arXiv subjects

Adrienne L. Traxler

Publications and source records attributed to Adrienne L. Traxler.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Relative benefits of different active learning methods to conceptual physics learning

It has been shown that active learning methods are more effective than traditional lecturing at improving student conceptual understanding and reducing failure rates in undergraduate physics courses. Researchers have developed distinct, active learning methods that are now widely implemented in introductory physics. However, the relative benefits of these methods remain unknown. Here we present a multi-institutional comparison of the impacts of four well-established active learning methods -- Peer Instruction, Investigative Science Learning Environment (ISLE), Tutorials and Student-Centered Active Learning Environment with Upside-Down Pedagogies (SCALE-UP) -- on conceptual learning. We find measurable increases in student conceptual learning in all four active learning methods, and significantly larger gains in SCALE-UP than in either Peer Instruction or ISLE. Student development of peer networks is similar across the four methods, but classroom activities differ. In many of the observed Peer Instruction and ISLE courses, instructors lecture for a large fraction of class time. In Tutorials and SCALE-UP courses, instructors dedicate most in-class time to student-centred activities such as worksheets and laboratory work. These results prompt future work to identify causal mechanisms between specific classroom activities and conceptual learning and to examine additional factors related to variation in student learning across different methods.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2025

Measuring fidelity of implementation of named active learning methods in physics

Various active learning methods have been developed for introductory physics, and these methods are increasingly being adopted by instructors. However, instructors often do not implement these methods exactly as was originally intended by the developers, as they may face issues related to funding and institutional support for active learning and/or have different instructional contexts (e.g., student populations) and environments (e.g., physical classroom layouts) than the developers. Existing research does not sufficiently capture the range of variation in instructor implementation of established active learning methods, especially in comparison to high-fidelity implementations. In this study, we first identify the critical components (i.e., components without which the active learning method cannot be said to have been implemented) of three named active learning methods: SCALE-UP, ISLE, and Tutorials. We then evaluate the fidelity with which 18 different introductory physics instructors implement these methods by analyzing classroom observations and comparing the extent to which these broader implementations use each critical component in their classroom to high-fidelity implementations. We find across all three active learning methods that broader implementations spend similar amounts of class time on the critical components as high-fidelity implementations. At the same time, we observe substantial variation in the specific styles that broader implementers operationalize these critical components (e.g., doing a few long activities versus many short activities). Finally, we find no clear relationship between fidelity of implementation and student conceptual learning gains for our study's sample of instructors, providing preliminary evidence that different ways of implementing the critical components of active learning method may all effectively improve student understanding.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2025

Beyond named methods: A typology of active learning based on classroom observation networks

A growing number of introductory physics instructors are implementing active learning methods in their classrooms, and they are modifying the methods to fit their local instructional contexts. However, we lack a detailed framework for describing the range of what these instructor adaptations of active learning methods look like in practice. Existing studies apply structured protocols to classroom observations and report descriptive statistics, but this approach overlooks the complex nature of instruction. In this study, we apply network analysis to classroom observations to define a typology of active learning that considers the temporal and interactional nature of instructional practices. We use video data from 30 instructors at 27 institutions who implemented one of the following named active learning methods in their introductory physics or astronomy course: Investigative Science Learning Environment (ISLE), Peer Instruction, Tutorials, and Student-Centered Active Learning Environment with Upside-down Pedagogies (SCALE-UP). We identify five types of active learning instruction: clicker lecture, dialogic clicker lecture, dialogic lecture with short groupwork activities, short groupwork activities, and long groupwork activities. We find no significant relationship between these instruction types and the named active learning methods; instead, implementations of each of the four methods are spread across different instruction types. This result prompts a shift in the way we think and talk about active learning: the names of developed active learning methods may not actually reflect the specific activities that happen during instruction. We also find that student conceptual learning does not vary across the identified instruction types, suggesting that instructors may be flexible when modifying these methods without sacrificing effectiveness.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2025

Multi-institutional assessment of Peer Instruction implementation and impacts using the Framework for Interactive Learning in Lectures

Substantial research indicates that active learning methods improve student learning more than traditional lecturing. Accordingly, current studies aim to characterize and evaluate different instructors' implementations of active learning methods. Peer Instruction is one of the most commonly used active learning methods in undergraduate physics instruction and typically involves the use of classroom response systems (e.g., clickers) where instructors pose conceptual questions that students answer individually and/or in collaboration with nearby peers. Several research studies have identified that different instructors vary in the ways they implement Peer Instruction (e.g., the time they give students to answer a question and the time they spend explaining the correct answer); however, these studies only take place at a single institution and do not relate the implementation of Peer Instruction to student learning. In this study, we analyze variation in both the implementation and impacts of Peer Instruction. We use classroom video observations and conceptual inventory data from seven introductory physics instructors across six U.S. institutions. We characterize implementation using the Framework for Interactive Learning in Lectures (FILL+), which classifies classroom activities as interactive (e.g., clicker questions), vicarious interactive (e.g., individual students asking a question), or non-interactive (e.g., instructor lecturing). Our preliminary results suggest that instructors who use both interactive and vicarious interactive strategies may exhibit larger student learning gains than instructors who predominantly use only one of the two strategies.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2025

Evaluating recognition and recall formats of social network surveys in physics education research

An increasing number of studies in physics education research use social network analysis to quantify interactions among students. These studies typically gather data through online surveys using one of two different survey formats: recognition, where students select peers' names from a provided course roster, and recall, where students type their peers' names from memory as an open response. These survey formats, however, may be subject to two possible systematic errors. First, students may report more peers' names on a recognition survey than a recall survey because the course roster facilitates their memory of their interactions, whereas they may only remember a subset of their interactions on the recall format. Second, recognition surveys may be subject to name order effects, where students are more likely to select peers' names that appear early on in the roster than those that appear later on (e.g., due to survey fatigue). Here we report the results of two methodological studies of these possible errors in the context of introductory physics courses: one directly comparing 65 student responses to recognition and recall versions of the same network survey prompt, and the other measuring name order effects on 54 recognition surveys from 27 different courses. We find that students may report more peer interactions on a recognition survey than a recall survey and that most recognition surveys are not subject to significant name order effects. These results help to inform survey design for future network studies in physics education research.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2024

Person-centered and qualitative approaches to network analysis in physics education research

Network analysis has become a well-recognized methodology in physics education research (PER), with study topics including student performance and persistence, faculty change, and the structure of conceptual networks. The social network analysis side of this work has focused on quantitative analysis of whole-network cases, such as the structure of networks in single classrooms. Egocentric or personal network approaches are largely unexplored, and qualitative methods are underdeveloped. In this paper, we outline theoretical and practical differences between two major network paradigms--whole-network and egocentric--and introduce theoretical frameworks and methodological considerations for egocentric studies. We also describe qualitative and mixed-methods approaches that are currently missing from the PER literature. We identify areas where these additional network methods may be of particular interest to physics education researchers, and end by discussing example cases and implications for new PER studies.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2020

Network positions in active learning environments in physics

This study uses positional analysis to describe the student interaction networks in four research-based introductory physics curricula. Positional analysis is a technique for simplifying the structure of a network into blocks of actors whose connections are more similar to each other than to the rest of the network. This method describes social structure in a way that is comparable between networks of different sizes and densities and can show large-scale patterns such as hierarchy or brokering among actors. We detail the method and apply it to class sections using Peer Instruction, SCALE-UP, ISLE, and context-rich problems. At the level of detail shown in the blockmodels, most of the curricula are more alike than different, showing a late-term tendency to form coherent subgroups that communicate actively among themselves but have few inter-position links. This pattern may be a network signature of active learning classes, but wider data collection is needed to investigate.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2015

Enriching gender in PER: A binary past and a complex future

In this article, we draw on previous reports from physics, science education, and women's studies to propose a more nuanced treatment of gender in physics education research (PER). A growing body of PER examines gender differences in participation, performance, and attitudes toward physics. We have three critiques of this work: (1) it does not question whether the achievements of men are the most appropriate standard, (2) individual experiences and student identities are undervalued, and (3) the binary model of gender is not questioned. Driven by these critiques, we propose a conception of gender that is more up-to-date with other fields and discuss gender-as-performance as an extended example. We also discuss work on the intersection of identities [e.g., gender with race and ethnicity, socioeconomic status, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) status], much of which has been conducted outside of physics. Within PER, some studies examine the intersection of gender and race, and identify the lack of a single identity as a key challenge of "belonging" in physics. Acknowledging this complexity enables us to further critique what we term a binary gender deficit model. This framework, which is implicit in much of the gender-based PER, casts gender as a fixed binary trait and suggests that women are deficient in characteristics necessary to succeed. Alternative models of gender allow a greater range and fluidity of gender identities, and highlight deficiencies in data that exclude women's experiences. We suggest new investigations that diverge from this expanded gender framework in PER.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2015

Community structure in introductory physics course networks

Student-to-student interactions are foundational to many active learning environments, but are most often studied using qualitative methods. Network analysis tools provide a quantitative complement to this picture, allowing researchers to describe the social interactions of whole classrooms as systems. Past results from introductory physics courses have suggested a sharp division in the formation of social structure between large lecture sections and small studio classroom environments. Extending those results, this study focuses on calculus-based introductory physics courses at a large public university with a heavily commuter and nontraditional student population. Community detection network methods are used to characterize pre- and post-course collaborative structure in several sections, and differences are considered between small and large classes. These results are compared with expectations from earlier findings, and comment on implications for instruction and further study.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2014

An equity investigation of attitudinal shifts in introductory physics

We report on seven years of attitudinal data using the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey from University Modeling Instruction (UMI) sections of introductory physics at Florida International University. This work expands upon previous studies that reported consistently positive attitude shifts in UMI courses; here, we disaggregate the data by gender and ethnicity to look for any disparities in the pattern of favorable shifts. We find that women and students from statistically underrepresented ethnic groups are equally supported on this attitudinal measure, and that this result holds even when interaction effects of gender and ethnicity are included. We conclude with suggestions for future work in UMI courses and for attitudinal equity investigations generally.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2013

Extending positive C-LASS results across multiple instructors and multiple classes of Modeling Instruction

We report on a multi-year study of student attitudes measured with the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey (CLASS) in calculus-based introductory physics taught with the Modeling Instruction curriculum. We find that five of six instructors and eight of nine sections using Modeling Instruction showed significantly improved attitudes from pre to post-course. Cohen's d effect sizes range from 0.08 - 0.95 for individual instructors. The average effect was d = 0.45, with a 95% confidence interval of (0.26 - 0.64). These results build on previously published results showing positive shifts in attitudes from Modeling Instruction classes. We interpret these data in light of other published positive attitudinal shifts and explore mechanistic explanations for similarities and differences with other published positive shifts.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2011

A new model for mixing by double-diffusive convection (semi-convection): I. The conditions for layer formation

The process referred to as "semi-convection" in astrophysics and "double-diffusive convection in the diffusive regime" in Earth and planetary sciences, occurs in stellar and planetary interiors in regions which are stable according to the Ledoux criterion but unstable according to the Schwarzschild criterion. In this series of papers, we analyze the results of an extensive suite of 3D numerical simulations of the process, and ultimately propose a new 1D prescription for heat and compositional transport in this regime which can be used in stellar or planetary structure and evolution models. In a preliminary study of the phenomenon, Rosenblum et al. (2011) showed that, after saturation of the primary instability, a system can evolve in one of two possible ways: the induced turbulence either remains homogeneous, with very weak transport properties, or transitions into a thermo-compositional staircase where the transport rate is much larger (albeit still smaller than in standard convection). In this paper, we show that this dichotomous behavior is a robust property of semi-convection across a wide region of parameter space. We propose a simple semi-analytical criterion to determine whether layer formation is expected or not, and at what rate it proceeds, as a function of the background stratification and of the diffusion parameters (viscosity, thermal diffusivity and compositional diffusivity) only. The theoretical criterion matches the outcome of our numerical simulations very adequately in the numerically accessible "planetary" parameter regime, and can easily be extrapolated to the stellar parameter regime. Subsequent papers will address more specifically the question of quantifying transport in the layered case and in the non-layered case.

astro-ph.SR↗