Response-shift bias (RSB) describes how instructional interventions induce a downshift in students’ self-assessment of their pre-instructional capabilities and interests, such as measured by the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey (CLASS). This downshift produces a misalignment between the students' perception of their learning experience and pre-to-post self-assessment shifts, possibly explaining why positive CLASS shifts are difficult to obtain. To further explore this downshift, we added a reflective question to four items on the CLASS asking students to explain how they determined their responses. We examine correlations between themes in students’ reflections, finding that the students made more connections with their conceptual knowledge at the end of the semester than at the beginning. This change highlights the role of RSB in their survey outcomes. These trends offer insight into additional dimensions of the student learning experience and could help physics educators design more engaging courses.

Impact of Response-Shift Bias on Students' Sense of Relevance

Response-shift bias explains how changes in students' criteria for self-evaluation can suppress the effect of educational interventions in pre-to-post shifts of self-reported metrics, such as the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey (CLASS). Therefore, the static or declining pre-to-post shifts seen in the CLASS might not reflect development in students' reasoning about themselves based on new knowledge of physics. We investigated possible causes of response-shift bias in the CLASS by adding a free response question after select CLASS items during a two-pass survey administration, asking students to explain their reasoning behind their expected and perceived shifts. We present the themes that occurred most clearly in students' free responses to one survey item, which highlight the established forms of response-shift bias: recalibration of the students' standards of measurement, reprioritization of the students' values, and reconceptualization of the subject's content.

Themes in student self-assessments of attitudinal development in the CLASS

The Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey (CLASS) assesses students’ perceptions of physics through self-reported agreement with attitudinal statements. Previous work shows that CLASS results may be subject to response-shift bias, in which knowledge gained during an intervention causes learners’ perceptions of their pre-instructional state to become more novice-like. We explored possible sources of this response-shift bias in the CLASS by asking students to (1) complete the survey twice at the beginning of the semester (providing their pre-instruction responses and expected end-of-semester responses) and twice at the end of the semester (providing their post-instruction responses and retrospective beginning-of-semester responses), and (2) comment on their concurrent responses. By comparing beginning-of-semester and end-of-semester comments with survey shifts from a broad sample of students, we illuminate an underexplored dimension of student thinking. Preliminary results show that our students expect their perceptions of the applicability of physics will grow directly from acquiring physics knowledge.

Sources of Response-Shift Bias in the CLASS’s Real-World Connection

(LC) PER: Assessment, Grading and Feedback III

technical paper

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.



AAPT SM 22

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.

Poster Session 2C

poster

**Making Physics More Inclusive and Eliminating Exclusionary Practices in Physics**

As a gateway discipline to STEM majors and careers, physics plays a central role in deciding who does, and who doesn't, get to discover and pursue scientific careers. Technical and scientific professionals are rewarded with economic privilege and status which affords them both social and cultural power. Therefore, social justice will be realized only when the opportunity, and the choice, to excel in physics is open to all students. The culture and practices of the physics classroom reflect the culture of physics at large, which raises the question of how our professional physics communities can embrace, rather than inadvertently repel, a diverse group of academics that can help improve physics culture.  To this end, the 2021 Physics Education Research Conference will focus on defining inclusive spaces and practices. Additionally, we will explore strategies for eliminating exclusionary practices in our classrooms, research spaces, and professional organizations. We call on the community to propose sessions that will drive conversations related to these initiatives throughout PERC 2021.

Please download the full program [here. ](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TRMC_SYJ3PUqXyP7sskA7LRSA8ow0eRE/view?usp=sharing)

PERC SM 21

August 4, 2021 - August 5, 2021 in a Virtual Conference Format

Making Physics More Inclusive and Eliminating Exclusionary Practices in Physics

PS.A-SA-06: PER: Assessment, Grading and Feedback I

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.

Please log in with your AAPT account or register for the event if you haven't already.

If you are registered please note that you need to be logged in with your AAPT email / credentials in order to get access.

Ivy Shaw

3

SHORT BIO

Presentations

Impact of Response-Shift Bias on Students' Sense of Relevance

Themes in student self-assessments of attitudinal development in the CLASS

Sources of Response-Shift Bias in the CLASS’s Real-World Connection

Stay up to date with the latest Underline news!

PRESENTATIONS

CONFERENCES

COMPANY

RESOURCES