{"title":"Erratum: Development and validation of a conceptual multiple-choice survey instrument to assess student understanding of introductory thermodynamics [Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 19, 020112 (2023)]","authors":"Mary Jane Brundage, Chandralekha Singh","doi":"10.1103/physrevphyseducres.20.029901","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevphyseducres.20.029901","url":null,"abstract":"<span>DOI:</span><span>https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.20.029901</span>","PeriodicalId":54296,"journal":{"name":"Physical Review Physics Education Research","volume":"25 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2024-09-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142257532","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-09-16DOI: 10.1103/physrevphyseducres.20.020116
Beth A. Lindsey, Andrew Boudreaux, Drew J. Rosen, MacKenzie R. Stetzer, Mila Kryjevskaia
In this study, we have explored the effectiveness of two instructional approaches in the context of the motion of objects falling at terminal speed in the presence of air resistance. We ground these instructional approaches in dual-process theories of reasoning, which assert that human cognition relies on two thinking processes. Dual-process theories suggest multiple possible avenues by which instruction might impact student reasoning. In this paper, we compare two possible instructional approaches: one designed to reinforce the normative approach (improving the outputs of the intuitive process) and another that guides students to reflect on and analyze their initial ideas (supporting the analytic process). The results suggest that for students who have already demonstrated a minimum level of requisite knowledge, instruction that supports analysis of their likely intuitive mental model leads to greater learning benefits in the short term than instruction that focuses solely on providing practice with the normative mindware. These results have implications for the design of instructional materials and help to demonstrate how dual-process theories can be leveraged to explain the success of existing research-based materials.
{"title":"Reinforcing mindware or supporting cognitive reflection: Testing two strategies for addressing a persistent learning challenge in the context of air resistance","authors":"Beth A. Lindsey, Andrew Boudreaux, Drew J. Rosen, MacKenzie R. Stetzer, Mila Kryjevskaia","doi":"10.1103/physrevphyseducres.20.020116","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevphyseducres.20.020116","url":null,"abstract":"In this study, we have explored the effectiveness of two instructional approaches in the context of the motion of objects falling at terminal speed in the presence of air resistance. We ground these instructional approaches in dual-process theories of reasoning, which assert that human cognition relies on two thinking processes. Dual-process theories suggest multiple possible avenues by which instruction might impact student reasoning. In this paper, we compare two possible instructional approaches: one designed to reinforce the normative approach (improving the outputs of the intuitive process) and another that guides students to reflect on and analyze their initial ideas (supporting the analytic process). The results suggest that for students who have already demonstrated a minimum level of requisite knowledge, instruction that supports analysis of their likely intuitive mental model leads to greater learning benefits in the short term than instruction that focuses solely on providing practice with the normative mindware. These results have implications for the design of instructional materials and help to demonstrate how dual-process theories can be leveraged to explain the success of existing research-based materials.","PeriodicalId":54296,"journal":{"name":"Physical Review Physics Education Research","volume":"4 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2024-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142257533","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-09-12DOI: 10.1103/physrevphyseducres.20.020115
Justin A. Gutzwa, Ramón S. Barthelemy, Camila Amaral, Madison Swirtz, Adrienne Traxler, Charles Henderson
Despite knowing physics and astronomy doctoral programs are laden with identity-based inequities, they continue to push minoritized students to the margins. This qualitative social network analysis of 100 women and/or lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and more () physics and astronomy Ph.D.’s explores how minoritized physics and astronomy students utilize social networks to navigate departmental exclusion. Our findings indicate that many of the participants’ identities were often unacknowledged or negatively addressed within their graduate education, with only four participants reporting a positive or favorable experience during this period of their career. Direct support from peers, faculty, and identity-based affinity groups was necessary for participants to navigate their educations. This study demonstrated that generic best practices often cannot fully support the diverse range of persons who come to physics and that identity-neutral values in physics further isolate students by insinuating that their own minoritized experiences are not valid.
{"title":"How women and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer physics doctoral students navigate graduate education: The roles of professional environments and social networks","authors":"Justin A. Gutzwa, Ramón S. Barthelemy, Camila Amaral, Madison Swirtz, Adrienne Traxler, Charles Henderson","doi":"10.1103/physrevphyseducres.20.020115","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevphyseducres.20.020115","url":null,"abstract":"Despite knowing physics and astronomy doctoral programs are laden with identity-based inequities, they continue to push minoritized students to the margins. This qualitative social network analysis of 100 women and/or lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and more (<math display=\"inline\" xmlns=\"http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML\"><mrow><mi>LGBT</mi><mo>+</mo></mrow></math>) physics and astronomy Ph.D.’s explores how minoritized physics and astronomy students utilize social networks to navigate departmental exclusion. Our findings indicate that many of the participants’ identities were often unacknowledged or negatively addressed within their graduate education, with only four participants reporting a positive or favorable experience during this period of their career. Direct support from peers, faculty, and identity-based affinity groups was necessary for participants to navigate their educations. This study demonstrated that generic best practices often cannot fully support the diverse range of persons who come to physics and that identity-neutral values in physics further isolate students by insinuating that their own minoritized experiences are not valid.","PeriodicalId":54296,"journal":{"name":"Physical Review Physics Education Research","volume":"44 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2024-09-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142205833","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-09-11DOI: 10.1103/physrevphyseducres.20.020114
Devyn Shafer, Daniela Girotti-Hernandez, Tim Stelzer
Students often struggle in the transition from high school to college. One component of this struggle is adjusting study habits to navigate new academic expectations. Another is establishing new relationships in college that can support their emotional well-being and academic success. We administered surveys consisting primarily of open-ended questions to students taking an introductory physics course in order to gain insight into students’ study habits and support structures and how they change from high school to college. We find that many students learn that they need to dedicate more time outside of class to studying in order to succeed in college. Many students trying to improve their performance report practicing more, but our results suggest that more practice alone is not sufficient; rather, students were able to increase their performance and satisfaction in the course by engaging more deeply with the material. Regarding support structures, we find that in high school, students find their teachers highly supportive and accessible, but they are less likely to approach their college professors for help. Meanwhile, many students find peers to be an important source of support in college as the amount of support they receive from their families diminishes with distance from home. Gaining a better understanding of students’ study habits, support structures, and how they conceptualize them can help us design course structures and messaging that can more effectively help students develop strong learning strategies and social networks.
{"title":"Evolving study strategies and support structures of introductory physics students","authors":"Devyn Shafer, Daniela Girotti-Hernandez, Tim Stelzer","doi":"10.1103/physrevphyseducres.20.020114","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevphyseducres.20.020114","url":null,"abstract":"Students often struggle in the transition from high school to college. One component of this struggle is adjusting study habits to navigate new academic expectations. Another is establishing new relationships in college that can support their emotional well-being and academic success. We administered surveys consisting primarily of open-ended questions to students taking an introductory physics course in order to gain insight into students’ study habits and support structures and how they change from high school to college. We find that many students learn that they need to dedicate more time outside of class to studying in order to succeed in college. Many students trying to improve their performance report practicing more, but our results suggest that more practice alone is not sufficient; rather, students were able to increase their performance and satisfaction in the course by engaging more deeply with the material. Regarding support structures, we find that in high school, students find their teachers highly supportive and accessible, but they are less likely to approach their college professors for help. Meanwhile, many students find peers to be an important source of support in college as the amount of support they receive from their families diminishes with distance from home. Gaining a better understanding of students’ study habits, support structures, and how they conceptualize them can help us design course structures and messaging that can more effectively help students develop strong learning strategies and social networks.","PeriodicalId":54296,"journal":{"name":"Physical Review Physics Education Research","volume":"7 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2024-09-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142205700","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-09-06DOI: 10.1103/physrevphyseducres.20.020113
Zengze Liu, Sudong Pan, Lei Bao
Student learning in simple electric circuits has been an important area in physics education research. This study builds off a previous investigation that applied the conceptual framework model to examine knowledge integration in student learning of simple electric circuits and developed a multiple-choice concept test for assessing knowledge integration in simple electric circuits. In this study, a conceptual-framework-based teaching intervention was developed and implemented in a controlled study with high school students in China to evaluate the effectiveness of the new instruction. Using the instrument developed in the previous study, a pretest, a post-test, and a delayed post-test were conducted with both groups of students. The delayed post-test was included to further evaluate knowledge retention as evidence of knowledge integration. The results suggest that the conceptual-framework-based teaching intervention was effective in promoting knowledge integration compared to the existing instruction.
{"title":"Effectiveness of conceptual-framework-based instruction on promoting knowledge integration in learning simple electric circuit","authors":"Zengze Liu, Sudong Pan, Lei Bao","doi":"10.1103/physrevphyseducres.20.020113","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevphyseducres.20.020113","url":null,"abstract":"Student learning in simple electric circuits has been an important area in physics education research. This study builds off a previous investigation that applied the conceptual framework model to examine knowledge integration in student learning of simple electric circuits and developed a multiple-choice concept test for assessing knowledge integration in simple electric circuits. In this study, a conceptual-framework-based teaching intervention was developed and implemented in a controlled study with high school students in China to evaluate the effectiveness of the new instruction. Using the instrument developed in the previous study, a pretest, a post-test, and a delayed post-test were conducted with both groups of students. The delayed post-test was included to further evaluate knowledge retention as evidence of knowledge integration. The results suggest that the conceptual-framework-based teaching intervention was effective in promoting knowledge integration compared to the existing instruction.","PeriodicalId":54296,"journal":{"name":"Physical Review Physics Education Research","volume":"49 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2024-09-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142205834","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-08-26DOI: 10.1103/physrevphyseducres.20.020112
Vanessa P. Bustamante, Hannah E. Blomgren, Dasha K. Walker, Joshua D. Edwards, Regina F. Frey
In this exploratory study, we examined students’ perceptions of inclusion in a calculus-based, introductory physics 1 course for science and engineering majors. This course, offered at a large R1 institution in the United States, was conducted remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Via a survey given at the end of the semester, students rated their course inclusion and provided open-text explanations for their ratings. On average, students rated the course as moderately inclusive. Using inductive qualitative content analysis, six categories emerged: academic, identity, lack of understanding, nonspecific, other, and remote learning. The top three categories were academic (41%), nonspecific (33%), and remote learning (18%). The remote learning category included phrases containing remote learning, Zoom, or COVID-19, along with a second idea explaining the student’s level of inclusion, leading to remote learning subcategories. These subcategories were similar to the other primary categories and the academic subcategories. Many students cited academic reasons for their inclusivity scores, including course structure, teaching practices, instructor-student interaction, student-student interaction, and overall course environment. Importantly, many of these factors are within the instructor’s influence. Chi-square tests indicated that students perceiving high inclusion emphasized academic factors, while those feeling low inclusion focused on the remote learning aspect of the course. Overall, our findings suggest that instructors can significantly influence students’ perceptions of inclusion through various teaching strategies, interactions between instructors and peers, and a welcoming environment. These insights contribute to the ongoing discussion about creating inclusive classrooms by incorporating student perspectives.
{"title":"Exploratory analysis of students’ open-ended responses describing their perception of course inclusivity in an introductory physics course","authors":"Vanessa P. Bustamante, Hannah E. Blomgren, Dasha K. Walker, Joshua D. Edwards, Regina F. Frey","doi":"10.1103/physrevphyseducres.20.020112","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevphyseducres.20.020112","url":null,"abstract":"In this exploratory study, we examined students’ perceptions of inclusion in a calculus-based, introductory physics 1 course for science and engineering majors. This course, offered at a large R1 institution in the United States, was conducted remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Via a survey given at the end of the semester, students rated their course inclusion and provided open-text explanations for their ratings. On average, students rated the course as moderately inclusive. Using inductive qualitative content analysis, six categories emerged: academic, identity, lack of understanding, nonspecific, other, and remote learning. The top three categories were academic (41%), nonspecific (33%), and remote learning (18%). The remote learning category included phrases containing remote learning, Zoom, or COVID-19, along with a second idea explaining the student’s level of inclusion, leading to remote learning subcategories. These subcategories were similar to the other primary categories and the academic subcategories. Many students cited academic reasons for their inclusivity scores, including course structure, teaching practices, instructor-student interaction, student-student interaction, and overall course environment. Importantly, many of these factors are within the instructor’s influence. Chi-square tests indicated that students perceiving high inclusion emphasized academic factors, while those feeling low inclusion focused on the remote learning aspect of the course. Overall, our findings suggest that instructors can significantly influence students’ perceptions of inclusion through various teaching strategies, interactions between instructors and peers, and a welcoming environment. These insights contribute to the ongoing discussion about creating inclusive classrooms by incorporating student perspectives.","PeriodicalId":54296,"journal":{"name":"Physical Review Physics Education Research","volume":"77 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2024-08-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142205835","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-08-23DOI: 10.1103/physrevphyseducres.20.020111
Ian Descamps, Sophia Jeon, N. G. Holmes, Rachel E. Scherr, David Hammer
In introductory physics laboratory instruction, students often expect to confirm or demonstrate textbook physics concepts. This expectation is largely undesirable: labs that emphasize confirmation of textbook physics concepts are generally unsuccessful at teaching those concepts and even in contexts that do not emphasize confirmation, such expectations can lead to students disregarding or manipulating their data in order to obtain the expected result. In other words, when students expect their lab activities to confirm a known result, they may relinquish epistemic agency and violate disciplinary practices. We present a contrasting case where, we claim, confirmatory expectations can actually support productive disciplinary engagement. In this case study, we analyze the complex dynamics of students’ epistemological framing in a lab where students’ confirmatory expectations support and even generate epistemic agency and disciplinary practices, including developing original ideas, measures, and apparatuses to apply to the material world.
{"title":"Dynamics of productive confirmation framing in an introductory lab","authors":"Ian Descamps, Sophia Jeon, N. G. Holmes, Rachel E. Scherr, David Hammer","doi":"10.1103/physrevphyseducres.20.020111","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevphyseducres.20.020111","url":null,"abstract":"In introductory physics laboratory instruction, students often expect to confirm or demonstrate textbook physics concepts. This expectation is largely undesirable: labs that emphasize confirmation of textbook physics concepts are generally unsuccessful at teaching those concepts and even in contexts that do not emphasize confirmation, such expectations can lead to students disregarding or manipulating their data in order to obtain the expected result. In other words, when students expect their lab activities to confirm a known result, they may relinquish epistemic agency and violate disciplinary practices. We present a contrasting case where, we claim, confirmatory expectations can actually support productive disciplinary engagement. In this case study, we analyze the complex dynamics of students’ epistemological framing in a lab where students’ confirmatory expectations support and even generate epistemic agency and disciplinary practices, including developing original ideas, measures, and apparatuses to apply to the material world.","PeriodicalId":54296,"journal":{"name":"Physical Review Physics Education Research","volume":"7 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2024-08-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142205840","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-08-19DOI: 10.1103/physrevphyseducres.20.020110
Mary Jane Brundage, David E. Meltzer, Chandralekha Singh
We use the Survey of Thermodynamic Processes and First and Second Laws-Long (STPFaSL-Long), a research-based survey instrument with 78 items at the level of introductory physics, to investigate introductory and advanced students’ difficulties with entropy and the second law of thermodynamics. We present an analysis of data from 12 different introductory and advanced physics classes at four different higher education public institutions in the United States in which the survey was administered in person to more than 1000 students. We find that a widespread unproductive tendency for introductory students to associate the properties of entropy with those of energy leads to many errors based on an idea of “conservation of entropy,” in which entropy increases are always balanced by equal entropy decreases. For many of the more advanced students (calculus based and upper level), we detect a tendency to expect entropy increases even in processes in which the entropy does not change. We observed a widespread failure to correctly apply the relationship , either by using it for irreversible processes to which it does not apply or by applying it incorrectly or completely neglecting it in reversible processes to which it does apply. We also noted that many introductory students are simply not aware that total entropy must increase in any “spontaneous” heat transfer process. Students at all levels were very frequently found to be confused that while net entropy () in reversible isothermal processes does not change, the entropy of the working substance itself does indeed increase or decrease depending on whether the process is an expansion or compression. Our findings are broadly consistent with prior research findings in this area, expanding upon them and revealing previously unreported aspects of students’ thinking. Moreover, our results reflect several new problem contexts in addition to those reported in prior research, and our sample population includes large numbers of both introductory and advanced students. Our detailed findings related to common student difficulties with entropy and the second law of thermodynamics before and after traditional instruction in college physics courses can potentially help instructors of these courses improve student understanding of these concepts. These findings can also be valuable for developing effective research-based curricula and pedagogies to reduce student difficulties and help students develop a solid grasp of these fundamental thermodynamic concepts.
{"title":"Investigating introductory and advanced students’ difficulties with entropy and the second law of thermodynamics using a validated instrument","authors":"Mary Jane Brundage, David E. Meltzer, Chandralekha Singh","doi":"10.1103/physrevphyseducres.20.020110","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevphyseducres.20.020110","url":null,"abstract":"We use the Survey of Thermodynamic Processes and First and Second Laws-Long (STPFaSL-Long), a research-based survey instrument with 78 items at the level of introductory physics, to investigate introductory and advanced students’ difficulties with entropy and the second law of thermodynamics. We present an analysis of data from 12 different introductory and advanced physics classes at four different higher education public institutions in the United States in which the survey was administered in person to more than 1000 students. We find that a widespread unproductive tendency for introductory students to associate the properties of entropy with those of energy leads to many errors based on an idea of “conservation of entropy,” in which entropy increases are <i>always</i> balanced by equal entropy decreases. For many of the more advanced students (calculus based and upper level), we detect a tendency to expect entropy increases even in processes in which the entropy does <i>not</i> change. We observed a widespread failure to correctly apply the relationship <math display=\"inline\" xmlns=\"http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML\"><mrow><mi mathvariant=\"normal\">Δ</mi><mi>S</mi><mo>=</mo><msub><mrow><mi>Q</mi></mrow><mrow><mtext>reversible</mtext></mrow></msub><mo>/</mo><mi>T</mi></mrow></math>, either by using it for <i>irreversible</i> processes to which it does not apply or by applying it incorrectly or completely neglecting it in reversible processes to which it does apply. We also noted that many introductory students are simply not aware that total entropy must increase in any “spontaneous” heat transfer process. Students at all levels were very frequently found to be confused that while net entropy (<math display=\"inline\" xmlns=\"http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML\"><mrow><mi>system</mi><mo>+</mo><mtext>reservoir</mtext></mrow></math>) in reversible isothermal processes does not change, the entropy of the working substance itself does indeed increase or decrease depending on whether the process is an expansion or compression. Our findings are broadly consistent with prior research findings in this area, expanding upon them and revealing previously unreported aspects of students’ thinking. Moreover, our results reflect several new problem contexts in addition to those reported in prior research, and our sample population includes large numbers of both introductory and advanced students. Our detailed findings related to common student difficulties with entropy and the second law of thermodynamics before and after traditional instruction in college physics courses can potentially help instructors of these courses improve student understanding of these concepts. These findings can also be valuable for developing effective research-based curricula and pedagogies to reduce student difficulties and help students develop a solid grasp of these fundamental thermodynamic concepts.","PeriodicalId":54296,"journal":{"name":"Physical Review Physics Education Research","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2024-08-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142205836","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-08-15DOI: 10.1103/physrevphyseducres.20.020109
Agata Lynch, Michael Cauchi, Gráinne Walshe
To address the issue of gender disparity in participation in the physics state matriculation exam, a novel school visit program was designed. The program was facilitated by undergraduate university students of physics and related courses who visited schools providing lower secondary education and delivered a single-session workshop including hands-on demonstrations of physics principles, presentations about famous female scientists, information on physics-related careers, and the importance of adopting a growth mindset. In this paper, we present a detailed description of the principles underlying the workshop’s design and its final outline. Participants’ responses to a pre-post questionnaire are analyzed to assess the immediate effects of the workshop, particularly as regards changes in their opinions about physics and students’ intention to study it for their state matriculation exam. Female and male responses are analyzed separately to establish differences in the intervention’s effect between the two genders. Results show an increase among female students with positive perceptions of their physics knowledge and familiarity with physics role models. Our attempt to boost confidence, enjoyment, and perceptions of the relevance of physics proved challenging but yielded some positive results. Strikingly, girls reported positive change in their ability to imagine themselves as physicists and their intention to study physics for their matriculation exam. The intervention was more successful among younger girls. Results obtained from boys were positive but to a lesser extent. The study demonstrates an encouraging and strong positive impact of a uniquely designed, single-session intervention, especially on adolescent girls, and contributes to research on the effectiveness of gender equality-oriented science outreach interventions.
{"title":"Development, evaluation, and gender differences in a novel workshop intervention to narrow the physics gender gap at postcompulsory level","authors":"Agata Lynch, Michael Cauchi, Gráinne Walshe","doi":"10.1103/physrevphyseducres.20.020109","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevphyseducres.20.020109","url":null,"abstract":"To address the issue of gender disparity in participation in the physics state matriculation exam, a novel school visit program was designed. The program was facilitated by undergraduate university students of physics and related courses who visited schools providing lower secondary education and delivered a single-session workshop including hands-on demonstrations of physics principles, presentations about famous female scientists, information on physics-related careers, and the importance of adopting a growth mindset. In this paper, we present a detailed description of the principles underlying the workshop’s design and its final outline. Participants’ responses to a pre-post questionnaire are analyzed to assess the immediate effects of the workshop, particularly as regards changes in their opinions about physics and students’ intention to study it for their state matriculation exam. Female and male responses are analyzed separately to establish differences in the intervention’s effect between the two genders. Results show an increase among female students with positive perceptions of their physics knowledge and familiarity with physics role models. Our attempt to boost confidence, enjoyment, and perceptions of the relevance of physics proved challenging but yielded some positive results. Strikingly, girls reported positive change in their ability to imagine themselves as physicists and their intention to study physics for their matriculation exam. The intervention was more successful among younger girls. Results obtained from boys were positive but to a lesser extent. The study demonstrates an encouraging and strong positive impact of a uniquely designed, single-session intervention, especially on adolescent girls, and contributes to research on the effectiveness of gender equality-oriented science outreach interventions.","PeriodicalId":54296,"journal":{"name":"Physical Review Physics Education Research","volume":"5 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2024-08-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142205841","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-08-06DOI: 10.1103/physrevphyseducres.20.020107
Yi Zou, Xinyu Xue, Lizhen Jin, Xiao Huang, Yanbing Li
Developing a deeper understanding of scientific concepts is one of the primary goals of science education. To improve students’ conceptual understanding, it is necessary to explore the major characteristics of their learning process. Informed by previous work on conceptual understanding, this study focuses on the concept of evaporation, exploring the level division of students’ conceptual understanding of evaporation and the development of corresponding test questions. The level-based conceptual understanding assessment was tested on 721 seventh-grade Chinese students before and after the evaporation lesson. The results of quantitative and qualitative analyses indicated that the students’ conceptual understanding of evaporation could be divided into three progression levels. Students with a low level of understanding only mechanically remembered the definition of evaporation and could identify evaporation phenomena in their daily lives based on memorized examples. Students with an intermediate level of understanding grasped not only the definition of evaporation but also the factors affecting the evaporation rate. Students with a high level of understanding understood the microscopic nature of evaporation and could explain how these three factors affect the evaporation rate from a microscopic perspective. This study also provides further evidence of the value of grasping the nature of concepts in conceptual understanding.
{"title":"Assessment of conceptual understanding in student learning of evaporation","authors":"Yi Zou, Xinyu Xue, Lizhen Jin, Xiao Huang, Yanbing Li","doi":"10.1103/physrevphyseducres.20.020107","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevphyseducres.20.020107","url":null,"abstract":"Developing a deeper understanding of scientific concepts is one of the primary goals of science education. To improve students’ conceptual understanding, it is necessary to explore the major characteristics of their learning process. Informed by previous work on conceptual understanding, this study focuses on the concept of evaporation, exploring the level division of students’ conceptual understanding of evaporation and the development of corresponding test questions. The level-based conceptual understanding assessment was tested on 721 seventh-grade Chinese students before and after the evaporation lesson. The results of quantitative and qualitative analyses indicated that the students’ conceptual understanding of evaporation could be divided into three progression levels. Students with a low level of understanding only mechanically remembered the definition of evaporation and could identify evaporation phenomena in their daily lives based on memorized examples. Students with an intermediate level of understanding grasped not only the definition of evaporation but also the factors affecting the evaporation rate. Students with a high level of understanding understood the microscopic nature of evaporation and could explain how these three factors affect the evaporation rate from a microscopic perspective. This study also provides further evidence of the value of grasping the nature of concepts in conceptual understanding.","PeriodicalId":54296,"journal":{"name":"Physical Review Physics Education Research","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2024-08-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141933535","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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