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We investigated how the answer format for online practice affects the learning and assessment of vector addition skills in introductory university physics. Both algebra-based and calculus-based students practiced vector addition throughout their introductory mechanics course using an online testing and mastery practice platform at a large public university. Class sections were split into two training conditions where students either answer in multiple-choice format or free-response format by drawing the answer vector on a grid. We compared pre- and post-tests between the two conditions to determine whether the vector addition format affected performance and training. On the pretest, there were within-student differences in answering and a hierarchy between question types, where almost all the students who can answer the free-response questions correctly can also answer the multiple-choice questions correctly but not vice versa. We will also present the results from the post-test and any implications for instruction.

AAPT SM 22

Learning Vectors Online: Comparing Multiple-Choice to Drawing Vectors

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. This meeting is an excellent opportunity to share your expertise and learn from and network with leaders in the field.



technical paper

Research suggests that certain incorrect patterns of student reasoning remain even after instruction. Many challenging tasks seem to elicit strong intuitively appealing (but incorrect) responses. Even those students who demonstrate that they possess the formal knowledge necessary to analyze given situations correctly tend not to use this knowledge. Dual-process theories of reasoning suggest that to catch a mistake, (1) a reasoning red flag must be raised, and (2) the validity of a response must be checked. The last step is particularly challenging for many introductory physics students. In this talk, we will discuss the results of a study intended to help students develop validity checking strategies in various situations that require the application of Newton's second law. We will discuss implications for instruction and research.

Teaching Reasoning Skills Necessary to Validate or Reject a Response

We report on a study of response time data on basic algebra questions in undergraduate introductory Physics courses to learn more about its relationship with accuracy. Of specific interest is the importance of familiarity with Physics symbols in algebraic expressions. For isomorphic questions, we investigate the differences in response time and accuracy distributions between two groups of students - one trained with common Math symbols and the other with Physics symbols. We also investigate and compare changes in the response time-accuracy relation for the two symbol formats. To improve the analysis, a response time effort index is created based on the distributions to estimate the number of students making rapid guesses. Important goals of this analysis include gaining insights into how to construct valid and reliable measures of algebra skills relevant for introductory physics, and the extent to which students can improve these skills on time scales of weeks.

Algebra Accuracy and Response Time: Physics vs Common Math Symbols

If you ask a director of recruitment “What’s that thing you do to recruit students?,” you’ll likely get an awkward look. It would be a look similar to the one you would give them if they asked you “What do you teach your majors?” The truth is, effective recruiting requires a strategy, multiple actions, sustained effort, and mindful messaging to effectively market your program. This is especially true for teacher preparation programs because the recruitment efforts need to include marketing the profession itself, not just the discipline that hosts the major. And some marketing will need to be directed toward fellow faculty. Fortunately, Get the Facts Out has vetted resources to help departments tailor media/content to best meet those needs. From presentations, posters, and postcards to shared Google sheets, LFD slides, and mass mailings, I will share my experiences making use of these resources in my local context.

Recruiting Teachers: What’s that thing you do?

In 2020 the University of Illinois launched The Illinois Physics and Secondary Schools (IPaSS) Partnership Program with goals specifically related to increased student interest in STEM in physics through intensive teacher support. The partnership provides teachers with research based resources from the University for classroom use. As a result of pulling together teachers from across the state, the partnership has also created a strong network of emerging teacher-leaders in physics classrooms and the quality of physics instruction is increasing for all participants. This talk will discuss the influence and benefits of the program from the teacher perspective.

Strengthening High School Teacher Quality Through a University Partnership

We investigated the effect of the pandemic on teacher quit rates using public records from the U.S. Dept. of Labor. Over the past 20 years, people employed by public educational institutions (the vast majority of whom are K-12 teachers) voluntarily left their jobs at a lower rate than nearly all other groups. During the pandemic, teacher quit rates did not change significantly, while the quit rates for most other occupation groups rose sharply during 2021. This finding brings up questions about how teachers have been impacted by the pandemic relative to other professionals and has implications for how we talk with students and others about career choices.

Teachers quit at lower rates than most other professionals

This study applied survival analysis to explore outcomes of students pursuing STEM majors at a large, eastern, land-grant university. Students who attended high school in rural locales and those who were first-generation college students displayed qualitatively different patterns of changing majors and of departing the university than did continuing-generation, non-rural students. This suggests that the most crucial points in the college career to provide support or encouragement to make the decision to continue may also differ. Logistic regression was used to examine factors, including high school preparation and college course-taking patterns, that correlate with persistence and successful progress in STEM majors.

Examining Factors Related to Rural, First-Generation Student Persistence in STEM

Typically, physics education research addresses alternatives to transmission-based models of instruction. In light of critical pedagogy, I argue that the more relevant model to address is the banking model of education as identified by Paulo Freire, which subjects students to the colonialist consciousness and obedience to authority. In doing so, we can better identify root structural issues that plague the physics community. I argue that the Western conception of objectivity in science is motivated by the colonialist consciousness. The rigidity of what is considered science limits the identity of scientists to those of European descent, erasing the historical scientific knowledge of other peoples, such as the Indigenous peoples. I demonstrate a framework in which physics education is informed by critical pedagogy, as shaped by bell hooks and Sandy Grande, principled upon respect, reciprocity, and the human experience.

The Banking Model of Physics Education

Epistemic agency, or agency over knowledge, is well-studied in K-12 STEM learning environments and an area of current research within university physics laboratories. However, it has not been explored in upper division and major courses. In this talk, we explore how students engage in practices mirroring those of professional physicists in a project-based computational physics course designed to support students' epistemic agency. We introduce the overlapping yet distinct concept of pragmatic agency, or agency over practical decisions, to understand how students work evolves. We focus on a project where they also engage in making: they build physical and computational models in parallel. We argue for the importance of students having extensive agency over what to model and how to model for developing a grasp of computational physics practice.

Pragmatic and Epistemic Agency in A Project-based Computational Physics Course

As part of an effort to examine students’ mathematical sensemaking in a spins-first quantum mechanics course, students were asked to construct an eigenvalue equation for an operator that represents the position of a particle constrained to exist along a line. A subset of student responses took the general form of an eigenvalue equation written in Dirac notation. These responses were indicative of a few different ways of thinking about eigenvalue equations: a standard geometric interpretation, operating as measuring, and the eigenvalue equation as it relates to potential outcomes of measurement. In the context of Sherin’s symbolic forms framework, these data suggest three different symbolic forms for an eigenvalue equation that all share a single symbol template but have different conceptual schemata.

Student-Constructed Eigenvalue Equations in Quantum Mechanics: A Symbolic Forms Analysis

One important outcome of physics instruction is for students to be capable of relating physical concepts to multiple mathematical representations. In quantum mechanics (QM), students are asked to work across multiple symbolic notations, including some not encountered in previous coursework. To investigate student understanding of the relationships between expressions used in these various notations and generic vector expressions, a survey was distributed to students in upper-division QM courses at multiple institutions. The courses surveyed included those structured both as “spins-first” and “wave functions-first.” Network analysis techniques were used to compare student understanding of common expressions used in these courses, in both Dirac notation and wave function notation. Preliminary analysis suggests that, in addition to more distinct morphological grouping, students in “spins-first” courses also appear to conceptualize Dirac expressions as more vector-like than those in “wave-functions first” courses, consistent with the instructional emphasis.

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Learning Vectors Online: Comparing Multiple-Choice to Drawing Vectors

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