C³P Workshops

What's in C³P workshops?

Teaching Concepts in Physics

C³P is a curriculum project designed to implement research from physics education into high school physics courses and was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation.  The web site is http://phys.udallas.edu.  The workshops offered by the Project provide the following:

•  Experience using the CD-ROM based curriculum and resources

• Training with CASTLE materials

•  Strategies for developing an effective inquiry-based course

•  Experience working with curricular materials and learning cycles

•  Optional 3 hours graduate credit in physics

• Correlation of national standards and learner outcomes

•  Experience with graphing calculators and technology

To apply for a workshop click here.

Each of the Main Topics (Units) are listed in the Starter Pak.  The Starter Pak is designed to help teachers move quickly through the different units with easy access to lesson plans and activities. However, the Starter Pak is not the only place to find documents.  There is also a computer screen in the main Lab Room called Topics that has other activities that may be used in order to develop a particular objective.  There are thousands of resources and activities to choose from.  The Starter Pak contains the most essential learning objectives and what could be called the "core curriculum".

Each Cycle contains Learning Outcomes, Misconceptions, Lesson Plans, and Teacher Suggestions.  The misconceptions help the teacher identify terms and concepts that students most often misunderstand and therefore these must be addressed in order for the student to truly understand the learning objective(s). 

Lesson Plans contain 3 different learning cycles: Exploratory, Concept Development, and Application.  The Exploratory activities are inquiry based, hands-on activities that are in green titles.  They are designed as open-ended questions to stimulate the students to think about "what if" and to relate concepts back to what they have already learned.    The Concept Development activities are in blue type and develop the concepts.  They include video clips, worksheets, labs, and investigations.  The Applications are in red and are designed to allow students to apply the concepts to everyday life and/or basic understanding.  Some lesson plans will have several cycles to choose from depending on your equipment, etc.

In addition to the Applications for each Lesson Plan, there are several other means of assessments on the CD including the C³P test bank.  There are student versions and teacher versions that are only accessible with a password.

The complete curriculum for CASTLE is included on the CD ROM.  This curriculum has been recently updated (as of 10/99) and includes the teacher version (which is password protected) as well as the student version.  This is an alternate method of teaching electricity and has been useful in helping students understand the complicated terms and analogies.  It is a truly innovative way to teach with the use of a capacitor, light bulbs, genecons, and color coding of pressure in circuits. 

  There is a Resource shelf in the that has numerous smaller items that might be of interest to the physical science/physics teacher.  One such book called Physics Phun includes playable physics songs and cartoons.  These and other resources can be accessed through the lab room bookshelf.

 A Terminology book is on the bookcase that contains terms, definitions, possible misconceptions of that term, and an explanation in everyday terms that the students can understand.  The terms are separated according to the appropriate unit.

To apply for a workshop click here.