Evidence-Based Learning in the Introductory Physics Classroom

Vic Montemayor

First-Tuesday Series MTSU 06 February 2007

Department of Physics & AstronomyMiddle Tennessee State University

Department of Radiation OncologySchool of MedicineVanderbilt University Medical Center

Overview

• The Question of Reform– An Example

• My Work in Pedagogy Reform– Discovering Physics (PHYS 1300)– Non-Calculus-Based Physics (PHYS 2010-

2021)

Question of Reform Discovering Physics Non-Calc Based Physics

Why Change?

Question of Reform Discovering Physics Non-Calc Based Physics

You can pick up some hints on how to play the piano by watching (or listening to) a concert pianist play, but the only way for you to learn how to play the piano is to practice—lots of practice.

Question of Reform Discovering Physics Non-Calc Based Physics

Research into what and how students think, both before and after physics instruction, suggests the following:

(Lillian McDermott, 1997)

Question of Reform Discovering Physics Non-Calc Based Physics

• Teaching by telling is an ineffective mode of instruction for most students.

Students must be intellectually active to develop a functional understanding

Question of Reform Discovering Physics Non-Calc Based Physics

• Certain conceptual difficulties are not overcome by traditional instruction, even with advanced students.

Persistent conceptual difficulties must be explicitly addressed.

Question of Reform Discovering Physics Non-Calc Based Physics

It has been shown across many disciplines that student learning is enhanced in an active- learning environment.

Question of Reform Discovering Physics Non-Calc Based Physics

An Example

Approximations

Question of Reform Discovering Physics Non-Calc Based Physics

What is the approximate area of the state of Florida

in square- kilometers?

Question of Reform Discovering Physics Non-Calc Based Physics

The Answer:

151,982 km2 (The World Book Encyclopedia)

Note:

Height = 725 km (450 mi)

Width = 745 km (465 mi)

Question of Reform Discovering Physics Non-Calc Based Physics

Cooperative Learning:• Introductions

• Define the problem

• Time for individual thought

• Group discussion

• Gathering sample answers

• Closure

Question of Reform Discovering Physics Non-Calc Based Physics

Modes of Assessment:• In-depth Studies

Analysis of individual-student written tests and interviews help identify

difficulties.

• Broad-based Assessments

The Force Concept Inventory (FCI) was developed to test common misconceptions in Newtonian Mechanics (David Hestenes and Ibrahim Halloun)

Question of Reform Discovering Physics Non-Calc Based Physics

The Introductory Courses in Physics at MTSU:

• PHYS 1300: Discovering Physics

• PHYS 2010-2021: Non-Calc Based Physics

• PHYS 2110-2121: Calc-Based Physics

Question of Reform Discovering Physics Non-Calc Based Physics

PHYS 1300: Discovering Physics PURPOSE:

• to serve as a transition course from a weak or distant background in science and/or math

• to introduce some basic skills (graphing, mathematics, critical thinking) necessary for success in all of the sciences

• to do all of this in the context of some basic concepts in physics

• (this is not a survey course in physics!)

Discovery LearningThe process in which students learn concepts by developing their own ideas as they work through a laboratory exercise. The students are first asked to commit themselves (in writing!) to a predicted outcome of a particular experiment. This prediction is based on their world views.

Question of Reform Discovering Physics Non-Calc Based Physics

Discovery LearningThe process in which students learn concepts by developing their own ideas as they work through a laboratory exercise. The students are first asked to commit themselves (in writing!) to a predicted outcome of a particular experiment. This prediction is based on their world views.

They then experimentally prove themselves right or wrong, and are asked to explain the results. Their explanation may then force them into altering their world views.

Question of Reform Discovering Physics Non-Calc Based Physics

An Example: The Reaction-Time Experiment

Class 1

I. Perform the Reaction-Time Experiment

II. Record and Graph the Results

Students plot the distance results on a histogram. They then compute and indicate the average distance-of-fall on their histogram.

Question 1: If you have a certain reaction time, why don’t you always catch the ruler at the same position?

Question 2: If you were to take another set of measurements and the resulting average varied slightly from the original average, how would you decide if the new result was consistent with your original results?

An Example: The Reaction-Time Experiment

Class 2Group Question: What would happen to your results in a reaction time experiment if you were to hang a weight from the bottom of the ruler such that the total weight was 8 times heavier than the one you just used? Be as specific as possible in your answer.

An Example: The Reaction-Time Experiment

Class 2Group Question: What would happen to your results in a reaction time experiment if you were to hang a weight from the bottom of the ruler such that the total weight was 8 times heavier than the one you just used? Be as specific as possible in your answer.

I. Add the weight and repeat the measurements

II. Calculate the average distance-of-fall and indicate this new average on the original histogram.

An Example: The Reaction-Time Experiment

Class 2Group Question: What would happen to your results in a reaction time experiment if you were to hang a weight from the bottom of the ruler such that the total weight was 8 times heavier than the one you just used? Be as specific as possible in your answer.

I. Add the weight and repeat the measurements

II. Calculate the average distance-of-fall and indicate this new average on the original histogram.

Question 1: Was your hypothesis correct? Do you need to take more measurements to be sure? Be specific!

Question 2: What general procedure steps have we followed here? Outline these steps for a generic experiment (not just a reaction-time experiment!).

• application of histograms

• introduction to uncertainties in results (“window of acceptance”)

• introduction to idea that motion under the influence of gravity (“free fall motion”) is independent of weight

The Investigation ObjectivesQuestion of Reform Discovering Physics Non-Calc Based Physics

• application of histograms

• introduction to uncertainties in results (“window of acceptance”)

• introduction to idea that motion under the influence of gravity (“free fall motion”) is independent of weight

• The Scientific Method

The Investigation ObjectivesQuestion of Reform Discovering Physics Non-Calc Based Physics

The PHYS 2010-2021 Sequence

Non-Calculus Based Physics

Question of Reform Discovering Physics Non-Calc Based Physics

Some Important Questions…

• Is the time you spend with your students in class used as efficiently as it can be to provide the best possible student exposure to the desired information, skills, and competencies?

Some Important Questions…

• Is the time you spend with the students in class used as efficiently as it can be to provide the best possible student exposure to the desired information, skills, and competencies?

• Can technology be used to help improve the students’ learning experience without compromising the skills and competencies we wish our students to acquire?

We must acknowledge and deal with the competition from the “virtual universities”. How can we best exploit the uses of technology? How can we use technology to transform faculty from transmitters of information to guides and mentors?

From the Journal on Excellence in College Teaching…

“True teaching and learning are about more than information and its transmission. Education is based on mentoring, internalization, identification, role modeling, guidance, socialization, interaction, and group activity. In these processes, physical proximity plays an important role.”

From the Journal on Excellence in College Teaching…

“Thus, the strength of the future university lies less in pure information and more in college as a community; less in wholesale lecture, and more in individual tutorial…. Technology would augment, not substitute, and provide new tools for strengthening community on campus.” —Noam

See Toward a Miami University Model for Internet- Intensive Higher Education by Wolfe et al., Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, 9, 1 (1998) 29 -51

(CL)2

Primary Goals:• Make the course more effective in communicating the fundamental concepts of first-semester physics• Make the course more enjoyable and meaningful for the students• Make the course more enjoyable and meaningful for the instructors• Do not decrease the efficiency of the course offering for the department

Computer-Led Cooperative Learning

Web-Based Lecture

SpreadsheetsQuiz Activity

Tests Projects

(and Homework)

Web-Based Lecture

SpreadsheetsQuiz Activities

Tests Projects

(and Homework)

Web-Based Lecture

SpreadsheetsQuiz Activities

Tests Projects

(and Homework)

Web-Based Lecture

SpreadsheetsQuiz Activity

Tests Projects

(and Homework)

(CL)2

Results of the Change:• students are graded on (and therefore practice) a variety of skills (not predominantly test-taking)• high instructor satisfaction• overwhelming majority of our majors come from this sequence (and a large number of minors)• increased retention of students

Computer-Led Cooperative Learning

PHYS 2011: Drop-out Rate

Old Pedagogy

New Pedagogy

Semester (starting with Fall 1990)

Averagesince 2000

Outcomes• the skills acquired through the application of non- traditional pedagogies play an integral role in the overall education of our majors (communication, research)• overall student skills and performance have improved• graduates going on to graduate school already have experience in new pedagogies (NSF funding; future career goals)