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Science teachers from high schools and colleges in Canberra have given rave reviews after a series of workshops designed to refresh their understanding of mechanical forces.
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Professor Mike Gore (centre) explains forces to science teachers. |
The Centre for the Public Awareness of Science (CPAS) at ANU ran three evening sessions for 20 teachers this month.
CPAS Director Dr Sue Stocklmayer said the participants took part in a series of simple practical demonstrations that illustrated various aspects of mechanical forces.
“The point was for teachers to experience the concepts around forces for themselves, and to carry out a whole lot of activities suitable for the classroom,” Dr Stocklmayer said. “We know from previous feedback that this is a topic about which teachers often wish for more explanation than is in the textbooks.”
The demonstrations were followed up by sessions on structured experiments and the underlying theory. Participants were effusive in their praise for the interactive approach, singling out the enthusiastic conversations between the presenters as a highlight.
“I think it’s critically important for teachers in specific disciplinary areas to keep up to date, but also to keep going back to fundamental ideas,” Dr Stocklmayer said. “This kind of professional development experience is extraordinarily rare. It’s the kind that teachers want, because it often increases their confidence in the classroom.”
Apart from Dr Stocklmayer, the sessions were presented by Professor Mike Gore and Professor John Rayner from CPAS, and Professor Aidan Byrne from the Department of Physics. Further workshops on similar topics are planned for early next year.
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