Teaching and Learning

Significant attention has recently been paid to assessing students' attitudes, expectations, views, and epistemological beliefs because they are believed to play important roles in learning and distinguish experts in a field from novices. 1–4 A striking outcome from the development of such attitudinal surveys is the consistent negative shifts shown by students throughout introductory physics courses. 1, 2 The overall negative shifts seem independent of instructional approach, even when other measures such as normalized gain on the ...

Energy and energy conservation are foundational concepts across a wide swath of different sciences, yet physics is their home. Introductory college or university physics courses formally introduce students to energy concepts that show up repeatedly in other sciences. Physics serves an important purpose by shouldering the primary responsibility for helping students to develop useful energy concepts. Embracing this responsibility to other sciences has benefits for physics as well, by making modern topics more accessible in the ...

Analysis of the impact of Modeling Instruction (MI) on the sources of self‐efficacy for students in Introductory Physics 1 will be presented. We measured self‐efficacy through a quantitative diagnostic (SOSESC) developed by Fencl and Scheel [1] to investigate the impact of instruction on the sources of self‐efficacy in all introductory physics classes. We collected both pre‐semester data and post‐semester data, and evaluated the effect of the classroom by analyzing the shift (Post‐Pre). At Florida International University, a Hispanic‐serving ...

Differences in learning gains between interactive engagement and lecture instructional practices have been well documented and yet the ways in which students participate in each of these learning environments are not clearly established. We use social network analysis as one way to establish differences the participation of students in lecture sections and students in Modeling Instruction, a curriculum that uses interactive engagement. One primary difference in the way students participate in the two instructional practices is that ...

It has been well established that traditional physics instruction is insufficient for developing the level of physics expertise desired by many instructors of introductory physics [1, 2]. When research-based instructional strategies are introduced as an alternative to traditional physics instruction, the difficulties encountered by reformers have included situational characteristics, departmental policies, and the attitudes of the departmental faculty, university administration, and students [3–6]. In addition to the difficulties faced when ...

In this paper we present an initial analysis connecting key elements of Modeling Instruction (MI) to self-efficacy experience opportunities. Previously, we demonstrated that MI has positive effects on self-efficacy when compared with traditional Lecture instruction [1]. We also found a particularly strong positive effect on the social persuasion source of self-efficacy for women in the MI class. Our current study seeks to understand through what mechanisms MI influences self-efficacy. We demonstrate this connection through an in-depth analysis ...

Abstract As part of our Physics Education Research Group efforts to transform the physics instruction at Florida International University (FIU), we have focused attention on how to assess the reforms we implement. In this paper, we argue that the physics education community should expand the ways that it measures students' success beyond grades and conceptual inventory scores to include assessments of students' participation in a learning community and changes in their attitudes. We present case studies of three introductory ...

We present" Implicit Action", a discourse management tool, through a qualitative video analysis of a Florida International University Modeling Instruction Introductory Physics I class. Implicit Action in Modeling Instruction is where instructors deliberately create intellectual space in which students ideally see value and need for the construction of new classroom norms and tools that are productive in developing a learning community. This space is created by the implications expressed through the instructors' deliberate actions. ...

Much attention has recently been directed toward understanding cognitive attitudes and beliefs about learning in both science generally and physics specifically through the use of validated survey instruments. 1–6 These instruments complement the large body of research on conceptual physics understanding and problem solving, adding a new dimension that addresses students' perceptions about science, a dimension that can be considered critical in creating a scientifically literate society. The Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science ...