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arXiv2013

Digital planetariums as virtual museums for discovering today's science

Our study's concern is about how to enlarge the scope of the virtual museum concept from the mediation activities as they are carried out in today's digital planetariums to training activities dedicated to the public. We assume that these educational and cultural tools must be regarded as real immersive virtual environments and therefore can provide visitors with a new technological framing directly connected with a scientific field in the making, cosmography, in its production environment. One of our goals is to make visitors construct their own knowledge based directly on ongoing research data.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2013

Introduction of interactive learning into French university physics classrooms

We report on a project to introduce interactive learning strategies (ILS) to physics classes at the Université Pierre et Marie Curie (UPMC), one of the leading science universities in France. In Spring 2012, instructors in two large introductory classes, first-year, second-semester mechanics, and second-year introductory E&M, enrolling approximately 500 and 250 students respectively, introduced ILS into some sections of each class. The specific ILS utilized were Think-Pair-Share questions and Peer Instruction in the main lecture classrooms, and UW Tutorials for Introductory Physics in recitation sections. Pre- and post-instruction assessments (FCI and CSEM respectively) were given, along with a series of demographics questions. We were able to compare the results of the FCI and CSEM between interactive and non-interactive classes taught simultaneously with the same curriculum. We also analyzed final exam results, as well as the results of student and instructor attitude surveys between classes. In our analysis, we argue that Multiple Linear Regression modeling is superior to other common analysis tools, including normalized gain. Our results show that ILS are effective at improving student learning by all measures used: research-validated concept inventories and final exam scores, on both conceptual and traditional problem-solving questions. Multiple Linear Regression analysis reveals that interactivity in the classroom is a significant predictor of student learning, showing a similar or stronger relationship with student learning than such ascribed characteristics as parents' education, and achieved characteristics such as GPA and hours studied per week. Analysis of student and instructors attitudes shows that both groups believe that ILS improve student learning in the physics classroom, and increases student engagement and motivation.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2013

Physics Items and Student's Performance at Enem

The Brazilian National Assessment of Secondary Education (ENEM, Exame Nacional do Ensino Médio) has changed in 2009: from a self-assessment of competences at the end of high school to an assessment that allows access to college and student financing. From a single general exam, now there are tests in four areas: Mathematics, Language, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences. A new Reference Matrix is build with components as cognitive domains, competencies, skills and knowledge objects; also, the methodological framework has changed, using now Item Response Theory to provide scores and allowing longitudinal comparison of results from different years, providing conditions for monitoring high school quality in Brazil. We present a study on the issues discussed in Natural Science Test of ENEM over the years 2009, 2010 and 2011. Qualitative variables are proposed to characterize the items, and data from students' responses in Physics items were analysed. The qualitative analysis reveals the characteristics of the exam in these years: long items, only a few of them demanding more complex reasoning, a characteristic of problem solving skills. The analysis of student performance also reveals that learning physics is not attained, with a percentage of correct answers on items that is almost always small, and that items that require some type of disciplinary knowledge or require use of mathematical reasoning presents a performance significantly weaker.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2013

Output stages inside a negative feedback loop: application to a low-voltage three-phase DC-AC converter for educational purposes

The circuit presented in this paper aims at providing three 40 Vpp 50Hz AC voltages sources with 120-degree phase separation between them. This is a fully analogue circuit that uses standard, low-cost electronic components without resorting to a microcontroller as previously proposed by Shirvasar et al [1]. This circuit may serve as a basis for a low-voltage 3P-AC power supply that students may safely use to realize experiments, i.e. about the principles and applications of three-phase AC power lines, without the risk of electric shocks.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2013

Benford's Law: Textbook Exercises and Multiple-choice Testbanks

Benford's Law describes the finding that the distribution of leading (or leftmost) digits of innumerable datasets follows a well-defined logarithmic trend, rather than an intuitive uniformity. In practice this means that the most common leading digit is 1, with an expected frequency of 30.1%, and the least common is 9, with an expected frequency of 4.6%. The history and development of Benford's Law is inexorably linked to physics, yet there has been a dearth of physics-related Benford datasets reported in the literature. Currently, the most common application of Benford's Law is in detecting number invention and tampering such as found in accounting-, tax-, and voter-fraud. We demonstrate that answers to end-of-chapter exercises in physics and chemistry textbooks conform to Benford's Law. Subsequently, we investigate whether this fact can be used to gain advantage over random guessing in multiple-choice tests, and find that while testbank answers in introductory physics closely conform to Benford's Law, the testbank is nonetheless secure against such a Benford's attack for banal reasons.

physics.data-an↗

arXiv2013

Student's Video Production as Formative Assessment

Learning assessments are subject of discussions that envolve theoretical and practical approaches. To measure learning in physics by high school students, either qualitatively or quantitatively, is a process in which it should be possible to identify not only the concepts and contents students failed to achieve but also the reasons of the failure. We propose that students' video production offers a very effective formative assessment to teachers: as a formative assessment, it produces information that allows the understanding of where and when the learning process succeeded or failed, of identifying, as a subject or as a group, the defficiencies or misunderstandings related to the theme under analysis and their interpretation by students, and it provides also a different kind of assessment, related to some other life skills, like the ability to carry a project to its conclusion and to work cooperatively. In this paper, we describe the use of videos produced by high school students as an assessment resource. The students were asked to prepare a short video, which was then presented to the whole group and discussed. The videos reveal aspects of students' difficulties that usually do not appear in formal assessments such as tests and questionnaires. After the use of the videos as an component of classroom assessments and the use of the discussions to rethink learning activities in the group, the videos were analysed and classified in various categories. This analysis showed a strong correlation between the technical quality of the video and the content quality of the students argumentation. Also, it was shown that the students don't prepare their video based on quick and easy production, they usually choose forms of video production that require careful planning and implementation, and this reflects directly on the overall quality of the video and of the learning process.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2013

Evaluation of a College Freshman Diversity Research Program

Since 2005, the Pre-Major in Astronomy Program (Pre-MAP) at the University of Washington (UW) Department of Astronomy has made a concentrated effort to recruit and retain underrepresented undergraduates in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). This paper evaluates Pre-MAP in the context of the larger UW student population using data compiled by the University's student database. We evaluate the Pre-MAP program in terms of our goals of recruiting a more diverse population than the University and in terms of a higher fraction of students successfully completing degrees. We find that Pre-MAP serves a higher percentage of underrepresented minorities and equal percentages of women compared to entering freshmen classes at UW. Additionally, Pre-MAP has a higher percentage of degree completion with higher average GPA's and similar time to completion when compared to UW as a whole and other STEM majors, particularly with students that place into lower-level math courses (such as basic algebra or pre-calculus).

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2013

A Comprehensive Assessment Strategy for Physics Laboratory Courses

The objective of physics laboratory training is to develop, in students, a variety of important cognitive and psycho-motor abilities related to experimental physics. These include conceptual understanding, procedural understanding, experimental skills and the experimental problem solving ability. It has been noted that strategies adopted for the assessment of what students learn and develop through a laboratory course are often inconsistent with the objectives of the laboratory courses. The author has developed a comprehensive assessment strategy which can be used at the school, college and university level. The strategy is based on four tools of assessment, namely, test on conceptual understanding, test on procedural understanding, an experimental test, and the continuous assessment. The relative weightage for each of the four tools depends on the level and emphasis of the laboratory course. The four tools of assessment, with respect to the type of questions, design, grading schemes, administration of each tool have been described with a few sample questions for each tool of assessment. This assessment strategy is being practiced and its effectiveness studied during a series of special courses in experimental physics in India. Furthermore, a survey was carried out with university teachers from across India to check the acceptability and feasibility of using this strategy for larger number of students in universities and most of the participating teachers supported the use of this strategy.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2013

A Novel Approach to Encourage Students Independent Thinking in the Physics Laboratory

The objectives of physics laboratory courses include fostering conceptual understanding and development of several important cognitive, psycho-motor, attitudinal and affective abilities. In most of the Indian colleges and universities (and probably at many other places all over the world) the usual practice of performing a set of experiments, in a cook-book mode, seldom helps students achieve the objectives of the physics laboratory courses and develop the abilities and skills required to become a successful experimental physicist. This paper describes the details of an instructional approach designed and being followed by the author for a past few years, to encourage students independent thinking in the physics laboratory. This instructional approach encourages students active participation, independent thinking and offers an opportunity to learn how to think scientifically during traditional physics laboratory courses without major curriculum and content changes. Here, guided problem solving approach is adopted by combining problem-solving and guided design modes of instruction. In this approach an experiment is presented as an experimental problem with well thought procedural instructions. During a typical laboratory session, first an introductory demonstration is presented to each group of a few students separately for the first twenty minutes by the mentors as a prelude to the problem and the remaining laboratory time is made available for students to independently solve the experimental problem. The paper also illustrates the approach by describing a familiar experimental problem and the demonstration on Electromagnetic damping with some details of the experimental arrangement, which is being used by the author for training of students and teachers at the introductory university level.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2013

Exploring viscous damping in undergraduate Physics laboratory using electromagnetically coupled oscillators

We design a low-cost, electromagnetically coupled, simple harmonic oscillator and demonstrate free, damped and forced oscillations in an under-graduate (UG) Physics laboratory. It consists of a spring-magnet system that can oscillate inside a cylinder around which copper coils are wound. Such demonstrations can compliment the traditional way in which a Waves & Oscillations course is taught and offers a richer pedagogical experience for students. We also show that with minimal modifications, it can be used to probe the magnitude of viscous damping forces in liquids by analyzing the oscillations of an immersed magnet. Finally, we propose some student activities to explore non-linear damping effects and their characterization using this apparatus.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2013

Detecting Concepts Crucial for Success in Mathematics Courses from Knowledge State-based Placement Data

We show that individual topics and skills can have a dramatic effect on the outcomes of students in various mathematics courses at the University of Illinois. Data from the placement program at Illinois associates a knowledge state, a subset of 182 items and skills that a student is able to complete successfully and repeatedly, with their final grades in a variety of courses from college algebra through multivariate calculus. Using various conditional probabilities and odds ratios, we classify items based on their association with successful and unsuccessful course outcomes, showing that some skills that are advanced for some courses are fundamental or basic to more advanced courses. We examine the impact of specific items across the courses in the traditional college algebra, precalculus, and calculus sequence, as well as courses not typically covered by placement programs, such as higher calculus courses. Visualizations of the knowledge states associated to each student are given for some specific courses and for the entire collection of placement courses, allowing the impact of specific topics to be examined across the undergraduate curriculum.

math.HO↗

arXiv2013

Valuing Student Ideas Morally, Instrumentally, and Intellectually

The importance of valuing student ideas in science education stands on firm empirical, theoretical, and moral grounds. However, the reasons for which one might value student ideas are often not explicitly distinguished, even if implicit distinctions are made in the literature. In this paper, I define and distinguish between three ways of valuing student ideas: moral, instrumental, and intellectual. I demonstrate that novice teachers in the Seattle Pacific University (SPU) Learning Assistant (LA) Program instantiate all three ways of valuing student ideas. Not only this, over the course of their participation in the LA Program, novice teachers shift from foregrounding the moral and instrumental value of student ideas toward highlighting their intellectual value.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2013

What we can learn about quantum physics from a single qubit

We present an approach for teaching quantum physics at high school level based on the simplest quantum system - the single quantum bit (qubit). We show that many central concepts of quantum mechanics, including the superposition principle, the stochastic behavior and state change under measurements as well as the Heisenberg uncertainty principle can be understood using simple mathematics, and can be illustrated using catchy visualizations. We discuss abstract features of a qubit in general, and consider possible physical realizations as well as various applications, e.g. in quantum cryptography.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2013

Imaging the Moon II: Webcam CCD observations & analysis (a two week lab for non-majors)

Presented is a successful two week lab involving real sky observations of the Moon in which students make telescopic observations and analyze their own images. Originally developed around the 35 mm film camera as a common household object adapted for astronomical work, the lab transitioned to use the webcam as film photography evolved into an obscure specialty technology and increasing numbers of students had little familiarity with it. The printed circuit board with the CCD is harvested from a retail webcam and affixed to a tube to mount on a telescope in place of an eyepiece. Image frames are compiled to form a lunar mosaic and crater sizes are measured. Students also work through the logistical steps of telescope time assignment and scheduling, keeping to schedule and working with uncertainties of weather, in ways paralleling research observations. Because there is no need for a campus observatory, this lab can be replicated at a wide variety of institutions.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2013

Spin glasses: the game

This document presents the rules of a tactical two-player board game which is inspired by spin glasses. The aim is, while placing bonds and spins, to achieve a majority of the spins facing the chosen direction of each player. The game has been already successfully used in university teaching but should be accessible to players from age 10 and up. (Note that there is a non-physics version of the rules available at www.compphys.uni-oldenburg.de which formulates the game in terms of a comptetion between party hosts.) Material is included such that a cheap version of the board game can be made using a color printer, scissors and glue.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2014

Lessons Learned from Development of a Software Tool to Support Academic Advising

We detail some lessons learned while designing and testing a decision-theoretic advising support tool for undergraduates at a large state university. Between 2009 and 2011 we conducted two surveys of over 500 students in multiple majors and colleges. These surveys asked students detailed questions about their preferences concerning course selection, advising, and career paths. We present data from this study which may be helpful for faculty and staff who advise undergraduate students. We find that advising support software tools can augment the student-advisor relationship, particularly in terms of course planning, but cannot and should not replace in-person advising.

cs.CY↗

arXiv2013

The Effect of Problem Format on Students Responses

As part of large-scale assessment project at Texas Tech University, we studied the effect of problem format on students responses to quiz questions. The same problem was written in multiple formats and administered as a quiz in the large introductory physics sections in both the algebra-based and calculus-based classes. The formats included multiple-choice (MC) only, MC and free response (FR) and FR only. Variations in the FR wording were also explored. We examined the ability of students to both choose the correct answer and correctly explain their reasoning and show their calculations. We also analyzed the type of written responses the students used to support their answers. We found that a large percentage of the students who chose the correct answer could not support their answer with correct reasoning or calculations.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2013

Tirocinio Formativo Attivo nell'Ateneo di Palermo: Classe di Abilitazione A049 - Matematica e Fisica

We will describe the organization of the first cycle of the Course of Tirocinio Formativo Attivo, Class A049 - Mathematics and Physics, at the university of Palermo, both in terms of psycho-pedagogical activities and in terms of subject activities. In particular, we will describe the organization of the training done at school under the guidance of welcoming tutors and under the guidance of the coordinating tutor. The strengths, weaknesses and critical aspects of various activities will be highlighted and improvements will be proposed for the subsequent cycles.

physics.ed-ph↗