Finally I have done with the microteaching and it was very obvious that I am very poor in Physics’ content knowledge. I knew that I am very poor in this part and indeed I am worry about this as I am going to be a Physics teacher. But, I believe that I am not that too weak or unable to cope with this subject. Perhaps, it is because of I have lack of exposure of Physics and I need to find the solution for this problem in order to improve my proficiency in Physics.
I remember when I was in secondary school, I tried to get engaged with this subject but I just couldn’t help myself because I always fail in examination and monthly tests. I couldn’t understand what the teacher was trying to teach us. He often asks us to memorize the formulas and the concepts theory. I don’t like to blame my teacher for that but in fact it didn’t help me much as I only managed to get 7 in SPM.
When I was studying in Matriculation College, at the beginning, I wanted to drop Physics subject because I had set in my mind that I will not be able to pass in this subject as I have experienced it when I was in secondary school. But, my lecturer convinced me that Physics is not that really hard and asked me to try and she promised that she will help me to understand Physics. I gained courage and motivation from her and she changed my mindset about Physics. I finally finished my matriculation and scored A- for Physics. Then, after that I was offered to further my study for Bachelor Science (Honor) in Physics.
It seems like I have learned Physics in depth but in fact there are a lot of things that I need to discover and learn. Besides, there are lots of misconceptions and even theories and concepts that I do not understand until now. I often feel disappointed when I found myself failed to elaborate further when asked to explain Physics’ concept. In Dr. Nurul’s classes, I often voice out my respond but most of the time, I failed to give a correct answers. Sometimes it disappoints me and felt downhearted. But, I focused on the positive part whereby from the lesson, I found my own misconception of Physics and I have learned from those mistakes. It also reminds me that I have to learn and study from the basic concept from now onward.
In the journal ‘Rationale for change in Physics teaching’ which written by Jonte Bernhard, most student even university level do not learn the basic concept as a result of standard instruction and often graduates with unaltered misconceptions and may have deep misunderstanding. Through research, they identify that majority of the students entering and leaving undergraduate Physics unable to understand basics concept such as understanding the meaning of velocity and acceleration, fail to distinguish force from momentum, have inappropriate understanding of the relation between current and voltage and many other basic concepts.
I personally agree with Jonte Bernhard as I did not learn the basic concept in depth during my study in degree level and even when I was studying in Matriculation or secondary school. Besides, it was really hard to learn without guidance from Physics expertise. It was even harder when I stuck with a problem to understand the Physics concepts and theories since most of the references were only available in English language.
David R. Hubin and Charles Riddell have shared their guidelines on how to study Physics and I think it is beneficial to apply these guidelines to enhance my understanding in Physics. Although the guidelines are for those who still studying in school or university, yet it is applicable to me. The first guideline is to get an overview by recognizing that Physics is a problem solving discipline. Student should identify the major goal and apply the principle to understand and solve the problem. An overview of the subject can help student to organize the effort and increase efficiency.
An effective participation in Physics class will be beneficial but student should prepare themselves for the class such as reading notes and check the course outline in order to use their potential fully for integrating knowledge. I agree with the authors and I have done this before whereby I understand more when I am ready for the class.
During the class, student should take a good note and record the important point in the lecture. It is good if student ask the teacher during the lesson because teacher needs feedback from students. I personally think that this part is very important in order to get the information from the lecturer. By asking, we get the understanding and lessen the feeling of embarrassment or fear of asking the lecturer.
They also stated that it is important to read text book or Physics references after class to clarify the topic that student had learned during the lesson. While reading the book, student must read actively with questions in mind and read it with pencil and paper to jot down the questions and notes. The rationale of doing this is to make student to be more alert of what they learn effectively and get engaged with the topic.
In order to become an expert problem solver in Physics, these are good questions that the student should think and answer; what's the problem about? What am I asked to find? What information am I to use? What principles apply? What do I know about similar situations? How can I go about applying the information to solve the problem? Does my solution make sense? I took this example to figure out a situation of the expert problem solver and the novice. “The expert will decide, "this is an energy problem," or, "this is a Newton 2 problem." A novice is more likely to decide, "this is a pulley problem," or, "this is a baseball problem." The novice concentrates on the surface features of the problem while the expert concentrates on the underlying principle. An expert problem solver, will answer these questions, play around (briefly) with the problem, and make drawings and sketches (either in mind, or even better, on paper) before writing down formulas and plugging in numbers. A novice problem solver, on the other hand, will try to write down equations and plug in numbers as soon as possible. A novice will make many more mistakes than the student will when he or she become an expert.
I think this is a good way to understand Physics. I need to train myself to be expert in problem solving. Through questioning, I can identify what are the concept or principles that I should look for and able to go further to find the solution. Knowing the expert and the novice make me clear about how to act as a Physics learner whereby as a learner I should look on the underlying principle rather than look on the surface feature of the problem.
I realize that this is a serious problem that I have to overcome. As a Physics graduate, I should be knowledgeable in this field and furthermore, I am going to be a Physics teacher. Sometimes, I feel that all my attempts to teach Physics were pathetic. But thinking of all over these problems without any action will never bring me anywhere. I have to move forward and do something to improve myself.
What should I do in order to enhance my content knowledge in Physics? What should I do to identify my misconception and misunderstanding in Physics and how to correct those misconceptions and misunderstandings? These questions are not easy for me to answer and I believe that it will take a long time and a long process to master Physics in depth.
In order to overcome this problem, the first step that I should do is to provide enough space time for myself to learn and gain as much as possible Physics content knowledge. I have to discipline myself and be persistent in learning and mastering Physics and organize a study routine that works for me.
I have to start from now and not limiting myself to refer only to a certain books or references. I have to explore and discover the concepts from a variety of Physics references and search more information on the internet to improve my understanding, comparing concepts and theories from a various information in order to eliminate misconceptions and misunderstandings and gain more knowledge about Physics.
I think the other way to overcome the problem which I think that more effective is by discussing it to the Physics expertise. Sitting and listening to Dr. Nurul lectures has helped me a lot because there are many misconceptions and misunderstandings of Physics’ concept that I have discovered in myself. I should take the opportunity to ask and discuss with Physics lecturers while I have the opportunity to meet them because through discussion, I can ask more and raise other related questions to get understanding.
Discussion with my course mates or friends will also be a good step to gain understanding in Physics because I believe we can share many information and think about the concept together to deepen our understanding. In order to avoid misconception, we can work together to search and collect information from a various resources or by meeting and discussing it with the lecturer.
In order to enhance knowledge, I have to learn consistently and cultivate the attitude and culture of lifelong learning whereby as long as I live, I need to learn and study to become knowledgeable.
Hopefully, with this method, I will be able to master Physics content knowledge and gain my confidence in teaching Physics for my future student. I have to think positively and always learn to improve my weaknesses to establish myself, my mindset and my capability to ensure that I am capable to become a Physics teacher. Being knowledgeable in our own field of study is a big compliment for ourselves and we gain confident from it as we can convince others when they ask about our field of study.
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