Ongoing research in physics education has demonstrated that physics majors often do not develop a working knowledge of basic concepts in mechanics, even after standard instruction in upper-level mechanics courses. This seminar will serve as a “mini-workshop” highlighting the development of guided inquiry teaching strategies devised as part of the Intermediate Mechanics Tutorials (IMT) project, as well as the underlying research guiding their development and assessment. Specifically, this seminar will focus on classroom materials tested at GVSU and at pilot site institutions in the teaching of simple harmonic oscillators and damped oscillators. Results from ungraded quizzes (pretests), course examinations, and classroom observations suggest the presence of persistent student conceptions as well as prevalent intuitions that arise after traditional instruction in these topics. (Supported by NSF grants DUE-0441426 and DUE-0442388.)
