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Revitalizing College Physics (CP) at UALR: Year 3

Revitalizing College Physics (CP) at UALR: Year 3. Al Adams Department of Physics and Astronomy University of Arkansas at Little Rock AOK 2013. Historical Context For This Project.

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Revitalizing College Physics (CP) at UALR: Year 3

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  1. Revitalizing College Physics (CP) at UALR: Year 3 Al Adams Department of Physics and Astronomy University of Arkansas at Little Rock AOK 2013

  2. Historical Context For This Project • Transforming Undergraduate Education in Science, Mathematics, Engineering, and Technology, National Research Council, 1999 (Six visions with implementation strategies) • AAPT, AIP and APS 2003 Strategic Programs for Innovations in Undergraduate Physics (SPIN-UP); recommendation to nurture the introductory courses • Decades of Advances in Teaching from Physics Education Research Community • Focus on Student Success as one factor in state funding for Higher Education (6-year graduation rate) • Adapting to a Changing World—Challenges and Opportunities in Undergraduate Physics Education (2013) • New MCAT (2015) Focus on Competencies

  3. Adapting to a Changing World—Challenges and Opportunities in Undergraduate Physics Education (2013) • Committee on Undergraduate Physics Education Research and Implementation; Board on Physics and Astronomy; Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences; National Research Council • Themes: Physics is Fundamental and Foundational, Systemic Tensions, Major Challenges, Improvements Exist, and Scientific Approach to Physics Education • Recommendations for Faculty: Learn and implement what is known to work from PER, Try to “convert” colleagues to the new way, modify teaching habits to draw in and retain more students, use the best instruments to assess student knowledge, skills, and attitudes, then work to get students on board with the “new” pedagogy • Recommendations for Chairs: Establish collective responsibility and a commitment to incremental improvement in the teaching and learning of physics

  4. Overview of College Physics at UALR • Serves approximately 500 students/year • Most are life science students, with other major group from Engineering Technology • Traditional 3-hr “lecture” and 1-hr laboratory (nominally 2 contact hrs) • Lecture and Lab need not be taken together • Optional 1 hr recitation section (poorly attended) • Instructors Strive to Cover 32 Chapters in 30 weeks, 18 in Semester 1, 14 in Semester 2; including modern and nuclear physics

  5. Premise: College Physics at UALR Can Be Improved • No Previous Applications of Proven PER Pedagogical Methods • No Consistent Assessment such as pre and post FCI results • High DFW rates (percentage of students who withdraw or earn grade of D or F) • Poor Student Evaluations from Biology Graduates • Few Recruits for the Major

  6. Strategy for Improvement (2011) • Get better data on our students, i.e. entrance level of math and science skills • Move away from traditional lecture toward more active engagement pedagogy • Specifically, add both traditional and interactive lecture demonstrations, personal response systems, online homework, greater lecture/laboratory articulation, peer instruction, class listserv, and increased help sessions • Assess impact via FCI gains, DFW rates, biology graduate reviews, MCAT scores, and gains in math skills • Begin PER activity

  7. What’s Happening Now (1) • Math Review Sessions First Two Weeks • Beginning Student Demographic Survey • Teaching Assistant in the Classroom • Online Discussion Forum for Group Problem-Solving • Use Webassign • Daily In-Class Activities; Interactive Lecture Demonstrations • End of class quiz graded and returned the following class period • Short entrance exercises or demonstrations

  8. What’s Happening Now (2) • Regular weekly help sessions and special pre-exam help sessions • Weekly tutorials supporting the laboratory of the week • Episodic pen-casts of course content or problematic homework assignments • Episodic video-tutorials and regular Khan recommendations • PER vignettes • End of semester concept survey (FCI scores remain at g = 0.20; CSEM % of 0.33.

  9. Recent DFW Data for CP I

  10. One Measure of Success: Number of Enrollees in Spring Physics II

  11. Success Data for CP II

  12. Example of Opening Exercise

  13. Example of Hands-On Exercise

  14. Recent Example of PER (Light) • While holding a book of mass M in your hand you raise it up at constant speed. Neglecting the very small effect of air resistance, the force which your hand exerts on the book while it is moving upward at constant speed is: a) equal to Mg upward b) greater than Mg upward c) less than Mg upward d) equal to Mg downward e) greater than Mg downward (most popular choice) f) less than Mg downward Please explain the rationale for your choice (second time around) Result: Question was poorly worded

  15. Trends in Student Assessment of Revitalized College Physics • Preference for Activity-Based Approach to Traditional Lecture (9:1) • Most find the class discussion via online Computing Services listserv helpful (able to give and receive hints on homework) (7:1) • Beginning attempts at video-tutorials were popular but question remains as to teaching and learning effectiveness (15:1); most felt that Khan Video-tutorials are helpful. • Continued dislike for Webassign and complaints that the assignments were too long (1 out of 4 liked it)

  16. Persistent Issues (Slide 1) • How to Address Student Weaknesses in Mathematics? Increase Help Sessions • Should Course Content Be Reigned In and Depth start to be as important as Breadth? Sacrifice Momentum (both linear and angular) • How to exploit online resources? Complement assignments with content-rich problems and activities

  17. Persistent Issues (Slide 2) Should Faculty Create or Exploit available Video-tutorials to support their class? Yes, for most important content Is Online Homework “working”? Yes, but not for all students Are there better assessment tools than FCI and CSEM? Not yet How to improve FCI results (g remains at 0.15—0.20) Increase impact of in-class activities

  18. A Proposal: Course Portfolio Chronicle of Course Presentation Demographic Data on Students DFW Data Record of Exams End of Course Survey Results

  19. Acknowledgements • Dr. Tony Hall, Chair of Physics and Astronomy at UALR • Graduate and Undergraduate Assistants Justin Empie, Vince Loyd, and Weiwei Sun. • Contributors to PER Knowledge Base

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