I’ve been curious about the field of education for years now, but only recently have I seriously begun going into it as a career. As I work towards my bachelor’s degree in physics, I chose to take up the education concentration so I can learn more about what it’s like being an educator. Going through those classes opened my eye to the wonders of teaching, so much so that I became a volunteer for Tustin High School’s student physics presentations.

Students in physics classes had spent two months learning about momentum concepts in the Fall. They learned about the forces in play and how mass and velocity affect it. But most importantly, this specific unit called for real-life examples to engage students’ interests in momentum. Students were to design a car for their loved one, keeping in mind safety features so that the vehicles can withstand car crashes.

UC Irvine researchers and high school teachers worked together during the Fall semester to design this physics unit to learn more about optimal science learning. One of the big goals here was for students to turn their science learning into meaningful connections and bring science outside the classroom. Students were also encouraged to be creative with their designs and to write a letter to a loved one who would receive this car. At the end of it all, groups of students presented their car designs in minute long presentations to physics judges.

​I came in as a judge, evaluating students on the physics and momentum knowledge they learned and demonstrated in each presentation. It was great to see the result of all these students’ hard work and effort. I listened to students excitedly pitch their car designs with safety features designed to protect their loved ones. I only learned later about how much time these students, teachers, and researchers dedicated to this momentum unit. I could tell that not only would the results of this project be beneficial to educators everywhere, but the high school students would also keep this in their hearts as a fond learning experience. Though I wish I had a chance to view the designing process, I still had an amazing experience seeing the designs and presentations these students crafted themselves.

What occurred today?

Today, chemistry teachers at Tustin are preparing their students to learn more about stoichiometry by introducing them to units and by helping students realize the importance of relating quantities. The lesson helped students by having them bring in their own ideas, and by allowing them to actively work with everyday quantities. Since teachers were aware of the difficulties students have with math, it was very amazing to see how teachers were adjusting their lessons to better support their students. Also, from observing all three teachers, it was evident that the lesson was purely a team effort done by the Chemistry Team.

What is stoichiometry and why is it important to learn?

The lesson introduced students to key mathematical techniques and ideas used in stoichiometry. Stoichiometry comes from the idea that mass is conserved during a chemical reaction, where reacting molecules have the option to break or form new bonds to produce new molecules. During this process, students will realize that the number of atoms of each element should be equivalent before and after the reaction. With this new insight, students are able to relate quantities of reactant to know how much product will be produced during any given reaction. Stoichiometry plays an important role in understanding how the components of a chemical reaction are related to one another and can help students give meaning to numerical values commonly found in chemistry.

As an undergraduate researcher, one of my tasks is to transcribe student and teacher interviews and capture their insights and their experiences with the curriculum. In a unit where students studied momentum, they elaborated on one activity in which they designed a car for their loved one and had to implement safety features for the passenger in case of an accident. Often times when I think back to my science classes, we were not asked about how the content was tied to our personal lives. We might have gotten an example of how it affects our lives in an every-day style, but when the teachers in this study elicited their students thinking of their loved ones, students’ intrinsic motivation was fostered, and they wanted to learn how to keep loved ones safe.

In the following quotes, we see how students have positively perceived the new ways in which teachers are presenting physics topics to them. One student explains, “He’s not one of those teachers that’s like, ‘well if you don’t get it, then that sucks, that is how I am teaching you’. He will figure out a different way.” Another student said, “A lot of students learn different ways between like notes and labs and it’s important to find a balance.” For these students, having a different way to learn the content was crucial to their education. Being able to find different ways to present this information is helpful for students who do not learn in traditional ways (i.e. lectures and note-taking). Being able to present other means of learning, like connecting it to their personal lives, gives them a new internalized motivation for them to create a car that can protect their loved ones from a crash.

I was also present the day that students presented their designed car models and what safety features they implemented to help ease the impact of an accident. Students were both given the opportunity to design their car in terms of their loved one’s favorite type of car, color, style, and brand, while thinking of what safety features to include outside and inside of the cars. Finding ways for students to let their creativity flow while tying it to physics is important. I believe we shouldn't outcast creativity from science nor separate art from science topics. Merging both art and physics can allow student’s creativity to grow and further research would be needed to understand how the implementation of creativity and science subjects already are affecting students.