Introductory Physics Classroom Research Articles

Exploring the introductory physics classroom through the lens of intellectual humility: Handling what you do not know

The growing adoption of active learning techniques in physics courses requires that students productively engage in collaboration with their peers. Although studies in physics education research (PER) have addressed aspects of group work, the problem persists of how to engage students in collaborative work with appropriate self-awareness, adequate argumentation skills, openness to the views of others, and willingness to negotiate their ideas. In this article, we present intellectual humility (IH) as a new construct for PER to help advance our understanding and support of students’ collaboration with peers. We particularly focus on authentic group work engagement, where students must handle their intellectual shortcomings during discussions in order to make sense of physics and solve problems. The aim of our work is to formally introduce the construct of IH from a limitations-owning perspective and report on the results of a mixed-methods study investigating students’ learning experiences in introductory physics courses through an IH lens. The study provides quantitative evidence about how students gauge their own IH based on analysis of survey responses. We also provide an initial empirical foundation for facets of IH already present in the physics classroom from analysis of students’ reflections and researchers’ classroom observations. We find that students report high levels of love of learning, one characteristic of IH, however, our findings also point to students discomfort with intellectual limitations and inadequate handling of these shortcomings during group work. Our results suggest that students would benefit from learning spaces that welcome and encourage discussions around uncertainties, with minimal social risks that may be perceived as hindering their engagement.Received 18 February 2021Accepted 22 September 2021DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.17.020135Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.Published by the American Physical SocietyPhysics Subject Headings (PhySH)Research AreasEpistemology, attitudes, & beliefsPhysics Education Research

Positive attitudinal shifts and a narrowing gender gap: Do expertlike attitudes correlate to higher learning gains for women in the physics classroom?

A large body of research shows that using interactive engagement pedagogy in the introductory physics classroom consistently results in significant student learning gains; however, with a few exceptions, those learning gains tend not to be accompanied by more expertlike attitudes and beliefs about physics and learning physics. In fact, in both traditionally taught and active learning classroom environments, students often become more novicelike in their attitudes and beliefs following a semester of instruction. Further, prior to instruction, men typically score higher than women on conceptual inventories, such as the Force Concept Inventory (FCI), and more expertlike on attitudinal surveys, such as the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey (CLASS), and those gender gaps generally persist following instruction. In this paper, we analyze three years of pre-post matched data for physics majors at Virginia Tech on the FCI and the CLASS. The courses were taught using a blended pedagogical model of peer instruction, group problem solving, and direct instruction, along with an explicit focus on the importance of conceptual understanding and a growth mindset. We found that the FCI gender gap decreased, and both men and women showed positive, expertlike shifts on the CLASS. Perhaps most surprisingly, we found a meaningful correlation between a student's post- CLASS score and normalized FCI gain for women, but not for men.

At the center of engagement and learning

Education Moving toward more student-centric STEM education results in an increase in student–student interactions. Do these increased peer interactions lead to learning gains? Williams et al. used network analysis—specifically, centrality, a measurement of how “central” a particular student is within the classroom network—to examine student interactions in an introductory physics classroom using modeling instruction. Students' centrality was found to predict future academic performance more than prior grade point average, suggesting that student engagement is connected to academic performance. However, this relationship did not emerge until the second half of the semester, suggesting that the relationship between engagement and academic performance, although important, is nuanced. Qualitative methods are recommended as a follow-up to further investigate how students themselves perceive their engagement in learning communities. Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 15 , 020150 (2019).

Using Open-Source Videos to Flip a First-Year College Physics Class

Flipped classrooms provide students the opportunity to collaboratively solve challenging problems in class with help and scaffolding available from instructors. Because there are many ways to structure a flipped course, research on the effectiveness of flipping classrooms has produced mixed results. Therefore, it is important for researchers to describe the class structure when evaluating the flipped classroom format. This enables other instructors to determine which approach is best suited to their particular teaching style. The current paper describes and evaluates the use of existing open-source (stand-alone) videos when flipping an introductory physics classroom. Over 4 years, data was gathered via three methods including a survey measuring self-reported student perceptions of the course (n = 48), performance on a concept inventory (n = 113), and institutional records (n = 298) to provide a holistic view of the effects of flipping the class. Results indicated that students regularly watched and took notes on the videos, but not all the students enjoyed the flipped classroom format. Despite fewer topics being covered in the flipped version of the class, there were no statistically significant differences in concept inventory performance before and after the course was flipped. Students had higher grades in the associated laboratory course and in subsequent quantitative reasoning courses after the course was flipped. There were no statistically significant differences between grades in subsequent physics courses or based on gender after the course was flipped. Additional implications of the study are also presented.

Bringing a Superhero Down to Earth

I am always looking for ways to bring current events into my introductory physics classroom or laboratory. I am especially interested in finding examples where basic principles of physics can be used to cast skepticism on assertions made by celebrities, politicians, or professional athletes. The other day, one such example literally fell into my lap.

Sex, gender, and physics, and the introductory physics classroom

Sex, gender, and physics, and the introductory physics classroom

Taking a crack at card stacks: Tips and resources for getting started

The goal of this paper is to illustrate different ways that card-sorting activities (or “card stacks”) can be implemented in the introductory physics classroom, along with various tips and resources for getting started. My first attempt at developing a card stack came about from simply wanting to try out a fun way to change student groups. With 24 students in one of my classes, I made cards for six different situations of constant velocity (each with four different representations as shown in Fig. 1). At the start of class, students were given a single card and asked to find their matches. Chaos ensued as students began, but this was soon followed by lots of productive talk among students about who was and wasn’t a match and why. After things settled down, students were asked to draw the velocity vs. time graph for their situation and to then see if any other groups had drawn the exact same graph. Upon finding that another group did, they were asked, “Why are you a match now, but not before?”

Three Active Learning Strategies to Address Mixed Student Epistemologies and Promote Conceptual Change

Novice science learners or introductory science students vary greatly in their understanding of the nature of science. For example, many students do not conceive of scientific knowledge as a highly ordered, coherent, knowledge structure that contains a set of interrelated ideas. Such a framework enables the learner to relate new material to prior knowledge and, if warranted, assimilate the new material within the framework. Many students have strong beliefs that knowledge is conveyed by authorities, such as the instructor and the textbook. Also many student's own knowledge structure is fragmented or “in pieces,” as described by diSessa. Fortunately, this portrayal is not valid for all students. Many other students enter the classroom with productive intellectual values and possess, or can quickly develop with little prompting, alternative, and coherent conceptions that conflict with target ideas. These students are able to relate new material to prior knowledge and, if warranted, assimilate new material into pre-existing conceptions. The challenge of contemporary science education reform is therefore to address the diverse needs of a “mixed student epistemology” classroom. In this paper we review three instructional strategies that show promise to address this challenge in the context of an introductory physics classroom: (1) the Reflective Writing and Labatorial interventions of Kalman et al. (2) the Conceptual Conflict Collaborative Group and Critique approaches of Kalman and Rohar, and (3) the integrated Elicit-and-Challenge and Bridging Technique strategies of Lattery. Each approach stresses the need for students to critically examine their own ideas in relation to target course ideas and discuss their ideas with peers. The second and third approaches emphasize the important role of the history and philosophy of science in science teaching. The aim of such efforts is not only to convey subject-matter content knowledge, but also to shape the student mindset, metacognitive practice, and understanding of the nature of science.

MRI experiments for introductory physics

The introductory physics classroom has long educated students about the properties of the atom and the nucleus. But absent from these lessons has been an informed discussion of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and its parent science nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Physics teachers should not miss the opportunity to instruct upon this highly relevant application of modern physics, especially with so many of our students planning to pursue a career in medicine. This article provides an overview of the physics of MRI and gives advice on how physics teachers can introduce this topic. Also included are some demonstration activities and a discussion of a desktop MRI apparatus that may be used by students in the lab or as a demo.

Superconductors in the high school classroom

In this article, we discuss the behavior of high-temperature superconductors and how to demonstrate them safely and effectively in the high school or introductory physics classroom. Included here is a discussion of the most relevant physics topics that can be demonstrated, some safety tips, and a bit of the history of superconductors. In an effort to include first-year physics students in the world of modern physics, a topic as engaging as superconductivity should not be missed. It is an opportunity to inspire students to study physics through the myriad of possible applications that high temperature superconductors hold for the future.

Why does a ball fall?: A new visualization for Einstein's model of gravity

Many physics teachers seek a simple illustration of Einstein's model of gravity, suitable for the introductory physics classroom. In this article, we show that an ordinary wall map of the world can be used to contrast Newton's and Einstein's explanations for why a ball falls when released. Trajectories on the map are analogous to the trajectories of the ball through spacetime, because the geometry of the map is remarkably similar to the geometry of spacetime near Earth's surface. To aid in the pedagogy, we focus on the concept of scale rather than curvature. We show that, contrary to popular visualizations of Einstein's model, it is primarily the warping of time, not space, that causes a ball to fall, and we address the question of why we do not see the distortion of spacetime around us. Finally, we recover Newton's results for the falling ball from our geometrical treatment.

A MOOC based on blended pedagogy

AbstractWe describe three iterations of a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) developed from online preparation materials for a reformed introductory physics classroom at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in which the teaching staff interact with small groups of students doing problems using an expert problem‐solving pedagogy. The MOOC contains an e‐text, simple checkpoint problems and homework. We show how certain course design aspects affect student behaviour: (a) frequent quizzes correlated with students reading a large fraction of the e‐text, and (b) When homework sets are arranged by increasing (instructor‐estimated) difficulty, we found strong correlations between difficulty and time to solution, but weak correlations with percent correct. Modifications to the second offering of the course resulted in higher retention. These modifications included targeting physics teachers and posting materials well in advance. We define retention as certificates earned relative to participants who make a significant effort on the second assignment. Retention measured this way varied between 44% and 72%, being highest in the course aimed at teachers. We show that there is significant learning among MOOC participants. Applying item response theory to common homework problems showed that the MOOC participants had significantly higher ability than students in a Massachusetts Institute of Technology course and that they maintained this advantage over the duration of the MOOC.

Innovative Interactive Lecture Demonstrations Using Wireless Force Sensors and Accelerometers for Introductory Physics Courses

Interactive lecture demonstrations1–6 (ILDs) are a powerful tool designed to help instructors bring state-of-the-art teaching pedagogies into the college-level introductory physics classroom. ILDs have been shown to improve students' conceptual understanding, and many examples have been created and published by Sokoloff and Thornton.6 We have used the new technology of Vernier's Wireless Dynamics Sensor System (WDSS)7 to develop three new ILDs for the first-semester introductory physics (calculus-based or algebra-based) classroom. These three are the Force Board, to demonstrate the vector nature of forces, addition of vectors, and the first condition of equilibrium; the Torque Board, to demonstrate torque and the second condition for equilibrium; and the Circular Motion Board, to discover the nature of the acceleration an object exhibiting uniform circular motion. With the WDSS, all three of these ILDs are easy to set up and use in any classroom or laboratory situation, and allow more instructors to utilize the technique of interactive lecture demonstrations.

A comparison of problem-based learning and traditional lecture students' expectations and course grades in an introductory physics classroom

The purpose of this study was to compare problem-based learning (PBL) and traditional lecture students’ expectations about physics and physics learning and course grades in an introductory physics classroom. A total of 264 (PBL, n = 100; traditional, n = 164) freshman engineering students of Dokuz Eylul University (DEU) in Izmir, Turkey participated in the study. Student expectations were measured through the pre and post application of the Maryland Physics Expectations Survey (MPEX). Physics achievement data were obtained from students’ end-of-semester physics grades. Data were analyzed using the analyses of variance (ANOVA), the repeated measure and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) statistics. Results revealed that groups did not differ in their average MPEX scores as a result of one semester of instruction. Significant differences were determined in some components of the MPEX with respect to gender and instruction type. Overall, results of this study suggest that PBL approach has no positive influence on students’ achievement in and expectations about physics and physics learning for this particular group of students. Implications of the results for physics education and further research are discussed. Key words: Expectations, introductory physics, problem-based learning, MPEX.

Reducing the gender gap in the physics classroom: How sufficient is interactive engagement?

Previous research [Lorenzo et al., Am. J. Phys. 74, 118 (2006)] demonstrated that the difference in performance between male and female students can be reduced and even eliminated, in consistent fashion, by using interactive engagement techniques in the introductory physics classroom. The present paper describes similar studies in a different, large research university and finds that the use of interactive engagement techniques does not necessarily reduce the gender gap. Furthermore, in the environments studied, there is a gap in learning gains between male and female students $(p<0.01)$ whether partially or fully interactive classroom techniques are used. Our findings suggest that engaging students in interactive educational environments is not sufficient to reduce the gender gap, and we find instances where despite significant learning gains by all students, the gender gap is increased. There is indication that there are both student and instructor effects that impact the gender gap, which are the subjects of ongoing studies.

The use of radar-gun technology in the physics classroom/laboratory

The ability to measure speeds of objects without the need for timers, photogates, or specialized experimental setups is extremely helpful in teaching/learning physics. Such measurements are made possible using current-generation radar guns. In our efforts to provide learning experiences that incorporate familiar technology, we have introduced radar guns into an introductory physics classroom and a general-education laboratory.

Bringing extra-solar planets into the introductory physics classroom

This paper describes a teaching activity for students using Doppler shifts of starlight to detect extra-solar planets.