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Most introductory algebra-based physics courses focus entirely on simple situations for which neat analytical solutions exist: constant acceleration, freefall, simple harmonic motion. One of the main reasons for this is that most of our students lack the mathematical tools to investigate these complicated situations which more closely match those they would find in the real world. However, the use of spreadsheets and coding languages enables a different but powerful approach to situations whose analytical solutions are too difficult for algebra-based students to deal with. When using differential models, students can observe complex behavior emerge from simple, easily-understood rules. Here we demonstrate a number of situations from mechanics and circuits which highlight the advantage of differential models in making complex phenomena accessible to students with little background in math such as motion with non-uniform acceleration, air resistance and terminal velocity, simple and damped harmonic motion, non-Ohmic resistance, and RC circuits.

AAPT SM 22

Utility of Differential Models in Algebra-Based Physics

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Complex multiple-choice questions are commonly used to test for physics knowledge, appearing on course exams, concept inventories, and the physics GRE. These questions are assumed to measure more complex thinking than standard multiple choice questions do because students must determine which set of statements is true (e.g., A only, A and C, etc.). Our previous work found students in STEM courses answer these questions incorrectly more often than standard multiple-choice questions. Here, we examine whether there are disparities in who answers these questions correctly in introductory physics compared to other introductory STEM courses. Our data comes from an online, “points-free” test bank where students practice for their upcoming exams using actual questions from previous exams. As expected, results showed significant variation between students in who answers complex multiple-choice questions correctly, which can inform whether using these types of questions might be introducing unintended systematic grade penalties in course exams.

Who answers complex multiple-choice questions in physics correctly?

Results from a multi-semester study of the effects of eight supplemental laboratory activities in a general education physics will be presented. A total of two control and three treatment semesters were studied. The results allowed comparison between expert-like attitudes measured by the CLASS and scientific reasoning skills measured by the Lawson CTSR. Comparison of the pre/posttest CLASS scores and posttest Lawson CTSR scores found no correlation between the overall scores or the scores from the question groups measuring specific attitudes or reasoning skills. Additionally, both student attitudes and scientific reasoning skills showed improvement for the first semester the intervention was applied. In subsequent semesters, improved scientific reasoning skills continued to be observed while improvement in students’ scientific attitude faded. A detailed comparison of the CLASS and CTSR scores will be presented along with a discussion of the implications for instruction given this apparent decoupling of expert-like attitudes and reasoning skills.

Comparison of expert-like attitudes and scientific reasoning skills

In this poster we examine what constitutes high, normal and low self-efficacy - or the confidence in one’s capability to perform a task - for one student. We draw from a study where we used a novel mixed methods design to examine how a student’s self-efficacy fluctuates over time. Quantitatively, we employed the Experience Sampling Method (ESM) using surveys of domain-specific self-efficacy. Qualitatively, we used daily journal reflections to investigate threats and supports toward students’ self-efficacy. In order to identify high, normal, and low moments of self-efficacy we have explored their individual interquartile range. Here, we will present our mixed-methods analysis to examine how disaggregating by time influences the process of identifying how, normal, and low self-efficacy.

Investigating Measures of Self-Efficacy Disaggregated by Time

The Conceptual Survey of Electricity and Magnetism (CSEM) is a multiple-choice survey that contains a variety of electricity and magnetism concepts at the level of introductory physics used to help inform instructors of student mastery of those concepts. Prior studies suggest that many concepts on the survey are challenging for introductory physics students and the average student scores after traditional instruction are low. The research presented here compares the performance of students in introductory, upper-level, and graduate-level physics courses on five CSEM questions to understand the cross-sectional evolution of student understanding of these concepts from the introductory to upper-level to graduate-level. We discuss five CSEM questions that remain challenging for many upper-level and graduate students.

Evolution in student conceptual understanding of electricity and magnetism

Societal stereotypes and biases pertaining to who belongs in physics and who can excel in physics can impact motivational beliefs, e.g., of women and racial and ethnic minority students in physics courses. This study investigates how the learning environment predicts male and female students’ motivational beliefs including physics self-efficacy, interest, and identity at the end of year long (spanning two-semester) algebra-based introductory physics courses. These were courses at a large university in the US taken primarily by biological science majors many of whom are interested in health professions. Although women are not underrepresented in these physics courses, societal stereotypes and biases internalized by female students over their lifetime can still impact their motivational beliefs about physics. Our findings show gender gap in motivational beliefs favoring men. These findings can be useful to provide support and create an equitable and inclusive learning environment to help all students excel in these courses.

Learning environment predicts women's motivational beliefs in introductory physics courses

Research-validated clicker questions as instructional tools for formative assessment are relatively easy to implement and can provide effective scaffolding when developed and implemented in a sequence. We present findings from the implementation of a research-validated Clicker Question Sequence (CQS) on student understanding of the time-development of two-state quantum systems. This study was conducted in an advanced undergraduate quantum mechanics course. The effectiveness of the CQS was determined by evaluating students’ performance after traditional lecture-based instruction and comparing it to their performance after engaging with the CQS.

Using Clicker Question Sequence to Teach Time-Development in Quantum Mechanics

Given the central importance of increasing high school students’ interest as a goal of physics education in international science standards, empirical support for the theoretical description of interest is essential. Previous studies about students’ interest in physics focused on gender issues and did not include modern physics contents. Thus, we investigate which aspects of physics students are interested in and whether they can be categorised into different interest types based on their interest profiles and physics-related self-concept. We conducted a cross-cohort study with German-speaking students aged 14 to 16 years (N = 1214). A mixed Rasch analysis revealed that most students are interested in physics only when set in a context related to one’s own body, socio-scientific issues, and existential questions of humankind. Knowing high school students’ types of interest will enable educators to better design their learning activities and increase their students’ interest.

Students’ Types of Interest in Physics

We investigate the effect of working in mixed or same-gender groups on physics self-efficacy and self-reported ''peer influence on self-efficacy" in a calculus-based introductory physics course in which women are severely underrepresented. We found that men had higher physics self-efficacy and reported higher peer influence on self-efficacy than women, likely due to societal stereotypes and biases. All students except those who worked in same-gender groups had a decrease in average physics self-efficacy from the beginning to the end of the semester. Finally, gender predicted self-efficacy for students who worked in mixed-gender groups, but not for those in same-gender groups. Our findings suggest that instructors should implement classroom policies that encourage equitable and inclusive group work, so that all students can thrive.

Female students’ self-efficacy benefits most from same-gender group work

In this work, we used survey data and grade information to compare the predictive power of self-reported self-efficacy and test anxiety on low-stakes (e.g., homework and quizzes) and high-stakes (e.g., traditional exams) assessment scores in a traditionally taught large introductory physics course. We found that there are gender differences in both self-efficacy and test anxiety, as well as in high-stakes assessment outcomes. There were no gender differences in low-stakes assessment scores. Further, we found that models that control for self-efficacy and/or test anxiety eliminate the predictive power of gender for high-stakes assessment scores. Finally, we found that self-efficacy partially mediates the effect of test anxiety on high-stakes assessment outcomes. These trends suggest that teaching methods that alleviate test anxiety have the potential to create a more equitable learning environment.

Does test anxiety explain gender differences in physics exam scores?

Research suggests that students’ self-efficacy, interest and identity in physics can influence their learning, performance and career decisions. However, there are few studies focusing on how inclusiveness of learning environment shapes these motivational beliefs of women and men. Therefore, we conducted a study to investigate how students’ perception of the inclusiveness of learning environment (including sense of belonging, peer interaction and perceived recognition) predicts students’ physics self-efficacy, interest and identity in a calculus-based introductory physics course. Findings can be useful in creating equitable and inclusive learning environments in which all students can thrive. We thank the National Science Foundation for support.

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Utility of Differential Models in Algebra-Based Physics

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