It's Elementary, Newton: Elementary Teachers' Investigation of Inertia

• In Event: Poster Session 4
  In Poster Session: Science Teaching and Learning SIG Poster Session

Abstract

How do you present inertia to in-service elementary teachers, a topic studied by undergraduate science and engineering majors, at a suitably challenging cognitive level for adult learners but with exemplars appropriate for adaptation to elementary classrooms? PSCI-Train, science professional development program, engaged elementary teachers in studying inertia with hands-on activities and as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle noted in Sherlock Holmes, “there is nothing like first-hand evidence.” The guiding research question was: what is the impact of inquiry-based modeling on teachers’ conceptual understanding of inertia and subsequent translation to classroom practice?

Authors

• April Allison Nelms, University of North Georgia

• Sanghee Choi, University of North Georgia

• Mark Spraker, University of North Georgia

• Cheryl W. Sundberg, Self-employed