Experience Physics Student Experience Handbook

Explore THEN Explain.

By reading after they’ve explored, students now have a real-world context for their readings, and the background knowledge necessary to tackle more elaborate activities such as engineering design workbenches and peer review. The Student Experience Handbook is an interactive tool that promotes scientific understanding and anchors phenomena-based, experiential learning.

Does this sound too familiar?

“I haven’t used a physics textbook in years, students won’t read them.”

Mental Model Construction

• Strong focus on constructing deep and useful mental models allows students to relate new physics concepts to prior knowledge
• Students develop their own models by recognizing patterns in the content, leading to deeper understanding
• Students feel more confident in their ability to connect physics equations to the phenomenon under study

Use of Multiple Representations

• Physics concepts are represented in multiple ways (equations, text, models, graphical representations and more) to increase comprehension
• Different representations allow students to interact with concepts repeatedly to build connections and see patterns
• Students practice a variety of ways to discuss and explain ideas, ask questions and present their findings

Process-Focused Math

• General math process is highlighted through flowcharts
• Students recognize patterns between problems, reducing cognitive load
• Math problems are used as a tool to understand physics concepts