This paper examines the results of the repeated administration of the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey (CLASS) in a large introductory physics course at a midsize, metropolitan Canadian university. We compare the results to those obtained previously in comparable courses at the University of British Columbia (Canada) and the University of Colorado (U.S.). Atypically, students in this study exhibited a positive shift in their attitudes about science over the semester. The change in students’ attitudes across the term appears to be moderated by their educational background—specifically, whether they had taken grade 12 physics or not. The correlation between students’ attitudes and their conceptual knowledge also appears to be influenced by students’ educational background. The results have pedagogical implications for instructors of introductory college and university physics and potentially for other science courses
We report on an experiment comparing examinations of concepts using slightly modified peer instruction (MPI) interventions with a conceptual conflict strategy based on collaborative groups (CG). Four interventions were utilized in two sections of an introductory physics course for science students. Both instructors and strategies were alternated in the two classes so that instructor dependence could be factored out and so that each class could serve as both an experimental and a control group. The gain on the Force Concept Inventory (FCI) used as a pre-and post-test is essentially the same in both classes. The instructors were experienced in use of MPI, but this was the first time that these instructors had used a collaborative group activity in their classes and only used it for the two interventions in each class described in this paper. CG appears to be more effective as a teaching method than PI. It also should be noted that the effectiveness of both teaching methods seems to be instructor independent as long as the instructors followed the same protocol.PACS Nos: 01.40Fk, 01.40.gb, 01.40.-d Résumé : Nous présentons les résultats d'une expérience comparant l'examen des concepts en utilisant des interventions légèrement modifiées d'instruction par des pairs (MPI) avec une stratégie de conflit conceptuel basée sur des groupes collaboratifs (CG). Nous avons utilisé quatre interventions dans deux sections d'un cours d'introduction à la physique destiné aux étudiants en sciences. Nous avons alterné les enseignants et les stratégies entre les deux classes de façon à éliminer la dépendance sur l'enseignant et que chacune puisse servir à la fois comme cobaye et comme groupe de contrôle. L'amélio-ration dans le test FCI avant et après le test est essentiellement la même dans les deux classes. Les enseignants étaient familiers avec MPI, mais c'était la première fois qu'ils utilisaient des activités de groupes collaboratifs dans leurs classes et ne l'ont utilisé que pour les deux interventions décrites ici. CG semble être une méthode d'enseignement plus efficace que PI. O doit aussi noter que l'efficacité des deux méthodes semble indépendante de l'enseignant, à condition de suivre le même protocole.[Traduit par la Rédaction]
At Ryerson University every year, hundreds of science and engineering students enroll into required introductory physics courses. The diverse educational histories and demographic characteristics of these students reflect the diversity of Toronto as an urban metropolis and Canada more generally. In this study, we investigate how students’ demographic and educational diversity affects their conceptual learning in introductory university physics. As expected, we found that the completion of a senior high school physics course is positively related to students’ initial conceptual understanding of physics. The unexpected result was that gender remained a predictor of the students’ initial conceptual understanding, even when the completion of high school physics was accounted for. Other demographic characteristics, such as students’ mother tongue and country of birth, seem not to matter. Students’ initial conceptual understanding was the strongest predictor of students’ course learning outcomes, which makes understanding students’ initial differences particularly important. Since learning outcomes in introductory science courses often impact students’ later success in undergraduate science degree programs, these results suggest that the impact of completing high school physics may extend far beyond the first year. The persistence of initial gender differences in students’ learning outcomes remains an ongoing concern.
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