Evidence-Based Learning in the
Introductory Physics Classroom
Vic Montemayor
Department of Radiation Oncology
School of Medicine
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
First-Tuesday Series
MTSU
Department of Physics & Astronomy
Middle Tennessee State University
06 February 2007
Overview
• The Question of Reform
– An Example
• My Work in Pedagogy Reform
– Discovering Physics (PHYS 1300)
– Non-Calculus-Based Physics (PHYS 20102021)
Question of Reform
Discovering Physics
Non-Calc Based Physics
Why Change?
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.
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)
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
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.
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.
Question of Reform
Discovering Physics
Non-Calc Based Physics
An Example
Approximations
Question of Reform
Discovering Physics
Non-Calc Based Physics
What is the approximate
area of the state of Florida
in square- kilometers?
Question of Reform
Discovering Physics
Non-Calc Based Physics
The Answer:
151,982
2
km
(The World Book Encyclopedia)
Note:
Height = 725 km (450 mi)
Width = 745 km (465 mi)
Question of Reform
Discovering Physics
Cooperative Learning:
• Introductions
•
•
•
•
•
Define the problem
Time for individual thought
Group discussion
Gathering sample answers
Closure
Non-Calc Based Physics
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)
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
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!)
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.
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.
An Example: The Reaction-Time Experiment
Class 1
I.
Perform the Reaction-Time Experiment
II.
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?
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.
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.
I. Add the weight and repeat the measurements
II.
Calculate the average distance-of-fall and indicate this new
average on the original histogram.
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.
I. Add the weight and repeat the measurements
II.
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!).
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
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
Question of Reform
Discovering Physics
Non-Calc Based Physics
The PHYS 2010-2021 Sequence
Non-Calculus Based Physics
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?
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?
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?
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.”
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
2
(CL)
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
Web-Based Lecture
(and Homework)
Quiz
Spreadsheets
Tests
Activity
Projects
Web-Based Lecture
(and Homework)
Quiz
Spreadsheets
Tests
Activities
Projects
Web-Based Lecture
(and Homework)
Quiz
Spreadsheets
Tests
Activities
Projects
Web-Based Lecture
(and Homework)
Quiz
Spreadsheets
Tests
Activity
Projects
2
(CL)
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
PHYS 2011: Drop-out Rate
Old Pedagogy
Average
since 2000
New Pedagogy
Semester (starting with Fall 1990)
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)