Helping Under-prepared Students Learn
Calculus-Based University Physics
(Mats Selen, UIUC Department of Physics, July 25, AAPT-2001)

Building a foundation: Physics 100
What motivates us:
» Brief overview of our intro physics sequence.
» Why we need a preparatory course like Physics 100.
Identifying students at risk:
» Self evaluation test.
Class structure:
» Pre-flight, Discussion, Homework and Quizzes.
Preliminary Results.
» Is it helping?
Follow-up:
» Physics 199M.
The Future:
» Web based lectures with audio.
» NSF sponsored minority scholarship program.
Rochester AAPT Meeting (July/25/01): Pg 1
Overview of the UICU calc-based
introductory physics sequence
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
Taken by all physics & engineering undergrads
Physics 111 (4 hrs, mechanics)
Physics 112 (4 hrs, E&M)
Physics 113 (2 hrs, thermo/stat-mech)
Physics 114 (2 hrs, waves/quantum)
Taken by about 4000
students per year
Most freshmen
start here
1000 in 111 500 in 111
500 in 112 1000 in 112
600 in 113/114 400 in 113/114
In Phase
Out of Phase
Summer
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Why a preparatory course?

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Despite the University of Illinois’ C of E high admission
standards, nearly 20% of accepted students are
inadequately prepared to pass our introductory
mechanics course (i.e. they earn a D or F).
The failure rate is even higher for minority groups.
» As high as 68% for African Americans.
Many students do not realize that they are poorly
prepared.
We need to identify inadequately prepared students
and help them gear up for Physics 111 and beyond.
Rochester AAPT Meeting (July/25/01): Pg 3
Student Selection

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Self evaluation quiz is offered in the Fall semester to
all freshman in the College of Engineering as well as all
students enrolled in physics 111.
Students receiving a score below a certain cutoff are
invited to take Physics 100 (1 credit-hour).
Much less than half of identified students choose to
participate initially.
» This should really be a placement exam!
Physics 100 does not officially start until about 3 weeks
into the fall semester.
Gives students time to evaluate their situation
Many decide to take Physics 100 after doing poorly
on the first Physics 111 mid-term exam.
Typical Physics 100 enrollment ~ 100
Rochester AAPT Meeting (July/25/01): Pg 4
The Self Evaluation

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Tests basic math and physics background.
Students take this (individually) on the web.
No time pressure while taking test.
They can try the test as many times as they want to
(before deadline), although they are not given
feedback until after the deadline.
Consists of 16 multiple choice questions.
8 of these (found the most predictive) are used to
arrive at their “score”.
Students that get less than half right are invited to
take Physics 100.
Rochester AAPT Meeting (July/25/01): Pg 5
Example Self Evaluation Questions…
Did you take high school physics?
(a) Yes
(b) No
(c) Yes but it was lousy
(Background)
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Example Self Evaluation Questions…
Here we have two vectors V and W. The angle between
these vectors is A.
1) What is the component of V parallel to W in terms of A
and the magnitudes of V and W?
y
W
(a) V
(b) W
(c) V sin(A)
V
A
(d) V cos(A)
(e) W sin(A)
x
(f) W cos(A)
(Basic trig)
Rochester AAPT Meeting (July/25/01): Pg 7
Example Self Evaluation Questions…
An oarsman can row his boat 3 mph is still water. He sets
out on the Illinois River, which flows at 5 mph. We are
interested in what an observer on shore measures.
1) When the man heads the boat directly downstream and
rows as fast as he can, how fast does the observer on
shore see the boat going?
(a) 2 mph (b) 3 mph (c) 5 mph (d) 7 mph (e) 8 mph
2) When the man heads the boat directly downstream and
rows as fast as he can, which direction does the observer
on shore see the boat going?
(a) upstream (b) downstream
(reasoning)
Rochester AAPT Meeting (July/25/01): Pg 8
Example Self Evaluation Questions…
The force on an object in uniform circular motion is given
by F = mv2/r.
1) Consider two equal mass objects moving around the
same circle, one with speed V1 and one with speed V2,
where V1 = 2V2. What is the ratio of the forces on these
objects?
(a) F1/F2 = 1
(b) F1/F2 = 2
(c) F1/F2 = 4
(d) F1/F2 = 1/2
(e) F1/F2 = 1/4
(scaling)
Rochester AAPT Meeting (July/25/01): Pg 9
Physics 111 Grade
Self evaluation – Physics 111 correlation:
Self Evaluation Score
Rochester AAPT Meeting (July/25/01): Pg 10
Class Structure:
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Weekly cycle:
No Lecture
Textbook reading assignment
Web Based Homework (based on reading)
» Traditional problems.
» Interactive Examples (IE’s).
» Unlimited tries before deadline, immediate feedback.
Web Based Preflight (JITT)
» Provides information to instructor prior to discussion section.
» Graded on participation only
Discussion (2-hour capstone)
» Group problem solving facilitated by instructor
» Graded on participation
Also:
Three web-based quizzes
Written (M/C) final exam
Rochester AAPT Meeting (July/25/01): Pg 11
Traditional Homework:
Rochester AAPT Meeting (July/25/01): Pg 12
Limited help available…
Rochester AAPT Meeting (July/25/01): Pg 13
Interactive Examples (Socratic Dialogue)
Start by asking a numeric question
(usually multi-step)
when students click in “Help”…
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…”Help” results in a discussion followed by some
multiple-choice questions that lead them toward
the answer…
Rochester AAPT Meeting (July/25/01): Pg 15
This dialogue can take several steps…
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…these steps are designed to
teach students problem solving
approaches as well as physics…
Rochester AAPT Meeting (July/25/01): Pg 17
Eventually they get another (simpler) numeric question whose
answer is needed to solve the primary numeric question.
Rochester AAPT Meeting (July/25/01): Pg 18
Clicking on “Help” again results in a
similar dialogue as the first time,
although one level “deeper”.
- Problems can be 4-5 levels deep
- Eventually they get enough info to
solve the problem.
Rochester AAPT Meeting (July/25/01): Pg 19
Once they get
right the answer
They get a
recap
And some
follow-up
questions
Rochester AAPT Meeting (July/25/01): Pg 20
Interactive Example Features:
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Created to develop concept based problem solving skill.
Quantitative Problems
Socratic help
Conceptual Analysis
Strategic Analysis
Quantitative Analysis
Recap
Follow up questions
Rochester AAPT Meeting (July/25/01): Pg 21
Student Logs
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We record all student submissions on IEs:
(the conversation)
Rochester AAPT Meeting (July/25/01): Pg 22

How much time do
students spend
on the IEs?
Average Time Spent (min)
This is Research data!
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
bobsled
incline
belt
twostrings
carpend
balloon
arrow
catchball
cartrain
vector
trig
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How well do the students
do on their first response
to questions?
Avg Grade on Radio Quest ions
Physics 101 IE #
0.90
0.80
0.70
0.60
0.50
0.40
0.30
0.20
0.10
0.00
bobsled
incline
belt
twostrings
carpend
balloon
arrow
catchball
cartrain
vector
trig
IE Question #
0.90
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How deep into the
IE do students go?
Avg Depth Into IE
0.80
0.70
0.60
0.50
0.40
0.30
0.20
0.10
0.00
bobsled
incline
belt
twostrings
carpend
balloon
arrow
catchball
cartrain
vector
trig
IE Question #
Rochester AAPT Meeting (July/25/01): Pg 23
Pre-Flights
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Due before discussion (6am Monday)
Used by instructor to guide discussion work
Graded on participation only
(This was Mondays talk)
Rochester AAPT Meeting (July/25/01): Pg 24
Discussion Section:
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Students work in groups on problems designed after
examining homework & preflight answers.
Purpose is to tie up loose ends.
Students should leave understanding everything
done during the previous week.
» i.e. reading, homework, preflights are capped off
by discussion.
Graded on attendance & participation
Rochester AAPT Meeting (July/25/01): Pg 25
Are we helping students ?
Performance on Hour Exams
79
Percentile Grade
77
75
73
Physics 111
Physics 100
71
69
67
65
0
1
2
3
4
Exam
Rochester AAPT Meeting (July/25/01): Pg 26
Are we helping students…
Can we reduce the failure rate of under-prepared
students in Physics 111/112/113/114 ?
Probably YES (research by Gladding & Shoaf)
Physics 111 Grade
Average physics 111 students
Average physics 100 students
All students
Self Evaluation Score
Rochester AAPT Meeting (July/25/01): Pg 27
DISTRIBUTION OF FINAL GRADES
Physics 100 alumni
taking Physics 111
All Physics 111
students
FINAL GRADE IN PHYSICS 111
14%
FINAL GRADE IN PHYSICS 111
16%
17%
22%
A
A
B
B
C
C
D,F,W
D,F,W
34%
36%
32%
29%
Rochester AAPT Meeting (July/25/01): Pg 28
So…are we helping ??

It seems like we might be, however there is a is a big
caveat: Physics 100 students are self selected !
 Are we getting only those students that were going
to do well anyway ?
 We need more data to study this.
» A real placement test would be very helpful !
Rochester AAPT Meeting (July/25/01): Pg 29
Follow Up:
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Alumni of Physics 100 test to need/want more help with
physics as they work through the Physics 111/112 sequence.
We now offer 1-hour courses for Physics 100 graduates that
parallel the regular Physics 111 (spring) and 112 (fall) courses.
Weekly 2-hour tutorial sections.
Graded on participation only.
Although we know the students are very happy with these,
we are presently attempting to quantify the effect.
Small statistics so far.
Rochester AAPT Meeting (July/25/01): Pg 30
The Future:
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So far, results are encouraging; however, we would like to
verify the validity of the Self Evaluation test.
Placement test.
Quantify the effects of the course.
Increase Minority Participation.
NSF Grant to fund minority participation program.
Working together with office of Minority Engineering
Program ( M.E.P.) at U. of I.
Web-based interactive lectures with audio.
Students want to have a formal lecture.
» Cant do this “formally” and keep low time impact.
Next best thing may be web-based lecture notes.
» Sound will provide extra dimension.
Rochester AAPT Meeting (July/25/01): Pg 31