Suttida Rakkapao1

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Suttida Rakkapao1
Kwan Arayathanitkul, Passakorn Pananont2
Institute for Innovation and development of
Learning Process, Mahidol University1
Department of Physics, Faculty of Science,
Mahidol University2
April 2, 2008 , Institute for Innovation and
development of Learning Process, Mahidol
University, Bangkok, THAILAND.
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• Introduction
• Pilot study
• Research objectives
• Research questions
• Research methodology
• Expected outcomes

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Do you remember the great disaster in Thailand
2004 ?
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Earthquake Facts and Statistics
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Active faults in Thailand
http//www.dmr.go.th/knowledge/geology.htm
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(From http//www.dmr.go.th/geohazard/earthquake/P
hayaoFault.htm)
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Three Pagoda Fault
(From http//www.dmr.go.th/geohazard/earthquake/Ka
nchanaburiFault.htm)
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Three Pagoda Fault
Sri Sa Wat Fault
http//www.dmr.go.th/News_new/cabinet/p4.jpg
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Are earthquakes really on the increase?
NO !!!!!!!
From http//earthquake.usgs.gov/learning/faq.php?c
ategoryID6faqID110
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The education about earthquakes
In 2005, Libarkin, J.C., and Anderson, S.W., 2
constructed a multiple-choice assessment
instrument for using in the Earth science called
GCI (The Geoscience Concept Inventory). These
test items cover topics related to general
physical geology concepts, as well as underlying
fundamental ideas in physics and chemistry, such
as gravity and radioactivity, these are integral
to understanding the conceptual Earth.
In 2003, C Fazio et al. 3 constructed an
activity-based teaching unit that aimed to
improve the understanding about properties of
seismic waves focusing on analyzing the
properties of very small earthquakes produced
through mechanical shock waves in slabs of
different materials.
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The education about earthquakes in Thailand
Subtopics of earthquakes on the 6th strand of
science following foundation education
curriculum Buddhist Era 2544 (http//www.ipst.ac.t
h/sci_curriculum/)

• Causes of earthquakes
• The seismometer
• Seismic waves
• Mercalli and Richter scale
• Earthquakes in Thailand
• Safety procedures from earthquakes and Tsunami

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Explore students understanding of earthquakes
after finishing the 6th strand of science by
means of traditional teaching.
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Question Are zone of rainy countries more risky
to occur earthquakes
than that of dry countries? Why?
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Question Which country Thailand or Japan that
has the most probability to occur
earthquakes? Why?
Others
Plate boundaries
Islands
Topography
Volcano eruption
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• To determine high school students
  misunderstanding of earthquakes.
• To construct a novel teaching module for
  earthquakes (related to the cause of earthquakes
  and the principle of an earthquake detector).
• To increase students conceptual understanding of
  earthquakes by using a novel teaching module.

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• What concepts of earthquakes do students
  misunderstanding?
• 2. What is a novel teaching module for
  earthquakes?
• 3. Does a novel teaching module increase high
  school students conceptual understanding of
  earthquakes?

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1) The characteristics and cause of natural
earthquakes

• Most students believe that
• The amount of rain affect to earthquakes.
• All earthquakes create visible cracks on the
  Earth's surface.

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2) The basic principle of seismometers

• Most students believe that
• Seismograms are used for measuring the magnitude
  of an earthquake, not for locating its epicenter.
  
• The mass of a seismometer will move when
  earthquakes occur.

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3) The seismic wave velocity

• Most students believe that
• The seismic waves of the 8 Richter magnitude
  scale propagate faster than those of the
  magnitude 6 because of its violence and vibration.

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4) The Richter magnitude scale

• Most students believe that
• The ratio of the ground vibration amplitude of 8
  Richter magnitude scale to that of 6 Richter
  magnitude scale is 21.
• A change of one magnitude on the Richter scale
  corresponds to a difference in released energy 10
  times.

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4 Groups of the students misconceptions
1) The characteristics and cause of natural
earthquakes 2) The basic principle of
seismometers 3) The seismic wave velocity 4)
The Richter magnitude scale
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Students conceptual understanding
The earthquake conceptual test (a multiple
choice test)
Students satisfaction to the teaching module
A questionnaire
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To construct an active based teaching module on
the topic of earthquake.

• Seismograms
• A Simple Seismometer
• A Convection Cell set

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4 Groups of the students misconceptions
1) The characteristics and cause of natural
earthquakes 2) The basic principle of
seismometers 3) The seismic wave velocity 4)
The Richter magnitude scale
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An example
The characteristics and cause of natural
earthquakes
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Activity 1 What happened beneath the earth?
Purpose
To demonstrate the convection cell phenomena as
the cause of plate movement.
Materials

• A convection cell set
• A worksheet
• Fact and fiction videos

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Papers
Seeding particles mixed water
A filter
an alcohol lamp
A laser pointer
A convection cell set
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4 Groups of the students misconceptions
1) The characteristics and cause of natural
earthquakes 2) The basic principle of
seismometers 3) The seismic wave velocity 4)
The Richter magnitude scale
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Examples
The basic principle of seismometers
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Activity 1 Locating the epicenter of an
earthquake
Purpose
To locate the epicenter of an earthquake by using
online seismograms.
Materials

• a rope
• 3 seismograms
• a pair of compasses
• a worksheet

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1) Students discuss and share some idea for
finding the position of the gold by using the
three intersection point method.
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2) Students use 3 seismograms to locate the
epicenter of an earthquake
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Students satisfaction responses to the activity 1
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Activity 2 An earthquake detector
What is a seismometer and how does it work?
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HANDHELD SEISMOMETER (constructed by Larry
Braile et al., Perdue University, 2000)
http//web.ics.purdue.edu/braile
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REAL Datalogging seismograph(constructed by Dave
Dobeson, UniServe Science at Sydney
University, 2005)
http//science.uniserve.edu.au/school/Seismograph/
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A frequency control box
A mass
A frame
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A box with bearing balls
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The seismograms
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• The main parts of seismometers and their
  properties.
• The recording earthquake signals.
• The characteristics of seismograms.
• Anatomy of a wave (amplitude, wave length,
  period, frequency, crest, trough).
• The relation between magnitudes of earthquakes
  and amplitudes of waves on seismograms.
• Anatomy of p waves, s waves and surface waves on
  seismograms.
• The coming order of seismic waves.

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Assess students concepts
Assess the teaching module
- The earthquake conceptual test- Interviews
- A questionnaire- Interviews
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• The understanding of students misconceptions of
  earthquakes
• A novel teaching module for earthquakes (related
  to the cause of earthquakes and the principle of
  an earthquake detector)
• The increasing of students understanding of
  earthquakes

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TIME TABLE
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1 E.S. Oberhofer. (1991). Different Magnitude
Difference. The physics teacher, May, 273-274.
2 Libarkin, J.C., and Anderson, S.W., 2005.
Assessment of Learning in Entry-Level Geoscience
Courses Results from the Geoscience Concept
Inventory Journal of Geoscience Education v.
53. p. 394-401.
3 C Fazio, R M Sperandeo-Mineo and G tarantino.
(2003). How did Roman buildings survive
earthquake?. Physics Education, November, 480-484.
4 Bernard J. Feldman. (2004). The Nimitz
Freeway collapse. The physics teacher, 42,
400-402.
5 Perter W. Hodder. (2001). Earthquake!- A
cooperative learning experience. Journal of
Geoscience Education, 49(3 ), 280-285.