Physical Review ST Phys. Educ. Res.

Physical Review ST Phys. Educ. Res.

Recent articles in Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research
Toolbox of activities to support students in a physics gateway course Author(s): Calvin S. Kalman and Shelley Rohar This paper presents a set of activities, which scaffolds students to succeed in the standard Physics gateway course. The set of instructional activities that were designed included four distinct components: reflective writing, collaborative groups, critiques, and an essay question on the examination... [Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 6, 020111] Published Tue Aug 31, 2010 Pedagogical content knowledge and preparation of high school physics teachers Author(s): Eugenia Etkina This paper contains a scholarly description of pedagogical practices of the Rutgers Physics/Physical Science Teacher Preparation program. The program focuses on three aspects of teacher preparation: knowledge of physics, knowledge of pedagogy, and knowledge of how to teach physics (pedagogical conte... [Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 6, 020110] Published Tue Aug 31, 2010 Force Concept Inventory-based multiple-choice test for investigating students’ representational consistency Author(s): Pasi Nieminen, Antti Savinainen, and Jouni Viiri This study investigates students’ ability to interpret multiple representations consistently (i.e., representational consistency) in the context of the force concept. For this purpose we developed the Representational Variant of the Force Concept Inventory (R-FCI), which makes use of nine items fr... [Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 6, 020109] Published Wed Aug 25, 2010 Instructors’ reasons for choosing problem features in a calculus-based introductory physics course Author(s): Edit Yerushalmi, Elisheva Cohen, Kenneth Heller, Patricia Heller, and Charles Henderson This study investigates how the beliefs and values of physics faculty influence their choice of physics problems for their students in an introductory physics course. The study identifies the goals these instructors have for their students, the problem features they believe facilitate those goals, a... [Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 6, 020108] Published Wed Aug 25, 2010 How physics teachers approach innovation: An empirical study for reconstructing the appropriation path in the case of special relativity Author(s): Anna De Ambrosis and Olivia Levrini This paper concerns an empirical study carried out with a group of high school physics teachers engaged in the Module on relativity of a Master course on the teaching of modern physics. The study is framed within the general research issue of how to promote innovation in school via teachers’ educa... [Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 6, 020107] Published Thu Aug 19, 2010 Transforming common-sense beliefs into Newtonian thinking through Just-In-Time Teaching Author(s): Sarah P. Formica, Jessica L. Easley, and Mark C. Spraker To determine whether teaching an introductory physics course with a traditional lecture style or with Just-in-Time teaching (a student-centered, interactive-engagement style) will help students to better understand Newtonian concepts, such as Newton’s Third Law, 222 students in introductory physic... [Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 6, 020106] Published Wed Aug 18, 2010 Editorial Note: Patterns, correlates, and reduction of homework copying [Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 6, 010104 (2010)] Author(s): David J. Palazzo, Young-Jin Lee, Rasil Warnakulasooriya, and David E. Pritchard [Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 6, 029901] Published Tue Aug 03, 2010 Mathematical theory of peer-instruction dynamics Author(s): Hideo Nitta A mathematical theory of peer instruction describing the increase of the normalized number of correct answers due to peer discussion is presented. A simple analytic expression is derived which agrees with class data. It is shown that our theory is connected to the mathematical learning models propos... [Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 6, 020105] Published Tue Aug 03, 2010 Probing students’ understanding of some conceptual themes in general relativity Author(s): Atanu Bandyopadhyay and Arvind Kumar This work is an attempt to see how physics undergraduates view the basic ideas of general relativity when they are exposed to the topic in a standard introductory course. Since the subject is conceptually and technically difficult, we adopted a “case studies” approach, focusing in depth on about... [Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 6, 020104] Published Wed Jul 28, 2010 Impact of teaching students to use evaluation strategies Author(s): Aaron R. Warren Students often make mistakes in physics courses and are expected to identify, correct, and learn from their mistakes, usually with some assistance from an instructor, textbook, or fellow students. This aid may come in many forms, such as problem solutions that are given to a class, tutoring to an in... [Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 6, 020103] Published Fri Jul 23, 2010 How much have students learned? Research-based teaching on electrical capacitance Author(s): Jenaro Guisasola, José L. Zubimendi, and Kristina Zuza We examine the pedagogical suitability of introducing a teaching sequence for the concept of electrical capacitance within the context of charging a body. This short sequence targets first year university students and was designed following students’ common conceptions on this topic. The evaluatio... [Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 6, 020102] Published Mon Jul 12, 2010 Method for analyzing students’ utilization of prior physics learning in new contexts Author(s): Dyan L. McBride, Dean Zollman, and N. Sanjay Rebello In prior research, the classification of concepts into three types—descriptive, hypothetical and theoretical—has allowed for the association of students’ use of different concept types with their level of understanding. Previous studies have also examined the ways in which students link concep... [Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 6, 020101] Published Thu Jul 08, 2010 Using multimedia modules to better prepare students for introductory physics lecture Author(s): Zhongzhou Chen, Timothy Stelzer, and Gary Gladding It is known that introductory physics students rarely, if ever, read the textbook prior to coming to lecture. In this study, we report results from a curriculum intervention in a large enrollment introductory physics class that addresses this problem. In particular, we introduced web-based multimedi... [Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 6, 010108] Published Fri Jun 11, 2010 For the love of learning science: Connecting learning orientation and career productivity in physics and chemistry Author(s): Zahra Hazari, Geoff Potvin, Robert H. Tai, and John Almarode An individual’s motivational orientation serves as a drive to action and can influence their career success. This study examines how goal orientation toward the pursuit of a graduate degree in physics and chemistry influences later success outcomes of practicing physicists and chemists. Two main c... [Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 6, 010107] Published Fri May 21, 2010 Toward equity through participation in Modeling Instruction in introductory university physics Author(s): Eric Brewe, Vashti Sawtelle, Laird H. Kramer, George E. O’Brien, Idaykis Rodriguez, and Priscilla Pamelá We report the results of a five year evaluation of the reform of introductory calculus-based physics by implementation of Modeling Instruction (MI) at Florida International University (FIU), a Hispanic-serving institution. MI is described in the context of FIU’s overall effort to enhance student p... [Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 6, 010106] Published Thu May 20, 2010 Tutorial teaching assistants in the classroom: Similar teaching behaviors are supported by varied beliefs about teaching and learning Author(s): Renee Michelle Goertzen, Rachel E. Scherr, and Andrew Elby As part of a long-term program to develop effective, research-based professional development programs for physics graduate student teaching assistants (TAs), we first identify their current classroom practices and why they engage in these practices. In this paper, we identify a set of teaching pract... [Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 6, 010105] Published Wed Apr 07, 2010 Patterns, correlates, and reduction of homework copying Author(s): David J. Palazzo, Young-Jin Lee, Rasil Warnakulasooriya, and David E. Pritchard Submissions to an online homework tutor were analyzed to determine whether they were copied. The fraction of copied submissions increased rapidly over the semester, as each weekly deadline approached and for problems later in each assignment. The majority of students, who copied less than 10% of the... [Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 6, 010104] Published Thu Mar 18, 2010 Rasch model based analysis of the Force Concept Inventory Author(s): Maja Planinic, Lana Ivanjek, and Ana Susac The Force Concept Inventory (FCI) is an important diagnostic instrument which is widely used in the field of physics education research. It is therefore very important to evaluate and monitor its functioning using different tools for statistical analysis. One of such tools is the stochastic Rasch mo... [Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 6, 010103] Published Wed Mar 10, 2010 Do they see it coming? Using expectancy violation to gauge the success of pedagogical reforms Author(s): Jon D. H. Gaffney, Amy L. Housley Gaffney, and Robert J. Beichner We present a measure, which we have named the Pedagogical Expectancy Violation Assessment (PEVA), for instructors to gauge one aspect of the success of their implementation of pedagogical reform by assessing the expectations and experiences of the students in the classroom. We implemented the PEVA i... [Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 6, 010102] Published Fri Feb 05, 2010 Teaching and understanding of quantum interpretations in modern physics courses Author(s): Charles Baily and Noah D. Finkelstein Just as expert physicists vary in their personal stances on interpretation in quantum mechanics, instructors vary on whether and how to teach interpretations of quantum phenomena in introductory modern physics courses. In this paper, we document variations in instructional approaches with respect to... [Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 6, 010101] Published Wed Jan 27, 2010 Longitudinal study of student conceptual understanding in electricity and magnetism Author(s): S. J. Pollock We have investigated the long-term effect of student-centered instruction at the freshman level on juniors’ performance on a conceptual survey of Electricity and Magnetism (E&M). We measured student performance on a research-based conceptual instrument—the Brief Electricity & Magnetism Assessmen... [Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 5, 020110] Published Tue Dec 15, 2009 Accounting for tutorial teaching assistants’ buy-in to reform instruction Author(s): Renee Michelle Goertzen, Rachel E. Scherr, and Andrew Elby Successful implementation of tutorials includes establishing norms for learning in the tutorial classroom. The teaching assistants (TAs) who lead each tutorial section are important arbiters of these norms. TAs who value (buy into) tutorials are more likely to convey their respect for the material a... [Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 5, 020109] Published Mon Dec 14, 2009 Analyzing problem solving using math in physics: Epistemological framing via warrants Author(s): Thomas J. Bing and Edward F. Redish Developing expertise in physics entails learning to use mathematics effectively and efficiently as applied to the context of physical situations. Doing so involves coordinating a variety of concepts and skills including mathematical processing, computation, blending ancillary information with the ma... [Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 5, 020108] Published Mon Dec 14, 2009 Impact of physics education research on the teaching of introductory quantitative physics in the United States Author(s): Charles Henderson and Melissa H. Dancy During the Fall of 2008 we designed and administered a web survey to collect information about pedagogical knowledge and practices of physics faculty. The survey was completed by a representative sample of 722 physics faculty across the United States (a 50.3% response rate). This paper presents resu... [Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 5, 020107] Published Fri Dec 11, 2009 Erratum: Applying clustering to statistical analysis of student reasoning about two-dimensional kinematics [Phys Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 3, 020107 (2007)] Author(s): R. Padraic Springuel, Michael C. Wittmann, and John R. Thompson [Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 5, 029902] Published Mon Nov 09, 2009 Video analysis for insight and coding: Examples from tutorials in introductory physics Author(s): Rachel E. Scherr The increasing ease of video recording offers new opportunities to create richly detailed records of classroom activities. These recordings, in turn, call for research methodologies that balance generalizability with interpretive validity. This paper shares methodology for two practices of video ana... [Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 5, 020106] Published Mon Oct 19, 2009 Publisher's Note: Tale of two curricula: The performance of 2000 students in introductory electromagnetism [Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 5, 020105 (2009)] Author(s): Matthew A. Kohlmyer, Marcos D. Caballero, Richard Catrambone, Ruth W. Chabay, Lin Ding, Mark P. Haugan, M. Jackson Marr, Bruce A. Sherwood, and Michael F. Schatz [Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 5, 029901] Published Wed Oct 14, 2009 Tale of two curricula: The performance of 2000 students in introductory electromagnetism Author(s): Matthew A. Kohlmyer, Marcos D. Caballero, Richard Catrambone, Ruth W. Chabay, Lin Ding, Mark P. Haugan, M. Jackson Marr, Bruce A. Sherwood, and Michael F. Schatz The performance of over 2000 students in introductory calculus-based electromagnetism (E&M) courses at four large research universities was measured using the Brief Electricity and Magnetism Assessment (BEMA). Two different curricula were used at these universities: a traditional E&M curriculum and ... [Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 5, 020105] Published Mon Oct 05, 2009 Probing student understanding of scientific thinking in the context of introductory astrophysics Author(s): Richard N. Steinberg, Sebastien Cormier, and Adiel Fernandez Common forms of testing of student understanding of science content can be misleading about their understanding of the nature of scientific thinking. Observational astronomy integrated with related ideas of force and motion is a rich context to explore the correlation between student content knowled... [Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 5, 020104] Published Wed Sep 30, 2009 Approaches to data analysis of multiple-choice questions Author(s): Lin Ding and Robert Beichner This paper introduces five commonly used approaches to analyzing multiple-choice test data. They are classical test theory, factor analysis, cluster analysis, item response theory, and model analysis. Brief descriptions of the goals and algorithms of these approaches are provided, together with exam... [Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 5, 020103] Published Thu Sep 10, 2009

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