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Jul 2001

Volume 69, Issue S1, pp. S2-S64

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Facilitating high quality student practice in introductory physics

Molly Johnson

American Journal of Physics -- July 2001 -- Volume 69, Issue S1, pp. S2

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“Practice makes perfect, but only if you do it right.” Typical physics students practice extensively through the large quantities of homework they do. But research in introductory physics instruction shows that despite this practice, students often do not learn much in introductory physics. Students often do not focus their practice on the skills (such as concept interpretation, and generating a physical representation of a problem) that they need in order to solve physics problems flexibly and reliably. They often focus their practice instead on simply getting an answer. By omitting practice of important skills, it is likely that those skills will not be learned. This paper identifies communication difficulties between students and between students and instructors as important sources of barriers to achieving high-quality student practice. Some strategies to address communication difficulties in the context of small group in-class problem solving are proposed. A classroom peer-collaborative structure, Supervised Practice, that implements these strategies is described, and the impact of the classroom design on the quality of student practice is investigated. © 2001 American Association of Physics Teachers.
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01.40.G- Curricula and evaluation

Surveying students’ conceptual knowledge of electricity and magnetism

David P. Maloney, Thomas L. O’Kuma, Curtis J. Hieggelke, and Alan Van Heuvelen

American Journal of Physics -- July 2001 -- Volume 69, Issue S1, pp. S12

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The Conceptual Survey of Electricity and Magnetism (CSEM) was developed to assess students’ knowledge about topics in electricity and magnetism. The survey is a 32-question, multiple-choice test that can be used as both a pretest and posttest. During four years of testing and refinement, the survey has been given in one form or another to more than 5000 introductory physics students at 30 different institutions. Typical pretest results are that students in calculus-based courses get 31% of the questions correct and student’s in algebra/trigonometry-based courses average 25% correct. Posttest correct results only rise to 47% and 44%, respectively. From analysis of student responses, a number of student difficulties in electricity and magnetism are indicated. © 2001 American Association of Physics Teachers.
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01.50.-i Educational aids
41.20.-q Applied classical electromagnetism

Student understanding of time in special relativity: Simultaneity and reference frames

Rachel E. Scherr, Peter S. Shaffer, and Stamatis Vokos

American Journal of Physics -- July 2001 -- Volume 69, Issue S1, pp. S24

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This article reports on an investigation of student understanding of the concept of time in special relativity. A series of research tasks are discussed that illustrate, step-by-step, how student reasoning of fundamental concepts of relativity was probed. The results indicate that after standard instruction students at all academic levels have serious difficulties with the relativity of simultaneity and with the role of observers in inertial reference frames. Evidence is presented that suggests many students construct a conceptual framework in which the ideas of absolute simultaneity and the relativity of simultaneity harmoniously co-exist. © 2001 American Association of Physics Teachers.
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01.50.-i Educational aids
03.30.+p Special relativity

Using two models in optics: Students’ difficulties and suggestions for teaching

P. Colin and L. Viennot

American Journal of Physics -- July 2001 -- Volume 69, Issue S1, pp. S36

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This paper focuses on difficulties linked to situations in physics involving two models: geometrical optics and wave optics. The starting point is an investigation of university-level students’ difficulties. Excerpts from textbooks are given, to illustrate potential difficulties. A content analysis is then presented, underlining two important features required for dealing with such situations: awareness of the status of the drawings, and the “backward selection” of paths of light. These features could provide some guidelines for the designing of innovative teaching strategies. © 2001 American Association of Physics Teachers.
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01.50.-i Educational aids
42.15.-i Geometrical optics
42.25.-p Wave optics

Concentration analysis: A quantitative assessment of student states

Lei Bao and Edward F. Redish

American Journal of Physics -- July 2001 -- Volume 69, Issue S1, pp. S45

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Multiple-choice tests such as the Force Concept Inventory (FCI) provide useful instruments to probe the distribution of student difficulties on a large scale. However, traditional analysis often relies solely on scores (number of students giving the correct answer). This ignores what can be significant and important information: the distribution of wrong answers given by the class. In this paper we introduce a new method, concentration analysis, to measure how students’ responses on multiple-choice questions are distributed. This information can be used to study if the students have common incorrect models or if the question is effective in detecting student models. When combined with information obtained from qualitative research, the method allows us to identify cleanly what FCI results are telling us about student knowledge. © 2001 American Association of Physics Teachers.
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01.40.G- Curricula and evaluation

Helping physics students learn how to learn

Andrew Elby

American Journal of Physics -- July 2001 -- Volume 69, Issue S1, pp. S54 | Cited 37 times

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Students’ “epistemological” beliefs—their views about the nature of knowledge and learning—affect how they approach physics courses. For instance, a student who believes physics knowledge to consist primarily of disconnected facts and formulas will study differently from a student who views physics as an interconnected web of concepts. Unfortunately, previous studies show that physics courses, even ones that help students learn concepts particularly well, generally do not lead to significant changes in students’ epistemological beliefs. This paper discusses instructional practices and curricular elements, suitable for both college and high school, that helped students develop substantially more sophisticated beliefs about knowledge and learning, as measured by the Maryland Physics Expectations Survey and by the Epistemological Beliefs Assessment for Physical Science. © 2001 American Association of Physics Teachers.
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01.40.G- Curricula and evaluation
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