Improving the Achievement of Learning Outcomes in Early Undergraduate Physics: A Case Study at a University in Ghana

Aim: Automatic item generation is "a process of using models to generate items using computer technology". The use of automatic item generation typically involves one of three primary methods: syntax-based, semantic-based, and template-based. Non-template automatic item generation approaches leverage natural language processing techniques. A study showed the potential of using template-based automatic item generation to create high-quality multiple-choice questions for assessing clinical reasoning in Turkish, marking a first in the field. However, the findings of the study were based only on expert opinions, necessitating further research to examine the psychometric qualities of Turkish items. The aim of this study was to reveal psychometric characteristics of the first Turkish case-based multiple-choice questions generated by using automatic item generation in medical education. Methods: This was a psychometric study. Three Turkish case-based multiple-choice questions generated using template-based automatic item generation on essential hypertension were included in an exam that 281 fourth-year medical students participate in. This examination was carried out in-person in classroom settings under proctor supervision. Item difficulty and item discrimination (point-biserial correlation) were calculated, and non-functioning distractors were determined. Results: All three items had acceptable levels (higher than 0.20) of point-biserial correlation (p<0.001). The item difficulty levels indicated the presence of one easy, one moderate, and one difficult question. Each item had 2-3 non-functioning options among five options. All three items had acceptable levels (higher than 0.20) of point-biserial correlation (p<0.001). The item difficulty levels indicated the presence of one easy, one moderate, and one difficult question. Each item had 2-3 non-functioning options among five options. Conclusions: The results indicated that the items successfully discriminate between high and low performers, providing validity evidence on the quality of the questions in evaluating students' comprehension of the subject. Additionally, the findings suggest that it is feasible to create multiple-choice questions with different difficulty levels in Turkish using a single automatic item generation model. This study demonstrated for the first time that automatic generation of case-based multiple-choice questions in Turkish produces acceptable psychometric characteristics in an authentic assessment setting in medical education. The ability to automatically generate effective multiple-choice questions in Turkish holds promise for enhancing the efficiency of written assessment in Turkish medical education.

This study investigated the effect of Mastery Learning Approach (MLA) and Mind Mapping Approach (MMA) in improving students’ academic performance in Physics and also determined their effect in enhancing students’ retention of Physics. These were with a view to ascertaining the best teaching method for improving students’ learning outcomes in Physics. The study adopted the non-equivalent pre-test, post-test control group experimental design. Simple random sampling technique was used to select three co-educational secondary schools in Ikere Local Government Area of Ekiti State in Nigeria. The sample for the study was 74 senior secondary school one (SSS1) Physics students from the three selected secondary schools. Three intact classes were used for the study. The instrument used for data collection was “Physics Achievement and Retention Test” (PART). Data collected were analyzed using t-test and analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results showed that there was a significant effect of treatment on the academic performance of students taught with MLA, MMA and conventional method with students taught using MMA showing the best academic performance, followed by MLA and then Conventional. Also, no significant effect of treatment was found in the retention ability of students taught with MLA and MMA with students from both methods having nearly the same mean score. The study concludes that both MLA and MMA could improve students’ learning outcomes in Physics; however, MMA could improve students’ learning outcomes better. It therefore recommends that ministry of education should organize training for science teachers especially Physics teachers on how best they can adopt these innovative teaching strategies during instruction so that learners would be guided to learn meaningfully and be assisted to retain what is learnt in Physics.

The purpose of this study was to determine the independence and learning outcomes of students' physics through the application of the Problem Solving learning model with online learning in class X RPL 2 SMK Negeri 1 Negara in the 2019/2020 academic year. This type of research is classroom action research (PTK). The cycle of activities consisting of planning, action, observation, and reflection. The research subjects were students of class X RPL 2, totaling 36 people. The object of this research is independence and learning outcomes of physics. The data analysis used the observation method and the test method. The learning independence of students at the first meeting reached 9.18 at the second meeting increased to 11.54 and at the third meeting to 12.56. The learning outcomes of students in the first cycle an average of 67.31 students' learning outcomes increased in the second cycle to 82.05. Classical completeness of students increased from 38.39% to 88.89% in cycle II. The results showed that the application of the problem solving learning model with online learning could improve learning independence and physics learning outcomes for class X RPL 2 SMK Negeri 1 Negara in the 2019/2020 academic year.

Literacy is essential, and it must be encouraged. Reading comprehension is the foundation of all aspects of education, so pupils must improve their reading comprehension skills. The study focused on fourth graders' reading comprehension skills performance through interactive and conventional teaching approaches using the quasi-experimental method with 30 pupils for control and 30 pupils for the experimental group. Results have disclosed a significant improvement in the pupils' performance from the control (t=15.63) and experimental groups (t=46.24). However, the post-test performance of the control group was below average while an above-average performance for the experimental group. Hence, there was a significant mean gain difference in the performance (t=12.16) between the two groups. Pre-post evaluation results showed that using an immersive approach to understanding English reading improved learning, deepening cognitive processes, and maximized information gains among pupils. Compared to the conventional method, the interactive teaching approach is instrumental in refining pupils' reading and comprehension performance. It demonstrates that digital school learners learn better today when exposed to meaningful and relevant school work and engaged in intellectual stimulation using the technology available. When multimedia instructional materials are accessible in schools, learning can be stimulating. Teachers may select and implement creative innovations to enable pupils' interest and switch from conventional teaching to technological-based techniques. While in the educational landscape, the effectiveness of an interactive approach is typical and ideal. Thus, further research may validate study results using the same experimental design and teaching approaches to a different group.

The purpose of this study is to develop a scale for assessing early childhood teachers' competencies in supporting digital play. The research questions addressed are as follow: Firstly, what constitutes the structure of the scale for assessing early childhood teachers' competencies in supporting digital play? Secondly, what are the validity and reliability of this scale? To achieve these objectives, a preliminary set of 50 items was derived from a comprehensive review of existing literature on digital play support. Content aspect validity verification and a pilot study were conducted, resulting in a refined draft of 40 items. Content aspect validity was assessed through analyses of item suitability and point-biserial correlation coefficients, confirming that all items were appropriate for the purpose. Empirical validity assessments demonstrated satisfactory levels of subject fit and a normal distribution pattern in the levels of subjects and item difficulty. Internal structure aspect validity confirmed the scale's fit with the Rasch model. Generalizability aspect validity testing indicated that the scale did not exhibit differential functioning across various groups of early childhood teachers. These results affirm that the scale is a valid and reliable instrument for measuring early childhood teachers' competencies in supporting digital play.

In this study, the authors examined the effect of computer simulated experiment on students' learning outcomes in Physics practical. The sample consisted of 359 senior secondary school two students (16 - 18 years), who were randomly selected from six secondary schools in Oweri and Orlu Educational Zones in Imo State, Nigeria. There were three treatment groups: Computer Simulated Experiment only, Computer Simulated Experiment + Hands-on Experiment, and Hands-on Experiment only. Students' level of mathematical reasoning ability was also introduced to serve as moderator variable. Students' combined scores in manipulative skills in physics practical (MSPP) and Physics achievement test (PAT) were used as dependent variable. Results showed that students who were exposed to both computer simulated experiment and hands-on experiment performed best among the three groups while students in the Hands-on Experiment group performed worst in MSPP and PAT. This results show the superiority of computer simulated experiment over hands-on experiment. It was interesting to note students with moderate mathematics reasoning ability performed best in all the groups. This findings shows that computer simulated experiments can be usedto enhance the performance of an average mathematical ability student. Therefore efforts should be made to equip physics laboratory with computer software that can be used for computer simulated experiments in physics practical.

This article presents a step-by-step guide to using R and SPSS to bootstrap exam questions. Bootstrapping, a versatile nonparametric analytical technique, can help to improve the psychometric qualities of exam questions in the process of quality assurance. Bootstrapping is particularly useful in disciplines such as medical education, where student cohorts are normally too small to reliably use parametric analysis to evaluate the quality of exam questions. Traditional parametric approaches need large samples; otherwise, they can yield unreliable estimates of metrics such as item difficulty and point-biserial correlations with small cohorts, potentially misleading the evaluation of exam questions and consequently leading to flawed assessments. By employing bootstrapping, educators can resample data to obtain robust confidence intervals for key metrics. This allows for a more accurate evaluation of question quality. This guide provides a step-by-step approach using R and SPSS, along with explaining the necessary code to bootstrap exam question means, standard deviations, item difficulty, and point-biserial correlations. In addition, the code includes automated visualizations and the capability to export results in reader-friendly tables, enhancing time efficiency and streamlining both data analysis and presentation processes. Furthermore, this article includes a case study in which the code is applied and the results are discussed to showcase how bootstrapping can inform decisions regarding exam question revisions.

The purpose of this research was to find out the difference of student’s physics learning outcomes using cooperative learning type numbered heads together model with direct instruction model in topic dynamic electric at grade X SMA N 1 Berastagi Academic Year 2012/2013. Method of this research is by using quasi experiments with one group post-test, pre-test design. Population in this research were all students in grade X amount 224 students consist of 7 classes. Sampling technique was random sampling. The sample in this research are students of grade X SMA N 1 Berastagi academic year 2012/2013 consists of two class, X 4 as experiment class using Numbered Head Together and X 5 as control class using direct instruction model. There were three instrument for research, such as multiptle choice test as cognitive instrument, affective assessment instrument, and psychomotoric assessment instrument. Learning outcomes of students is from affective, psychomotoric, and cognitive value. Affective and psychomotoric of experiment class was enough category, while affective and psychomotoric in control class was bad category. The cognitive show by post test, mean value of experimental class was good category, and mean value of control class was enough category. The result of t test was pre-test get value t count is 0.68 means there was no difference of student’s physics learning outcomes between control and experiment class. For the post test H 0 was refused because t count is 4.43 means there was a difference of student’s physics learning outcomes between control and experiment class . So can be concluded that there was the difference of student’s physics learning outcomes using cooperative learning type numbered heads together and direct instruction model in topic dynamic electricity at grade X SMA N 1 Berastagi Academic Year 2012/2013. Keywords : numbered head together, physics learning outcomes

Analysis of institutional data for physics majors showing predictive relationships between required mathematics and physics courses in various years is important for contemplating how the courses build on each other and whether there is need to make changes to the curriculum for the majors to strengthen these relationships. We used 15 years of institutional data at a US-based large research university to investigate how introductory physics and mathematics courses predict male and female physics majors’ performance on required advanced physics and mathematics courses. We used structure equation modeling (SEM) to investigate these predictive relationships and find that among introductory and advanced physics and mathematics courses, there are gender differences in performance in favor of male students only in the introductory physics courses after controlling for high school GPA. We found that a measurement invariance fully holds in a multi-group SEM by gender, so it was possible to carry out analysis with gender mediated by introductory physics and high school GPA. Moreover, we find that these introductory physics courses that have gender differences do not predict performance in advanced physics courses. In other words, students could be using invalid data about their introductory physics performance to make their decision about whether physics is the right field for them to pursue, and those invalid data in introductory physics favor male students. Also, introductory mathematics courses predict performance in advanced mathematics courses which in turn predict performance in advanced physics courses. Furthermore, apart from the introductory physics courses that do not predict performance in future physics courses, there is a strong predictive relationship between the sophomore, junior and senior level physics courses.

This research aims to determine the effect of a blended learning model based on the application of Nearpod on students' interest and learning outcomes in physics at one of the secondary schools in Jember. This research is a type of experimental research that uses a post-test only control group design. The population of this study were students of class XI MIPA and XI BIC. Sampling used a random sampling technique, so that XI BIC 2 students were obtained as a control group implementing the conventional learning model and XI MIPA 1 as an experimental group implementing blended learning based on the Nearpod application. The instrument used is a physics student interest questionnaire which consists of 4 indicators and a post test in the form of a multiple-choice test which refers to students' cognitive abilities to remember (C1), understand (C2), apply (C3), analyze (C4), evaluate (C5), and create (C6). Questionnaire data and post test data regarding the influence of blended learning based on the Nearpod application on students' interest in learning and physics learning outcomes will be tested for homogeneity. If a significance value >0.05 is obtained, questionnaire and post test data for the control class and experimental class were normally distributed. Interest data and physics learning outcomes were analyzed using parametric statistics, namely the Independent Sample T-test. Based on the hypothesis testing criteria, H0 is rejected (Ha is accepted) if the sig value is <0.05, meaning that there is an influence of the Nearpod application-based blended learning model on student physics interest. Meanwhile, in the physics learning outcome test, students got the sig value of <0.05, which means that Ha is accepted, meaning that there is an influence of the Nearpod-based blended learning model on student physics learning outcomes. The application of the blended learning model based on the Nearpod application has a significant effect on students' interest and learning outcomes in physics.

We present outcomes from curricular changes made to an introductory calculus-based physics course whose audience is primarily life sciences majors, the majority of whom plan to pursue postbaccalaureate studies in medical and scientific fields. During the 2011-2012 academic year, we implemented a Physics of the Life Sciences curriculum centered on a draft textbook that takes a novel approach to teaching physics to life sciences majors. In addition, substantial revisions were made to the homework and hands-on components of the course to emphasize the relationship between physics and the life sciences and to help the students learn to apply physical intuition to life sciences-oriented problems. Student learning and attitudinal outcomes were assessed both quantitatively, using standard physics education research instruments, and qualitatively, using student surveys and a series of postsemester interviews. Students experienced high conceptual learning gains, comparable to other active learning-based physics courses. Qualitatively, a substantial fraction of interviewed students reported an increased interest in physics relative to the beginning of the semester. Furthermore, more than half of students self-reported that they could now relate physics topics to their majors and future careers, with interviewed subjects demonstrating a high level of ability to come up with examples of how physics affects living organisms and how it helped them to better understand content presented in courses in their major.

Artificial intelligence, specifically large language models such as ChatGPT, offers valuable potential benefits in question (item) writing. This study aimed to determine the feasibility of generating case-based multiple-choice questions using ChatGPT in terms of item difficulty and discrimination levels. This study involved 99 fourth-year medical students who participated in a rational pharmacotherapy clerkship carried out based-on the WHO 6-Step Model. In response to a prompt that we provided, ChatGPT generated ten case-based multiple-choice questions on hypertension. Following an expert panel, two of these multiple-choice questions were incorporated into a medical school exam without making any changes in the questions. Based on the administration of the test, we evaluated their psychometric properties, including item difficulty, item discrimination (point-biserial correlation), and functionality of the options. Both questions exhibited acceptable levels of point-biserial correlation, which is higher than the threshold of 0.30 (0.41 and 0.39). However, one question had three non-functional options (options chosen by fewer than 5% of the exam participants) while the other question had none. The findings showed that the questions can effectively differentiate between students who perform at high and low levels, which also point out the potential of ChatGPT as an artificial intelligence tool in test development. Future studies may use the prompt to generate items in order for enhancing the external validity of the results by gathering data from diverse institutions and settings.

Graduate and professional level students are frequently evaluated through multiple-choice question (MCQ) examinations, a format that enables efficient assessment of diverse topics across large groups of students. While MCQs enhance the validity of exams, they may present challenges for test-takers. Technical item flaws in questions can introduce irrelevant difficulty or advantages for students with strong test-taking strategies, potentially compromising the fairness and effectiveness of the assessment. In this study, we investigated the influence of technical item flaws on test outcomes across two schools of medicine. We analyzed demographic factors and the relationship between the presence of item flaws and item performance. A total of 54 first-year medical students from the College of Medicine, University of Central Florida (UCF) and 32 first-year dental students and graduate students in the medical science program at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine (BU) completed a 20 question physiology assessment and demographic survey. An evaluation instrument based on the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) item writing guide was employed to identify the item writing flaws in each question. Quantitative analysis included two independent sample t-tests for demographic factors, Spearman's rank correlation, and Mann-Whitney U test. The demographic factors studied were sex, student test-taking accommodations, race (White vs non-White), English proficiency (native vs non-native), birthplace (born in the U.S. vs not born in the U.S.), and home language (English vs non-English). Based on the evaluation instrument, we found 75% of the 20 question assessment contained at least one item flaw. No significant differences in test performance were observed between demographic groups at either institution. Additionally, there was no significant relationship between the number of flaws and item difficulty at either institution. However, dental and graduate level students exhibited a significant positive correlation between number of flaws and point biserial correlation, as well as a positive correlation between item difficulty and point biserial correlation. We were also able to identify that one of the flaws studied - the question lacks a focused, clear, or succinct stem or lead-in - can impact an item’s ability to discriminate between high and low performers. This study highlights the significant role that technical item flaws in MCQs can play in influencing test outcomes. The relationship between number of flaws and point biserial correlation suggests that flawed items may disproportionately favor high performing students, as these students are able to perform well despite the flaws. Additionally, items with unclear stems and lead-ins may provide unreliable indicators of student ability, as they can hinder the ability to differentiate between high and low-performing students. These results call attention to the importance of careful question design to ensure assessments are fair and accurately reflect student performance, particularly for diverse student populations. Note: Gloria Urrutia and Larissa Dixon contributed equally to this study. This abstract was presented at the American Physiology Summit 2025 and is only available in HTML format. There is no downloadable file or PDF version. The Physiology editorial board was not involved in the peer review process.

. Positive feedback is one of the core strategies used to make educational environment and students’ learning outcomes better. This review aims at revealing the role of positive feedback in improving students’ psychological and physical learning outcomes. Meanwhile, it questions the efficiency of combining positive and negative feedbacks in order to provide better educational experience for students. The findings of the analysis reveal that there is positive relationship between positive feedback and students’ physical and psychological learning outcomes. More specifically, positive feedback is advantageous in increasing students’ motivation, confidence, self-efficacy and academic skills. Furthermore, the study also confirms the benefits of combining positive and negative feedbacks in order to improve students’ learning outcomes and advance their academic skills.

The objectives of this research are: (1) To know the student’s learning outcomes in physics subject taught by cooperative learning model type of jigsaw based on mind mapping. (2) To know the student’s learning outcomes in physics subject taught by conventional learning based on mind mapping. (3) To know the effect of cooperative learning model type of jigsaw based on mind mapping on student’s learning outcomes in the temperature and heat subject matter. The type of research was quasi experiment with the population all of student in class X even semester in SMA N 3 Medan which consits of 14 classes. Sample of this research was obtained by technique of cluster random sampling. The sample is X MIA 12 as the experiment class and X MIA 14 as the control class. Experiment class taught by cooperative learning model type of jigsw based on mind mapping and control class taught by direct instruction model. The research instrument has 20 questions in multiple choice forms with 5 options, the instrument tested validated. In this research obtained the mean of pre-test in experiment class is 41.41 and in control class is 41.25. After that do the treatment in experiment class taught by cooperative learning model type of jigsaw based on mind mapping and in control class taught by direct instruction model, and then done the post-test. The mean of post-test in experiment class is 80.16 and in control class was 68.90. In hypothesis testing obtained t count > t table that was 5.18 >1.669 at significant level α = 0.05 and n = 32. So, can be concluded that the student’s learning outcomes in experiment class differ with control class. Can be concluded that there is effect of cooperative learning model type on student’s learning outcomes in the temperature and heat subject matter in class x even semester SMA N 3 Medan academic year 2013/2014. Key words: jigsaw, mind mapping, student’s learning outcomes