Teaching and Learning via the Network
The CASTLE Project
Project Number 20 - 1994
Dr. Camille L. Wainwright
Assistant Professor
Pacific University
2043 College Way
Forest Grove, OR 97116
(503) 359-2205
Fax: (503) 359-2907
camille_wainwright@unixmail.pacificu.edu
Other Individuals And Organizations Associated With The Project
Dr. Melvin Steinberg
Professor
Smith College
Clark Science Center
Northampton, MA 01063
(413) 585-3884
Fax: (413) 585-3786
Steinberg@Smith.Smith.edu
Dr. Marvin Nelson
Physics Instructor
Green River Community College
12401 SE 320th St.
Auburn, WA 98002-3699
(206) 833-9111
Fax: (206) 939-5135
mnelson@ctc.ctc.edu
Camille L. Wainwright
Biographical summary:
Camille Wainwright is a science educator and Director of Teacher
Education at Pacific University, with several decades of classroom
teaching experience in the physical sciences at the high school and
college levels. As one of the original authors of the CASTLE curriculum,
she also served as the editor for the project. She holds numerous awards
for exemplary teaching, has developed software and print curriculum
projects, and has coordinated many science education grant projects.
Currently Dr. Wainwright serves as the Director of Teacher Education and
teaches mathematics and science methods courses as well as courses in the
physics department.
Melvin Steinberg
Biographical summary:
Melvin Steinberg is a physics professor at Smith College, with a
strong interest in science education. He served as the Project Director
for the CASTLE development grant and has been a member of the American
Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) Committee on Research in Physics
Education. Dr. Steinberg has presented paper at numerous AAPT meetings,
interacts with the community involved with research on misconceptions,
and has provided many training sessions for Physics Teacher Resource
Agents (PTRA).
Marvin Nelson
Biographical summary:
Marvin Nelson served as one of the original authors of the CASTLE
Project, and has participated in providing CASTLE presentations and
training workshops for more than four years. He has been active in the
development of physics curriculum and courses, is a leader in the
collaborative Seattle-area physics teachers group, and has served on the
American Association of Physics Teachers Committee for Community Colleges
as well as numerous other leadership positions.
Abstract
The CASTLE Curriculum (Capacitor-Aided System for Teacher and
Learning Electricity) was developed for teachers who want to engage
students' interest through hands-on investigation, overcome
misconceptions that inhibit learning and reasoning, and foster
development of effective explanatory models. It provides a complete
laboratory-based teaching module that can replace the sections of
electricity in all introductory physics courses -- undergraduate
college level as well as high school.
The CASTLE curriculum emphasizes circuits because they provide
settings for inquiry that are intensely interesting for students with
varied learning styles and are well-suited to the development of
intuitive mental models. Instructors report that the CASTLE activities
foster an enthusiasm for physics, and field testing research has shown
that the investigations and curriculum design raise student confidence
levels -- dramatically so for females. The Program Effectiveness Panel
of the National Diffusion Network (Department of Education) has
identified this as a proven exemplary science project.
This curriculum evolved from a three-year NSF grant which was
initially funded in 1990 (MDR #9050189). The development team consisted
of 14 authors who were all actively teaching physics at either the
college or high school level. The team met together at the same site
only one week each year during the three years of development. All other
communication and collaboration was facilitated electronically by means
of phone, fax and e-mail. The completed curriculum is currently
distributed nationwide by PASCO Scientific, Inc. along with the ancillary
equipment kit. Collaboration within the team continues, however.
Electronic mail now supports the vibrant interactions of the many
instructors across the nation who are implementing this curriculum in
their schools; they share teaching tips, management suggestions and have
ongoing discussions resulting in recommendations for further refinement
of the curriculum. In addition, the collaboration has lead the
preparation of several manuscripts, conference presentations and
proposals for funding future instructor training workshops.
The number of college courses utilizing the CASTLE curriculum is
expanding rapidly with the growth of awareness and respect for this novel
approach. Student evaluations are enthusiastic, containing remarks such
as "this is the way I like to learn science", and "I not only learned
electricity, I feel like I learned how to think!" A snapshot of the
course would show the students actively engaged in constructing and
discussing circuits, questioning each other's hypotheses, and challenging
their own thought processes through a "predict-observe-explain" model
that encourages reflection and metacognition.
Project Criteria
The development and continuing refinement of the CASTLE project
has been accomplished through the rich interaction and collaboration of
many physics professionals, facilitated by electronic communication. The
entire Resource Book -- including Laboratory Manual, Instructor's Guide,
and Homework/Test Bank -- was developed using electronic media. The
layout of the text was processed with desktop publishing software, over
500 diagrams were prepared with graphics software, additional artwork was
scanned in, and communication was constantly maintained among the writing
team electronically. Research results were statistically analyzed and
distributed via computer network and have formed the basis of continued
refinement of the project. In the current phase, e-mail provides a
support system for instructors interested in and those implementing the
curriculum.
The evidence of the effectiveness of the project is overwhelming.
A detailed evaluation of the achievement gains of students is available.
Additionally, support for the project is represented by student requests
for "another course like this one, where we learned by doing science",
and by student teachers borrowing equipment kits and modifying segments
of the curriculum for their middle school students so they can have the
benefit of this unique approach to investigating electricity concepts.
The curriculum is marketed nationally and is available for
adoption by any physics instructor; information on training workshops is
available from members of the development team; anyone with an interest
in teaching and learning electricity is encouraged to engage in the
electronic dialog leading to further improvement of the project.
Additional information
The course titles/curriculum name and number of
students reached per semester for a sample of undergraduate courses in
which this curriculum is used is listed below. The CASTLE curriculum is
being adopted by a constantly expanding number of college courses and
high school courses as well. The list which follows is a representative
but incomplete sample:
Pacific University: Physics 155 Concepts of Electricity
Pacific University: Ed 342, Ed 543 Science Methods for Elementary
Teachers
Smith College Ph 216b General Physics
Smith College: Ph 311 The Teaching of Physics
Green River Community College: Ph 101 Concepts of the Physical World
Green River Community College Ph 111 Applied Physics
Chaffey Community College: Ph 111 Fundamentals of Physics
Maine Maritime Academy: PS 201 Technical Physics II
Also courses at Ohio State Univ., Univ. of North Carolina and numerous
other colleges and universities.
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