Welcome to Back to School Night 2014-2015!

Shelley StanphillPsychology – Blocks 1, 2, 3Physics – Blocks 4, 5

A Little About MeB.S., Harvey Mudd College

◦Major: Physics◦Minor: Psychology

M.A., U.C. Berkeley◦Thesis: Responses to Conflict in

Scientific Discourse: How Students Learn Through Disagreement

Contact me at shelley.stanphill@ocsarts.net

My Philosophy of Teaching

My goal is to challenge students to take on interesting, relevant tasks AND for every student to have the opportunity to be successful

Success is not a matter of “if,” but a matter of “when”

Grading70% - Tests20% - Group Projects10% - Work Habits

TestsOrganized by learning goal – each

learning goal is graded separatelyStudents have the option to retake

as many learning goals as they want, anytime in the semester (but they may only retake each learning goal once)◦Do better? The new score replaces the

old◦Do worse? I calculate a weighted

average

ProjectsTypically completed in groups of 3-4Apply concepts learned in class to real-

life (or at least fun) scenarios Require creativity, problem solving,

and effective communicationGroups who do not meet expectations

will be required to revise and resubmit until they do meet expectations; in other words, everyone is getting an A on their projects

Sample Psychology Projects

Medical treatment for the zombie apocalypse

Mock trial analyzing eyewitness testimonies

Constructing psych-backed study guides

Using social influence theory to promote a worthy cause

Designing age-appropriate toys and games

Sample Physics ProjectsDetermining safe

driving practicesDesigning multi-

faceted movie stunts

Optimizing power from wind turbines and transforming them into generators

Building a musical instrument

Work HabitsIncludes contributions to group

work, turning in work on time, utilizing class time appropriately

Homework falls into this category◦Did your homework HW grade:

10/10◦Didn’t do your homework HW

grade: whatever you scored on that learning goal on the test

Work Habits