specifically, starting from a historical reflection on kinematics, Newtonian dynamics and the physics of complex systems, the following epistemological themes will be addressed:

- The aims and values, practices, methods and forms of knowledge organization that characterize physics (the Family Resemblance Approach);

- The meaning and role of models and modeling processes in physics;

- Scientific argumentation and thought experiments.

Students' epistemologies and models of cognitive dynamics that allow to compare accredited knowledge and common sense knowledge.

The historical cases will also allow to introduce basic elements of the sociology of time and Futures Studies to reflect on the temporal models developed by physics and institutionalized.

Special attention will be paid on the theme of objectivity and on particular forms of reductionism to compare different epistemological and methodological perspectives, including realism, constructivism and feminist epistemologies.

Results of studies on gender and intersectionality will be discussed with particular reference to scientific contexts and places of formal education (schools and universities).

Readings/Bibliography

Teaching materials are made available in a shared folder and also in the moodle platform.

The materials include slides and presentations, research articles and other materials for study (e.g.: tutorials, guides for group activities, research tools, etc.).

Teaching methods

The course is so designed as to illustrate a large variety of educational methods.

In particular the students experience on themselves different types of lesson (socratic/dialogical vs. academic lectures), peer-to peer evaluation, group work supported by tutorials.

Assessment methods

The final examination is held in the oral format. Each student is asked to discuss topics from those covered in the lessons, starting from the analysis of the materials and research articles considered in the course.

Specifically, the final examination evaluates the following knowledge and competences:

a) disciplinary correctness (up to 10 points);
b) quantity and richness of information used in answering the questions (up to 10 points);
c) quality of the argumentation - the quality of the argumentation includes the ability to develop an argumentation in a coherent way, the ability to base the argument on research results, the ability to move in an interdisciplinary terrain created by the intertwining of the different dimensions covered in the course (conceptual, cognitive, historical, epistemological, sociological dimension) (up to 7 points);
d) level of personal appropriation and re-elaboration (up to 3 points).

Teaching tools

Ppt presentations, research materials, video and multimedia materials (e.g.:  applets, movies, recorded materials, simulations etc.). Tools embedded in Virtuale will be used (e.g. forum, wooclap).

Office hours

See the website of Olivia Levrini