Design labs: Student’s Expectations and Reality

1. Design labs: Student’s Expectations and Reality Physics Education Research Conference Salt Lake City, August 2005 Eugenia Etkina and Sahana Murthy Rutgers University, New Jersey http://paer.rutgers.edu:/scientificabilities Supported in part by NSF Grant DUE #0241078

2. Abstract The Rutgers PAER group has developed introductory physics labs in which students design their own experiments. These labs help them develop scientific abilities such as: designing an experiment, collecting and analyzing data, and communicating the details of an experiment. This study investigates the social aspect of student learning in these labs: whether students’ expectations are consistent with the goals of the labs, whether students’ assessment of their own learning in the labs matches the goals, and whether students perceive labs as helpful in learning useful skills.

3. Motivation Theoretical approach to complex learning: Contextual modules. Learning is more complex than simple acquisition of declarative know- ledge (physics concepts) and procedural skills (experimentation abilities). Goals and feelings of a learner are important contributors. C. Bereiter. “Aspects of an educational learning theory” Review of educational research, 60(4), pp. 603-624. Intentional Conceptual Change: Learner’s motivation is strongly related to conceptual change. Intentional Conceptual Change edited by M. G. Sinatra and P. R. Pintrich, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers, Mahwah, NJ, 2003. Attitudes towards science. Relationship between student attitudes towards science with their science achievement. M.P.Freedman, “Relationship among laboratory instruction, attitude toward science and achievement in science knowledge.” Journal of Research in Science Teaching,34 (4), (1997). Expectations and attitudes in physics. Students’ expectations of physics instruction different from instructors’. E.F. Redish, J.M.Saul, and R.N. Steinberg, “Student expectations in introductory physics”. Am. J. Phys., 66(3), 212-224 (1998).

4. Previous work on design labs Scientific Community Labs (SCL), Maryland PER group. Teach students to utilize everyday skills of decision-making for data collection and analysis. Students designed their own experiments. Rutgers labs have goals similar to those of SCL, but explicitly focus students’ attention on the development of scientific abilities. (R. Lippmann. Students’ understanding of measurement and uncertainty in the physics laboratory: social construction, underlying concepts, and quantitative analysis. Ph. D. thesis, University of Maryland, 2003. ) SCALE-UP, NCSU Open-ended problems, require some observations. Students decide what can be determined from a measurement and what has to be estimated. Implemented in special classrooms. http://www.ncsu.edu/per/scaleup.html

5. Implementation Course: • 2-semester introductory physics course • Majors: Biology, pre-med, pre-vet, exercise science, environmental science, meteorology • Enrollment: 190 students • Integrated lecture-lab-recitation Labs: • Open-ended, non-cookbook • Taught via ISLE approach • Students work in groups • Students design experiments • Write-up: no instructions on how to perform experiment. • Write-up: guides students through aspects of an experimental process • Rubrics: guidance and self-assessment

6. Scientific Abilities Rubrics SCORE ABILITY 0: Missing 1: Not adequate 2: Needs some improvement 3: Adequate No attempt is made to evaluate the consistency of the result using an independent method. A second independent method is used to evaluate the results. But there is little discussion about the differences in the results. An independent method is used to evaluate the results. Some discussion about the differences in the results is present, but there is little or no discussion of the reasons for the differences. An independent method is used to evaluate results. The discrepancy between the results of the two methods, and reasons are discussed. To evaluate the results by means of an independent method To identify assumptions made in making the prediction No attempt is made to identify any assumptions. An attempt is made to identify assumptions, but most are missing, vague, or incorrect. Most assumptions are correctly identified. All assumptions are correctly identified.

7. Example of a lab write-up Design two independent experiments to determine the specific heat of the given object (made of an unknown material). You have access to the following equipment: water, Styrofoam container, heater, weighing balance, thermometer. For each method, write the following in your lab-report: First, come up with as many designs as possible to determine the specific heat. Write a brief outline of each. Then choose the best design. Indicate the criteria that you used. Include a verbal description and a labeled sketch of the design you chose. Construct the mathematical procedure you will use. What physical quantities will you measure? List the assumptions you made. How could they affect the result? What are the sources of experimental uncertainty? How would you minimize them? Evaluate how they affect the result. Perform the experiment and record your measurements. Calculate the specific heat, based on your procedure and measurements. After you have done both experiments, compare the two outcomes. Discuss if they are close to each other within your experimental uncertainty. If they results are different, discuss possible reasons.

8. Example of student work Designing an experiment to determine a physical quantity. Communication:Pictures,words mathematical representations Assumptions in the procedure and their effects Evaluating experimental uncertainties

9. Study: Survey on students’ goals Survey on students’ goals and expectations at the end of 2nd semester. Open response questions and Likert-type questions 1. Describe three important things you learned in labs. (Open-response) 2. Below is a list of possible goals that a college-level science lab course can have. On a scale of 1 to 5,rate how important you think these goals are for you. (1 means it is not important for you and 5 means it is very important.) • Learn to design your own experiment • Learn to interpret experimental data • Prepare for your future professional career • Understand concepts better • Learn to work with other people • Learn to communicate ideas in different ways

10. Survey (…contd.) 3. Below is the same list of goals as in 2. On a scale of 1 to 5, rate how successful the physics labs were in terms achieving these goals. (1 means they were not at all successful and 5 means they were very successful.) • Learn to design your own experiment • Learn to interpret experimental data • Prepare for your future professional career • Understand concepts better • Learn to work with other people • Learn to communicate ideas in different ways

11. Results CLASSIFICATION OF STUDENTS’ RESPONSES TO Q.1 OF SURVEY: OPEN RESPONSE QUESTION

12. Results STUDENTS’ RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS 2 & 3 OF SURVEY: LIKERT-TYPE QUESTIONS

13. Results STUDENTS’ RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS 2 & 3 OF SURVEY: LIKERT-TYPE QUESTIONS

14. Results STUDENTS’ RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS 2 & 3 OF SURVEY: LIKERT-TYPE QUESTIONS

15. Implications for Instruction • Communicate our goals of instruction to students: • Why did we choose these goals? How do we plan to achieve them? Why do we think they will help students? • Reward students • Assess students on exams on ability to design experiment, interpret data. • Connect to students’ future professions • Explicit connection between abilities and content learned in labs and students’ future careers Example: A doctor designs and performs an investigation to test if the tick that bit the patient can cause Lyme disease