Dewey I Dykstra | Boise State University (original) (raw)
Papers by Dewey I Dykstra
Journal of Curriculum Studies, Nov 1, 2004
Constructivist Foundations, 2005
Prologue In Radical Constructivism (RC) (Glasersfeld 1991) we judge our understanding by what can... more Prologue In Radical Constructivism (RC) (Glasersfeld 1991) we judge our understanding by what can be accomplished using that understand-ing. Realists do not understand the notion that RC is not about truth, but about fit to experience. In this article, we look at evidence ...
APS, May 1, 2002
The development of two new units for the Powerful Ideas in Physical Science (PIPS) Project of the... more The development of two new units for the Powerful Ideas in Physical Science (PIPS) Project of the American Association of Physics Teachers, funded by the National Science Foundation has motivated another look at the learning and teaching of kinematics and force. These and some of the other units of the PIPS Project are unique in that they advocate and model a particular student understanding driven approach to instruction as opposed to the more common content driven approach. Several novel ways to view the results of using these new motion and force materials are introduced and made possible by a diagnostic capable of indicating the degree of presence of multiple views (the Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation by Thornton and Sokoloff). The performance of individuals on pre and post diagnostic measures ranges widely from almost no change to more than 6 standard deviations. Factors are identified which appear to differentiate the student performances. The identification of these factors motivated additional rounds of modifications to the materials, departing even further from a content driven orientation toward an even more student understanding driven approach. The resulting instruction appears to induce routinely even under adverse teaching and learning conditions 2.5 standard deviations change in the class average on the pre to the post instruction diagnostic scores.
Wiley eBooks, 1988
... Wondering about physics: Using spreadsheets to find out investigations in physics. Post a Com... more ... Wondering about physics: Using spreadsheets to find out investigations in physics. Post a Comment. CONTRIBUTORS: Author: Dykstra, Dewey I. (b. 1947, d. ----. Author: Fuller, Robert G. PUBLISHER: Wiley (New York). SERIES TITLE: YEAR: 1988. ...
Constructivist Foundations, 2007
This contribution to the Festschrift honoring Ernst von Glasersfeld gives some insight into the p... more This contribution to the Festschrift honoring Ernst von Glasersfeld gives some insight into the perpetual problem of understanding radical constructivism (RC). Parallels with the Middle Way school of Buddhism appear to shed light on this challenge. Conclusions: The hegemony realism has over the thinking of even the most highly educated in our civilization plays a major role in their failure to understand RC. Those still subject to realism in their thinking interpret statements by those in RC in ways incompatible with RC. Until realists disequilibrate over mismatches between realist expectations and experiences, no alternative way of thinking is accessible to them and misinterpretations of RC will continue. Practical implications: While we cannot change someone else's understanding, in our interactions with them we can focus on creating situations in which those who do not understand us might disequilibrate. If we are successful, they are likely to begin to escape the domination of realism in their thinking. Value: This insight may enable eventual success in our assisting others to understand RC.
Constructivist Foundations, 2008
Bulletin of the American Physical Society, May 20, 2006
for an Invited Paper for the NWS06 Meeting of the American Physical Society Physics Teaching in T... more for an Invited Paper for the NWS06 Meeting of the American Physical Society Physics Teaching in Times of Change DEWEY DYKSTRA, Boise State University Powerful political forces have been at play in building a mandate to change the schools. The latest, ongoing manifestation is in the No Child Left Behind Act, but the mandate for change was being formulated in the early 1980s in the A Nation at Risk report. As physicists we may feel somewhat removed from such goings on, but our children attend school and their teachers come through our classrooms. Physics education research offers extensive, carefully collected data on the consequences of standard physics teaching. The data challenges conventional beliefs about physics learning. It is said that times of crisis represent both opportunity and danger. Because the mandates to change are up to the individual states, each of us in our own state has the opportunity to shift the focus in physics/science teaching toward something better. We also face the danger that existing physics/science teaching will be even more deeply entrenched than it already is.
Routledge eBooks, Jul 5, 2017
The journal of college science teaching, 1982
IAP - Information Age Publishing, Inc., 2009
American Journal of Physics, Aug 1, 2009
Army Project Number Education and Training 2Q283743A794 Approved for public release; distribution... more Army Project Number Education and Training 2Q283743A794 Approved for public release; distribution unlimited. iiiI FORE WORD Limited time and wide geographical dispersion of units are two of the major training constraints encountered by the Army National Guard and Reserve,, i.e., the Reserve Component (RC). In response to these constraints, the RC is considering using technology to deliver training to the soldier at convenient times and places, thereby reducing the effect of unit dispersion and ensuring that available training time is used effectively and efficiently to achieve maximum performance benefits. This report is designed to assist the RC to select appropriate technology for delivering training and was developed by the Training Technology Field Activity-Gowen Field (TTFA-GF), whose mission is to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of RC training through the testing and application of trainingI technology. The research task supporting this mission is entitled "Applic.ation of Technology to Meet Reserve Component Needs" and is organized under the NMaintain the Force' program area. The National Guard Bureau (NGB) and the Idaho Army National Guard (IDARNG) sponsored this project under the Memorandum of Understanding signed 12 June 1985 that established the TTFA-GF. Project results have been signed to Chief, Training Support Branch, NGB, and the Assistant Adjutant General of Idaho.
Constructivist Foundations, 2014
Constructivist Foundations, 2010
What can We learn from the misunderstandings of rc? dewey i. dykstra, Jr. Radical Constructivism ... more What can We learn from the misunderstandings of rc? dewey i. dykstra, Jr. Radical Constructivism 121 What can We learn from the misunderstandings of rc? dewey i. dykstra, Jr.
The Physics Teacher, Sep 1, 2000
A Graphical Interpretation of an Algebraic Solution Restrictions on the solution of the falling-b... more A Graphical Interpretation of an Algebraic Solution Restrictions on the solution of the falling-balls problem described by Jim Patterson [Phys. Teach. 38, 214 (April 2000)] can be discovered without writing a single equation. Make a graph of velocity versus time for both balls (slope =-g for both), then appeal to the physical idea that both balls undergo the same displacement.
Journal of Research in Science Teaching, Feb 1, 1987
As one whose classroom teaching experience consists of ninth grade physical science through upper... more As one whose classroom teaching experience consists of ninth grade physical science through upper division college physics, whose only experience with elementary students is in Summer enrichment programs and as one whose science education research efforts have been mainly from the front of classrooms, I would like to humbly make the following assertion and then justify it: The task of teaching science in the elementary schools is more demanding than teaching science in high school or college.
Constructivist Foundations, 2005
In Radical Constructivism (RC) (Glasersfeld 1991) we judge our understanding by what can be accom... more In Radical Constructivism (RC) (Glasersfeld 1991) we judge our understanding by what can be accomplished using that understanding. Realists do not understand the notion that RC is not about "truth," but about fit to experience. In this article, we look at evidence in educational settings. While the evidence will be mostly from physics education, what is being described is not unique to the results of physics instruction. Education as we know it today is based in realism. How do the results of this education as we know it compare with results of education based in RC? Purpose: Often radical constructivists are confronted with arguments why radical constructivism is wrong. The present work presents a radical constructivist alternative to such arguments: a comparison of the results of two instructional practices, the standard, realistbased instruction and a radical constructivist-based instruction, both in physics courses. Design: Evidence from many studies of student conceptions in standard instruction (Duit 2004) is taken into account. In addition, diagnostic data, pre and post instruction, were collected from over 1,000 students in multiple institutions across the U. S. over a period of about 15 years via an established diagnostic of conceptual understanding of motion and force. Findings: Evidence from many studies of student conceptions in standard instruction (Duit, 2004) is that little or no change in student conceptions happens in standard instruction. About half the students in the particular study reported, all science and engineering majors, experienced standard, realist-based instruction and show an average effect size of 0.6 standard deviations and an average normalized gain of 15%. The other half of the students, none of whom were science and engineering majors, experienced radical constructivist-based instruction and show an average effect size over 2.5 standard deviations and an average normalized gain over 60%. Diagnostic pre scores were nearly the same for both groups. Practical implications: The outcome, that students, neither science nor engineering majors, made changes in understanding foundational topics in physics far greater than science and engineering students, poses (1) an ethical challenge to the continued adherence to standard, realist-based instructional practices and (2) an intellectual challenge to the usefulness and appropriateness of the elitist-realist paradigm on which such standard instruction is based. Conclusions: This radical constructivist argument uses the effect of paradigms to judge their pragmatic value, not their truth-value. Based on pragmatic value, radical constructivism results in superior outcomes when applied to physics instruction. The approach to instruction can be applied generally in education.
Bulletin of the American Physical Society, Mar 19, 2010
Normally the conventional notion of physics teaching is to present the established canon of physi... more Normally the conventional notion of physics teaching is to present the established canon of physics by accepted methods for the benefit of the deserving, that is, those who can get what is presented. More than 30 years now of physics education research reveals that if change in student understanding is the goal, this conventional notion of physics teaching is a spectacular failure. The same body of research reveals that the spectacular failure is a consequence of the pedagogy. The dismal results are not due to the difficult nature of physics or to inadequacies of students. In other words, the failure of conventional instruction is totally unnecessary. The examples of alternative pedagogies that are not failures have a few features in common. One of these is the necessity for the teacher to pay close attention to the students' conceptions of the phenomena being studied and how these may be changing. That is, the teacher needs to be able to see the growth of physical theory in students' minds. Examples of and strategies for ways of seeing this growth in the classroom will be shared.
Journal of Research in Science Teaching, Oct 1, 1987
Journal of Curriculum Studies, Nov 1, 2004
Constructivist Foundations, 2005
Prologue In Radical Constructivism (RC) (Glasersfeld 1991) we judge our understanding by what can... more Prologue In Radical Constructivism (RC) (Glasersfeld 1991) we judge our understanding by what can be accomplished using that understand-ing. Realists do not understand the notion that RC is not about truth, but about fit to experience. In this article, we look at evidence ...
APS, May 1, 2002
The development of two new units for the Powerful Ideas in Physical Science (PIPS) Project of the... more The development of two new units for the Powerful Ideas in Physical Science (PIPS) Project of the American Association of Physics Teachers, funded by the National Science Foundation has motivated another look at the learning and teaching of kinematics and force. These and some of the other units of the PIPS Project are unique in that they advocate and model a particular student understanding driven approach to instruction as opposed to the more common content driven approach. Several novel ways to view the results of using these new motion and force materials are introduced and made possible by a diagnostic capable of indicating the degree of presence of multiple views (the Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation by Thornton and Sokoloff). The performance of individuals on pre and post diagnostic measures ranges widely from almost no change to more than 6 standard deviations. Factors are identified which appear to differentiate the student performances. The identification of these factors motivated additional rounds of modifications to the materials, departing even further from a content driven orientation toward an even more student understanding driven approach. The resulting instruction appears to induce routinely even under adverse teaching and learning conditions 2.5 standard deviations change in the class average on the pre to the post instruction diagnostic scores.
Wiley eBooks, 1988
... Wondering about physics: Using spreadsheets to find out investigations in physics. Post a Com... more ... Wondering about physics: Using spreadsheets to find out investigations in physics. Post a Comment. CONTRIBUTORS: Author: Dykstra, Dewey I. (b. 1947, d. ----. Author: Fuller, Robert G. PUBLISHER: Wiley (New York). SERIES TITLE: YEAR: 1988. ...
Constructivist Foundations, 2007
This contribution to the Festschrift honoring Ernst von Glasersfeld gives some insight into the p... more This contribution to the Festschrift honoring Ernst von Glasersfeld gives some insight into the perpetual problem of understanding radical constructivism (RC). Parallels with the Middle Way school of Buddhism appear to shed light on this challenge. Conclusions: The hegemony realism has over the thinking of even the most highly educated in our civilization plays a major role in their failure to understand RC. Those still subject to realism in their thinking interpret statements by those in RC in ways incompatible with RC. Until realists disequilibrate over mismatches between realist expectations and experiences, no alternative way of thinking is accessible to them and misinterpretations of RC will continue. Practical implications: While we cannot change someone else's understanding, in our interactions with them we can focus on creating situations in which those who do not understand us might disequilibrate. If we are successful, they are likely to begin to escape the domination of realism in their thinking. Value: This insight may enable eventual success in our assisting others to understand RC.
Constructivist Foundations, 2008
Bulletin of the American Physical Society, May 20, 2006
for an Invited Paper for the NWS06 Meeting of the American Physical Society Physics Teaching in T... more for an Invited Paper for the NWS06 Meeting of the American Physical Society Physics Teaching in Times of Change DEWEY DYKSTRA, Boise State University Powerful political forces have been at play in building a mandate to change the schools. The latest, ongoing manifestation is in the No Child Left Behind Act, but the mandate for change was being formulated in the early 1980s in the A Nation at Risk report. As physicists we may feel somewhat removed from such goings on, but our children attend school and their teachers come through our classrooms. Physics education research offers extensive, carefully collected data on the consequences of standard physics teaching. The data challenges conventional beliefs about physics learning. It is said that times of crisis represent both opportunity and danger. Because the mandates to change are up to the individual states, each of us in our own state has the opportunity to shift the focus in physics/science teaching toward something better. We also face the danger that existing physics/science teaching will be even more deeply entrenched than it already is.
Routledge eBooks, Jul 5, 2017
The journal of college science teaching, 1982
IAP - Information Age Publishing, Inc., 2009
American Journal of Physics, Aug 1, 2009
Army Project Number Education and Training 2Q283743A794 Approved for public release; distribution... more Army Project Number Education and Training 2Q283743A794 Approved for public release; distribution unlimited. iiiI FORE WORD Limited time and wide geographical dispersion of units are two of the major training constraints encountered by the Army National Guard and Reserve,, i.e., the Reserve Component (RC). In response to these constraints, the RC is considering using technology to deliver training to the soldier at convenient times and places, thereby reducing the effect of unit dispersion and ensuring that available training time is used effectively and efficiently to achieve maximum performance benefits. This report is designed to assist the RC to select appropriate technology for delivering training and was developed by the Training Technology Field Activity-Gowen Field (TTFA-GF), whose mission is to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of RC training through the testing and application of trainingI technology. The research task supporting this mission is entitled "Applic.ation of Technology to Meet Reserve Component Needs" and is organized under the NMaintain the Force' program area. The National Guard Bureau (NGB) and the Idaho Army National Guard (IDARNG) sponsored this project under the Memorandum of Understanding signed 12 June 1985 that established the TTFA-GF. Project results have been signed to Chief, Training Support Branch, NGB, and the Assistant Adjutant General of Idaho.
Constructivist Foundations, 2014
Constructivist Foundations, 2010
What can We learn from the misunderstandings of rc? dewey i. dykstra, Jr. Radical Constructivism ... more What can We learn from the misunderstandings of rc? dewey i. dykstra, Jr. Radical Constructivism 121 What can We learn from the misunderstandings of rc? dewey i. dykstra, Jr.
The Physics Teacher, Sep 1, 2000
A Graphical Interpretation of an Algebraic Solution Restrictions on the solution of the falling-b... more A Graphical Interpretation of an Algebraic Solution Restrictions on the solution of the falling-balls problem described by Jim Patterson [Phys. Teach. 38, 214 (April 2000)] can be discovered without writing a single equation. Make a graph of velocity versus time for both balls (slope =-g for both), then appeal to the physical idea that both balls undergo the same displacement.
Journal of Research in Science Teaching, Feb 1, 1987
As one whose classroom teaching experience consists of ninth grade physical science through upper... more As one whose classroom teaching experience consists of ninth grade physical science through upper division college physics, whose only experience with elementary students is in Summer enrichment programs and as one whose science education research efforts have been mainly from the front of classrooms, I would like to humbly make the following assertion and then justify it: The task of teaching science in the elementary schools is more demanding than teaching science in high school or college.
Constructivist Foundations, 2005
In Radical Constructivism (RC) (Glasersfeld 1991) we judge our understanding by what can be accom... more In Radical Constructivism (RC) (Glasersfeld 1991) we judge our understanding by what can be accomplished using that understanding. Realists do not understand the notion that RC is not about "truth," but about fit to experience. In this article, we look at evidence in educational settings. While the evidence will be mostly from physics education, what is being described is not unique to the results of physics instruction. Education as we know it today is based in realism. How do the results of this education as we know it compare with results of education based in RC? Purpose: Often radical constructivists are confronted with arguments why radical constructivism is wrong. The present work presents a radical constructivist alternative to such arguments: a comparison of the results of two instructional practices, the standard, realistbased instruction and a radical constructivist-based instruction, both in physics courses. Design: Evidence from many studies of student conceptions in standard instruction (Duit 2004) is taken into account. In addition, diagnostic data, pre and post instruction, were collected from over 1,000 students in multiple institutions across the U. S. over a period of about 15 years via an established diagnostic of conceptual understanding of motion and force. Findings: Evidence from many studies of student conceptions in standard instruction (Duit, 2004) is that little or no change in student conceptions happens in standard instruction. About half the students in the particular study reported, all science and engineering majors, experienced standard, realist-based instruction and show an average effect size of 0.6 standard deviations and an average normalized gain of 15%. The other half of the students, none of whom were science and engineering majors, experienced radical constructivist-based instruction and show an average effect size over 2.5 standard deviations and an average normalized gain over 60%. Diagnostic pre scores were nearly the same for both groups. Practical implications: The outcome, that students, neither science nor engineering majors, made changes in understanding foundational topics in physics far greater than science and engineering students, poses (1) an ethical challenge to the continued adherence to standard, realist-based instructional practices and (2) an intellectual challenge to the usefulness and appropriateness of the elitist-realist paradigm on which such standard instruction is based. Conclusions: This radical constructivist argument uses the effect of paradigms to judge their pragmatic value, not their truth-value. Based on pragmatic value, radical constructivism results in superior outcomes when applied to physics instruction. The approach to instruction can be applied generally in education.
Bulletin of the American Physical Society, Mar 19, 2010
Normally the conventional notion of physics teaching is to present the established canon of physi... more Normally the conventional notion of physics teaching is to present the established canon of physics by accepted methods for the benefit of the deserving, that is, those who can get what is presented. More than 30 years now of physics education research reveals that if change in student understanding is the goal, this conventional notion of physics teaching is a spectacular failure. The same body of research reveals that the spectacular failure is a consequence of the pedagogy. The dismal results are not due to the difficult nature of physics or to inadequacies of students. In other words, the failure of conventional instruction is totally unnecessary. The examples of alternative pedagogies that are not failures have a few features in common. One of these is the necessity for the teacher to pay close attention to the students' conceptions of the phenomena being studied and how these may be changing. That is, the teacher needs to be able to see the growth of physical theory in students' minds. Examples of and strategies for ways of seeing this growth in the classroom will be shared.
Journal of Research in Science Teaching, Oct 1, 1987
Journal of Curriculum Studies, 2007
Curriculum Dynamics is a mixed bag: a place to start reading references to postmodernism, a rathe... more Curriculum Dynamics is a mixed bag: a place to start reading references to postmodernism, a rather poor place to pick up much understanding of the science written about in the book, and possibly a source of inspiration to think differently about the notions of curriculum and education. The book is aptly described by the author in the following: ‘My hope for those who read this book is that they find meaning, purpose, and value, not answers, prescriptions, or formulas to follow.’ (p. 6) One might find meaning, purpose and value from the book, but a careful, thoughtful reader might be hindered by the distractions of the presentation of the science and subsequent references to it and of the lack of rigor in the popularizers relied upon in the text.