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Investigative Science Learning Environment (ISLE): Learning physics by practicing it

Eugenia Etkina, Rutgers
Monday, April 9, 2018 - 4:00pm to 5:00pm
PAA A-102
Success in the 21st century is determined by one’s ability to pose problems and seek multiple solutions, to evaluate assumptions, and to cope with uncertainty in the answer.

Around the world, the knowledge of content (conceptual and quantitative) is ceasing to be the only goal of education. The engagement in the processes of science emerges as another equally important goal. How do we help our students achieve both? In this talk I will describe a learning system for physics courses that naturally and seamlessly engages students in the above practices, helps them develop the 21st century abilities, and can be implemented without major revisions to the infrastructure.

The learning system, called Investigative Science Learning Environment (ISLE), helps student learn physics by systematically engaging them in the processes that mirror the practice of physics. It is based on the findings of brain research, history of physics, and physics education research and is supported by a set of comprehensive curriculum materials and numerous studies of student learning. In this talk I will discuss elements of ISLE and show how to use ISLE framework to design curriculum materials with examples from DC circuits. ​

​Watch a video of the talk here​.

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