Six Ideas That Shaped
Physics:
An Overview
Thomas A. Moore
Introductory Calculus-Based Physics
Conference
November 1, 2003
What is Six Ideas That Shaped
Physics?
A textbook, instructor’s manual, and website
A new approach to teaching introductory
physics based on four fundamental principles:
1. New approaches can provide increased
insight
2. Active learning solidifies understanding
3. Explicit instruction and practice with modelbuilding provides flexibility
4. Contemporary physics provides excitement
My goals in this presentation
To describe the structure and goals of a
Six Ideas course
To discuss how the Six Ideas materials
express the four principles mentioned
To present evidence that the approach
works
The Introductory University
Physics Project (IUPP)
NSF-funded project (1987-1995) whose
purpose was to develop and test
alternatives to the standard course
Summative report: Am. J. Phys. 66, pp. 124137 (February, 1998)
Principles articulated by the IUPP
committee:
1. Less is more
2. Include 20th century physics
3. Use a storyline
The structure of Six Ideas
The text is divided into six volumes, each
focused on a single formative idea
1. Unit C: Interactions are Constrained by
Conservation Laws
2. Unit N: The Laws of Physics are Universal
3. Unit R: The Laws of Physics are FrameIndependent
4. Unit E: Electric and Magnetic Fields are Unified
5. Unit Q: Matter Behaves Like Waves
6. Unit T: Some Processes are Irreversible
How this structure addresses
the IUPP goals
Each idea provides a “story line” for the
unit
They also motivate necessary cuts
Some large-scale cuts (geometric optics,
fluids)
Mostly, the pace is cut by streamlining
The “chapter per day” format defines the pace
Contemporary physics
Units on relativity and quantum physics
Contemporary perspective throughout
How new approaches can
improve learning: an example
Common student problems
Identifying forces linked by Newton’s 3rd law
Identifying fictitious forces
These problems are related
Students see forces as isolated entities that
are not linked to any deeper conceptual
structure
Standard presentations reinforce this
How new approaches can
improve learning: an example
In Six Ideas, the interaction between two
objects (not force) is the fundamental
concept
How this addresses the problem
The forces that are linked by Newton’s 3rd law
are always the two ends of a specific
interaction
Fictitious forces do not reflect an interaction
How new approaches can
improve learning: an example
Other payoffs for this approach:
Helps make the concept of potential energy
clearer
Helps students better understand the
similarities between force, power, and torque
Momentum-flow images help students
qualitatively predict motion without calculus
Support for Active Learning
The most robust result of physics
educational research: Students learn by
doing
We all know this, but our courses are not
usually structured as if this were true
Six Ideas supports active learning in four
ways:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Support for reducing the need for lectures
Support for activities during class
Support for active learning outside of class
Support for intelligent course design
Support for Reducing
Lectures
Text is written more like a conversation,
less like an encyclopedia
Helps for active reading
Wide margins for student notes
In-chapter exercises help challenge students
to think about what they are reading (and
answers in the back provide instant feedback)
Overview/summary at the beginning of each
chapter displays the big picture
Support for class activities
“Two-minute” problems
N2T.9 A car moving at a constant speed travels past a
valley in the road, as shown below. Which of the arrows
shown most closely approximates the direction of the
car’s acceleration at the instant that it is at the position
shown? (Hint: draw a motion diagram.)
Active demonstrations
Active learning outside of
class
“Rich-Context” problems support collaborative work in active recitation sections
C7R.2 You are prospecting for rare metals on a spherical asteroid
composed mostly of iron (density ≈ 7800 kg/m3) and whose radius
is 4.5 km. You’ve left your spaceship in a circular parking orbit 400
m above the asteroid's surface and gone down to the surface.
However, one of your exploratory explosions knocks you against
a rock, ruining your jet pack. (This is why you have a backup jet
pack, which is, unfortunately, “back up” in the spaceship.) Is it
possible for you to simply jump high enough to get back to the
spaceship?
Generally, problems cannot be solved by
“plugging and chugging”
Support for good course
design
To be successful, course design must
Motivate students to read text before class
Help them focus on ideas instead of formulas
Encourage them to learn from difficult
problems (instead of freaking out)
Details are important!
The instructor’s manual (available online)
offers ideas about how to do this well
Instruction in Model-Building
Why is this important?
Real applications always involve
discerning a simple model in a complex
situation
Building a model involves self-consciously
making approximations and assumptions
Learning to do this well is an art that
students learn by both instruction and
practice
Instruction in Model-Building
The text extensively discusses how to build
models and make appropriate approximations
It teaches and uses a four-part problemsolving outline: Translate, Model, Solve,
Evaluate
It explicitly teaches the value of tools such as
unit analysis, symbolic algebra, the method of
extremes, estimation
It extensively uses diagrams as thinking tools
Computer models help students explore
consequences of physical models
Contemporary Physics
Why teach relativity and quantum physics?
Well, this is the 21st century…
32/33 will never take another physics course
One of the clearest signals from IUPP evaluation
was the interest in these topics
Six Ideas uses contemporary ideas
throughout
It addresses how topics fit into current physics
It explores contemporary applications
Its problems have a very practical orientation
Does Six Ideas work?
The FCI Exam (Physics Teacher, 30, 3, 1992)
(a difficult but purely conceptual multiple-choice exam
on Newtonian physics)
R. Hake, Am. J. Phys. 66(1) (January 1998)
The normalized gain g = (post - pre)/(100% - pre)]
is a robust measure of course performance
Traditional courses: g = 0.23 ± 0.04
“Interactive engagment” (IE) courses: g = 0.48 ±
0.14
Not correlated with instructor, initial student state
Does Six Ideas Work?
Results from Pomona College
1993: 0.46
1996: 0.48
1997: 0.45
1998: 0.55 (estimated)
2000: 0.63
2001: 0.58
Does Six Ideas Work?
Vic DeCarlo at DePauw University
2000: 0.54
2001: 0.55
Ulrich Heinz at Ohio State (Columbus)
2001: 0.72 (!)
Note that Six Ideas spends less time on
mechanics than most IE courses
Good gains seem to happen even if the
classes are not especially interactive
Conclusions
Six Ideas provides (without requiring costly staffing,
scheduling, or infrastructure changes)
A contemporary and effective approach to
physics
Support for active learning
Explicit instruction in model-building skills
It has been classroom-tested for > 10 years
It provides extensive support for instructors
For more: www.physics.pomona.edu/sixideas