Head in the Game: Using Sports-Related Concussions to Drive Student Engagement

How can we improve student engagement in physics? Physics concepts become more engaging and meaningful when students connect them to real-world issues impacting their lives and communities. One such issue—sports-related concussions—provides a compelling socioscientific context for exploring physics principles such as force, impulse, and momentum. In this session, we will examine how integrating the issue of student concussions into the physics curriculum provides a coherent and relevant learning context for students while fostering deeper engagement, scientific inquiry, and critical thinking. Participants will be guided through the entire unit, exploring hands-on activities, data-driven investigations, and discussions that challenge students to analyze real-world data, consider protective technologies, and evaluate the societal implications of sports-related brain injuries on student-athletes. By reframing physics instruction around socioscientific issues (SSI) like concussions, physics teachers can create dynamic, student-centered learning experiences that promote engagement, conceptual understanding, and social awareness.

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 2101395. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.