Conditions for building a community of practice in an advanced physics laboratory

In this paper we explore the theory of communities of practice in the context of a physics college course and in particular the classroom environment of an advanced laboratory. We introduce the idea of elements of a classroom community being able to provide students with the opportunity to have an accelerated trajectory towards being a more central participant of the community of practice of physicists. This opportunity is a result of structural features of the course and a primary instructional choice which result in the development of a learning community with several elements that encourage students to engage in more authentic practices of a physicist. A jump in accountable disciplinary knowledge is also explored as a motivation for enculturation into the community of practice of physicists. In the advanced laboratory what students are being assessed on as counting as physics is significantly different and so they need to assimilate in order to succeed.Comment: 14 pages, 1 figur

A Phenomenographic Study of Introductory Physics Students: Approaches to their Learning and Perceptions of their Learning Environment in a Physics Problem-Based Learning Environment

This phenomenographic study describes students’ approaches to learning and their perceptions of the learning environment in an introductory physics course which is taught using a problem-based learning approach. This research builds on previous studies which showed that these students develop a greater conceptual knowledge than their counterparts in a more traditional learning environment while others showed very little development even though they engaged fully with the pedagogy. This study aimed to examine and describe the students’ approaches to learning. The definitions of surface, strategic and deep approaches to learning are not appropriate in this context and could not be applied as all students engage fully in the collaborative problem-solving process, albeit in different ways, and hence displayed none of the characteristics of the traditional surface approach and many, if not all, of those associated with the deep approach. Many previous research studies have shown that these “traditional” approaches to learning can manifest in different ways and this is primarily due to the influence of the students’ perceptions of the problem-based learning environment and examine their influence on the students’ approaches to learning. This study was conducted using phenomenographic methodology to collect, analyse and interpret data from twenty individual semi-structured interviews with introductory physics students. It presents a systematic way of identifying the variations in the students’ approaches to their learning in a problem-based learning environment and the variations in students’ perceptions of the learning environment. The study also involved the observation of the students’ within the problem-based learning environment in order to examine the manifestation of their approach. Finally, a quantitative inventory was used as a pre- and post-test to ascertain the students’ conceptual knowledge development. Relations between the approaches, perceptions, actions and conceptual knowledge development were then examined. The findings from this study reveal that students approach their learning in one of three ways: PBL deep; PBL strategic; and PBL surface. These approaches have similarities to the three traditional approaches mentioned above but have clear differences as well. In particular in terms of their link to the students’ conception of understanding. A link was also established between students’ perception of the learning environment and their approach to learning. The findings have also indicated an alignment between approach, perception, actions taken in problem-based learning environment and the development of conceptual knowledge. This research provides an insight into, and a better understanding of, the way introductory physics students approach their learning in a problem-based learning environment that is constructively aligned to develop understanding. It also underlines the significance that students’ conceptions of understanding and perceptions of the learning environment will have on influencing their approach to learning. This study can inform problem-based learning course design, tutoring and teaching and assessment practices not only in physics education but in any discipline where conceptual understanding is a primary learning outcome

Denoting and Comparing Leadership Attributes and Behaviors in Group Work

Projects and Practices in Physics (P$^3$) is an introductory physics class at Michigan State University that replaces lectures with a problem based learning environment. To promote the development of group based practices, students all receive group and individual feedback at the end of each week. The groups are comprised of four students, one of which often takes on the role of being the group's "leader." Developing leadership based skills is a specific learning goal of the P$^3$ learning environment and the goal of this research is to examine what leadership-specific actions/traits students in P$^3$ demonstrate while working in their group. The initial phase of this study examined multiple pieces of literature to identify possible characteristics and behaviors that may present themselves in potential leaders -- creating a codebook. This phase of the study applies the codebook to in-class data to compare two tutor-labeled leaders and their leadership styles.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur

Learning about the Energy of a Hurricane System through an Estimation Epistemic Game

As part of a study into students' problem solving behaviors, we asked upper-division physics students to solve estimation problems in clinical interviews. We use the Resources Framework and epistemic games to describe students' problem solving moves. We present a new epistemic game, the "estimation epistemic game". In the estimation epistemic game, students break the larger problem into a series of smaller, tractable problems. Within each sub-problem, they try to remember a method for solving the problem, and use estimation and reasoning abilities to justify their answers. We demonstrate how a single case study student plays the game to estimate the total energy in a hurricane. Finally, we discuss the implications of epistemic game analysis for other estimation problems.Comment: 4 pages. Submitted to Physics Education Research Conference 201