Activity Design with PhET Simulations for STEM Education

PhET Interactive Simulations ( https://phet.colorado.edu/ ), a project of the University of Colorado Boulder, provides fun, free, interactive, research-based science and mathematics simulations for use across, primary, secondary, and higher education levels. We extensively test and evaluate each simulation to ensure educational effectiveness. All simulations are open source and free to all students and teachers. In this course, we will review strategies for how to use PhET to create simulation-based active learning activities for math or science classes, including activity sheets that students can use as they work independently or in small groups while they have direct access to simulations on their own devices. To finish this course, you need to complete two assignments with Peer Review: 1) Select and evaluate an Activity Sheet and 2) Create your own Activity Sheet for science or math that integrate PhET simulations. This course is the third of four courses that make up the specialization “Active Learning in STEM with PhET Interactive Simulations”. This course is also available in Spanish as “Diseño de Actividades con Simulaciones PhET para la Educación STEM” and in Portuguese as "Desenho de Atividades com PhET para Educação STEM".

• Module 1: Introduction: Students Interacting With Simulations
• In this module, we will review strategies for when to use simulation-anchored Activity Sheets for science and math classes that students can use as they work independently or in small groups while they have direct access to simulations on their own device.
• Module 2: Revisiting PhET Activities
• In this module, you will explore the difference between Activities and Activity Sheets. You will also select a pre-existing Activity Sheet contributed by other PhET users and analyze it to improve its alignment with the PhET Equity Framework.
• Module 3: Challenge Prompts
• This module will introduce you to the core of a high-quality student activity sheet–Challenge Prompts. Using examples from various subjects, you will revise teacher-directed instructions to produce open-ended challenges that better promote Active Learning.
• Module 4: Activity Sheets and Lessons
• In this module, you will learn how to build an Activity Sheet, considering various parts of a lesson.
• Module 5: Assignment Submissions and Conclusions
• In this module, you will submit an Activity Sheet of your own!