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Whole Class with PhET for STEM Education

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Whole Class with PhET for STEM Education

This course is part of Active Learning in STEM with PhET Interactive Simulations Specialization

Instructors: Rebecca Vieyra

1,996 already enrolled

Included with

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6 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

24 reviews

Intermediate level

Recommended experience

2 weeks to complete

at 10 hours a week

Flexible schedule

Learn at your own pace

6 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

24 reviews

Intermediate level

Recommended experience

2 weeks to complete

at 10 hours a week

Flexible schedule

Learn at your own pace

What you'll learn

Whole Class Inquiry: Strategies for open-ended discussion.
Interactive Lecture Demonstration: Strategies for making predictions.
Concept Questions: Strategies for classroom voting and Peer Instruction.

Skills you'll gain

Details to know

Shareable certificate

Add to your LinkedIn profile

Assessments

2 assignments¹

AI Graded see disclaimer

Taught in English

91% of learners achieved a positive career outcome

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Build your subject-matter expertise

This course is part of the Active Learning in STEM with PhET Interactive Simulations Specialization

When you enroll in this course, you'll also be enrolled in this Specialization.

Learn new concepts from industry experts
Gain a foundational understanding of a subject or tool
Develop job-relevant skills with hands-on projects
Earn a shareable career certificate

There are 6 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, you will learn strategies for how to use PhET in circumstances where you are presenting a simulation in front of the whole class using a projector, interactive whiteboard, or while sharing your screen online. This course is the second in the specialization “Active Learning in STEM with PhET Interactive Simulations,” which includes 4 courses in total. To finish this course, you need to complete two of three possible assignments with Peer Review: 1) Whole Class Inquiry, 2) Interactive Lecture Demonstrations, 3) Concept Questions. This course is also available in Spanish as “Clase Entera con PhET para la Educación STEM” and Portuguese as "A Turma Toda com Simulações PhET para Educação STEM".

Module details

In this course, we will review strategies for how to use PhET in circumstances where you are presenting a simulation in front of the whole class using a projector, television, interactive whiteboard, or while sharing your screen online.

What's included

1 video6 readings2 discussion prompts

1 videoTotal 6 minutes

PhET in Whole Class Presentations6 minutes

6 readingsTotal 27 minutes

Course Updates and Accessibility Support1 minute
Welcome! 2 minutes
Choosing to Use Whole Class Strategies2 minutes
PhET in Whole Class Activities2 minutes
Tips for Best Use of PhET Sims in Whole Class Contexts10 minutes
Promoting Equity through Active Learning 10 minutes

2 discussion promptsTotal 40 minutes

Visualizing a Whole Class activity with PhET20 minutes
Promoting Equity through Active Learning20 minutes

This module will introduce you to general strategies for getting students to respond to open-ended questions as a whole class: Whole Class Inquiry. These strategies can help you as a teacher to be more creative in the types of questions you ask, and can help to reveal students’ prior knowledge especially at the introduction of a new topic.

What's included

2 videos6 readings1 discussion prompt

2 videosTotal 8 minutes

Prediction Experiments5 minutes
Example of Whole Class Inquiry: Friction3 minutes

6 readingsTotal 58 minutes

Introduction to Whole Class Inquiry1 minute
Whole Class Inquiry - What will happen if...?15 minutes
Whole Class Inquiry - What should we change in order to...?15 minutes
Whole Class Inquiry - Explanations15 minutes
Whole Class Inquiry Guidelines2 minutes
Reading: Whole Class Inquiry Template10 minutes

1 discussion promptTotal 10 minutes

Reflection on Whole Class Inquiry10 minutes

In this module, you will learn about how to ask pointed prediction questions, and help scaffold students’ responses through the use of a structured worksheet and discussions in pairs and as a whole class: Interactive Lecture Demonstrations. This strategy is especially effective for focusing students’ thinking on specific concepts and helping them to think about their own thinking.

What's included

7 readings1 discussion prompt

7 readingsTotal 104 minutes

Introduction to Interactive Lecture Demonstrations (ILD)1 minute
Components of an ILD3 minutes
ILD with The Moving Man10 minutes
ILD with The Moving Man - Predictions45 minutes
ILD with Build a Nucleus10 minutes
ILD with Build a Nucleus - Predictions20 minutes
Interactive Lecture Demonstrations Template15 minutes

1 discussion promptTotal 30 minutes

Reflecting on ILDs30 minutes

This module will introduce you to how to effectively write multiple choice questions to promote critical thinking: Concept Questions. These questions may include open-ended predictions, contrasting cases, ordering and ranking cases, and interpreting representations, among others. However, in all cases, these questions are written in such a way that they allow students to vote and engage in peer instruction.

What's included

1 video5 readings1 assignment1 discussion prompt

1 videoTotal 5 minutes

Using PhET with Concept Questions5 minutes

5 readingsTotal 70 minutes

Introduction to Concept Questions 10 minutes
Concept Question - Graphing Lines10 minutes
Types of Concept Questions20 minutes
Cascading Concept Questions20 minutes
Reading: Concept Questions Template10 minutes

1 assignmentTotal 5 minutes

Concept Question - Graphing Lines5 minutes

1 discussion promptTotal 30 minutes

Reflecting on Concept Questions30 minutes

In this module, you will design two activities for a whole class setup using two of the three strategies reviewed in this course: Whole Class Inquiry, Interactive Lecture Demonstrations, and Concept Questions.

What's included

2 readings3 peer reviews1 discussion prompt

In this final module, we will ask you to reflect on your achievements and identify room for improvement, provide feedback on this course, and share information about how to download your certificate once you have completed all requirements