Evidence-Based Learning in the Introductory Physics Classroom

1. Evidence-Based Learning in the Introductory Physics Classroom Vic Montemayor Department of Radiation Oncology School of Medicine Vanderbilt University Medical Center Department of Physics & Astronomy Middle Tennessee State University First-Tuesday Series MTSU 06 February 2007

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

3. Question of Reform Discovering Physics Non-Calc Based Physics Why Change?

4. 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 practice—lots of practice.

9. 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)

10. 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

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. Question of Reform Discovering Physics Non-Calc Based Physics An Example Approximations

14. Question of Reform Discovering Physics Non-Calc Based Physics What is the approximate area of the state of Florida in square- kilometers?

15. 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)

16. 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

17. 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)

18. 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

19. 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!)

21. 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.

22. 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.

23. 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 don’t 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?

24. 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 timesheavier than the one you just used? Be as specific as possible in your answer.

25. 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 timesheavier 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.

26. 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 timesheavier 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!).

27. 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

28. 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

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

30. 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?

31. 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?

32. 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?

33. 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.”

34. 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

35. (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

36. Web-Based Lecture (and Homework) Quiz Spreadsheets Activity Tests Projects

42. Web-Based Lecture (and Homework) Quiz Spreadsheets Activities Tests Projects

49. Web-Based Lecture (and Homework) Quiz Spreadsheets Activities Tests Projects