Force and Motion: Learning Outcomes and Assessment
Upon completion of this short course, participants will be able to:
- Explain Newton's first law, and be able to apply it
to everyday situations.
- Define speed, velocity, and acceleration; and will
be able to identify approximate values of these quantities in physical situations and calculate average speeds.
- Explain what the letters F, a, and m represent in the
mathematical formula that describes Newton's second law and will be able to apply
Newton's second law in simple physical situations.
- Provide a thorough definition of Newton's third law
and be able to apply it in physical situations.
The goal of the NSTA Online Short Course: Force and Motion is to help educators
increase their content knowledge on the topic. The short course provides different
ways for teachers to learn and interact with the content:
- Live web sessions with an instructor and colleagues to ask questions, review content,
and share ideas about teaching the topic in the classroom.
- Self-paced SciPack with interactive quizzes, simulations, and movies, and a content
wizard that responds to questions via e-mail.
- SciGuide with links to web sites and lesson plans with sample student work.
- Suggested readings from the Force and Motion book and two jornual articles that provide content background on the topic.
Completing the suggested readings is important to increase the level of discussion
and the quality of questions during the live web sessions. All live web sessions
are recorded for viewing after they occur. The course instructor is also available
via the asynchronous discussion listserv to answer questions.
At the end of the course, all participants will have the opportunity to pass a final
assessment and print a certificate from NSTA demonstrating their understanding and
proficiency of the content. Attendance to at least four of the five live web sessions is required.
For more information contact shortcourses@nsta.org