Activity Design with PhET Simulations for STEM Education
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Activity Design with PhET Simulations for STEM Education
This course is part of Active Learning in STEM with PhET Interactive Simulations Specialization
Instructors: Zachariah Mbasu
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What you'll learn
Assess equity in an Activity Sheet.
Develop strategies for writing simulation-based Activity Sheets.
Design a simulation-based Activity Sheet.
Skills you'll gain
Tools you'll learn
Details to know
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There are 5 modules in this course
PhET Interactive Simulations ( https://phet.colorado.edu/ ), a project of the University of Colorado Boulder, provides fun, free, interactive, research-based science and mathematics simulations for use across, primary, secondary, and higher education levels. We extensively test and evaluate each simulation to ensure educational effectiveness. All simulations are open source and free to all students and teachers.
In this course, we will review strategies for how to use PhET to create simulation-based active learning activities for math or science classes, including activity sheets that students can use as they work independently or in small groups while they have direct access to simulations on their own devices. To finish this course, you need to complete two assignments with Peer Review: 1) Select and evaluate an Activity Sheet and 2) Create your own Activity Sheet for science or math that integrate PhET simulations. This course is the third of four courses that make up the specialization “Active Learning in STEM with PhET Interactive Simulations”. This course is also available in Spanish as “Diseño de Actividades con Simulaciones PhET para la Educación STEM” and in Portuguese as "Desenho de Atividades com PhET para Educação STEM".
In this module, we will review strategies for when to use simulation-anchored Activity Sheets for science and math classes that students can use as they work independently or in small groups while they have direct access to simulations on their own device.
What's included
1 video5 readings2 discussion prompts
1 video•Total 10 minutes
- Using PhET Activity Sheets in Small Group Work •10 minutes
5 readings•Total 10 minutes
- Course Updates and Accessibility Support•1 minute
- Welcome!•2 minutes
- Choosing to Use Small Group or Individual Strategies•2 minutes
- Getting Started•2 minutes
- Student-Simulation Interaction•3 minutes
2 discussion prompts•Total 50 minutes
- Reflecting on Your Context•20 minutes
- Reflecting on Small Group Interactions•30 minutes
In this module, you will explore the difference between Activities and Activity Sheets. You will also select a pre-existing Activity Sheet contributed by other PhET users and analyze it to improve its alignment with the PhET Equity Framework.
What's included
12 readings3 assignments1 peer review7 discussion prompts
12 readings•Total 98 minutes
- Reuse and Recycling in Education•1 minute
- Activities vs. Activity Sheets•1 minute
- Selecting a PhET Simulation-Based Activity Sheet •2 minutes
- Scaffolding and Student Autonomy•20 minutes
- Equity through Active Learning•2 minutes
- Integrating Active Learning in an Activity Sheet•5 minutes
- Equity in Technology•30 minutes
- Equity in an Activity Sheet•1 minute
- Establishing Relevance through Activity Sheets•2 minutes
- Incorporating Representation in Activity Sheets•2 minutes
- Building Accessibility into Activity Sheets•2 minutes
- Active Learning and Equity Aspirations•30 minutes
3 assignments•Total 30 minutes
- Assessing Relevance in Activity Sheets •10 minutes
- Assessing Representation in Activity Sheets•10 minutes
- Assessing Accessibility in Activity Sheets •10 minutes
1 peer review•Total 90 minutes
- Revise an Activity Sheet•90 minutes
7 discussion prompts•Total 130 minutes
- Identifying "Good" Activity Sheets•20 minutes
- Comparing Activity Sheet Styles•30 minutes
- Assessing Active Learning in an Activity Sheet•30 minutes
- Assessing Equity in the Greenhouse Effect Simulation•20 minutes
- Reflecting on Relevance•10 minutes
- Reflecting on Representation•10 minutes
- Reflecting on Accessibility•10 minutes
This module will introduce you to the core of a high-quality student activity sheet–Challenge Prompts. Using examples from various subjects, you will revise teacher-directed instructions to produce open-ended challenges that better promote Active Learning.
What's included
6 videos20 readings11 discussion prompts
6 videos•Total 14 minutes
- Teacher Discussion on Challenge Prompts: Unit Rates •2 minutes
- Teacher Discussion on Build an Atom Prompt•2 minutes
- Teacher Discussion on Area Model Multiplication Prompt•4 minutes
- Teacher Discussion on Graphing Lines Prompt •3 minutes
- Challenge Prompts: Function Builder •1 minute
- Open Play Discussion•3 minutes
20 readings•Total 123 minutes
- Defining Challenge Prompts•2 minutes
- Try a Challenge Prompt•20 minutes
- Challenge Prompts in Action•5 minutes
- Science v. Math Challenge Prompts •3 minutes
- From Traditional Questions to Challenge Prompts•2 minutes
- Math Example: Proportion Playground•5 minutes
- Physics Example: Bending Light•5 minutes
- Chemistry Example: Gas Properties•5 minutes
- Biology Example: Gene Expression•5 minutes
- Practice Writing Challenge Prompts - Instructions•1 minute
- Original Prompt: States of Matter - Basics•5 minutes
- Original Prompt for Unit Rates•5 minutes
- Original Prompt for Natural Selection•5 minutes
- Original Prompt for Build an Atom•5 minutes
- Original Prompt for Area Model Multiplication•5 minutes
- Original Prompt for Graphing Lines •5 minutes
- Original Prompt for Energy Forms and Changes•5 minutes
- Original Prompt for Function Builder •5 minutes
- Example of an Activity Sheet and the Integration of Challenge Prompts•10 minutes
- Student Activity Sheet•20 minutes
11 discussion prompts•Total 105 minutes
- States of Matter – Basics•10 minutes
- New Challenge Prompt for Unit Rates •10 minutes
- New Challenge Prompt for Natural Selection•10 minutes
- New Challenge Prompt for Build An Atom•10 minutes
- New Challenge Prompt for Area Model Multiplication•10 minutes
- New Challenge Prompt for Graphing Lines•10 minutes
- New Challenge Prompt for Energy Forms and Changes•10 minutes
- New Challenge Prompt for Function Builder •10 minutes
- Open Play Discussion •5 minutes
- Open Play Video Reflection•10 minutes
- Integration of Challenge Prompts in Activity Sheets •10 minutes
In this module, you will learn how to build an Activity Sheet, considering various parts of a lesson.
What's included
5 videos21 readings3 discussion prompts
5 videos•Total 43 minutes
- Designing Activity Sheets•12 minutes
- Preparing to Design a Lesson•1 minute
- Activity Sheet Strategies•20 minutes
- Facilitating Discussion in a Synthesis/Post-Lab•8 minutes
- Unexpected Discovery During a PhET Lesson•1 minute
21 readings•Total 125 minutes
- Designing Activity Sheets•1 minute
- Designing Activity Sheets Guidelines•10 minutes
- What is a "Lesson"?•2 minutes
- PhET and 5Es•10 minutes
- Preparing to Design a Lesson•1 minute
- Teacher Preference•5 minutes
- Examples of Lessons Driven by Activity Sheets•5 minutes
- Warm-Ups / Pre-Labs•5 minutes
- Open Play•5 minutes
- Activity/Lab with Synthesis/Post-Lab•10 minutes
- Warm-Up / Pre-Lab: Transitioning to the Activity Sheet•2 minutes
- Exercise to Plan a Warm-Up/Pre-Lab and Activity/Lab•10 minutes
- Building on Prior Knowledge•5 minutes
- Warm-Up/Pre-Lab and Activity/Lab•10 minutes
- Planning Your Warm-Up/Pre-Lab•10 minutes
- Planning Your Activity Sheet•10 minutes
- Close Your Lesson with a Synthesis/Post-Lab•1 minute
- Synthesis / Post-Lab Examples •10 minutes
- Planning Your Synthesis/Post-Lab•10 minutes
- Allow Time for “Teachable Moments”•1 minute
- Homework and Distance Learning•2 minutes
3 discussion prompts•Total 30 minutes
- Reflecting on Lesson Structure•10 minutes
- Reflection about the Example Lessons•10 minutes
- Ideas for a Warm-Up/Pre-Lab•10 minutes
In this module, you will submit an Activity Sheet of your own!
What's included
1 reading1 assignment1 peer review
1 reading•Total 2 minutes
- Next Steps •2 minutes
1 assignment•Total 10 minutes
- Final Conclusions•10 minutes
1 peer review•Total 120 minutes
- Lesson with Activity Sheet•120 minutes
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Reviewed on May 16, 2024
The course is very enriching and fosters critical thinking for teachers
Reviewed on Sep 14, 2023
The course is well structured with loads of examples of how the ideas are practically implemented.
Reviewed on Nov 6, 2024
The course made STEM learning interesting and engaging
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