Over the past several years, we have contributed several articles to TPT that focused on a forensics-style reexamination of historical events. In each article, we presented a case study as a pedagogy for teaching topics from introductory-level physics courses. Recently, we assembled our prior work into a series of “MythBusters”-style modules for pre-service teachers (PSTs). The goal of these modules is to widen the pedagogical viewpoint of the PSTs by exposing them to case studies as a means of teaching physics, problem solving, and critical thinking. In this article, we describe the design and rationale of our modules while providing anecdotal commentary from a cohort of PSTs who trial tested them. We identify several unique teaching opportunities that we share with readers of TPT.
Over the past several years, we have contributed articles to TPT that focus on a forensics-style reexamination of significant historical events. The purpose of these articles is to afford students the opportunity to apply basic principles of physics to unsolved mysteries and potentially settle the historical debate. We assembled the lessons learned and best practices of our activities into a formalized pedagogy for teaching topics in physics, engineering, problem solving, critical thinking, and ethics.
Fifty years ago this summer, three men aboard Apollo 11 traveled from our planet to the Moon. On July 20, 1969, at 10:56:15 p.m. EDT, 38-year-old commander Neil Armstrong moved his left foot from the landing pad of the lunar module (LM) Eagle onto the gray, powdery surface of the Sea of Tranquility and became the first person to step onto the lunar soil. Armstrong declared: “That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.” Nineteen minutes later, 39-year-old LM pilot Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin followed Armstrong onto the surface. Fifteen hours later, after spending two and a half hours outside of Eagle, the two men lifted off and returned to their command module (CM) Columbia, manned patiently by the third member of their crew, 38-year-old CM pilot Michael Collins. Four days later, the three men were back home. Although five additional lunar landings would occur, each more challenging and scientifically ambitious than its predecessor, Apollo 11 stands alone as the greatest technological accomplishment of the 20th century. The mission also signaled the beginning of the end of the “Golden Age” of America’s space program.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.