Using Demonstrations and Hands-On Manipulatives to Increase Student Learning

Brian P. Self; Stamatis Vokos

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Conference: 2025 ASEE PSW Conference
Location: California Polytechnic University, California
Publication Date: April 10, 2025
Start Date: April 10, 2025
End Date: April 12, 2025
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--55200
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/55200

Abstract

This is a Workshop submission

It is a truism that to maximize student learning in class, students need to be intellectually active. Physics and engineering instructors use a variety of approaches to accomplish this. One method that is often used is demonstrations of relevant physical phenomena, conducted by the instructor. Counter-intuitive contexts are often chosen to create cognitive conflict and increase the chance that the demo will be memorable. Research on the effectiveness of demos (e.g., Miller et al., 2013) shows that the demo itself is not the determining factor; the process through which students are supported to engage with the demonstration is the most critical aspect. The physics educational research community has a long and rich history in evaluating demonstrations and pedagogical innovations, and the engineering community has greatly benefited from their work.

In physics, the history of determining the optimal process has a long pedigree (Sokoloff and Thornton, 1997 and 2006; Crouch et al., 2004). Some of our past work, including what was presented in a workshop at the last PSW conference, has discussed benefits of having students manipulate physical artefacts themselves rather than watching a instructor perform a demonstration. That work builds upon that of Priscilla Laws, and uses a Predict-Observe-Explain (POE) Strategy. A similar framework, the Interactive Lecture Demonstration (ILD) Model, is often used in larger classroom settings and also has students predict and observe. Classroom discussion follows the physical scenario observations and common misconceptions are addressed. Finally, the concept is expanded to broader applications or “real-world” situations.

An additional compelling approach to fostering an environment that is modeled after the specific practices and habits that physicists use professionally is the Investigative Science Learning Environment (ISLE) approach (Etkina, Brookes, and Planinsic, 2019; Etkina and Planinsic, 2024). In ISLE, students engage in a set of observational experiments for which they try to develop preliminary explanations. Then they propose testing experiments to rule out some of these explanations. Finally the explanations that survive are extended and application experiments are proposed to help transfer the developing ideas in new contexts.

Our objectives for the workshop are to help participants formulate more intentional strategies for conducting demonstration and hands-on activities in their engineering classrooms. By highlighting successes in physics (and engineering), we hope to motivate instructors to create interesting demonstrations that maximize student learning.

Learning Outcomes. At the end of the workshop, participants will be able to: 1) Describe three different frameworks for running demonstrations in the classroom 2) Reflect upon aspects of demonstrations or hands-on activities that they experienced as “mock students” 3) Develop a demonstration or hands-on activity for their own course to improve student conceptual understanding

In this interactive workshop, we will describe relevant results of research on student learning related to these approaches and illustrate the principles in several topical areas relevant to the audience. We would like to do a 90-minute workshop, but can try adjust shorter or longer. The plan is for: 0-15 min Introductions and Icebreaker 15-25 min Demonstration of hands-on activity in dynamics (rolling cylinders, spools, etc), participants acting as students 25-40 min Discussion of theories, what worked well, what could be improved 35-45 min Demonstration of ILD Model – circuits, participants acting as students 45-60 min Discussion of theories, comparison to POE 60-75 min Participants work on own ideas for demos 75-90 min Discussion and critique of participant ideas

Citation
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Self, B. P., & Vokos, S. (2025, April), Using Demonstrations and Hands-On Manipulatives to Increase Student Learning Paper presented at 2025 ASEE PSW Conference, California Polytechnic University, California. 10.18260/1-2--55200

TY - CPAPER
AB - This is a Workshop submission

It is a truism that to maximize student learning in class, students need to be intellectually active. Physics and engineering instructors use a variety of approaches to accomplish this. One method that is often used is demonstrations of relevant physical phenomena, conducted by the instructor. Counter-intuitive contexts are often chosen to create cognitive conflict and increase the chance that the demo will be memorable. Research on the effectiveness of demos (e.g., Miller et al., 2013) shows that the demo itself is not the determining factor; the process through which students are supported to engage with the demonstration is the most critical aspect. The physics educational research community has a long and rich history in evaluating demonstrations and pedagogical innovations, and the engineering community has greatly benefited from their work.

In physics, the history of determining the optimal process has a long pedigree (Sokoloff and Thornton, 1997 and 2006; Crouch et al., 2004). Some of our past work, including what was presented in a workshop at the last PSW conference, has discussed benefits of having students manipulate physical artefacts themselves rather than watching a instructor perform a demonstration. That work builds upon that of Priscilla Laws, and uses a Predict-Observe-Explain (POE) Strategy. A similar framework, the Interactive Lecture Demonstration (ILD) Model, is often used in larger classroom settings and also has students predict and observe. Classroom discussion follows the physical scenario observations and common misconceptions are addressed. Finally, the concept is expanded to broader applications or “real-world” situations.

An additional compelling approach to fostering an environment that is modeled after the specific practices and habits that physicists use professionally is the Investigative Science Learning Environment (ISLE) approach (Etkina, Brookes, and Planinsic, 2019; Etkina and Planinsic, 2024). In ISLE, students engage in a set of observational experiments for which they try to develop preliminary explanations. Then they propose testing experiments to rule out some of these explanations. Finally the explanations that survive are extended and application experiments are proposed to help transfer the developing ideas in new contexts.

Our objectives for the workshop are to help participants formulate more intentional strategies for conducting demonstration and hands-on activities in their engineering classrooms. By highlighting successes in physics (and engineering), we hope to motivate instructors to create interesting demonstrations that maximize student learning.

Learning Outcomes. At the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:
1) Describe three different frameworks for running demonstrations in the classroom
2) Reflect upon aspects of demonstrations or hands-on activities that they experienced as “mock students”
3) Develop a demonstration or hands-on activity for their own course to improve student conceptual understanding

In this interactive workshop, we will describe relevant results of research on student learning related to these approaches and illustrate the principles in several topical areas relevant to the audience. We would like to do a 90-minute workshop, but can try adjust shorter or longer. The plan is for:
0-15 min Introductions and Icebreaker
15-25 min Demonstration of hands-on activity in dynamics (rolling cylinders, spools, etc), participants acting as students
25-40 min Discussion of theories, what worked well, what could be improved
35-45 min Demonstration of ILD Model – circuits, participants acting as students
45-60 min Discussion of theories, comparison to POE
60-75 min Participants work on own ideas for demos
75-90 min Discussion and critique of participant ideas

AU - Brian P. Self
AU - Stamatis Vokos
CY - California Polytechnic University, California
DA - 2025/04/10
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Using Demonstrations and Hands-On Manipulatives to Increase Student Learning
UR - https://peer.asee.org/55200
DO - 10.18260/1-2--55200
ER -

Using Demonstrations and Hands-On Manipulatives to Increase Student Learning

Paper Authors

Brian P. Self California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

Stamatis Vokos

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