Principal Investigator: Dr. Joseph Krajcik
Co-Principal Investigators: Knut Neuman (IPN; Jeffrey Nordine (University of Iowa) and David Fortus (Weizmann Institute of Science).
Award amount: $1.9M
Project dates: 07/01/2023 - 7/31/2027
Funder: Institute of Education Sciences
Energy is a central idea in science. Many students, however, struggle to understand and apply quantitative ideas about energy and its conservation, in part because energy continues to be taught using the compartmentalized 19th century language of “forms”.
Building off prior work in middle schools, this project will develop instructional materials and assessments for high school physics that focus on building students’ quantitative energy knowledge-in-use through a project-based learning approach grounded in a systems-transfer and fields model of energy and energy conservation. The curriculum, which emphasizes quantitative modeling of energy transfers in complex real-world phenomena, represents a substantial departure from how energy is typically presented in high school physics. This work will lead to future studies on the efficacy of replacing common energy “forms” instruction with a system-transfer approach.
The four-year project will involve approximately 30 teachers and 2,000 students. The work is aligned with the Framework for K–12 Science Education, which forms the foundation of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Joe Krajcik played a key role in shaping these standards, serving as the lead writer for the Physical Science Disciplinary Core Ideas within the Framework and the Physical Science Performance Expectations for NGSS. He also served on the NGSS leadership team.
One of the Framework’s central goals is to promote cohesive and unified understandings of core scientific concepts, such as energy.
Read the article in MSU Today.
