Skip to main content
Apply Visit Give
Faculty of Arts and Science

Department of Physics

Calvin S. Kalman Research Group

Overview

In traditional lecture courses as well as courses that use interactive engagement, students are less expert-like at the end of the course than they were at the beginning (Madsen, McKagan, & Sayre, 2015). Our recent research was based on the hypothesis that students' epistemological beliefs could become more expert-like with a combination of the following appropriate instructional activities:

  • Pre-class reading with metacognitive reflection (Kalman, 2011)
  • In-class active learning that produces cognitive dissonance (Kalman et al. 2015)

Our research group has been designing many new pedagogical approaches for a long time (e.g., Kalman et al., 1999; Kalman, Rohar, & Wells, 2004; Kalman et al., 2008; Kalman, Sobhanzadeh, Thompson, Ibrahim, & Wang, 2015) to help students succeed in their courses (e.g., Kalman & Rohar, 2010; Kalman, Milner-Bolotin, & Antimirova, 2010; Khanam & Kalman, 2016).

Our focus has now gone beyond the question of whether or not a pedagogical technique is effective, toward a more intense focus on finding a class of techniques that is effective in helping students become more like expert thinkers. Contrary to the normal experience noted above (Madsen, McKagan, & Sayre, 2015) we have shown in our recent work that it is possible to help students make progress toward “expert-learning style”.

Remote PhD defence of Joseph El-Helou (2020).

Principal investigator

Calvin Kalman

PhD
calvin.kalman@concordia.ca

Current members

Samantha Clark

BSc student

Collaborators

Mandana Sobhanzedeh

PhD
Mount Royal University
msobhanzadeh@mtroyal.ca

Peter Zizler

PhD
Mount Royal University
pzizler@mtroyal.ca

Nicholas Strzalkowski

PhD
Mount Royal University
nstrzalkowski@mtroyal.ca

Tabussom Qureshi

Mount Royal University
tqureshi@mtroyal.ca

Alumni

  • Kalman, C. S. Reflective Writing in Active Learning Classrooms. in Active Learning in College Science (eds. Mintzes, J. J. & Walter, E. M.) 73–87 (Springer International Publishing, 2020). doi:10.1007/978-3-030-33600-4_6
  • Kalman, C. S. & Lattery, M. Editorial: Development of Student Understanding: Focus on Science Education. Front. Psychol. 10, 2861 (2019). doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02861
  • Khazaei, F. H., Roucau, B. & Kalman, C. S. Can Learning about History of Science and Nature of Science in a Student-Centred Classroom Change Science Students’ Conception of Science? CE 09, 2561–2591 (2018). doi:10.4236/ce.2018.915194
  • Kalman, C. S. & Lattery, M. J. Three Active Learning Strategies to Address Mixed Student Epistemologies and Promote Conceptual Change. Front. ICT 5, 19 (2018). doi:10.3389/fict.2018.00019
  • Kalman, C. S., Lattery, M. & Sobhanzadeh, M. Impact of Reflective Writing and Labatorials on Student Understanding of Force and Motion in Introductory Physics. CE 09, 575–596 (2018). doi:10.4236/ce.2018.94041
  • El-Helou, J. & Kalman, C. S. Reflective Writing for a Better Understanding of Scientific Concepts in High School. The Physics Teacher 56, 88–91 (2018). doi:10.1119/1.5021434
  • Kalman, C. S. Writing to Learn: Reflective Writing. in Successful Science and Engineering Teaching 16, 47–67 (Springer, 2018). doi:10.1007/978-3-319-66140-7_4
  • Kalman, C. S. What Is the Students’ Worldview? in Successful Science and Engineering Teaching 16, 69–87 (Springer, 2018). doi:10.1007/978-3-319-66140-7_5
  • Kalman, C. S. Summing Up. in Successful Science and Engineering Teaching 16, 257–261 (Springer, 2018). doi:10.1007/978-3-319-66140-7_12
  • Kalman, C. S. Students Alternative Scientific Conceptions. in Successful Science and Engineering Teaching 16, 23–46 (Springer, 2018). doi:10.1007/978-3-319-66140-7_3
  • Kalman, C. S. Intellectual Development and Psychological Types. in Successful Science and Engineering Teaching 16, 13–22 (Springer, 2018). doi:10.1007/978-3-319-66140-7_2
  • Kalman, C. S. Educational Models Based Upon Philosophy of Science. in Successful Science and Engineering Teaching 16, 91–109 (Springer, 2018). doi:10.1007/978-3-319-66140-7_6
  • Kalman, C. S. Critical Thinking. in Successful Science and Engineering Teaching 16, 111–141 (Springer, 2018). doi:10.1007/978-3-319-66140-7_7
  • Kalman, C. S. Courses for Non-science Students. in Successful Science and Engineering Teaching 16, 201–233 (Springer, 2018). doi:10.1007/978-3-319-66140-7_10
  • Kalman, C. S. Constructing an Epistemology. in Successful Science and Engineering Teaching 16, 143–159 (Springer, 2018). doi:10.1007/978-3-319-66140-7_8
  • Kalman, C. S. Computer-Assisted Instruction. in Successful Science and Engineering Teaching 16, 235–255 (Springer, 2018). doi:10.1007/978-3-319-66140-7_11
  • Kalman, C. S. Changing How Students Learn. in Successful Science and Engineering Teaching 16, 161–198 (Springer, 2018). doi:10.1007/978-3-319-66140-7_9
  • Sobhanzadeh, M., Kalman, C. S. & Thompson, R. I. Labatorials in introductory physics courses. Eur. J. Phys. 38, 065702 (2017). doi:10.1088/1361-6404/aa8757
  • Kalman, C. S. Research on Teaching Thinking: Rupert Wegerif, Li Li and James C. Kaufman (Eds.) (2015). The Routledge International Handbook of Research on Teaching Thinking. Routledge, Oxon. ISBN: 978-0-415-74749-3 $230. 487 pages (hardback). Sci & Educ 26, 743–745 (2017). doi:10.1007/s11191-017-9907-1
  • Khanam, W. N. & Kalman, C. S. Implementation and Evaluation of the Course Dossier Methodology. Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning 8, 1–20 (2017).
  • Kalman, C. S. Successful Science and Engineering Teaching: Theoretical and Learning Perspectives. (Springer, 2017). 978-3-319-66140-7
  • Kalman, C. S. Successful science and engineering teaching in colleges and universities. (Information Age Publishing, 2017). 978-1-68123-958-3
  • Kalman, C. S., Sobhanzadeh, M., Thompson, R., Ibrahim, A. & Wang, X. Combination of interventions can change students’ epistemological beliefs. Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 11, 020136 (2015). doi:10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.11.020136
  • Ha, S., Lee, G. & Kalman, C. S. Workshop on Friction: Understanding and Addressing Students’ Difficulties in Learning Science Through a Hermeneutical Perspective. Sci & Educ 22, 1423–1441 (2013). doi:10.1007/s11191-012-9465-5
  • Huang, X. & Kalman, C. S. A case study on reflective writing. Journal of College Science Teaching 42, 92–99 (2012).
  • Kalman, C. S. Enhancing Students’ Conceptual Understanding by Engaging Science Text with Reflective Writing as a Hermeneutical Circle. Sci & Educ 20, 159–172 (2011). doi:10.1007/s11191-010-9298-z
  • Kalman, C. S. On the Concept of Force: A Comment on Lopes Coelho. Sci & Educ 20, 67–69 (2011). doi:10.1007/s11191-010-9284-5
  • Kalman, C. S. & Rohar, S. Toolbox of activities to support students in a physics gateway course. Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 6, 020111 (2010). doi:10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.6.020111
  • Kalman, C. S., Milner-Bolotin, M. & Antimirova, T. Comparison of the effectiveness of collaborative groups and peer instruction in a large introductory physics course for science majors. Can. J. Phys. 88, 325–332 (2010). doi:10.1139/P10-024

Contact information

Please contact Calvin Kalman by phone or email if you have any questions or need his assistance.

514-848-2424, ext. 3284
calvin.kalman@concordia.ca
Calvin Kalman's faculty profile

Mailing address

Calvin S. Kalman
Department of Physics
7141 Sherbrooke St. W.
Montreal, Quebec
H4B 1R6, Canada

 
Back to top

© Concordia University