Abstract
As part of the National HE STEM programme, we have developed and implemented a modelling curriculum in first year mechanics to overcome well known conceptual difficulties. By modelling, we mean more than just the development of mathematical equations to describe the evolution of a physical system; we also mean the use of multiple representations both to understand the problem at hand as well as to develop a solution. We have developed a structured approach to both teaching and assessing the use of such representations through the ACME protocol: Assess the problem, Conceptualise the Model, and Evaluate the solution. This paper describes the implementation of this protocol within a conventional lecture setting during a single semester of the 2011-12 academic session and demonstrates the impact on conceptual understanding of 42 students though pre-course and post-course testing using the Force Concept Inventory (FCI). Detailed analysis shows that on virtually every question in the FCI student performance improved, with questions 4 and 15, relating to Newton’s third law, showing especially large gains. The average FCI score rose from 17.7 (out of 30) to 22.5, with the distribution of post-instruction scores being statistically significantly different (p=0.0001) from the distribution of pre-instruction scores.
Highlights
The teaching of mechanics is perhaps the most widely investigated topic in physics education research
Many different concept inventories have since been developed and Bates and Galloway[6] have summarised those applicable to the physical sciences, especially the Force Concept Inventory (FCI). It is a general finding of physics education research that conventional lecturing has little effect on students’ conceptual understanding and the FCI has been instrumental in showing this in mechanics[7]
It might seem rather obvious to state that students need to be intellectually active rather than passive observers in order to learn effectively, but whilst this might have been known for some time within the field of educational psychology, it took some time for physics education research to establish the same within higher education by direct empirical observation of student understanding, or misunderstanding, across the spectrum of introductory undergraduate physics[8]
Summary
The teaching of mechanics is perhaps the most widely investigated topic in physics education research. The investigations by psychologists such as Larkin et al[1] and Chi et al[2] into problem solving in the 1980s were based around mechanics problems in physics and the observation that graduate students hold similar alternative conceptions to five year olds[3] led to the development of the Force Concept Inventory (FCI) as a method of testing students understanding of the Newtonian concept of force[4,5]. Many different concept inventories have since been developed and Bates and Galloway[6] have summarised those applicable to the physical sciences, especially the FCI. It is a general finding of physics education research that conventional lecturing has little effect on students’ conceptual understanding and the FCI has been instrumental in showing this in mechanics[7]. Instructional strategies based on interactive engagement are considered essential to foster student understanding[9]
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