Abstract of Paper to be presented at GIREP2000 "Physics Teacher Education Beyond 2000" in Barcelona 27 August - 1 September 2000.

Link to full paper (pdf-format)

EDUCATING PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS USING HANDS-ON AND MICROCOMPUTER BASED LABS AS TOOLS FOR CONCEPT SUBSTITUTION*

Per Hamne(a), Jonte Bernhard (a, b)
(a) Högskolan Dalarna, S-79188 Falun, Sweden
(b) Permanent address: ITN, Campus Norrköping, Linköping University, S-60174 Norrköping, Sweden

Microcomputer Based Labs (MBL) in physics teaching were first introduced at Högskolan Dalarna in the 1994/95 academic year and first used by pre-service teachers in the 1995/96 academic year. In MBL-labs students do real experiments and not simulated ones and the computer is used as a measurement tool together with an interface and suitable sensors. Conceptual change/concept substitution is facilitated by taking advantage of the real-time display of the experimental results by the computer and by labs emphasising concepts and connections between concepts. The real-time display makes it possible for students to immediately compare their predictions with the outcome of an experiment, and thus students' alternative conceptions can successfully be addressed. Students' conceptual development is also facilitated by the highly collaborative nature of the MBL-labs.
In physics courses for pre-service teachers we have used MBL-labs in mechanics, thermodynamics and electricity/electronics courses. The students have very well received these labs. The Force Concept Inventory (FCI) [1] and the Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation (FMCE) [2] tests have been used to assess student learning in mechanics. Very good learning results have been achieved.
A secondary, but very important, effect of using MBL-labs is the training of the pre-service teachers in the use of computers and it's use in a science education context. Since teachers tend to teach in the way they have been taught it is very important that pre-service teachers have experience using computers and experience of active engagement methods from their own training. Thus the MBL-labs serves the dual purpose of better educating the pre-service teachers in physics and in physics teaching.

1. D Hestenes, M Wells and G Swackhamer, Phys Teach 30, 159-165 (1992). The FCI-test was translated into Swedish by J Bernhard 1997.
2. R Thornton and D Sokoloff, Am J Phys, 66, 338-352 (1998). The FMCE-test was translated into Swedish by J Bernhard 1998.

* Partial financial support from the Swedish National Agency for Higher Education, Council for Renewal of Undergraduate Education, is gratefully acknowledged