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Chandralekha Singh

Publications and source records attributed to Chandralekha Singh.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources
arXiv2017

The impact of peer interaction on the responses to clicker questions in an upper-level quantum mechanics course

In this case study, we investigated the effectiveness of peer interaction on responses to in-class clicker questions in an upper-level quantum mechanics course. We analyzed student performance on clicker questions answered individually and then again after interaction with peers. We also analyzed student performance by topic. In general, the performance on the clicker questions improved after interaction with peers following individual clicker responses. We also find evidence of co-construction of knowledge in that students who did not answer the clicker questions individually were able to answer them correctly after discussion with peers. Finally, we discuss the trends in the percentage of students present in class who responded to the clicker questions in the allotted time as the semester progressed.

physics.ed-ph↗
arXiv2017

Improving Student Understanding of Magnetism

Formally investigating the sources of students' difficulties around specific subjects is crucial for developing appropriate strategies to help students. We have been studying difficulties in understanding magnetism encountered by students in the calculus-based introductory physics courses. A majority of these students are engineering majors. Student difficulties were assessed by administering written free-response questions and by developing and administering a research-based multiple-choice test to students. We also conducted individual interviews with a subset of students. Some of these interviews were lecture-demonstration based interviews in which students were asked to predict the outcomes of experiments, perform the experiments and reconcile the differences between their predictions and observations. Some of the common misconceptions found in magnetism are analogous to those found in electrostatics. Some additional difficulties are due to the non-intuitive three dimensional nature of the relation between magnetic field, magnetic force and velocity of the charged particles or direction of current. Another finding is that students often used their gut feeling and had more difficulty reconciling with the idea that the magnetic force and field are perpendicular to each other when they were shown actual lecture-demonstration setups and asked to predict outcomes of experiments than when they were asked to explain relation between magnetic force and field theoretically solely based upon an equation. We discuss the implications of this research to teaching and learning.

physics.ed-ph↗
arXiv2017

Graduate teaching assistants use different criteria when grading introductory physics vs. quantum mechanics problems

Physics graduate teaching assistants (TAs) are often responsible for grading. Physics education research suggests that grading practices that place the burden of proof for explicating the problem solving process on students can help them develop problem solving skills and learn physics. However, TAs may not have developed effective grading practices and may grade student solutions in introductory and advanced courses differently. In the context of a TA professional development course, we asked TAs to grade student solutions to introductory physics and quantum mechanics problems and explain why their grading approaches were different or similar in the two contexts. TAs expected and rewarded reasoning more frequently in the QM context. Our findings suggest that these differences may at least partly be due to the TAs not realizing that grading can serve as a formative assessment tool and also not thinking about the difficulty of an introductory physics problem from an introductory physics student's perspective.

physics.ed-ph↗
arXiv2017

Developing and evaluating an interactive tutorial on degenerate perturbation theory

We discuss an investigation of student difficulties with degenerate perturbation theory (DPT) carried out in advanced quantum mechanics courses by administering free-response and multiple-choice questions and conducting individual interviews with students. We find that students share many common difficulties related to this topic. We used the difficulties found via research as resources to develop and evaluate a Quantum Interactive Learning Tutorial (QuILT) which strives to help students develop a functional understanding of DPT. We discuss the development of the DPT QuILT and its preliminary evaluation in the undergraduate and graduate courses.

physics.ed-ph↗
arXiv2017

Student difficulties with representations of quantum operators corresponding to observables

Dirac notation is used commonly in quantum mechanics. However, many upper-level undergraduate and graduate students in physics have difficulties with representations of quantum operators corresponding to observables especially when using Dirac notation. To investigate these difficulties, we administered free-response and multiple-choice questions and conducted individual interviews with students in advanced quantum mechanics courses. We discuss the analysis of data on the common difficulties found.

physics.ed-ph↗
arXiv2017

Student difficulties with determining expectation values in quantum mechanics

The expectation value of an observable is an important concept in quantum mechanics. However, upper-level undergraduate and graduate students in physics have both conceptual and procedural difficulties when determining the expectation value of physical observables, especially when using Dirac notation. To investigate these difficulties, we administered free-response and multiple-choice questions and conducted individual interviews with students. Here, we discuss the analysis of data on student difficulties when determining the expectation value.

physics.ed-ph↗
arXiv2017

Physics graduate teaching assistants' beliefs about a grading rubric: Lessons learned

Explication and reflection on expert vs. novice considerations within the problem-solving process characterize a cognitive apprenticeship approach for the development of expert-like problem solving practices. In the context of grading, a cognitive apprenticeship approach requires that instructors place the burden of proof on students, namely, that they require explanations of reasoning and explication of problem-solving processes. However, prior research on instructors' considerations when grading revealed their reluctance to use such a grading approach, motivated by a perception of teaching that places the burden of proof on the instructor. This study focuses on physics graduate teaching assistants (TAs) who play a central role in grading. A short professional development activity was designed that involved eliciting TAs' perceptions regarding grading, presenting a cognitive apprenticeship-inspired grading rubric, followed by a discussion of the dilemma between placing the burden of proof on the instructor vs. the student. In this context, we examined TAs' grading considerations and approaches towards grading and the effect of the short professional development grading activity on them.

physics.ed-ph↗
arXiv2016

Surveying college introductory physics students' attitudes and approaches to problem solving

Students' attitudes and approaches to problem solving in physics can greatly impact their actual problem solving practices and also influence their motivation to learn and ultimately the development of expertise. We developed and validated an attitudes and approaches to problem solving (AAPS) survey and administered it to students in the introductory physics courses in a typical large research university in the US. Here, we discuss the development and validation of the survey and analysis of the student responses to the survey questions in introductory physics courses. The introductory physics students' responses to the survey questions were also compared with those of physics faculty members and physics PhD students. We find that introductory students are in general less expert-like than the physics faculty members and PhD students. Moreover, on some AAPS survey questions, the responses of students and faculty have unexpected trends. Those trends were interpreted via in

physics.ed-ph↗
arXiv2016

The challenge of engaging all students via self-paced interactive e-learning tutorials for introductory physics

As research-based self-paced e-learning tools become increasingly available, a critical issue educators encounter is implementing strategies to ensure that all students engage with them as intended. Here, we discuss the effectiveness of research-based e-learning tutorials as self-paced learning tools in large enrollment brick and mortar introductory physics courses. These interactive tutorials were developed via research in physics education and were found to be effective for a diverse group of introductory physics students in one-on-one implementation. Instructors encouraged the use of these self-paced tools in a self-paced learning environment by telling students that they would be helpful for solving the assigned homework problems and that the underlying physics principles in the tutorial problems would be similar to those in the in-class quizzes (which we call paired problems). We find that many students, who struggled in the courses in which these adaptive e-learning tutorials were assigned as a self-study tool, performed poorly on the paired problems. In contrast, a majority of student volunteers in one-on-one implementation greatly benefited from the tutorials and performed well on the paired problems. This suggests that many students enrolled in introductory physics courses did not effectively engage with the self-paced tutorials outside of class and may have only used them superficially. The findings suggest that many students in need of out-of-class remediation via self-paced learning tools may have difficulty motivating themselves and may lack the self-regulation and time-management skills to engage effectively with tools specially designed to help them learn at their own pace. We conclude by proposing a theoretical framework to help students with diverse prior preparations engage effectively with self-study tools.

physics.ed-ph↗
arXiv2016

Impact of guided reflection with peers on the development of effective problem solving strategies and physics learning

Students must learn effective problem solving strategies in order to develop expertise in physics. Effective problem solving strategies include a conceptual analysis of the problem followed by planning of the solution, and then implementation, evaluation and reflection upon the process. Research suggests that converting a problem from the initial verbal representation to other suitable representation, e.g., diagrammatic representation, during the initial conceptual analysis can facilitate further analysis of the problem.6 But without guidance, many introductory physics students solve problems using superficial clues and cues and do not perceive problem solving as an opportunity for learning. Here, we describe a study which suggests that engaging students in reflection with peers about effective problem solving strategies while effective approaches are modeled for them and prompt feedback is provided may enhance desirable skills.

physics.ed-ph↗
arXiv2016

Investigating transfer of learning in advanced quantum mechanics

Research suggests that students often have difficulty transferring their learning from one context to another. We examine upper-level undergraduate and graduate students' facility with questions about the interference pattern in the double-slit experiment (DSE) with single photons and polarizers of various orientations placed in front of one or both slits. Before answering these types of questions, students had worked through a tutorial on the Mach-Zehnder Interferometer (MZI) in which they learned about interference of single photons when polarizers of various orientations are placed in the two paths of the MZI. After working on the MZI tutorial, students were asked similar questions in the isomorphic context of the DSE. We discuss the extent to which they were able to transfer what they learned in the context of the MZI to analogous problems in the isomorphic context of the DSE.

physics.ed-ph↗
arXiv2016

Surveying Turkish high school and university student attitudes and approaches to physics problem solving

Student attitudes and approaches to problem solving can impact how well they learn physics. Prior research in the US using a validated Attitude and Approaches to Problem Solving (AAPS) survey suggests that there are major differences between students in introductory physics and astronomy courses and physics experts in terms of their attitudes and approaches to physics problem solving. Here we discuss the validation, administration and analysis of data for the Turkish version of the AAPS survey for high school and university students in Turkey. After the validation and administration of the Turkish version of the survey, the analysis of the data was conducted by grouping the data by grade level, school type, and gender. While there are no statistically significant differences between the averages of various groups on the survey, overall, the university students in Turkey were more expert-like than vocational high school students. On an item by item basis, there are statistically differences between the averages of the groups on many items. For example, on average, the university students demonstrated less expert-like attitudes about the role of equations and formulas in problem solving, in solving difficult problems, and in knowing when the solution is not correct, whereas they displayed more expert-like attitudes and approaches on items related to meta-cognition in physics problem solving. A principal component analysis on the data yields item clusters into which the student responses on various survey items can be grouped. A comparison of the responses of the Turkish and American university students enrolled in algebra-based introductory physics courses shows that on more than half of the items, the responses of these two groups were statistically significantly different with the US students on average responding to the items in more expert-like manner.

physics.ed-ph↗
arXiv2016

Improving Students' Understanding of Quantum Measurement Part 1: Investigation of Difficulties

We describe the difficulties that advanced undergraduate and graduate students have with quantum measurement within the standard interpretation of quantum mechanics. We explore the possible origins of these difficulties by analyzing student responses to questions from both surveys and interviews. Results from this research are applied to develop research-based learning tutorials to improve students' understanding of quantum measurement.

physics.ed-ph↗
arXiv2016

Improving student understanding of addition of angular momentum in quantum mechanics

We describe the difficulties advanced undergraduate and graduate students have with concepts related to addition of angular momentum in quantum mechanics. We also describe the development and implementation of a research-based learning tool, a Quantum Interactive Learning Tutorial (QuILT), to reduce these difficulties. The preliminary evaluation shows that the QuILT related to the basics of the addition of angular momentum is helpful in improving students' understanding of these concepts.

physics.ed-ph↗
arXiv2016

Effect of Self Diagnosis on Subsequent Problem Solving Performance

"Self-diagnosis tasks" aim at fostering diagnostic behavior by explicitly requiring students to present diagnosis as part of the activity of reviewing their problem solutions. The recitation classes in an introductory physics class (~200 students) were split into a control group and three experimental groups in which different levels of guidance was provided for performing the self-diagnosis activities. We have been a) investigating how students in each group performed on subsequent near and far transfer questions given as part of the exams; and b) comparing student's initial scores on their quizzes with their performance on the exams, as well as comparing student's self-diagnosis scores with their performance on the exams. We discuss some hypotheses about the students' ability to self-diagnose with different levels of scaffolding support and emphasize the importance of teaching students how to diagnosis their own mistakes. Our findings suggest that struggling with minimal support during in-class self-diagnosis can trigger out-of-class self-diagnosis. Students therefore may be motivated to make sense of the problem they may have not been able to self diagnose, whether independently or in a collaborative effort.

physics.ed-ph↗
arXiv2016

Connecting Three Pivotal Concepts in K-12 Science State Standards and Maps of Conceptual Growth to Research in Physics Education

This paper describes three conceptual areas in physics that are particularly important targets for educational interventions in K-12 science. These conceptual areas are force and motion, conservation of energy, and geometrical optics, which were prominent in the US national and four US state standards that we examined. The four US state standards that were analyzed to explore the extent to which the K-12 science standards differ in different states were selected to include states in different geographic regions and of different sizes. The three conceptual areas that were common to all the four state standards are conceptual building blocks for other science concepts covered in the K-12 curriculum. Since these three areas have been found to be ripe with deep student misconceptions that are resilient to conventional physics instruction, the nature of difficulties in these areas is described in some depth, along with pointers towards approaches that have met with some success in each conceptual area.

physics.ed-ph↗
arXiv2016

Self-Diagnosis, Scaffolding and Transfer in a More Conventional Introductory Physics Problem

Previously we discussed how well students in an introductory physics course diagnosed their mistakes on a quiz problem with different levels of scaffolding support. In that case, the problem they self-diagnosed was unusually difficult. We also discussed issues related to transfer, particularly the fact that the transfer problem in the midterm that corresponded to the self-diagnosed problem was a far transfer problem. Here, we discuss a related intervention in which we repeated the study methodology with the same students in the same intervention groups, using a new quiz problem which was more typical for these students and a near transfer problem. We discuss how these changes affected students' ability to self-diagnose and transfer from the self-diagnosed quiz problem to a transfer problem on the midterm exam.

physics.ed-ph↗