- Year 2017
- NSF Award #1340083
- Registration Master Teaching Fellow
- First Name Jennifer
- Last Name Keil
- Institution University of Colorado, Boulder
- School Name and District Currently Teaching Meadowlark K-8/Boulder Valley School District
Abstract
The Physics and Everyday Thinking High School (PET-HS) curriculum engages students in science practices of generating and defending claims using evidence and argumentation as a means of developing and formalizing physics principles. This study focuses on how students that are underrepresented or under performing in traditional physics classes respond to the PET-HS curriculum. Students in PET-HS classes in two different schools were given the same quizzes before and after developing ideas about positive and negative velocity as well as similar questions on the semester final exam. This method was replicated for additional topics throughout the 2016-17 school year, including Newton?s second law and gravitational acceleration. Findings suggest that students from underrepresented groups show no significant difference in learning gains compared to students in majority groups. We will discuss and demonstrate how the PET-HS curriculum facilitates a learning environment where all students are able to access scientific principles and practices.
