Teaching assistants (TAs) that lead reformed recitations and labs must understand and buy into the design of the course and the research-based instructional strategies that the course requires in order to create high-fidelity implementations. We present a model that outlines possible influences on TAs' buy-in and their in-class actions coupled with a method, using a Real-time Instructor Observation Tool-based [E. A. West et al. Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 9, 010109 (2013)] exercise, to measure the effect of these influences that is not only quicker than interviews but also allows one to quantify these effects. We use this method to measure the influences on six graduate TAs teaching algebra-based introductory mechanics and electricity and magnetism recitations and labs ("mini studios") at the University of Central Florida. The results from the exercise are confirmed by interview responses from the TAs. We find a relatively high degree of buy-in to the design of the course, yet this is not reflected in the TAs' actions. The TAs' actions appear to be most influenced by student responses and expectations which do not align with the design of the course. Our study examines the effect of three influences shown in our model, and we argue that our method could be easily adapted to examine additional influences.
Abstract:We asked students in two second-semester introductory college physics courses to report on a weekly basis who they worked with on physics outside of class time. One course was a lecture-based course while the second was a studio-based student-centered course implementing the Investigative Science Learning Environment (ISLE). We used social network analysis to visualize and quantify each student's position and engagement in the informal learning community that formed outside of class. Our study analyzed the relationship between students' network positions as they worked together in groups outside the classroom with their performance in the course. We interpreted our results through a participationist viewpoint on learning. Comparisons between the two courses revealed interesting similarities and differences. While the learning communities in these two distinct settings may look very different, our results showed the overarching importance of informal learning communities irrespective of course type.
Abstract. In the participationist perspective, learning is viewed in terms of how students transform their participation. However, many of the seminal papers discussing the participationist framework are vague on specific details about what student participation really looks like on a more fine-grained scale. As part of a larger project to understand the role of student participation in learning, we are trying to characterize the ways in which physics students participate in group activities and discussions while they are constructing new knowledge. The context for our study is a student-centered introductory calculus-based physics class structured around the Investigative Science Learning Environment (ISLE) philosophy. In this paper we will discuss some of the patterns of participation we have found and some of the challenges we have encountered in trying to code and quantify student participation from analyzing video data.
RECON is a citizen-science telescope network designed to observe high-uncertainty occultations by outer solar system objects. Adopting circular models for the object profiles, we derive a radius =-+ r 16 1 2 km and a geometric albedo =-+ p 0.13 V 0.024 0.015 for 2014 YY 49 and a radius =-+ r 66 5 5 km and a geometric albedo =-+ p 0.045 V 0.008 0.006 for 2013 NL 24. To the precision of these measurements, no atmosphere or rings are detected for either object. The two objects measured here are among the smallest distant objects measured with the stellar occultation technique. In addition to these geometric constraints, the occultation measurements provide astrometric constraints for these two Centaurs at a higher precision than has been feasible by direct imaging. To supplement the occultation results, we also present an analysis of color photometry from the Pan-STARRS surveys to constrain the rotational light curve amplitudes and spectral colors of these two Centaurs. We recommend that future work focus on photometry to more deliberately constrain the objects' colors and light curve amplitudes and on follow-on occultation efforts informed by this astrometry.
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