How can STEM teachers prepare students for the challenge of climate change? Adam Kahn reports on his successful gamble embedding the theme of renewable energy in his AP and Conceptual Physics class.
STEM teachers are uniquely positioned to help students understand and prepare for the changing global climate. Simultaneously, we must teach introductory skills necessary for productive engagement in society and the pursuit of tertiary science education.
The former aim requires an integrated view of diverse perspectives. The latter requires attention on mastery of specific content prescribed by national or other standards such as IB, AP, NGSS or IGCSE.
These two aims are difficult to reconcile.
A possible solution is to embed content into themes. This entails developing activities that simultaneously build students’ knowledge of the theme while mastering traditional topics.
Last year, I gambled on renewable energy for my AP and Conceptual Physics classes. Would focusing on solutions to the climate emergency foster a greater sense of meaning? Could this be done without detracting from the acquisition of basic concepts?
Bringing the theme of renewable energy into the classroom
At a minimum, the theme did not impair the acquisition of fundamental physics concepts!
Physics is tough. Skills and principles must be learned and applied in conjunction with appropriate qualitative and quantitative reasoning. This entails rejecting common-sense Aristotelian intuitions in favor of Newtonian concepts. Thus, introductory classes tend to focus on simple scenarios such as inclined planes and pendulums. Unfortunately, students rarely find inspiration in such problems, often perceiving them as too abstract. They need lessons that demonstrate basic principles in meaningful contexts.
I provided students with work that married introductory concepts to renewable energy. Students calculated CO2 emissions from motion graphs, applied Bernoulli’s theorem to hydroelectric dams, built windmills to study circular motion and used kinematic equations to analyze solar powered race cars.
We read articles on bicycle usage and debated carbon mitigation strategies. We were even fortunate enough to have Dr. Nicholas Childs, physicist from Montana State University join our Google Meet.
Dr. Childs, whose class personally inspired me to pursue this project, fascinated students with his extensive experience in renewable technologies and handling nuclear waste.
I administered the Force Concept Inventory, a test commonly used to assess mastery of mechanics, and students achieved higher normalized gains on this test than the US average recorded in the Physport database. Tests and AP exam scores all matched results typical of my students in previous years. Notably, this occurred during the tumultuous year of 2020-2021, with most instruction online. This indicated that, at a minimum, the theme did not impair the acquisition of fundamental physics concepts!
Exploring a thematic approach
Collaboration with colleagues was invaluable here
Student perception data from surveys and interviews showed positive sentiment towards the theme. Students felt that while the theme was only marginally helpful in acquiring physics, the physics concepts elucidated their understanding of renewable energy. In learning about renewables through the lens of physics, their understanding was enhanced.
While the overall trend was positive, this was not true of each pupil individually. Some would have preferred to have used time allocated to the theme on practice more directly tied to their exams, for example. Developing activities that accurately reflect renewable topics and elementary physics was challenging and time consuming. Collaboration with colleagues was invaluable here.Collaboration with colleagues was invaluable here.
Typical of action research, the data I collected does not warrant causal claims between the efficacy of thematic instruction and either student perception of meaning or achievement. Nonetheless, the experience felt positive! I do believe that my students were able to gain perspectives on renewable energy and make meaningful connections between their academic work and a crucial issue. This was accomplished while meeting all curricular objectives. It did not seem to negatively impact scores. Indeed, it is possible that it improved them. I believe that similar results could have been achieved through any number of themes relevant to students.
I invite my fellow educators to explore a thematic approach in their own classes, in the hope that we can improve our students’ learning and prepare them for the challenges posed by an ever-changing world.