EvidenceBased Learning in the Introductory Physics Classroom

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Evidence-Based Learning in the Introductory
Physics Classroom

• Vic Montemayor

Department of Physics Astronomy Middle
Tennessee State University
Department of Radiation Oncology School of
Medicine Vanderbilt University Medical Center
First-Tuesday Series
MTSU 06
February 2007
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Overview

• The Question of Reform
• An Example
• My Work in Pedagogy Reform
• Discovering Physics (PHYS 1300)
• Non-Calculus-Based Physics (PHYS 2010-2021)

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Question of Reform Discovering
Physics Non-Calc Based Physics

• Why Change?

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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 practicelots of
  practice.

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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)

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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

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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.

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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.

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Question of Reform Discovering
Physics Non-Calc Based Physics

• An Example
• Approximations

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Question of Reform Discovering
Physics Non-Calc Based Physics

• What is the approximate area of the state of
  Florida in square- kilometers?

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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)

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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

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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)

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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

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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!)

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Sample Contents

• Part I Preliminaries
• Linear Graphs
• Graphing Experimental Data
• Histograms
• Linear Interpolation
• Graphing Numbers in Scientific Notation
• Unit Conversions

• Part II Vector Quantities
• Vectors and Scalars
• Vector Arithmetic
• Relative Velocity
• Trigonometry and Vector Components
• Forces and Free-Body Diagrams
• Adding Forces The Buoyant Force

• Part III Kinematics
• 1-D Uniform Motion
• The Kinematics of Free-Fall
• The 1-D Kinematic Equations of Motion
• Constant Acceleration Problems
• 2-D Kinematics

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Sample Contents

• Part I Preliminaries
• Linear Graphs
• Graphing Experimental Data
• Histograms
• Linear Interpolation
• Graphing Numbers in Scientific Notation
• Unit Conversions

• Part II Vector Quantities
• Vectors and Scalars
• Vector Arithmetic
• Relative Velocity
• Trigonometry and Vector Components
• Forces and Free-Body Diagrams
• Adding Forces The Buoyant Force

• Part III Kinematics
• 1-D Uniform Motion
• The Kinematics of Free-Fall
• The 1-D Kinematic Equations of Motion
• Constant Acceleration Problems
• 2-D Kinematics

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Sample Contents

• Part I Preliminaries
• Linear Graphs
• Graphing Experimental Data
• Histograms
• Linear Interpolation
• Graphing Numbers in Scientific Notation
• Unit Conversions

• Part II Vector Quantities
• Vectors and Scalars
• Vector Arithmetic
• Relative Velocity
• Trigonometry and Vector Components
• Forces and Free-Body Diagrams
• Adding Forces The Buoyant Force

• Part III Kinematics
• 1-D Uniform Motion
• The Kinematics of Free-Fall
• The 1-D Kinematic Equations of Motion
• Constant Acceleration Problems
• 2-D Kinematics

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Question of Reform Discovering
Physics Non-Calc Based Physics
Discovery Learning
The 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.
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Question of Reform Discovering
Physics Non-Calc Based Physics
Discovery Learning
The 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.
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An Example The Reaction-Time Experiment

• Class 1
• Perform the Reaction-Time Experiment
• 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 dont 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?

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An Example The Reaction-Time Experiment
Class 2
Group 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.
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An Example The Reaction-Time Experiment
Class 2
Group 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.

• Add the weight and repeat the measurements
• Calculate the average distance-of-fall and
  indicate this new average on the original
  histogram.

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An Example The Reaction-Time Experiment
Class 2
Group 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.

• Add the weight and repeat the measurements
• 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!).

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Question of Reform Discovering
Physics Non-Calc Based Physics
The Investigation Objectives

• 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

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Question of Reform Discovering
Physics Non-Calc Based Physics
The Investigation Objectives

• 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

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Question of Reform Discovering
Physics Non-Calc Based Physics
The PHYS 2010-2021 Sequence
Non-Calculus Based Physics
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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?

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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?

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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?
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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.
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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
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(CL)2
Computer-Led Cooperative Learning

• 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

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Web-Based Lecture
(and Homework)
Spreadsheets
Quiz
Activity
Tests
Projects
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Web-Based Lecture
(and Homework)
Spreadsheets
Quiz
Activities
Tests
Projects
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Web-Based Lecture
(and Homework)
Spreadsheets
Quiz
Activities
Tests
Projects
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Web-Based Lecture
(and Homework)
Spreadsheets
Quiz
Activity
Tests
Projects
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(CL)2
Computer-Led Cooperative Learning

• 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

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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)