Using action research to improve learning and formative assessment to conduct research
Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 5, 010109 (2009)
Eugenia Etkina, Anna Karelina, Sahana Murthy, and Maria Ruibal-Villasenor
The paper reports on how educational research informed and supported both the process of refinement of introductory physics laboratory instruction and student development of scientific abilities. In particular we focus on how the action research approach paradigm combined with instructional approaches such as scaffolding and formative assessment can be used to design the learning environment, investigate student learning, revise curriculum materials, and conduct subsequent assessment. As the result of the above efforts we found improvement in students’ scientific abilities over the course of three years. We suggest that the process used to improve the curriculum under study can be extended to many instructional innovations.
Showing posts with label laboratory. Show all posts
Showing posts with label laboratory. Show all posts
2008-11-17
Hanif Sneddon Al-Ahmadi Reid - EJP 2009
The perceptions, views and opinions of university students about physics learning during undergraduate laboratory work
Eur. J. Phys. 30 85-96 (2009)
M Hanif, P H Sneddon, F M Al-Ahmadi and N Reid
The physics laboratory has long been a distinctive feature of physics education. It has been given a central role in the teaching and learning of physics at school and undergraduate levels in universities. The literature indicates that science educators have suggested that there are academically rich benefits in the learning and understanding of physics based on laboratory work. However, some educators have begun to raise serious and valid questions about the effectiveness of the learning through laboratory work in science subjects and the heavy cost for the establishment and maintenance of laboratories. This research paper provides perspectives on these issues through a brief review of the history, goals and objectives related to the physics undergraduate laboratory. An empirical research study was conducted to determine the university students' perceptions, views and opinions with regard to physics learning during undergraduate laboratory work. This involved 143 students from first and higher years and the evidence was gathered by survey and focus group interviews, the former using a variety of types of questions. The evidence from the students is positive and suggests that undergraduate physics laboratory work may well be contributing towards the achievement of specific desirable goals.
Eur. J. Phys. 30 85-96 (2009)
M Hanif, P H Sneddon, F M Al-Ahmadi and N Reid
The physics laboratory has long been a distinctive feature of physics education. It has been given a central role in the teaching and learning of physics at school and undergraduate levels in universities. The literature indicates that science educators have suggested that there are academically rich benefits in the learning and understanding of physics based on laboratory work. However, some educators have begun to raise serious and valid questions about the effectiveness of the learning through laboratory work in science subjects and the heavy cost for the establishment and maintenance of laboratories. This research paper provides perspectives on these issues through a brief review of the history, goals and objectives related to the physics undergraduate laboratory. An empirical research study was conducted to determine the university students' perceptions, views and opinions with regard to physics learning during undergraduate laboratory work. This involved 143 students from first and higher years and the evidence was gathered by survey and focus group interviews, the former using a variety of types of questions. The evidence from the students is positive and suggests that undergraduate physics laboratory work may well be contributing towards the achievement of specific desirable goals.
2008-06-19
Lindwall Lymer - JLS 2008
The Dark Matter of Lab Work: Illuminating the Negotiation of Disciplined Perception in Mechanics
Journal of the Learning Sciences, Volume 17, Issue 2 April 2008 , pages 180 - 224
Oskar Lindwall; Gustav Lymer
This study examines the practical work of a pair of students and an instructor using probeware in a mechanics lab. The aim of the study is to describe and discuss a type of interactional sequence that we refer to as dark matter, the ordinary backdrop to the extraordinary sequences that are easily recognizable as clear-cut instances of learning. Although this work is downplayed in the research literature, describing it is critical to properly understanding lab work as an educational practice. With a focus on the negotiation of disciplined perception, we analyze a number of episodes wherein a pair of students and an instructor struggle with the construction and interpretation of a graph depicting a linear relationship between force and acceleration. We demonstrate an intimate interplay between how the students display their problems and understandings and how the instructor tries to make the subject matter content visible and thus learnable. The analyzed episodes are illuminating with regard to the analytical notion of disciplined perception as applied to graph interpretation; the cognitive and practical competencies involved in producing, recognizing, and understanding graphs in mechanics; and the interactive work by which these competencies are made into objects of learning and instruction.
DOI: 10.1080/10508400801986082
Journal of the Learning Sciences, Volume 17, Issue 2 April 2008 , pages 180 - 224
Oskar Lindwall; Gustav Lymer
This study examines the practical work of a pair of students and an instructor using probeware in a mechanics lab. The aim of the study is to describe and discuss a type of interactional sequence that we refer to as dark matter, the ordinary backdrop to the extraordinary sequences that are easily recognizable as clear-cut instances of learning. Although this work is downplayed in the research literature, describing it is critical to properly understanding lab work as an educational practice. With a focus on the negotiation of disciplined perception, we analyze a number of episodes wherein a pair of students and an instructor struggle with the construction and interpretation of a graph depicting a linear relationship between force and acceleration. We demonstrate an intimate interplay between how the students display their problems and understandings and how the instructor tries to make the subject matter content visible and thus learnable. The analyzed episodes are illuminating with regard to the analytical notion of disciplined perception as applied to graph interpretation; the cognitive and practical competencies involved in producing, recognizing, and understanding graphs in mechanics; and the interactive work by which these competencies are made into objects of learning and instruction.
DOI: 10.1080/10508400801986082
2008-01-02
Apedoe - Science Ed. 2008
Engaging students in inquiry: Tales from an undergraduate geology laboratory-based course
Sci Ed 1-33, 2007
Xornam S. Apedoe (xapedoe@pitt.edu)
Learning Research & Development Center, University of Pittsburgh, 3939 O'Hara St., Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA
This paper reports the synthesis of three case studies of students' engagement in inquiry-based learning activities in an upper-level undergraduate geology course. Details of how students engaged in scientific questions, gave priority to evidence, formulated explanations, evaluated explanations, and communicated and justified their findings are presented. Data for this study included classroom observations and fieldnotes of classroom practices, questionnaires, archival data (e.g., student work samples), and audiotapes and transcripts of interviews conducted with the student participants throughout the course. The findings suggest that although these students were able to successfully appropriate inquiry practices (e.g., giving priority to evidence), it was not without its challenges (e.g., perceived lack of guidance). A detailed discussion of the ways in which students were successful, and where they had challenges engaging in inquiry is presented, with the goal of helping direct practitioners and researchers to strategies whereby students' inquiry experiences can be improved.
© 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Received: 30 May 2007; Revised: 17 October 2007; Accepted: 21 October 2007
DOI: 10.1002/sce.20254
Sci Ed 1-33, 2007
Xornam S. Apedoe (xapedoe@pitt.edu)
Learning Research & Development Center, University of Pittsburgh, 3939 O'Hara St., Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA
This paper reports the synthesis of three case studies of students' engagement in inquiry-based learning activities in an upper-level undergraduate geology course. Details of how students engaged in scientific questions, gave priority to evidence, formulated explanations, evaluated explanations, and communicated and justified their findings are presented. Data for this study included classroom observations and fieldnotes of classroom practices, questionnaires, archival data (e.g., student work samples), and audiotapes and transcripts of interviews conducted with the student participants throughout the course. The findings suggest that although these students were able to successfully appropriate inquiry practices (e.g., giving priority to evidence), it was not without its challenges (e.g., perceived lack of guidance). A detailed discussion of the ways in which students were successful, and where they had challenges engaging in inquiry is presented, with the goal of helping direct practitioners and researchers to strategies whereby students' inquiry experiences can be improved.
© 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Received: 30 May 2007; Revised: 17 October 2007; Accepted: 21 October 2007
DOI: 10.1002/sce.20254
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