1,112 research outputs found
How physics instruction impacts students' beliefs about learning physics: A meta-analysis of 24 studies
In this meta-analysis, we synthesize the results of 24 studies using the
Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey (CLASS) and the Maryland
Physics Expectations Survey (MPEX) to answer several questions: (1) How does
physics instruction impact students' beliefs? (2) When do physics majors
develop expert-like beliefs? and (3) How do students' beliefs impact their
learning of physics? We report that in typical physics classes, students'
beliefs deteriorate or at best stay the same. There are a few types of
interventions, including an explicit focus on model-building and/or developing
expert- like beliefs that lead to significant improvements in beliefs. Further,
small courses and those for elementary education and non-science majors also
result in improved beliefs. However, because the available data oversamples
certain types of classes, it is unclear whether these improvements are actually
due to the interventions, or due to the small class size, or student population
typical of the kinds of classes in which these interventions are most often
used. Physics majors tend to enter their undergraduate education with more
expert-like beliefs than non-majors and these beliefs remain relatively stable
throughout their undergraduate careers. Thus, typical physics courses appear to
be selecting students who already have strong beliefs, rather than supporting
students in developing strong beliefs. There is a small correlation between
students' incoming beliefs about physics and their gains on conceptual
mechanics surveys. This suggests that students with more expert-like incoming
beliefs may learn more in their physics courses, but this finding should be
further explored and replicated. Some unanswered questions remain. To answer
these questions, we advocate several specific types of future studies.Comment: 30 pages. Accepted to Phys Rev ST-PE
Research-based assessment affordances and constraints: Perceptions of physics faculty
To help faculty use research-based materials in a more significant way, we
learn about their perceived needs and desires and use this information to
suggest ways for the Physics Education Research community to address these
needs. When research-based resources are well aligned with the perceived needs
of faculty, faculty members will more readily take them up. We used
phenomenographic interviews of ordinary physics faculty and department chairs
to identify four families of issues that faculty have around research-based
assessments (RBA). First, many faculty are interested in using RBAs but have
practical needs around how to do so: how to find them, which ones there are,
and how to administer them. They want help addressing these needs. Second, at
the same time, many faculty think that RBAs are limited and don't measure many
of the things they care about, or aren't applicable in their classes. They want
assessments to measure skills, perceptions, and specific concepts. Third, many
faculty want to turn to communities of other faculty and experts to help them
interpret their assessment results and suggest other ways to do assessment.
They want to norm their assessment results by comparing to others and
interacting with faculty from other schools to learn about how they do
assessment. Fourth, many faculty consider their courses in the broader contexts
of accountability and their departments. They want help with assessment in
these broader contexts. We also discuss how faculty members role in their
department and type of institution influence their perceived wants and needs
around assessment.Comment: submitted to Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education
Researc
Resource Letter RBAI-1: Research-Based Assessment Instruments in Physics and Astronomy
Citation: Madsen, A., McKagan, S. B., & Sayre, E. C. (2017). Resource Letter RBAI-1: Research-Based Assessment Instruments in Physics and Astronomy. American Journal of Physics, 85(4), 245-264. doi:10.1119/1.4977416This resource letter provides a guide to Research-Based Assessment Instruments (RBAIs) of physics and astronomy content. These are standardized assessments that were rigorously developed and revised using student ideas and interviews, expert input, and statistical analyses. RBAIs have had a major impact on physics and astronomy education reform by providing a universal and convincing measure of student understanding that instructors can use to assess and improve the effectiveness of their teaching. In this resource letter, we present an overview of all content RBAIs in physics and astronomy by topic, research validation, instructional level, format, and themes, to help faculty find the best assessment for their course. More details about each RBAI available in physics and astronomy are available at PhysPort: physport. org/assessments. (C) 2017 American Association of Physics Teachers
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