Wittmann about the resources framework

Michael C. Wittmann

Research in the Resources Framework: Changing environments, consistent exploration

Wittmann, M.C. (2018). Research in the Resources Framework: Changing environments, consistent exploration. in Reviews in PER Volume 2: Getting Started in Physics Education Research, edited by C. Henderson and K. A. Harper (American Association of Physics Teachers, College Park, MD, 2018).

In this paper, I discuss my personal journey through one research tradition, that of the resources framework, and how it has evolved over time. In my present work, understanding learners' reasoning in physics in terms of the construction of large-scale models from small-scale resources emphasizes the person doing the constructing over the physics they are discussing. In this human-centered approach, I find value not in the correctness or incorrectness of a given response, but in the nature of construction, the individual's evaluation of their own ideas, and the communication between learners as they seek to understand each other. The resources framework has driven my attention toward a human-centered approach, and has had an effect on both my professional and personal life, in the process. In addition, events in my personal life have proven relevant to my professional work in ways that are reflected by my use of the resources framework to understand knowledge and learning.

Schermerhorn Thompson on determining differential area elements

Student determination of differential area elements in upper-division physics

Benjamin P. Schermerhorn and John R. Thompson

Physics Education Research Conference Proceedings 2017

Given the significance of understanding differential area vectors in multivariable coordinate systems to the learning of electricity and magnetism (E&M), students in junior-level E&M were interviewed about E&M tasks involving integration over areas. In one task, students set up an integral for the magnetic flux through a square loop. A second task asked students to set up an integral to solve for the electric field from a circular sheet of charge. Analysis identified several treatments of the differential area: (1) a product of differential lengths, (2) a sum of differential lengths, (3) a product of a constant length with differential length in one direction, (4) a derivative of the expression for a given area, and (5) the full area.

Physics Education Research Conference 2017
Part of the PER Conference series
Cincinnati, OH: July 26-27, 2017
Pages 356-359

DOI: 10.1119/perc.2017.pr.084

Tabachnick Colesworthy Wittmann on teacher knowledge of acceleration

Middle School Physics Teachers' Content Knowledge of Acceleration

Elijah Tabachnick, Peter Colesworthy, and Michael C. Wittmann

Physics Education Research Conference Proceedings 2017

In the "speed model" of accelerated motion, the terms "speeding up" and "slowing down" are equated with positive and negative acceleration, respectively. As part of the Maine Physical Sciences Partnership, we have investigated middle school physical science teachers' understanding of accelerated motion in the context of using vectors as a pictorial tool for kinematics and found a high prevalence of the speed model. Through surveys, interviews, and observation of professional development activities, we have found that the teachers consistently use the correct mathematical tools to talk about displacements and velocities, and correctly use vectors to represent displacements, velocities and accelerations. However, when interpreting the acceleration of an object, teachers often use the speed model, which contradicts their other work. We discuss this result and present two conjectures about its possible origin.

Physics Education Research Conference 2017
Part of the PER Conference series
Cincinnati, OH: July 26-27, 2017
Pages 384-387

DOI: 10.1119/perc.2017.pr.091

Wittmann Rogers Alvarado Medina Millay on survey questions about energy

Using multiple survey questions about energy to uncover elements of middle school student reasoning

M. Wittmann, A. Rogers, C. Alvarado, J. Medina, and L. Millay

Physics Education Research Conference Proceedings 2017, Cincinnati, OH, 2017.

One power of middle school physics teaching is its focus on conceptual understanding, rather than mathematical modeling. Teaching energy in middle school allows one to focus on the conceptual ideas, metaphors, and analogies we use to make sense of the topic. In the Next Generation Science Standards, energy is both a core disciplinary idea in the physical sciences and a crosscutting concept. In this paper, we provide several examples of seeming contradictions in student responses to similar questions. For example, students think differently about energy flow to the air or the ground. They also think differently about energy flow in cold and hot situations, though not necessarily as expected. Analyzing these results carefully, in particular when comparing and contrasting seemingly similar questions, may help both researchers and teachers listen for ideas, target instruction, and recognize learning more effectively.

Physics Education Research Conference 2017
Part of the PER Conference series
Cincinnati, OH: July 26-27, 2017
Pages 440-443

DOI: 10.1119/perc.2017.pr.105

McKay Millay Wittmann and many more write on Teacher Leadership

Susan R. McKay, Laura Millay, Erika Allison, Elizabeth Byerssmall, Michael C. Wittmann, Mickie Flores, Jim Fratini, Bob Kumpa, Cynthia Lambert, Eric A. Pandiscio, Michelle K. Smith

Investing in Teachers’ Leadership Capacity: A Model from STEM Education

Teachers play a key role in the quality of education provided to students. The Maine Center for Research in STEM Education (RiSE Center) at the University of Maine has worked with partners to design, implement, and evaluate several programs in the past eight years to provide professional learning opportunities and support for Maine’s STEM teachers, leading to significant impacts for teachers and students across the state. A strategic investment in developing teacher leadership capacity played a key role in expanding the initial partnership to include teachers and school districts across the state. With support from education researchers and staff at the RiSE Center, STEM teachers have taken on roles as leaders of professional learning opportunities for peers and as decision makers in a statewide professional community for improving STEM education. This article describes the structures that have fostered teacher leadership and how those structures emerged through partnership and collaboration, the ways in which teacher leadership has amplified the resources we have been able to provide to STEM teachers across the state, and the outcomes for Maine students.

Preferred citation:

McKay, Susan R. , Laura Millay, Erika Allison, Elizabeth Byerssmall, Michael C. Wittmann, Mickie Flores, Jim Fratini, Bob Kumpa, Cynthia Lambert, Eric A. Pandiscio, and Michelle K. Smith. "Investing in Teachers’ Leadership Capacity: A Model from STEM Education." Maine Policy Review 27.1 (2018) : 54 -63, https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mpr/vol27/iss1/15