Educating in Bulk:
The Introductory Physics Course
Revisions at Illinois
Check it out at: http://www.physics.uiuc.edu/education/course_revision.html
Academic-Industrial Workshop
Rochester, NY
Gary Gladding
University of Illinois
October 21, 2001
Outline of Talk
• Overview (from the OLD to the NEW)
– Describe the OLD
– Demonstrate Success of Revisions
• The Revision
–
–
–
–
–
The Big Ideas
Lectures
Discussion Sections
Labs
Homework
• Concluding Thoughts
– Why did it work?
– What does it take to have it work elsewhere?
The OLD
• Introductory Physics at Illinois prior to Fall 1996
– We do “Educate in Bulk”
• Calculus-based sequence
– Physics 106 (Mechanics)
– Physics 107 (E&M)
– Physics 108 (Waves)
• Algebra-based sequence
– Physics 101 (Mechanics, thermo)
– Physics 102 (E&M, modern)
FALL
500
800
400
SPRING
1000
450
750
300
200
2200
200
300
2700
– Tradition, Tradition, Tradition
• Large (200-300) Lectures with Small (24) Sections for Discussions and
Labs (6-7 hrs/week)
• Lecturers free to “reinvent the flat tire” , Discussion TAs pretty much on
their own, Labs intellectually disconnected from rest of course.
• Exams: Quantitative Problems
• RESULTS: NOBODY IS HAPPY !!
The NEW
• Introductory Physics at Illinois as of Spring 2000
ALL COURSES TOTALLY REVISED !
The Big Idea: Integrate all aspects of a course using active
learning methods based on physics education research in a
team teaching environment
Calculus-based: PHYCS 111 (fall96)
112 (spring97)
Algebra-based: PHYCS 101 (fall99)
102 (spring00)
113/114 (fall97)
• Faculty Participation
• 16-17 Faculty assigned for these courses (2500 students)
• Responsibilities: Lecturer,Discussion Coordinator,Lab Coordinator
• Faculty team meets weekly to keep course on track.
• Faculty team creates exams
• The Good Things
• Pain and gain are shared.. No burnout.. NO HEROES
• Existing Infrastructure lowers the bar for participation.. This
assignment is seen as an ordinary assignment!
47 Faculty have taught in these revised courses!
Student Satisfaction
• What do students think of physics after taking our courses?
THE NEW
THE OLD
Student Attitudes Towards Physics 101 (fall99)
Before Course
awful
negative
neutral
After Course
positive
awful
negative
neutral
positive
After Course
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
enthusiastic
Before Course
No of Students
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
enthusiastic
No of Students
Student Attitudes Towards Physics 102 (fall99)
• How do students rate their TAs?
– University-wide ranking of “excellent”  top 30% of peers
THE OLD
Spring 95
Total Physics TAs = 77
# “Excellent”
= 15
19 ± 5 %
THE NEW
Spring 01
Total Physics TAs = 75
# “Excellent”
= 58
77 ± 6 %
What is My Point?
• We have made large systemic changes to the way we teach
introductory physics at Illinois.
– Good things have happened!
• The faculty are happy
– No heroes are needed or wanted.. Assignment is seen as regular
assignment.
– Most regular faculty can participate in and contribute to “the system”.
• The students are happy
– They gain a more positive opinion of physics
– They recognize uniformly good instruction
• The college is happy
– Of the last 25 College of Engineering Awards for excellence/innovation
in teaching, 8 have gone to Physics faculty (we make up 15% of COE
faculty)
– What next?
• What did we do to achieve these good results?
The PLAN
• ONE COURSE !!
– All pieces of the course (lectures, discussion, labs, homework) must be made
of the same cloth.
– The student should see a coherent plan at work.
• Emphasize Concepts !
– Traditionally, there is a large gap between what we think we are teaching
(physics) and what is being learned (equation manipulation)
– Introduce explicit instruction on concepts (and test for it !)
• Use Active Learning Methods
– The learning of physics is NOT a spectator sport
– Engage the student in all aspects of the course (including lecture)
– Make use of the products of Physics Education Research (materials and
knowledge). There is a research base here and faculty (especially at a
research university) should use it!
Lectures
• Calculus-Based Courses (111-114)
• Powerpoint Lectures with Video Projection
• Students can buy hard copies of slides & bring them to lecture
• Lectures are also available for viewing on the Web
• Lectures punctuated by ACTs (interactive segments)
• Algebra-Based Courses (101-102)
• “Just In Time Teaching”
• Students complete Web-based “preflights” (questions based
on readings) BEFORE 8am on day of lecture.
• Lecturer reads the responses of students and prepares
“Lecture” between 8am and noon.
• Lecture (at 1pm and 2pm) consists of explanations and ACTs
that are designed to address the student difficulties seen in
the preflights.
• PER Basis:
• ACTs: “Peer Instruction”, E. Mazur
• JiTT: “JiTT”, G.Novak, E.Patterson, A.Gavrin, W.Christian
Physics 102 ACTs
W
L
1
3
v
2
v
v
Which loop has the greatest induced current at the instant
shown above?
1 or 2 or 3 or all the same?
Lower magnet towards loop which way does the
current in the loop flow?
• In on right, out on left
• Out on right, in on left
• No current
S
N
Sample Preflight from Physics 101
Three swimmers can swim equally fast relative to the
water. They have a race to see who can swim across a
river in the least time. Relative to the water, Beth
(B) swims perpendicular to the flow, Ann (A) swims
upstream, and Carly (C) swims downstream. Which
swimmer wins the race?
A B C
16% A) Ann
The shortest distant across is a straight line. Beth starts off straight but
the current is taking her to the right so she has to swim longer to get
across. Carly is already going to the right and plus the current so she
would have to travel the farthest. Ann is swimming to the left and because
the current is goin to the right it would push her into a straight line. So
Ann would get there the fastest.
30% B) Beth
Beth will reach the shore first because the vertical component of her
velocity is greater than that of the other swimmers.
53% C) Carly
While Carly is moving forward she will also be moving along with the
current. two positive(+) direction motions = faster velocity.
Discussion Sections
TA to the rescue?
A Question!!
NO LECTURING HERE
• Key Idea: Collaborative Learning
– Students work in groups of 4 on problems prepared by the senior staff. TAs
act as facilitators, not lecturers.
– TA preparation very important (credit to Tim Stelzer)
• Orientation, Weekly Meetings, Mentor TAs, Observation
– Content of prepared materials very important
Content in Discussion Sections
• Calculus-Based Sequence
– Physics 111 (Mechanics) and Physics 112 (E&M)
• First 45 minutes: Focus on conceptual questions using Tutorials
developed at the University of Washington. (note: performance on
conceptual question on flux/superposition improved from 55% to 74%)
• Next 45 minutes: Focus on problem-solving using materials developed
by faculty in the course over the past few years.
• Last 20 minutes: Quiz
– Physics 113 (Thermal Physics) and Physics 114 (Quantum Physics)
• Use materials developed by faculty in courses (mostly problemsolving)
• Algebra-Based Sequence
– Use materials developed by faculty. A workbook, “The Problem Solver”,
has been developed by David Hertzog and is currently being used in
Physics 102.
Labs
– Adopt the approach of Thornton & Sokoloff to actively engage the students
in the learning process and to promote mastery of concepts by manipulation
of experimental apparatus.
– Prelab assignments; Lab reports finished within class period.
Homework Assignments
• Weekly Homework Assignments are done on the World-Wide
Web, using the TYCHO system developed by Denny Kane at
Illinois.
– “The Original Version” Quantitative Problems
• Students receive immediate feedback on their answers.
– Was the answer right? Also programmed ”help” available.
• Students can try a homework problem as many times as needed before
the due date, and can continue to work on the problems for some time
after the due date with a minor reduction in credit.
– “Some New Additions !”
• Concepts exercises: optional multiple choice questions using physical
setup of assigned problems. Help and explanations available.
• Preflights: initial questions on subject matter of class. Results available
to staff prior to class meeting.
• On-line quizzes: sample hour exam question (qualitative and quantitative
multiple-choice parts). No feedback before deadline.
• Interactive examples: web-based “Socratic dialogues” designed to
develop concept-based problem solving.
– More on this now as these exercises become our contribution to the
research base !!
What is an Interactive Example?
http://wug.physics.uiuc.edu/courses/ie.html
• Base question is a quantitative problem (multi-step).
• Students can request help which comes in the form of more questions.
– Questions for which more help is always available. Immediate feedback
(right or wrong with possibility of comment) is given.
• Numeric
• Algebraic
– Questions that must be answered correctly to get more help. Immediate
feedback (e.g. consequences of chosen wrong answer or explanation of
chosen correct answer) is given. (Pauses also used in this way)
• Radio button (single correct answer)
• Checkbox (multiple correct answers possible)
• Free response
– Complex topologies available through links (eg alternate paths, help modules)
• Students can opt to answer the base question at any time.
• Eventually, enough help is given to solve the problem (it is an “example”!)
• Once base question is answered correctly:
– Full credit is given.
– A Recap is given (Conceptual, Strategic and Quantitative Analyses).
– Follow-Up Questions (optional, i.e. no credit) are asked.
Results and Plans for Future
• Students really like the IEs
– Independent (OIR) Focus Group Study
• 100% of students preferred IEs to the usual computer problems
– Our End of Term Surveys
• How effective were IEs at helping you to develop a problem solving
strategy? “very effective” (31%), “effective” (56%),
– Direct Comment Facility from IE itself:
• Some examples:
– “the drawn out explainations are much like a one on one learning
environment and are very helpful not only in the problem but in the
concepts behind it”
– “if these interactive examples were not there to help me i would have
gone insane trying to figure out these problems....and this makes me
understand the problems much better than if i were to get help from
someone in the class...i believe anyways...because this way i'm figuring
it out basically on my own.…”
• But Are They Learning More?
– Fall 2001: full implementation in Physics 112 (calculus-based E&M)
– Assessment tools in place (on-line quizzes, final exams)
Why Is It Working?
• Key 1: Design Process was a Collective Effort
– Committee of 8 met for a year to generate the design
– These people became the core
• Key 2: Infrastructure
– People (veteran faculty, computing help, lecture, lab & secretarial support)
– Computing (all materials on NT server, faculty get NT machine for desk
while teaching)
– Welcome to 1XX, here’s how we do things….
• Key 3: Team-Teaching
– All faculty (3-4 per course) do faculty-type jobs
– Pain and Gain are shared … no more burnout… NO HEROES
• Key 4: Administrative Support
– Released time essential for initial creation of materials
– Total support for systemic change… JUST DO IT!
– Continuing support (e.g., new Assoc Head position) to maintain the system as
the “newness” wears off.
What Does it Take to Work Elsewhere?
• ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE
– An Unnatural Act ??
– Probably more important than any of the substantive details presented
earlier!
• MAJOR OBSTACLES (US !!)
–Character issue: The Arrogance of Physicists
•What makes effective instruction is largely an empirical question.
•Listen to students
•Learn from others
–Cultural issue: “My” Course
•Course is NOT just lectures
•Progress comes from contributions of many
BOTTOM LINE: Overcoming these obstacles is a liberating experience