What is involved in ‘learning’

Today I taught two A level lessons and they were both ‘shorts’ – so a bit less that half an hour. Both were revision based. In one, we were revising GCSE refraction and in the other, particle physics, in as far as it goes at A level. It is the end of the week, at the end of a term, where we have been locked down and are now thankfully mostly back at school.

So why do I want to think about these lessons?

Well, the refraction lesson was so basic, that I used the lesson to ask my students what ‘understanding’ looks like to them. I introduced the lesson by telling them a story about the moment I realised I was supposed to understand physics. I was in Yr 11 and it was a lesson on refraction, and I remember my very cool teacher drawing wavefronts on the board and explaining what they were and all of a sudden, before she finished the picture, I could complete the diagram in my head and I knew for myself why a wave refracted without her saying anything more. Then I realised I had never really understood anything before that.

My class looked thoughtful.

So, after showing them the same explanation, I asked them how they recognised that they has ‘understood’ something in physics and got the following responses:

‘I can visualise the process rather than relying on an equation’

‘I can see the links between equations, graphs and the physical process’

‘I can predict the answer’

In the lesson on particles we were discussing leptons and it became clear that none of the students really believed in them. So I told them how Pauli used data to predict the existence of neutrinos, and how he came to name them. At the end, the class gave a little sigh of satisfaction, and to tease them a little, I said, ‘ And now you have sympathised with a neutrino you have to believe in them.’

One of my students responded, ‘I hate this. Now I believe in it I have to go back and start reading to try to understand it all.’

There is plenty of evidence that stories are important for context. I have read a lot on how understanding is important when learning physics. But the made me think – do students know when they understand? And how should I make them ’believe it’. I am lucky in that I have buy in – they want to do well, they work hard, they take part. But when they say they understand, do they mean the same thing as me? And even if they understand, do they ‘believe’, or is it just a logical deduction to be left in the classroom.

Lots to think about over Easter (and maybe to read).