Implementation of PhET Activities for STEM Education

Implementation of PhET Activities for STEM Education

This course is part of Active Learning in STEM with PhET Interactive Simulations Specialization

Instructors: Zachariah Mbasu

What you'll learn

Become familiar with strategies to facilitate student use of simulations during a simulation-based activity.
Implement a simulation-based mathematics or science lesson.
Reflect on and revise a sim-based Teacher Guide before and after your implementation.

Details to know

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Assessments

1 assignment

Taught in English

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This course is part of the Active Learning in STEM with PhET Interactive Simulations Specialization

When you enroll in this course, you'll also be enrolled in this Specialization.

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There are 3 modules in this course

PhET Interactive Simulations ( https://phet.colorado.edu/ ), a project of the University of Colorado Boulder, provides fun, free, interactive, research-based science and mathematics simulations for use across, primary, secondary, and higher education levels. We extensively test and evaluate each simulation to ensure educational effectiveness. All simulations are open source and free to all students and teachers.

In this course, you will learn how to effectively design and implement a Teacher Guide that makes use of PhET’s simulations for mathematics and science. To finish this course, you need to complete two assignments with Peer Review: 1) Design a Teacher Guide that integrates an inquiry-based activity with simulations, and 2) Implement your lesson in your class, and reflect on the results. This course is the fourth and final of four courses that make up the specialization “Active Learning in STEM with PhET Interactive Simulations”. This course is also available in Spanish as “Implementación de Actividades PhET para la Educación STEM” and in Portuguese as "Implementação de Atividades PhET para Educação STEM".

In this module, you will learn how to effectively design a Teacher Guide that makes use of PhET’s mathematics and science simulations, and then reflect upon the implementation of a PhET simulation-based lesson.

What's included

5 readings1 discussion prompt

In this module, you will take the Teacher Guide you have already prepared, and consider a number of facilitation strategies. You will then again review your guide and make improvements before submitting it for peer review.

What's included

9 videos11 readings1 peer review9 discussion prompts

9 videosTotal 51 minutes

Facilitating Activities with PhET: An Overview6 minutesPreview module
Preparing for a PhET Activity3 minutes
Getting Started in Class4 minutes
Starting Out with Open Play4 minutes
Circulating and Helping Students in Small Groups8 minutes
Pacing and Checks for Understanding5 minutes
Supporting Student Ownership8 minutes
Facilitating Whole Class Discussions6 minutes
Pulling it All Together3 minutes

11 readingsTotal 22 minutes

Facilitation Overview1 minute
Preparing for a PhET Activity1 minute
Getting Started in Class1 minute
Starting Out with Open Play1 minute
Circulating and Helping Students in Small Groups1 minute
Pacing and Checking for Understanding1 minute
Supporting Student Ownership1 minute
Facilitating Whole Class Discussions1 minute
Pulling It All Together1 minute
Technical Tips3 minutes
Teaching Online or Asynchronously10 minutes

1 peer reviewTotal 90 minutes

Teacher Guide & Pre-Implementation Reflection90 minutes

9 discussion promptsTotal 90 minutes

Preparing Your Teacher Guide10 minutes
Getting Started in Class10 minutes
Starting Out with Open Play10 minutes
Circulating and Helping Students in Small Groups10 minutes
Pacing and Checking for Understanding10 minutes
Supporting Student Ownership10 minutes
Facilitating Whole Class Discussions10 minutes
Pulling It All Together10 minutes
Technical Tips10 minutes

In this module, you will take the Teacher Guide you have created and implement it in your own classroom. If you aren’t currently teaching, be creative! We invite you to trying it out with an age-appropriate learner or a teaching colleague. However you decide to try your materials, ensure that you capture some evidence of implementation (e.g., completed learner activity sheet, anonymized multimedia showing learners using the simulation, etc.) for inclusion in your assignment submission.