Promoting Student Engagement in the High School Physics Classroom and Beyond

As educators we not only strive to have students interested in taking physics courses at both the high school and the university level but also to consider entering into careers in science and engineering. More importantly than just piquing a student’s interest, one also desires to see students at all levels of physics develop accurate factual, conceptual, and procedural knowledge of the world of physics. The challenge before us is to find ways to actively engage students in their own learning in the sometimes counterintuitive world of physics. In this talk I will describe unique opportunities and activities used to engage the students at Penticton Secondary School such as the school's observatory and a variation of the classic 'clicker' question.