Science Modeling Talks

In this episode, Mark talks with Dwain Desbien, a physics instructor at the community college level, about his research in physics education, methods to get students thinking deeply, and ways that we may consider why we teach what we teach as well as things we could add to improve our students' understanding.

Guests
Dwain Desbien

Dwain Desbien teaches physics at the community college level. His research interests include classroom management, alternative problem solving techniques, assessment, goal-less problems, and alternative problem formats. He leads modeling instruction workshops and is always looking at ways to develop and evaluate materials for use in the Modeling approach to Physics. His materials are continually being developed and are currently in use at various institutions across the country.

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Highlights
[21:21] Dwain Desbien "The other thing that I introduced was what I call goalless problems ...What I mean by a goalless problem is there's no question asked. So, you know, I might walk into the classroom and say, I'm gonna drop this marker from two meters high. Tell me everything you can. Go."

[25:40] Dwain Desbien "you're getting the students to think about problem solving concepts in a way that makes them not just go to equations, but they have to critique, they have to think, they have to decide..."

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Ep 40 Transcript

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