"Lesson study"-method applied to high school physics

[haushofer]

Dear all,

for my education as a physics teacher (Dutch high school, ages 14-17) I have to make a didactical assignment. This assignment consists of applying the so-called "lesson study" method, see e.g.

https://tdtrust.org/what-is-lesson-studyhttps://www.uwlax.edu/sotl/lsp/index2.htm

My question is: are there any STEM-teachers here familiar with this method, and can you give concrete examples of the things you've investigated in your classes using this methodology? Any input, examples and inspiration is welcome!

 

[jedishrfu]

Here's a paper on it:

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ948667.pdf
and this article from Brandeis University:

https://www.brandeis.edu/mandel/pdfs/Fernandez_Learning_from_Japanese_Approaches.pdf
and this UK article:

https://www.cimt.org.uk/papers/lessonstudy.pdf
Personally it looks rather complex to implement or to reconfigure your topic teaching into a socratic style discussion for everything but not being a teacher I wouldn't appreciate this model in the right way.

I do remember reading a recent article where teachers used a question answer approach but that students felt they weren't learning anything even though their retention and test scores went up. The students preferred lecture mode over active learning mode so prfs dropped the idea.

The latest notion is to first have a lecture explaining the benefits of active learning so the students were prepped on what was coming and were more accepting having seen the benefits.

Active learning is better than lectures although students prefer the lecture:

https://arstechnica.com/science/201...learn-less-with-an-effective-teaching-method/
Basically, students felt more stressed in an active learning environment but this in fact helps
them understand and retain what they learned even while they felt they learned less.

In contrast, a well taught lecture may lull students into believing they understand something
when they haven't actually applied it to anything yet. This reminded me of a NOVA show I saw
years ago where the science they were discussing was carefully laid out and I thought wow I
really understand this and then later I couldn't explain it to anyone.

The solution was to first give a lecture that described the active learning follow-on sessions
showing how these sessions will be more effective and thus getting students on-board with the idea.

 

[haushofer]

Thanks! Interesting papers! In the end the idea is that I use scientific papers to motivate my expectations and actions, so right now I'm in the orienting phase and collecting overviews of the method.

About your appreciation: well, personally, I have some doubts about the process. It looks beneficial, but it takes a lot of time. I'm not sure yet if it's worth the investment, but right now it's simply an assignment, so I have to take the jump anyway I guess. I'll come back to let people know how I experienced the method ;)

I also recognize the fact that students are more comfortable with good old fashioned lecturing, they taking notes, and that they (and teachers!) overestimate how effective this is.

Anyway, thanks again. If other people do have experience with Lesson Study and want to share their experiences, I'm most happy to read it!

 

[Stephen Tashi]

One can compare teaching by the Socratic method to doing the laboratory experiments for a course. An actual experiment should be an open minded investigation. A lab experiment in a course is planned to have a particular result and students are graded on whether they obtain it. Pehaps an actual implementation of the Socratic method would be an open minded intellectual investigation of topics. However, in my experience, the progress of a class using something approaching the genuine Socratic method depends on having at least a few talented students. Those in the class who aren't talented at figuring things out feel that they are treated unfairly. They think the duty of the instructor is to instruct.

To plan lessons for a watered down version of the Socratic method, it may help to think of how the lab assignments are structured. The idea in designing a lab is that any student who follows directions will make the appropriate "discoveries".

 

[Stephenk53]

Personally I enjoy active learning but it can be risky considering it is much easier to lecture than to teach effectively using active learning but if you are good at it, then it can be very effective. Additionally, if you have students who are not very good at what you are teaching especially if they are self conscious about it, then that method can at times be less effective than lecture. As far as I’ve seen, it’s generally best for veteran teachers to use active learning than brand new teachers.