Jennifer Clower wants her students to understand that when we exert a force on an object, it accelerates. She explains acceleration, such as objects' speeding up as they fall to the earth, but she is uneasy about the extent to which the students understand the concept acceleration. So, she demonstrates force and acceleration by pulling a small cart across the front of the classroom using a spring

Question

scale that exerts a constant force. She also holds a tennis ball above her head and drops it and then shows a computer simulation that illustrates the acceleration of the dropped ball in slow motion. Jennifer explains that as the distances between the images of the ball get greater and greater, the ball is accelerating.
Assess Jennifer's lesson using the suggestions for classroom practice based on social influences on learning and the process of knowledge construction as the basis for your assessment.

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The first suggestion for classroom practice states that teachers should provide students with experiences that promote deep understanding, and Jennifer's lesson was consistent with this suggestion. Her cart and spring scale, dropped tennis ball, and computer simulation were effective examples. She also connected her topic to the real world quite well, which is the second suggestion. However, she attempted to help her students understand the principle primarily through explanation rather than through interaction, and we have no evidence of ongoing assessment.