What are the concepts that students in this class develop about magnetic materials?
Data and subjects A benefit of the teaching strategy used in this course is that a lot of students’ ideas are expressed in the classroom. A lot of useful data can be obtained by simply recording and analyzing discussions in the class: videotaping whole class discussions, photographing students’ drawings on the front board, photocopying students’ work, including daily journals, homework, and so on. Previous experience in this class has shown that even though some groups put a lot of effort into typing responses in the computer activities, the amount of information that can be derived from them is tiny compared to the number and depth of ideas discussed when the group is typing the response. A lot can be learned about students’ reasoning by studying videotapes of groups working on computer activities. Two groups, formed of student volunteers, will also be videotaped as they work through the entire Static Electricity and Magnetism unit. Tapes of these “video groups” should provide a wealt
