Role of PER in a Thriving Physics Department - Viewing Learning through the Lens of Physics

1. Our PER group 2 faculty – 1 physics + 1 education 1 post doc 3 graduate students 1 teacher-in-residence Visiting scholars Etc. Role of PER in a Thriving Physics Department -Viewing Learning through the Lens of Physics Ken Heller School of Physics and Astronomy University of Minnesota 20 year continuing effort to improve undergraduate education with contributions by: Many faculty and graduate students of U of M Physics Department In collaboration with U of M Physics Education Group Details at http://groups.physics.umn.edu/physed/ Supported in part by Department of Education (FIPSE), NSF, and the University of Minnesota

2. Outline for Discussion • What can PER do for your department. • Examples Are we a “thriving” department? • Number of majors increased from about 15/yr to about 50/yr • We are maxed out • Instructional budget is “protected” by the Dean through numerous budget cuts • Adequate funding for undergraduate program improvements both internal and external • We have large improvements to make– we can do better. • Improve the number of female majors • Better measure of problem solving • Modernize the curriculum • More organized undergraduate research

3. All Physics Departments Teach The Same Stable Better Implementation Meta-stable Specific Changes Stable Systemic Changes Individual Effort Departmental Commitment Research-based Instructional System Large continuous effort Easily returns to ground state Small continuous effort Stable against small changes Can jump to ground state Small continuous effort Stable against change Can decay to ground state

4. PER: Helps Initiate Change • Don’t try to invent a perpetual motion machine. • Good educational practice, like good science is often counter-intuitive • Fundamental Principles (Causality, Unitarity, Lorentz Invariance) • Theory (Electricity and Magnetism described by Maxwell’s equations) • Empirical rules (Ohm’s law) • Educational change has a long history • Many things are known not to work • We even know why they don’t work • Learning is a biological process, teaching is the action that helps people implement that process. • Neural science and cognitive psychology set boundary conditions • Teaching is the manipulation of the learning environment • Assessing change • What is an appropriate measure? • Establishing a baseline

5. PER: Helps Implement Change • Arrive at reasonable goals • Getting information from stakeholders • What changes are easy • What changes are hard • Identify minimum necessary changes • Incremental or dive in • Recognition that improvement takes time • Measurement and baseline data • Change initially degrades performance performance time

6. PER: Helps Sustain Change • A Physics Department is not a closed system • Inputs from Administration, Government, Parents, Students • Initiatives to embrace • Initiatives to ignore • Initiatives to resist • Finances are important – what to cut? • Faculty time is important – effort balance • Meaningful change is not initially popular • Understand dynamics of natural human resistance • To identify and tweak the parameters requires measurements • Countering entropy increase requires an energy input • Identify when system is degrading • Initiate corrective action

7. PER Enriches the Intellectual Environment • Research into learning from a physics point of view • Education • Cognitive psychology • Neural science • Measurement • Quantitative – appropriate statistics • Qualitative • Question the “frozen” curriculum • Awareness of the field • Build on other people’s progress • Research opportunities for students • Opportunities for outside collaboration • Opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration

8. Phenomenological Learning TheoryApprenticeship Works Pedagogy - Learning is a Biological Process INSTRUCTION model coach fade Cognitive Apprenticeship Learning in the environment of expert practice • Why it is important • How it is used • How is it related to a student’s existing knowledge Neurons that fire together, wire together Simplification of Hebbian theory: Hebb, D (1949). The organization of behavior. New York: Wiley. Collins, Brown, & Newman (1990) Brain MRI from Yale Medical School Neuron image from Ecole Polytechnique Lausanne

9. Pedagogy – Cooperative Group Problem Solving Four hours/week, sometimes with informal cooperative groups. Model constructing knowledge in response to problems, model organizedproblem solving framework. LECTURES One houreach Thursday – cooperative groups practice using a problem-solving framework to solve context-rich problems. Peer coaching, TA coaching. RECITATIONSECTION Two hours/week -- samecooperative groups practice using a framework to solve context-rich experimental problems. SameTA. Peer coaching, TA coaching. LABORATORY 4 quizzes/semester on Friday -- problem-solving & conceptual questions (2 problems, 10 multiple choice) (1 group problem in previous discussion section). TESTS

10. Scaffolding Additional structure used to support the construction of a complex structure. Removed as the structure is built Examples of Scaffolding in teaching Introductory Physics • An explicit problem solving framework - continually modeled • A worksheet that structures the framework – removed early in the course • Cooperative group structure that encourages productive group interactions • Limit use of formulas by giving an equation sheet (only allowed equations) • Explicit grading rubric for problem solutions to encourage expert-like behavior • Problems that discourage novice problem solving • Explicit grading rubric for lab problems to encourage expert-like behavior • TA education and support in pedagogy

11. STEP 1 Recognize the Problem What's going on? Describe the problem in terms of the field STEP 2 What does this have to do with ...... ? Plan a solution STEP 3 How do I get out of this? STEP 4 Execute the plan Let's get an answer Competent Problem Solver STEP 5 Evaluate the solution Can this be true? G. Polya, 1945 Problem-solving FrameworkUsed by experts in all fields Chi, M., Glaser, R., & Rees, E. (1982)

12. Problem Solving Worksheet used at the beginning of the course Page 1 Page 2

13. Individual Context- Rich Problem on an Exam Your task is to design an artificial joint to replace arthritic elbow joints in patients. After healing, the patient should be able to hold at least a gallon of milk while the lower arm is horizontal. The biceps muscle is attached to the bone at the distance 1/6 of the bone length from the elbow joint, and makes an angle of 80o with the horizontal bone. How strong should you design the artificial joint if you assume the weight of the bone is negligible. Gives a motivation – allows some students to access their mental connections. Gives a realistic situation – allows some students to visualize the situation. Does not give a picture – students must practice visualization. Uses the character “you” – allows some students to visualize the situation.

14. Positive Interdependence Face-to-Face Interaction Individual Accountability Explicit Collaborative Skills Group Functioning Assessment Email 8/24/05 I was reading through your 'typical objections'. Another good reason for cooperative group methods: this is how we solve all kinds of problems in the real world - the real academic world and the real business world. I wish they'd had this when I was in school. Keep up the great work. Rick Roesler Vice President, Handhelds Hewlett Packard Coaching With Cooperative Groups Having Students Work Together in Structured Groups

15. Retention Change from quarters to semesters quarters semesters Dropout rate to 6%, F/D rate to 3% in all classes

16. Final State Student Problem Solutions Initial State

17. 06 07 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 08 93 94 95 Each letter represents a different professor (37 different ones) • Incoming student scores are slowly rising (better high school preparation) • Our standard course (CGPS) achieves average FCI ~70% • Our “best practices” course achieves average FCI ~80% • Not executing any cooperative group procedures achieves average FCI ~50%

18. Students are getting better from high school There is a gender gap in conceptual performance from high school Males do better.

20. About 90% of males and 85% females have had at least high school physics

21. There is a slight gender gap in math skills from high school Females do slightly better.

22. 17.1 1.4 % 14.2 14.5 10.1 3.1 % 3.6 % 0.7 % Gap = 13.0 1.2 % Gender gap is there no matter what high school physics preparation.

23. 13.8 1.5 % 12.6 13.3 11.8 3.5 % 3.4 % 0.8 % Gap = 13.0 1.7 % Gender gap persists no matter what high school physics preparation.

25. CEILING EFFECT

26. Males and females gain the same amount from the class.

27. Males and females do about as well in the course.

28. Males do slightly better in the course final exam problems.

29. Identify Critical Failure Points Fail Gracefully Non-optimal implementation gives some success • Inappropriate Tasks • Must engage all group members (not just one who knows how to do it) • 2. Inappropriate Grading • Must not penalize those who help others (no grading on the curve) • Must reward for individual learning • 3. Poor structure and management of Groups

30. Building A Course • Teach Students an Organizational Framework • Emphasize decisions using physics • Rule-based mathematics • Use Problems that Require • An organized framework • Physics conceptual knowledge • Connection to existing knowledge • Use Existing Course Structure • Lectures and “handouts” MODELING • Discussion Sections COACHING • Labs COACHING • Scaffolding to Support Problem Solving Peer Instructor Modeling Coaching Fading

31. CGPS Propagates Through the Department Goals: Calculus-based Course (88% engineering majors) 1993 4.5 Basic principles behind all physics 4.5 General qualitative problem solving skills 4.4 General quantitative problem solving skills 4.2 Apply physics topics covered to new situations 4.2 Use with confidence • Goals: Biology Majors Course 2003 • 4.9 Basic principles behind all physics • 4.4 General qualitative problem solving skills • 4.3 Use biological examples of physical principles • 4.2 Overcome misconceptions about physical world • 4.1 General quantitative problem solving skills • 4.0 Real world application of mathematical concepts and techniques Upper Division Physics Major Courses 2002 Analytic Mechanics Electricity & Magnetism Quantum Mechanics Graduate Courses 2007 Quantum Mechanics

32. The End Please visit our website for more information: http://groups.physics.umn.edu/physed/ The best is the enemy of the good. "le mieux est l'ennemi du bien" Voltaire