68006 - Elements of Physics and Physics Teaching

Learning outcomes

The student is expected to reach the following learning objectives: - disciplinary knowledge on selected topics within a more general view of the cultural role of Physics and its history; - ability to re-construct basic disciplinary concepts taking into account the various interconnected aspects of scientific knowledge: the experience based, the linguistic and the mathematical ones; - ability to design educational projects devoted to infant and primary school levels according to the approach to teaching/learning science based on the guided transition from spontaneous and individual ideas to shared concepts that aim at the accepted disciplinary knowledge.

Course contents

The course offers an introduction to the fundamental concepts of physics and their reworking in an educational context for primary and nursery schools. The main objective is to help future teachers develop an informed view of physical phenomena, so that they can explore them in the classroom in a meaningful, experiential and culturally grounded way.

In line with the National Curriculum Guidelines, the course is based on the belief that “science education is not just about transmitting knowledge, but also an opportunity to exercise curiosity, doubt and the search for explanations”. Promoting observation, the comparison of points of view, the formulation of hypotheses and the construction of simple models based on experience means recognising children as active subjects, capable of exploring and interpreting the natural and technological reality that surrounds them.

The course therefore invites participants to question how to transform physics from an abstract subject of learning into a tool for understanding the world. Experimental activities, workshops, group discussions and educational planning will become spaces for testing one's intuitions, confronting conceptual difficulties and seeking forms of mediation that make concepts accessible without trivialising them.

The course therefore invites students to consider how to transform physics from an abstract learning object to a tool for understanding the world. Experimental activities, laboratory work, group discussions, and instructional planning will become spaces for testing their intuitions, confronting conceptual difficulties, and seeking forms of mediation that make concepts accessible without trivializing them. Physics teaching, from this perspective, is not a simplified reduction of academic content, but a process of profound cultural and pedagogical reworking, in which the teacher takes an active role in constructing meaning, placing themselves between the knowledge of the discipline and the culture of childhood. Through an experiential, phenomenological, and reflective approach, participants will be guided to construct the meanings of physics from experience, putting themselves in the shoes of the children they will work with. From this perspective, physics teaching does not simply "simplify" disciplinary concepts, but profoundly reworks them, seeking an effective mediation between scientific knowledge and childhood culture. The course focuses on several core themes: looking at systems and looking at variables, method and measurement, force and weight, buoyancy, temperature and heat, energy, the greenhouse effect and climate change, light and vision. For each of these themes, both conceptual aspects and educational implications will be explored, with attention to interpretative models, common conceptions, epistemological issues, and the possibilities for shared construction of meanings in the classroom.

 

These disciplinary topics will introduce and develop knowledge and skills in:
- the basic concepts and nature of physical knowledge;
- the phenomenological approach and modeling in physics;
- the role of children's spontaneous ideas in the construction of scientific knowledge;
- the role of science education in the knowledge society.
The course also includes 1 credit for laboratory work.

Students are required to attend the laboratory associated with the course. The dates of the individual laboratories will be announced before the start of the course.
The laboratory provides 1 credit, which corresponds to 8 hours of mandatory attendance, plus 17 hours of homework. In addition to active participation, the laboratory also requires the development of a "final product." At the conclusion of the laboratory experience, which explored various disciplinary aspects and taught strategies to foster the development of scientific competence, students are asked to design a learning plan (at preschool or elementary school level, as desired) that will also serve as useful classroom material for an internship.
The laboratory as a whole is evaluated by the laboratory teacher with three possible ratings: -1; 0; +1 (out of 30). The assigned grade contributes to the final grade for the Physics exam. The laboratory evaluation remains valid until the final grade is recorded.

 

Readings/Bibliography

Teaching materials will be provided during the course and will be available on the "Virtuale" platform.

The materials consist of slides/presentations, excerpts from physics textbooks, work materials (tutorials, worksheets for group work, questionnaires, etc.), and articles in Italian and English.
For further study of the course topics, we recommend consulting the following texts (provided by the instructor, when not readily available).

RECOMMENDED TEXTS:

Gagliardi M., Giordano E. (2014). Metodi e strumenti per l'insegnamento e l'apprendimento della fisica. EdiSES.

Besson U. (2015). Didattica della fisica. Carocci.

Arcà M., Guidoni P. (2008). Guardare per sistemi, guardare per variabili. Supplemento al Bollettino trimestrale dell’Associazione per l’Insegnamento della Fisica n. 2, aprile-giugno 2008.

Course materials provided by the instructor (handouts, activity sheets, slides, chapter scans, articles, exercises, etc.).

 

Teaching methods

The course is designed to demonstrate a wide variety of teaching methodologies in action that future teachers can then apply in the classroom.
To this end, students will gain direct experience with: interactive lectures (vs. lectures), expert seminars, brainstorming activities, group work supported by a tutorial, exercises, co-design, peer-to-peer assessment, and microteaching activities.
Laboratory activities will directly involve students in the execution and discussion of simple experiments and/or group work using materials provided by the laboratory instructor. These activities will also provide insights into possible classroom activities.

Assessment methods

The final exam includes a mandatory written test and a subsequent optional oral exam. The written test is graded out of 30, and honors will be awarded only after successfully passing the oral exam.
The written test consists of a series of questions, some open-ended and some multiple-choice, and covers the physics content covered in both modules of the course, with particular attention to related teaching issues.
The written test is individual and will last approximately 1 hour.
Failure to pass the exam will not result in a missed exam.
Attendance at the laboratory (mandatory) will contribute to the final exam grade with points of -1, 0, or +1 (out of 30), based on the candidate's level of participation.
Honors will be awarded only if candidates pass the oral exam, even if they receive a score of 30 for the written test and a score of +1 for the laboratory test.
The oral exam is optional and can only be taken by students who have already passed the written exam and attended the laboratory. To be admitted to the oral exam, a written grade of at least 25/30 is required.
To take the exam, it is absolutely necessary to register through Almaesami. It is not possible to take any exam without formal registration. In case of problems, students MUST contact the Academic Affairs Office.

Students with learning disabilities (LD) or with temporary or permanent disabilities are invited to contact the University Inclusion Office (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/it).
Requests for accommodations must be submitted at least 15 days in advance and will be evaluated based on the course's learning objectives.

 

ERASMUS INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS: final exam and written product replacing laboratories

For Erasmus students, the assessment methods and the exam program are the same as those described for non-Erasmus students.
However, Erasmus students are given some options to be agreed with the teachers before the exam:

- ask for the possibility of bringing a dictionary to the written exam to show to the teachers

- ask for the possibility of a 30% increase in the time on the written exam

- ask to replace the written exam with an oral exam in Italian or English.

Due to several reasons, however, Erasmus International Students are not requested to take part to any laboratory. Conversely, those Erasmus International Students who inserted Elements of Physics and Teaching Physics in their study plan will hand in a written series of experimental classes focusing on water, which will replace the laboratories.

The series of experimental classes will target pre-primary or primary school and will have the properties and peculiarities of water as an aim, under different point of view. The proposed activities will be thoroughly described in terms of materials, methods, timing, and so on; we also ask to state learning goals clearly. A written text must be handed in at least 10 days before the examination day and will be assessed by Elements of Physics and Teaching Physics colleagues.

The evaluation will modify the exam one, removing or adding a point (or leaving it unchanged).

Teaching tools

Teaching Materials: The teaching materials presented in class will be made available to students in electronic format on the "Online Teaching" platform.

Experimental Equipment: The materials needed to conduct the experiments and discuss their results and educational implications will be provided for laboratory activities.

Audio and Video Equipment: Various multimedia materials will be presented (educational applets, videos, materials related to experimental teaching methods in elementary school classes, etc.).

Students with learning disabilities (LD) or disabilities (temporary or permanent) are encouraged to promptly contact the University Inclusion Office (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/it) to request any specific resources or support needed and to contact the instructors for their implementation during the course.

Office hours

See the website of Giulia Tasquier