Learning from Physics Education Research: Lessons for Economics Education

We believe that economists have much to learn from educational research practices and related pedagogical innovations in other disciplines, in particular physics education. In this paper we identify three key features of physics education research that distinguish it from economics education research - (1) the intentional grounding of physics education research in learning science principles, (2) a shared conceptual research framework focused on how students learn physics concepts, and (3) a cumulative process of knowledge-building in the discipline - and describe their influence on new teaching pedagogies, instructional activities, and curricular design in physics education. In addition, we highlight four specific examples of successful pedagogical innovations drawn from physics education - context-rich problems, concept tests, just-in-time teaching, and interactive lecture demonstrations - and illustrate how these practices can be adapted for economic education.Comment: 19 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Journal of Economic Education, also available from Social Science Research Network <http://ssrn.com/abstract=1151430

Case studies of mental models in home heat control: searching for feedback, valve, timer and switch theories

An intergroup case study was undertaken to determine if: 1) There exist distinct mental models of home heating function, that differ significantly from the actual functioning of UK heating systems; and 2) Mental models of thermostat function can be categorized according to Kempton’s (1986) valve and feedback shared theories, and others from the literature. Distinct, inaccurate mental models of the heating system, as well as thermostat devices in isolation, were described. It was possible to categorise thermostat models by Kempton’s (1986) feedback shared theory, but other theories proved ambiguous. Alternate control devices could be categorized by Timer (Norman, 2002) and Switch (Peffer et al., 2011) theories. The need to consider the mental models of the heating system in terms of an integrated set of control devices, and to consider user’s goals and expectations of the system benefit, was highlighted. The value of discovering shared theories, and understanding user mental models, of home heating, are discussed with reference to their present day relevance for reducing energy consumption

Learning from physics education research: Lessons for economics education

We believe that economists have much to learn from educational research practices and related pedagogical innovations in other disciplines, in particular physics education. In this paper we identify three key features of physics education research that distinguish it from economics education research - (1) the intentional grounding of physics education research in learning science principles, (2) a shared conceptual research framework focused on how students learn physics concepts, and (3) a cumulative process of knowledge-building in the discipline - and describe their influence on new teaching pedagogies, instructional activities, and curricular design in physics education. In addition, we highlight four specific examples of successful pedagogical innovations drawn from physics education - context-rich problems, concept tests, just-in-time teaching, and interactive lecture demonstrations - and illustrate how these practices can be adapted for economic education.economic education; physics education research (PER); research-based teaching; preconceptions; metacognition; transfer; context-rich problems; peer instruction; just-in-time teaching; interactive lecture demonstration

Putting Pedagogy in the driving seat with Open Comment: an open source formative assessment feedback and guidance tool for History Students

One of the more challenging aspects in the current e-assessment milieu is to provide a set of electronic interactive tasks that will allow students more free text entry and provide immediate feedback to them. The specific objective of the project was to construct some simple tools in the form of Moodle extensions that allow a Moodle author to ask free-text response questions that can provide a degree of interactive formative feedback to students. In parallel with this was the aim to begin to develop a methodology for constructing such questions and their feedback effectively, together with techniques for constructing decision rules for giving feedback. Open Comment is a formative feedback technology designed to be integrated in the Moodle virtual learning environment. Put simply, it provides a simple system allowing questions to be written in Moodle, and for students' free text responses to these questions to be analysed and used to provide individually customised formative feedback

A tale of six fish: Achieving social presence through discussion forums in an offline learning environment

It is widely held, through the Socratic tradition, that discussion is at the heart of learning. Moderated discussion forums have been shown to replicate the debate, argument and verbal defence of viewpoints that we have come to expect in face-to-face learning environments and that we generally accept to underpin learning. While much has been written about discussion forums in educational settings, particularly in how to moderate and promote effective interaction with students at a distance, this paper takes a different approach. It looks at how forums may be used to support face-to-face learning in the contemporary context of the massification of on-campus classes. Further to this, it will argue for discussion forums as an indicator of social presence in the learning environment. It will cautiously conclude that, through purposeful design, this form of asynchronous communication has a valuable role to play in creating a positive and supportive environment for students entering university. Discussion forums are tools with a versatility yet to be fully exploited

Development and evaluation of a thermochemistry concept inventory for college-level general chemistry

The research presented in this dissertation culminated in a 10-item Thermochemistry Concept Inventory (TCI). The development of the TCI can be divided into two main phases: qualitative studies and quantitative studies. Both phases focused on the primary stakeholders of the TCI, college–level general chemistry instructors and students. Each phase was designed to collect evidence for the validity of the interpretations and uses of TCI testing data. A central use of TCI testing data is to identify student conceptual misunderstandings, which are represented as incorrect options of multiple– choice TCI items. Therefore, quantitative and qualitative studies focused heavily on collecting evidence at the item–level, where important interpretations may be made by TCI users. Qualitative studies included student interviews (N = 28) and online expert surveys (N = 30). Think-aloud student interviews (N = 12) were used to identify conceptual misunderstandings used by students. Novice response process validity interviews (N = 16) helped provide information on how students interpreted and answered TCI items and were the basis of item revisions. Practicing general chemistry instructors (N = 18), or experts, defined boundaries of thermochemistry content included on the TCI. Once TCI items were in the later stages of development, an online version of the TCI was used in expert response process validity survey (N = 12), to provide expert feedback on item content, format and consensus of the correct answer for each item. Quantitative studies included three phases: beta testing of TCI items (N = 280), pilot testing of the a 12-item TCI (N = 485), and a large data collection using a 10-item TCI (N = 1331). In addition to traditional classical test theory analysis, Rasch model analysis was also used for evaluation of testing data at the test and item level. The TCI was administered in both formative assessment (beta and pilot testing) and summative assessment (large data collection), with items performing well in both. One item, item K, did not have acceptable psychometric properties when the TCI was used as a quiz (summative assessment), but was retained in the final version of the TCI based on the acceptable psychometric properties displayed in pilot testing (formative assessment)

Jesus Teaching Through Discovery

What made Jesus’ teaching effective? Jesus’ teaching was effective because it resulted in changing the hearers’ heart and having the hearer apply his message to their lives. Jesus’ teaching amazed listeners, for example, after hearing the Sermon on the Mount the crowds were amazed (Matthew 7:28). He taught ordinary, unschooled, disciples for three years and their teaching changed the entire world of their time and continues to affect our world today. The hearers of his teaching opened their “eyes and ears”. What made his teaching so successful? His teaching consisted of a set of procedures. Jesus identified the teaching moments; facilitated inquiry by giving inspiring questions, enabled audiences to formulate hypothesizes through insights, and encouraged his audiences to apply their learning to practical situations. Jesus knew that learning was not simply memorizing facts or reciting the Law of Moses. Learning involved organizing new facts to existing schema and applying that new information. His teaching is typically a discovery learning process. The following article will review Jesus’ teaching method through the modern lens of discovery learning

Challenging Social Cognition Models of Adherence:Cycles of Discourse, Historical Bodies, and Interactional Order

Attempts to model individual beliefs as a means of predicting how people follow clinical advice have dominated adherence research, but with limited success. In this article, we challenge assumptions underlying this individualistic philosophy and propose an alternative formulation of context and its relationship with individual actions related to illness. Borrowing from Scollon and Scollon’s three elements of social action – “historical body,” “interaction order,” and “discourses in place” – we construct an alternative set of research methods and demonstrate their application with an example of a person talking about asthma management. We argue that talk- or illness-related behavior, both viewed as forms of social action, manifest themselves as an intersection of cycles of discourse, shifting as individuals move through these cycles across time and space. We finish by discussing how these dynamics of social action can be studied and how clinicians might use this understanding when negotiating treatment with patients