WEBVTT 00:00:14.076 --> 00:00:18.646 Students often sit in a classroom and have a teacher stand in front. 00:00:18.836 --> 00:00:22.386 And whenever they can get out of their chairs and do something, it's always an advantage. 00:00:23.026 --> 00:00:26.156 So at least a few times a week, if we're not doing a lab, 00:00:26.156 --> 00:00:28.826 we want to do some kind of activity that gets them out of their chairs. 00:00:29.136 --> 00:00:31.456 "Everyone come over here and watch this demonstration. 00:00:31.456 --> 00:00:34.036 Everyone, we need to go outside for this demonstration." 00:00:34.036 --> 00:00:39.946 Whenever you can find something that gets everyone physically up out of their seat, 00:00:39.946 --> 00:00:41.866 whether it's a lab situation or something else, 00:00:41.866 --> 00:00:43.656 you're going to actively engage them at a different level. 00:00:43.946 --> 00:00:48.186 We typically will do some sort of egg drop with a wide variety of requirements. 00:00:48.216 --> 00:00:49.236 Some sort of catapult. 00:00:49.526 --> 00:00:51.466 Something with simple machines and levers. 00:00:51.466 --> 00:00:53.146 This year we're doing Rube Goldberg machines. 00:00:53.206 --> 00:00:54.266 Musical instruments. 00:00:54.416 --> 00:00:55.356 Design circuits. 00:00:55.356 --> 00:00:59.366 During units that are not as project-based, say nuclear physics, 00:00:59.926 --> 00:01:02.796 they'll often write a paper on misconceptions in science. 00:01:03.206 --> 00:01:06.856 And so I will give them a list of 100 different misconceptions 00:01:07.356 --> 00:01:11.826 and like a sweater actually keeps me warm. 00:01:12.106 --> 00:01:13.856 A lot of people think well the sweater actually like, 00:01:13.856 --> 00:01:19.046 will actually keep you warm by providing warmth itself, rather than by insulating 00:01:19.046 --> 00:01:20.476 and reflecting the warmth back to you. 00:01:20.976 --> 00:01:27.666 So they'll study misconceptions and they'll say, "I didn't know that was a misconception." 00:01:28.006 --> 00:01:30.796 And then they'll have to write a paper after choosing half a dozen or so. 00:01:30.896 --> 00:01:36.146 There's no doubt that when we do a lab activity or we're building on projects, 00:01:36.226 --> 00:01:39.796 that a lot of the young men in the room have a lot more physical intuition. 00:01:40.306 --> 00:01:42.216 That is, they've done some of these things before. 00:01:42.216 --> 00:01:44.336 Maybe dad asked them, "Hey help me change the oil." 00:01:44.816 --> 00:01:48.096 Maybe dad said, "Well, your bike is broken, why don't you go ahead and fix it. 00:01:48.096 --> 00:01:48.846 I'll show you how." 00:01:48.846 --> 00:01:52.786 And perhaps they weren't as quick to do those things with their daughters in some households. 00:01:53.116 --> 00:01:58.706 So I know and I hear from many of the students that, "Well, I don't know how to do that. 00:01:58.706 --> 00:01:59.646 I've never done that before." 00:01:59.746 --> 00:02:03.126 And I hear that much more often from the young women in the room than from the young men. 00:02:03.546 --> 00:02:07.566 And so, it's definitely an opportunity for them to start exploring. 00:02:07.946 --> 00:02:14.166 And specifically for the girls, it can really help to level the playing field because it's 00:02:14.166 --> 00:02:17.176 so un-leveled sometimes when they walk in. 00:02:17.176 --> 00:02:21.396 Very often, when I ask a question that's conceptual based, a young man will raise his hand 00:02:21.396 --> 00:02:23.576 and say, "Well I did this on my skateboard the other day. 00:02:23.576 --> 00:02:24.856 So I know the answer is this." 00:02:25.146 --> 00:02:26.686 And I don't get that as often from the young women. 00:02:27.076 --> 00:02:30.886 But by including a lot of labs and a lot of hands-on activities, 00:02:31.216 --> 00:02:33.856 it helps to level that playing field of physical intuition. 00:02:34.146 --> 00:02:39.046 So that now we're really talking about: Do you have the critical, analytical thinking skills? 00:02:39.336 --> 00:02:47.266 Do you have the mathematical maturity with your algebra to get your hands on and solve the rest 00:02:47.266 --> 00:02:51.516 of the problems and understand what's going on in the situation? 00:02:51.616 --> 00:02:54.496 There have been times that I've had groups where there are two or three cheerleaders 00:02:54.496 --> 00:02:59.566 in one lab group at that moment, and they'll ask a question 00:02:59.746 --> 00:03:02.106 and not really understand something about center of mass. 00:03:02.106 --> 00:03:05.076 Well, we can talk about when they toss a cheerleader in the air 00:03:05.076 --> 00:03:07.786 and that cheerleader does two flips and comes down and is caught. 00:03:08.226 --> 00:03:11.146 But the cheerleaders all know that when they're spotting, 00:03:11.526 --> 00:03:13.226 they need to be watching the center of mass 00:03:13.396 --> 00:03:17.526 of that cheerleader-that the entire body weight is rotating about that point. 00:03:17.526 --> 00:03:23.396 And that's something they've done many, many times, so you can take the almost abstract concept 00:03:23.396 --> 00:03:29.556 of a center of mass or the center of gravity of an object and how it moves in a straight line 00:03:29.776 --> 00:03:31.586 when you toss it up in the air or down, 00:03:31.586 --> 00:03:36.146 or it moves in a parabola even as the whole object rotates around it-and you could really begin 00:03:36.146 --> 00:03:41.446 to have a lot of concrete meaning in their mind and their life by connecting it 00:03:41.506 --> 00:03:45.676 to something they do on a regular basis, which are cheerleading stunts. 00:03:45.766 --> 00:03:49.446 And so by connecting it to something they know in their world, 00:03:49.726 --> 00:03:54.866 you make it very relevant to them, and all of a sudden they think they're really good at physics 00:03:54.866 --> 00:03:56.676 because they're like, "Oh, I do this all the time." 00:03:57.066 --> 00:03:59.926 And so they can not only understand, but hopefully get excited about it. 00:04:00.186 --> 00:04:05.486 When I first started taking some in-service classes on gender equity, 00:04:05.726 --> 00:04:09.956 one of the things I decided to try was to segregate the classroom 00:04:10.246 --> 00:04:13.596 so that lab groups were either all male or all female. 00:04:14.006 --> 00:04:19.875 When students choose projects outside a class, they're allowed to mix and choose their partners. 00:04:19.875 --> 00:04:23.066 The lab specifically, there's one student who's kind of assigned to the computer, 00:04:23.066 --> 00:04:26.656 one student who's assigned to the cars, another student's assigned to data 00:04:27.096 --> 00:04:28.996 and those roles will rotate over time. 00:04:29.246 --> 00:04:31.526 And there's also plenty of interaction 00:04:31.526 --> 00:04:34.396 between the students even though one student may have an assigned role. 00:04:34.866 --> 00:04:38.656 And so you assign those roles to give different students experience with different things. 00:04:38.796 --> 00:04:41.336 But if the group's all girls, the girls are going to have to do it. 00:04:41.336 --> 00:04:43.496 And if the group's all boys, they're going to have to take notes, 00:04:43.576 --> 00:04:45.406 even though they usually have the girls take notes. 00:04:45.836 --> 00:04:51.746 And so it really helps to break down some of those walls and also provides a very safe haven 00:04:52.006 --> 00:04:53.696 where the girls aren't feeling threatened 00:04:53.696 --> 00:04:56.536 or they have to take the lab equipment away from the boys. 00:04:56.996 --> 00:04:58.226 That doesn't happen. 00:04:58.226 --> 00:05:03.196 They can gain a lot of confidence in hands-on activities on their own with each other, 00:05:03.826 --> 00:05:06.216 and they won't stay segregated the whole year. 00:05:06.726 --> 00:05:08.886 Towards the end of the school year, we'll begin to integrate them. 00:05:08.936 --> 00:05:12.516 In the second year calculus based course, I don't assign the lab groups. 00:05:12.516 --> 00:05:16.756 They're allowed to pick and they do pick, sometimes single sex, sometimes mixed. 00:05:16.756 --> 00:05:17.656 And they're allowed to. 00:05:17.856 --> 00:05:20.376 But the roles are still assigned and rotate. 00:05:20.696 --> 00:05:24.866 But since they've already been with me the first year, they know what my expectations are, 00:05:24.866 --> 00:05:28.506 they're aware of the gender bias considerations, 00:05:29.036 --> 00:05:35.376 and though they will often slip back into the traditional roles-you know, 00:05:35.376 --> 00:05:43.166 then instead of trying to force a format on them, instead what I'll do is I'll tell the students 00:05:43.166 --> 00:05:46.926 as I did this spring once when I noticed, "I just wanted to make an announcement that I noticed 00:05:47.246 --> 00:05:49.196 in every lab group there's a girl taking notes." 00:05:49.986 --> 00:05:55.096 And immediately some of the young men were apologizing, they were going, "I'm sorry, Mr. Brown. 00:05:55.096 --> 00:05:56.386 I just didn't bring a pen today." 00:05:56.386 --> 00:05:57.846 Or some other silly excuses. 00:05:58.196 --> 00:06:01.476 And I said, "I wasn't condemning anyone or saying it was wrong. 00:06:01.476 --> 00:06:02.766 I just wanted to say that I noticed." 00:06:02.966 --> 00:06:06.726 And they often do, without reminders, slip back into traditional roles. 00:06:07.086 --> 00:06:11.676 And one of my functions is just to be here to remind them so that they're aware 00:06:12.026 --> 00:06:16.356 and that they can then be outgoing, they can be proactive 00:06:16.356 --> 00:06:19.236 and they can get involved as much as they want to. 00:06:19.466 --> 00:06:25.356 It's extremely useful to have students peer teaching each other within groups. 00:06:25.626 --> 00:06:28.486 I can't be everywhere at once, especially in a class of 30 or more. 00:06:28.956 --> 00:06:30.336 It's just not practical. 00:06:30.336 --> 00:06:34.166 And so by having the students' desks arranged in a group setting all year long, 00:06:34.166 --> 00:06:37.986 and the groups will rotate about every six to nine weeks, I assign those groups. 00:06:38.146 --> 00:06:41.866 There's usually a student who's really strong in math in each group because I control that, 00:06:42.366 --> 00:06:46.136 and there are students who are very strong mechanically and conceptually in each group, 00:06:46.136 --> 00:06:48.226 and they kind of move from one to the other throughout the year. 00:06:48.506 --> 00:06:52.946 This allows the students to have various strengths in each group, 00:06:53.166 --> 00:06:55.076 which may be harder to work together, 00:06:55.076 --> 00:06:58.116 but when they do work together they can accomplish more than they ever could alone. 00:06:58.606 --> 00:07:02.116 And whenever a student has to tutor or help another student, 00:07:02.566 --> 00:07:07.956 then they have to internalize it enough to then synthesize it and explain it to someone else. 00:07:07.956 --> 00:07:11.416 And as every teacher knows, it's one thing to know something; it's another to teach it. 00:07:11.696 --> 00:07:15.396 And so the students who are doing that tutoring during class time 00:07:15.396 --> 00:07:19.746 when I'm helping another group are actually really internalizing it at a deeper level 00:07:19.746 --> 00:07:23.866 and helping themselves while helping someone else in their group who they're tutoring. 00:07:24.456 --> 00:07:27.466 And so I'll usually work with each group until one 00:07:27.466 --> 00:07:30.506 or two students really understands what's going on and I'll say, "Thanks. 00:07:30.506 --> 00:07:31.636 Please help your other group mates." 00:07:31.636 --> 00:07:34.246 And then I'll move on to the next. 00:07:34.246 --> 00:07:45.146 And that's a very powerful tool for keeping more students actively engaged all the time 00:07:45.146 --> 00:07:46.326 during class.