United States

The Department of Physics at University of Connecticut launched a studio physics program in fall 2019, to provide an engaging introductory physics education experience to thousands of undergraduate students annually. Prior to the launch, most of these introductory courses were taught using traditional lecture. A main point of tension between these two instructional modes is the role of the instructor. We noticed that instructors from a range of backgrounds experience difficulties supporting students in effectively engaging with group work. These difficulties were exacerbated when the courses were taught in a distance-based learning format. As part of a larger project to develop guides for instructors to effectively support inclusive group work, we conducted a literature review through the lenses of cognitive science, inclusive teaching, and research-based instructional strategies. In this talk, we will discuss the studio program at UConn, the findings of our literature review, and the group work guides. 


AAPT SM 21

Improving group work in studio-style physics courses

studio physics

group work

collaborative learning

The 2020 AAPT Virtual Summer Meeting brought together physics educators from around the globe to learn about the latest in physics theory, research methodology and education from leaders in their field. The program featured plenary speakers, sessions, workshops and many special activities.

For more information please visit the 2020 AAPT Virtual Summer Meeting page at: https://www.aapt.org/Conferences/SM2020/index.cfm.


AAPT SM 20

The 2020 AAPT Virtual Summer Meeting brought together physics educators from around the globe to learn about the latest in physics theory, research methodology and education from leaders in their field. 

technical paper

Join AAPT and Physics Educators worldwide in developing and strengthening your professional connections by attending the 2021 AAPT Virtual Summer Meeting. AAPT meetings are a great way to reflect on your teaching, recommit to best practices and re-energize your career with new research, products, and techniques.

Listen to internationally known plenary speakers, attend sessions, workshops, and special activities. Attending the virtual summer meeting is an excellent opportunity to share your expertise and learn from and network with leaders in the field.

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As the interests of science and industry continue to push toward the very small, an understanding of advanced imaging methods has become an increasingly competitive skill for young physicists and optical engineers. Yet many undergraduate curricula have been slow to integrate concepts such as Fourier optics and coherent diffraction imaging (CDI) into their courses. We present a simple and portable experiment that allows students to explore the basic principles of Fourier optics, diffraction, digital signal processing, sampling, and coherent imaging in a take home laboratory kit.

Principles of Fourier optics in a take home undergraduate laboratory

As part of a research project to examine whether students can develop scientific habits of mind through video-based experimentation, we created video-based Investigative Science Learning Environment learning cycles (v-ISLEs), where students investigated phenomena using interactive videos. We implemented these cycles, twice, once in Fall 2018 and again in Spring 2019. We divided a 96-student algebra-based ISLE physics class into sections where some students used only ISLE apparatus-based labs, while some students had a mixture of v-ISLEs and apparatus labs. At the beginning and end of the semester, students answered the E-CLASS, a survey that assesses students’ attitudes about a variety of scientific laboratory practices. We will present how the different lab settings affect students' views about their strategies and habits of mind when doing experiments.

ISLE-based apparatus and video labs: student’s beliefs about experimental physics

One of the goals of physics instruction is to help students develop reasoning skills in the context of physics. As conceptual understanding is required to reason productively, it is necessary to design an instrument that disentangles (to the degree possible) a conceptual understanding from reasoning approaches. To address this challenge, we have been developing sequences of screening-target questions: screening questions probe conceptual understanding, while target questions require students to apply this understanding in situations that present reasoning challenges. We will discuss the validation process involving cluster analysis, logistic regression, and classical test theory item analysis such as item difficulty and discrimination. Current results suggest that most items are appropriate for calculus-based introductory students and are functioning as expected.

Development of an Instrument to Assess Student Reasoning

Distractors (incorrect responses) on research-designed multiple choice instruments like the FCI reflect prevalent student misconceptions. Hence analyzing all student responses on an equal footing should yield information on actual student beliefs, whereas total score only sets a threshold for “Newtonian Thinking”. We developed a Multi-dimensional Nominal Item Response Theory that yields a “weight matrix” acting on a student’s responses to give various dimensions of ability. Analyzing 3 large colleges called State, State University, and University in order of increasing posttest score on the FCI, we find that Dimension 1 correlates with score at the 0.98 level. The weight matrix elements for the second dimension correlate at ~0.73 among these colleges and positive ability#2 represents understanding N’s 3rd but not his 2nd law vs the reverse for negative ability#2. The third dimension shows correlations of ~ 0.4 and we find that this dimension has partially different implications across the colleges.

FCI Higher Dimensions Determined by Analyzing Right and Wrong Responses

The effectiveness of peer review sessions in introductory physics laboratory courses has been measured. To implement the peer review sessions, the laboratory course has been adjusted from twelve somewhat connected experiments to three sets of experiments that all focus on a different concept within introductory physics: linear motion, springs, and collisions. The students prepare a rough draft for the paper for each set, which is then given to other students for them to critique and give feedback. An evaluation protocol to measure a given paper’s effectiveness in multiple aspects has also been developed. Comparing the results to a preliminary study completed multiple years ago, we can see the true effect that the changes to the laboratory class have made.

Effectively Implementing Peer Review into the Introductory Physics Laboratory Course

We report on three separate cases applying a metric to compare two populations' item response curves (IRCs). Each IRC plots the percentage of students selecting a particular answer choice on an item as a function of their overall score on the concept inventory. First, we compare the IRCs of different demographic groups using data from the Science Literacy Concept Inventory. Next, we use the metric to compare American and Japanese students' IRCs used in Ishimoto, Davenport, and Wittmann (2017) for the Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation. We also compare the IRCs of each group to the IRCs of a separate American data set. Lastly, we compare the pre-instruction IRCs to the post-instruction IRCs for a matched data set of students completing the Force Concept Inventory. The metric is a measure of the IRCs' similarity, and we used it to identify items that may exhibit bias or demonstrate differences between populations.

An approach for comparing student populations using item response curves

In the spring and summer of 2020, we collected data on faculty experiences during their transition to onlineteaching as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Data on the participants’ institutions, job security and position, and preparation time were collected, as well as a free text response to add anything the participants felt wasrelevant. In total 364 text responses were collected. Using natural language processing tools, sentiment scoreswere calculated for each response. The sentiment was found to be overall positive. Then, a machine learning model was created using Keras, which was trained on various data for 75% of the responses. The remaining 25% were used for predicting sentiment scores, to identify which data from the survey, if any, were potentialpredictors of participant sentiment. The score predictions were used to determine if any data on participants’institutions, positions, or transition time were correlated with positive or negative experiences.

Predictors of faculty sentiment on their transition to online teaching

This project aims to understand physics faculty responses to transitioning to online teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. We surveyed 662 physics faculty following the spring 2020 term, and 258 completed a follow up survey after the fall 2020 term. We used natural language processing to measure the change in sentiment scores of one hundred physics faculty from the United States that completed an optional written prompt on both the initial and follow up surveys. These sentiment scores measured between -1 and 1 for completely negative and completely positive respectively. Sentiment scores after spring 2020 were slightly positive with a median value of 0.2347. The distribution of sentiment changes was approximately normally distributed with a mean centered near zero. Analysis suggests the average sentiment did not change from the initial to followup surveys.

Sentiment Analysis of Faculty Responses COVID Transition to Online Learning

To scaffold GTAs’ use of evidence-based teaching practices, we incorporated four training sessions with a mixed-reality simulator into physics GTA training during the Spring 2020 semester. Three sessions were held and facilitated in-person, while the final session was done remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We decided to hold the final session remotely to balance health risks while closing the loop for GTAs’ professional development and the research project. This remote style mimicked the remote teaching GTAs would do to complete the Spring 2020 semester and have continued through the Summer 2021 semester. Here, we present how two physics GTAs used the pedagogical skills during the remote training session. We also discuss implications and provide considerations for the future direction of physics GTA professional development.

GTAs' Use of Pedagogical Skills in Remote Mixed-reality Training Session

Understanding how experienced and novice teachers can facilitate each other’s professional development can help us to develop a supportive community of practice. In summer 2020, teachers participated in a professional development workshop as part of the Illinois Physics and Secondary Schools (IPaSS) partnership program. During the workshop, pairs of teachers discussed a set of problems focused on conceptual reasoning about energy. One pair consisted of an experienced teacher and a novice teacher. We analyzed the dynamics of the two teachers as they established rapport and created a space where both felt comfortable sharing their ideas and expressing uncertainty. We interviewed these teachers using a video-stimulated recall technique to gain further insight into their perceptions of the interaction, and we will report the results of these interviews in this talk.

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Improving group work in studio-style physics courses

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Principles of Fourier optics in a take home undergraduate laboratory

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