Abstract

Introductory algebra-based physics courses frequently feature multiple student major populations in the same course section, however, different majors' requirements may impact students' motivations towards different aspects of the course material, e.g. problem solving, and hence, impact course performance. A preliminary categorization of student attitudes towards a lab group coordinated problem solving exercise, in which students individually reflect on their group-based problem attempt, is based upon students' written interpretations about the usefulness of the exercise: respectively towards intrinsic value of a problem solving framework, towards performing well in the course, and towards less specific aspects of the exercise. The relationship between choice of major and this preliminary categorization for a typical algebra-based physics course is analyzed, as are trends by major and by category type in a measure of course performance. We also discuss more in-depth development of interpretation for the categorization construct via written artifacts from the problem solving exercise.

Highlights

  • A recent trend for Introductory Physics in Life Science (IPLS) courses is focused on topics pertinent to the curriculum of biology majors [1]

  • For example, may employ problem topics which are pertinent to physical therapy or to fluid dynamics encountered in biology labs [2]

  • Note that there were only two chemistry and computer science (“CCS”) majors in the Spring 2015 (S15) semester. Another difference between semesters is that the biology majors appear to have been more framework-oriented in the Spring 2014 (S14) semester, while the health science majors are less framework-oriented; in contrast, for the S15 semester, both major types are approximately evenly distributed across orientations, and slightly more framework-oriented

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Summary

INTRODUCTION

A recent trend for Introductory Physics in Life Science (IPLS) courses is focused on topics pertinent to the curriculum of biology majors [1]. Students from different academic colleges, e.g. biology majors and health science majors, may find different learning value in the same problem solving exercise, as is pertinent to respective career goals; in turn, this may affect student performance in the course These attitudinal differences between majors should be checked in the process of introducing pedagogical reforms in an algebra-based physics classroom, for the purposes of optimizing an IPLS-like course reform. Within the scope of an individual course, it is generally useful to define a similar means of categorizing students within the classroom and use the categorization to analyze potential relationships to inclass success, e.g. surveying students and interpreting their responses in terms of attitude towards a specific pedagogical aspect of the course Once established, such an attitudinal categorization can be useful for better understanding one’s course population, by major and by apparent attitudes towards physics, and make appropriate pedagogical changes . Problem solving and group collaboration are skills of particular importance to STEM majors; this paper will consider problem solving in a cooperative lab group setting with the use of context-rich problems [4,5]

Current Research Goals
Lab Problem Solving Exercise
Data Collection
RESULTS
Problem Solving CLASS Item Clusters
Comparison to Course Performance
DISCUSSION
Full Text
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