Monday morning
Portland
52
AH07:
9-9:10 a.m. Improving Exam Performance for Diligent
but Failing Students
Contributed – Zhongzhou Chen, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,
1110 West Green St., Urbana, IL 61801;
Gary Gladding, Jose Mestre Mats Selen, Tim Stelzer, University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign
For instructors, it is distressing to see students who spend a considerable
amount of time and effort learning physics still end up performing poorly
on exams. At university of Illinois, we observe in our introductory physics
courses that a substantial fraction of students who receive failing grades
actually completed over 80% of all course-related activities. In order to
improve the exam performance for those students, we initiated a three-
year project aiming at better understanding the causes of their poor exam
performance, and developing a computer-based online tool to better guide
those students through the process of preparing for an exam. One year into
the project, we have identified a number of possible causes leading to the
poor exam performance of those hard-working students, including inaccu-
rate self-estimation, lack of basic knowledge/skills, and insufficient ability
to learn from worked out solutions. In this talk, we will also demonstrate
how we designed our exam-preparation tool to help students address these
issues.
AH08:
9:10-9:20 a.m. Practice Exam
Contributed – Witat Fakcharoenphol, University of Illinois at Urbana-Cham-
paign, 1110 W. Green St., Urbana, IL 61821;
It has been shown that practicing on exam-liked problems and getting
worked out solutions through an online system can improve students’
performance on similar problems both on similar practice problems, as
well as on the actual exam. However, the improvements were restricted to
problems closely related to the practice problems. In an effort to increase
the effectiveness, we performed a clinical study that included two addi-
tional treatments, providing targeted homework activities, and one-on-one
tutoring. Results of this study and its implications for helping students
prepare for the exam will be presented.
AH09: 9:20-9:30 a.m. Capitalizing on Digital Natives’
Technological Skills
Contributed – Angela M. Cannava, University of Colorado, Boulder, 249 UCB,
Boulder, CO 80309;
The PER community has developed materials that build on students’ con-
ceptual and epistemological resources. However, little attention has been
given to students’ technological resources, which are becoming increas-
ingly important. As “digital natives” make up the majority of our student
population, a simple change of replacing paper and pencil lab notebooks
with digital notebooks may have a dramatic impact on the extent to which
students feel valued and respected. Additionally, digital notebooks are
more aligned with the way digital natives have learned to do their work.
Initial results suggest that digital lab notebooks lead to increased student
achievement, engagement, and quality of work. Survey results revealed that
students preferred digital notebooks because they allow for “easier data
sharing” and increased “versatility.” These results will be discussed along
with implications for instruction and further research.
AH10:
9:30-9:40 a.m. Addressing Conceptual Problems in 1D
Kinematics Using Interactive Online Laboratories
Contributed – Katie Ansell, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1110
West Green St., Urbana, IL 61801;
Mats Selen, Timothy Stelzer, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Over the past 20 years, microcomputer based laboratories (MBLs) have
become a common part of introductory physics courses, either in a formal
laboratory setting or as part of the flipped classroom model. While student
learning gains have been shown in the classroom context, little work
has been done to explore the role and effectiveness of MBL technology
for physics instruction outside of the classroom. In this talk we present
research in which students used a brief, software-guided lesson with an
Interactive Online Laboratory (IOLab) system developed at UIUC to
review one-dimensional kinematics. The lesson and hands-on activities
were designed to address student graphing skills and common conceptual
difficulties that persisted after students received classroom instruction
on the topic. This group was compared to an equivalent group that read
a textbook excerpt addressing the same issues. Results of this study and
implications for future work will be presented.
AH11:
9:40-9:50 a.m. Evaluations of Video Lab Reports in an
Introductory Physics MOOC
Contributed – Shih-Yin Lin, Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Phys-
ics, 837 State St., Atlanta, GA 30332;
John M. Aiken, Brian D. Thoms, Georgia State University
Ed Greco, Scott Douglas, Michael F. Schatz, Georgia Institute of Technology
Marcos D. Caballero, University of Colorado-Boulder
John B. Burk, St. Andrew’s School, Middleton, DE
Assessing student performance becomes challenging when course enroll-
ment becomes very large (~10
5
students). As part of an introductory phys-
ics Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) offered via Coursera in summer
2013, students submit video reports on force and motion labs. Peer
evaluation of reports provides the primary method for evaluating student
laboratory work. This paper describes the methods developed and used to
guide students in evaluating each others’ video lab report.
Session AI: If They Make it, They
Will Learn
Location: Skyline IV
Sponsor: Committee on Physics in Pre-High School Education
Date: Monday, July 15
Time: 8–9 a.m.
Presider: Nina Daye
AI01:
8-9 a.m. Series and Parallel Electric Circuits with
XMAS Tree Lights
Contributed – Lynn Aldrich, Misericordia University, 301 Lake St., Dallas, PA
18612;
Make an electrical circuit setup using XMAS tree lights, wire, and brass fas-
teners on a cardboard backing to use with batteries to show how brightness
changes from connecting one light in a circuit to connecting two lights in
series or in parallel with each other. Material will be provided to make one
setup to take home with you (or more setups depending on the number of
attendees).
AI02:
8-9 a.m. Can You Hear Me Now?
Contributed – Nina M. Daye, Orange High School, 500 Orange High Road,
Hillsborough, NC 27278;
Participants will receive materials to make a variety of low-cost musical
instruments. The physics behind these instruments will be explained. The
focus will be on the the connections with the Next Generation of Science
Standards and the use of these instruments in the pre-high school class-
room. Connections with literacy and trade books will be noted as well.
AI03:
8-9 a.m. Lever It Up
Contributed – Kathleen Falconer, Buffalo State College, 1300 Elmwood Ave.,
Buffalo, NY 14217;
Last year at the 2012 OATP Conference, I went to a session with Marilyn
Orszulik entitled Creativity and Hands-On Learning in Elementary Sci-
ence, Design and Technology Programs. It was a wonderful session and
using very simple hand tools I made a lever. Then my students made levers.
We all had a wonderful time and I was surprised how empowering mak-
ing a simple machine, like the lever, was for my students. So we are going
to make levers. Also we will look at how this activity ties into the NGSS
framework. Come join us and have a good time.
