466 research outputs found
Methods for Analyzing Pathways through a Physics Major
Physics Education Research frequently investigates what students studying
physics do on small time scales (e.g. single courses, observations within
single courses), or post-education time scales (e.g., what jobs do physics
majors get?) but there is little research into how students get from the
beginning to the end of a physics degree. Our work attempts to visualize
students paths through the physics major, and quantitatively describe the
students who take physics courses, receive physics degrees, and change degree
paths into and out of the physics program at Michigan State University.Comment: submitted to Physics Education Research Conference Proceedings 201
Modeling student pathways in a physics bachelor's degree program
Physics education research has used quantitative modeling techniques to
explore learning, affect, and other aspects of physics education. However,
these studies have rarely examined the predictive output of the models, instead
focusing on the inferences or causal relationships observed in various data
sets. This research introduces a modern predictive modeling approach to the PER
community using transcript data for students declaring physics majors at
Michigan State University (MSU). Using a machine learning model, this analysis
demonstrates that students who switch from a physics degree program to an
engineering degree program do not take the third semester course in
thermodynamics and modern physics, and may take engineering courses while
registered as a physics major. Performance in introductory physics and calculus
courses, measured by grade as well as a students' declared gender and ethnicity
play a much smaller role relative to the other features included the model.
These results are used to compare traditional statistical analysis to a more
modern modeling approach.Comment: submitted to Physical Review Physics Education Researc
Transforming High School Physics With Modeling And Computation
The Engage to Excel (PCAST) report, the National Research Council\u27s Framework for K-12 Science Education, and the Next Generation Science Standards all call for transforming the physics classroom into an environment that teaches students real scientific practices. This work describes the early stages of one such attempt to transform a high school physics classroom. Specifically, a series of model-building and computational modeling exercises were piloted in a ninth grade Physics First classroom. Student use of computation was assessed using a proctored programming assignment, where the students produced and discussed a computational model of a baseball in motion via a high-level programming environment (VPython). Student views on computation and its link to mechanics was assessed with a written essay and a series of think-aloud interviews. This pilot study shows computation\u27s ability for connecting scientific practice to the high school science classroom
Examining the relationship between student performance and video interactions
In this work, we attempted to predict student performance on a suite of
laboratory assessments using students' interactions with associated
instructional videos. The students' performance is measured by a graded
presentation for each of four laboratory presentations in an introductory
mechanics course. Each lab assessment was associated with between one and three
videos of instructional content. Using video clickstream data, we define
summary features (number of pauses, seeks) and contextual information (fraction
of time played, in-semester order). These features serve as inputs to a
logistic regression (LR) model that aims to predict student performance on the
laboratory assessments. Our findings show that LR models are unable to predict
student performance. Adding contextual information did not change the model
performance. We compare our findings to findings from other studies and explore
caveats to the null-result such as representation of the features, the
possibility of underfitting, and the complexity of the assessment.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, submitted to the PERC 2018 proceeding
Predicting time to graduation at a large enrollment American university
The time it takes a student to graduate with a university degree is mitigated
by a variety of factors such as their background, the academic performance at
university, and their integration into the social communities of the university
they attend. Different universities have different populations, student
services, instruction styles, and degree programs, however, they all collect
institutional data. This study presents data for 160,933 students attending a
large American research university. The data includes performance, enrollment,
demographics, and preparation features. Discrete time hazard models for the
time-to-graduation are presented in the context of Tinto's Theory of Drop Out.
Additionally, a novel machine learning method: gradient boosted trees, is
applied and compared to the typical maximum likelihood method. We demonstrate
that enrollment factors (such as changing a major) lead to greater increases in
model predictive performance of when a student graduates than performance
factors (such as grades) or preparation (such as high school GPA).Comment: 28 pages, 11 figure
Identifying features predictive of faculty integrating computation into physics courses
Computation is a central aspect of 21st century physics practice; it is used
to model complicated systems, to simulate impossible experiments, and to
analyze mountains of data. Physics departments and their faculty are
increasingly recognizing the importance of teaching computation to their
students. We recently completed a national survey of faculty in physics
departments to understand the state of computational instruction and the
factors that underlie that instruction. The data collected from the faculty
responding to the survey included a variety of scales, binary questions, and
numerical responses. We then used Random Forest, a supervised learning
technique, to explore the factors that are most predictive of whether a faculty
member decides to include computation in their physics courses. We find that
experience using computation with students in their research, or lack thereof
and various personal beliefs to be most predictive of a faculty member having
experience teaching computation. Interestingly, we find demographic and
departmental factors to be less useful factors in our model. The results of
this study inform future efforts to promote greater integration of computation
into the physics curriculum as well as comment on the current state of
computational instruction across the United States
Understanding Student Computational Thinking with Computational Modeling
Recently, the National Research Council's framework for next generation
science standards highlighted "computational thinking" as one of its
"fundamental practices". 9th Grade students taking a physics course that
employed the Modeling Instruction curriculum were taught to construct
computational models of physical systems. Student computational thinking was
assessed using a proctored programming assignment, written essay, and a series
of think-aloud interviews, where the students produced and discussed a
computational model of a baseball in motion via a high-level programming
environment (VPython). Roughly a third of the students in the study were
successful in completing the programming assignment. Student success on this
assessment was tied to how students synthesized their knowledge of physics and
computation. On the essay and interview assessments, students displayed unique
views of the relationship between force and motion; those who spoke of this
relationship in causal (rather than observational) terms tended to have more
success in the programming exercise.Comment: preprint to submit to PERC proceedings 201
Alternative model for the administration and analysis of research-based assessments
Research-based assessments represent a valuable tool for both instructors and
researchers interested in improving undergraduate physics education. However,
the historical model for disseminating and propagating conceptual and
attitudinal assessments developed by the physics education research (PER)
community has not resulted in widespread adoption of these assessments within
the broader community of physics instructors. Within this historical model,
assessment developers create high quality, validated assessments, make them
available for a wide range of instructors to use, and provide minimal (if any)
support to assist with administration or analysis of the results. Here, we
present and discuss an alternative model for assessment dissemination, which is
characterized by centralized data collection and analysis. This model provides
a greater degree of support for both researchers and instructors in order to
more explicitly support adoption of research-based assessments. Specifically,
we describe our experiences developing a centralized, automated system for an
attitudinal assessment we previously created to examine students'
epistemologies and expectations about experimental physics. This system
provides a proof-of-concept that we use to discuss the advantages associated
with centralized administration and data collection for research-based
assessments in PER. We also discuss the challenges that we encountered while
developing, maintaining, and automating this system. Ultimately, we argue that
centralized administration and data collection for standardized assessments is
a viable and potentially advantageous alternative to the default model
characterized by decentralized administration and analysis. Moreover, with the
help of online administration and automation, this model can support the
long-term sustainability of centralized assessment systems.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, accepted in Phys. Rev. PE
Spatio-temporal spread of COVID-19 and its associations with socioeconomic, demographic and environmental factors in England:A Bayesian hierarchical spatio-temporal model
<p>Exploring the spatio-temporal variations of COVID-19 transmission and its potential determinants could provide a deeper understanding of the dynamics of disease spread. This study aims to investigate the spatio-temporal spread of COVID-19 infection rate in England, and examine its associations with socioeconomic, demographic and environmental risk factors. Using weekly reported COVID-19 cases from 7 March 2020 to 26 March 2022 at Middle Layer Super Output Area (MSOA) level in mainland England, we developed a Bayesian hierarchical spatio-temporal model to predict the COVID-19 infection rates and investigate the influencing factors. The analysis showed that our model outperformed the ordinary least squares (OLS) and geographically weighted regression (GWR) models in terms of prediction accuracy. The results showed that the spread of COVID-19 infection rates over space and time was heterogeneous. Hotspots of infection rate exhibited inconsistent clustered patterns over time. Among the selected risk factors, the annual household income, unemployment rate, population density, percentage of Caribbean population, percentage of adults aged 45-64 years old, and particulate matter concentrations were found to be positively associated with the COVID-19 infection rate. The findings assist policymakers in developing tailored public health interventions for COVID-19 prevention and control.</p>
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