PERC 2008 Abstract Detail Page
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| Abstract Title: | Similarities and Differences in Ideas Generated by Students: US Students vs. Tibetan Buddhist Monks |
|---|---|
| Abstract: | We have used PER-based course materials to teach various physics topics to Tibetan Buddhist monks over the last four years. While listening to the monks' ideas through interpreters, we found some striking similarities with ideas that we hear in our own classrooms in the US. However, the degree of similarity of monks' ideas with those of US students varied with the topic. For example, ideas that emerged in the topic of magnetism were often consistent with western ideas while ideas about color addition were sometimes strikingly different from ideas that American students use. The monks' ways of talking lead us to believe that cultural background partially determines how they think initially about particular physics topics. This poster will give examples of similarities and of differences, and attempt to identify reasons for both. |
| Abstract Type: | Targeted Poster |
| Targeted Session: | Implementing PER in Other Cultures |
| Contributed Paper Record: | Contributed Paper Information |
| Contributed Paper Download: | Download Contributed Paper |
Author/Organizer Information | |
| Primary Contact: |
Andy Johnson Black Hills State University Spearfish, SD |
| Co-Author(s) and Co-Presenter(s) |
Dewey Dykstra (Boise State University, Boise, ID) Hunter Close (Seattle Pacific University, Seattle, WA) Mel Sabella (Chicago State University, Chicago, IL) |
