Abstract
The Concise Data Processing Assessment (CDPA) was developed to probe student abilities related to the nature of measurement and uncertainty and to handling data. The diagnostic is a ten question, multiple-choice test that can be used as both a pre-test and post-test. A key component of the development process was interviews with students, which were used to both uncover common modes of student thinking and validate item wording. To evaluate the reliability and discriminatory power of this diagnostic, we performed statistical tests focusing on both item analysis (item difficulty index, item discrimination index, and point-biserial coefficient) and on the entire test (test reliability and Ferguson’s delta). Scores on the CDPA range from chance (for novices) to about 80% (for experts), indicating that it possesses good dynamic range. Overall, the results indicate that the CDPA is a reliable assessment tool for measuring targeted abilities in undergraduate physics students.
Highlights
With contemporary physics education research efforts, there exists an increasing demand for strategies that reliably measure student comprehension and evaluate the success of instructional techniques
Multiple-choice tests [8,9,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20], which were designed to measure what physics students learn with respect to a given set of concepts, we have developed and validated the Concise Data Processing Assessment (CDPA)
This arises from the concern that introductory physics labs frequently have a large number of learning goals including mastery of particular equipment, computer software, statistical methods, physics content, as well as all of the goals regarding data that were outlined in the last section, leading frequently to cognitive overload
Summary
With contemporary physics education research efforts, there exists an increasing demand for strategies that reliably measure student comprehension and evaluate the success of instructional techniques. This practical understanding of functions is another area for which the research is very limited This basic facility with data, including such useful tools as rescaling axes, semilog, and log-log plots, is of use to students no matter what their future path in the sciences may be, so we regard them as core goals of any first-year physics laboratory. Multiple-choice tests [8,9,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20], which were designed to measure what physics students learn with respect to a given set of concepts, we have developed and validated the Concise Data Processing Assessment (CDPA) This assessment instrument is intended to probe mainly students’ abilities in the two broad aspects of data handling discussed above.
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