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Correlations between student discussion behavior, attitudes, and learning. Gerd Kortemeyer Michigan State University AAPT 2007 Summer Meeting. Overview. LearningOnline Network with CAPA (LON-CAPA) Online Homework Online Homework Discussions Online Homework Discussion Analysis. LON-CAPA.
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Correlations between student discussion behavior, attitudes, and learning Gerd Kortemeyer Michigan State University AAPT 2007 Summer Meeting
Overview • LearningOnline Network with CAPA (LON-CAPA) • Online Homework • Online Homework Discussions • Online Homework Discussion Analysis
LON-CAPA • LON-CAPA is a free open-source course management system, developed with a strong emphasis on science and math • Used at over 50 high schools and over 40 university • Shared content pool with over 275,000 resources • Over 100,000 homework problems • In addition: problem libraries for standard physics textbooks
Online Homework • The problems are randomizing • Every student gets a different version
Online Homework • The problems can be quite simple …
Online Homework • … or quite complex
Online Homework • Different types
Online Homework • Which type of homework do students profit from the most? • Which kind of student profits the most from homework?
Homework Discussions • Student discussions are a window into the thought processes of students • Usually done by taping students working in groups, transcribing, analyzing • Work intensive • Often research setting, not actual class work • Small groups and sample sizes
Homework Discussion • Discussion directly attached
Example Problem • A bug that has a mass mb=4g walks from the center to the edge of a disk that is freely turning at 32rpm. The disk has a mass of md=11g. If the radius of the disk is R=29cm, what is the new rate of spinning in rpm?
“Expert” Solution • No external torque, angular momentum is conserved • Bug is small compared to disk, can be seen as point mass
What do Students Learn • Almost all students got this problem correct in the end • Did almost all students learn the concept? • Did almost all students do what we expected from this problem?
Student Discussion • Student A: What is that bug doing on a disk? Boo to physics. • Student B: OHH YEAH ok this should work it worked for me Moments of inertia that are important.... OK first the Inertia of the particle is mr^2 and of a disk is .5mr^2 OK and angular momentum is conserved IW=IWo W=2pi/T then do this .5(mass of disk)(radius)^2(2*pi/T original)+ (mass of bug) (radius of bug=0)^2= (.5(mass of disk)(radius)^2(2pi/T))+ (mass of bug)(radius of bug)^2(2*pi/T) and solve for T
Student Discussion (cont.) • Student C: What is T exactly? And do I have to do anything to it to get the final RPM? • Student B: ok so T is the period... and apparently it works for some and not others.... try to cancel out some of the things that are found on both sides of the equation to get a better equation that has less numbers in it • Student D:what did I do wrong? This is what I did. initial inertia x initial angular velocity = final inertia x final angular velocity. I=mr^2, angular velocity = w... so my I initial was (10g)(24 cm^2) and w=28 rpm. The number calculated was 161280 g *cm^2. Then I divided by final inertia to solve for the final angular speed. I found final Inertia by ( 10g +2g)(24 cm^2)=6912. I then found the new angular speed to be 23.3 rpm. This was wrong...what did I do incorrectly?
Student Discussion (cont.) […] • Student H: :sigh: Wow. So, many, little things, can go wrong in calculating this. Be careful. […] • None of the students commented on • Bug being point mass • Result being independent of radius • No unit conversions needed • Several wondered about the “radius of the bug” • Plug in numbers asap • Nobody just posted the symbolic answer • Lots of unnecessary pain
Quantitative Research • Classify student discussion contributions • Types: • Emotional • Surface • Procedural • Conceptual • Features: • Unrelated • Solution-Oriented • Mathematical • Physics
Classifying Discussions Discussions from three introductory physics courses:
Classifying the Problems • Classifying the problems by question type • Multiple Choice (incl. Multiple Response) • highest percentage of solution-oriented discussions (“that one is right”) • least number of physics discussions • Ranking and click-on-image problems • Physics discussions highest • Problems with representation-translation (reading a graph, etc): • slightly less procedural discussions • more negative emotional discussion (complaints)
Degree of Difficulty • Harder than 0.6: more pain, no gain
Correlations • Force Concept Inventory (FCI) • Pre- and Post-Test
Regression • PostFCI=5,486+0,922•PreFCI+0,24 •PercentPhysics • PostFCI=7,606+0,857•PreFCI-0.042 •PercentSolution • Meaning what? • Students who contribute 100% solution-oriented discussions on the average have 4.2 points (out of 30) less on the post-test, controlling for pre-test
Acknowledgements and Website • Support provided by • National Science Foundation • Michigan State University • The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation • The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation • Our partner universities Visit us at http://www.lon-capa.org/