Assessing inquiry learning in a circuits/electronics course

Getty, John

doi:10.1109/fie.2009.5350849

Cited by 8 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…At the high school level, past studies involved identifying expertise-related differences among students troubleshooting simulated circuits [19,20] and evaluating the * dimitri.dounasfrazer@colorado.edu effectiveness of various instructional strategies [21][22][23][24] on students' troubleshooting performance. Other work in electronics courses has focused on the design [25][26][27] and evaluation [28][29][30] of courses for physics and engineering students, as well as on student understanding of electric circuits [31][32][33] and electronics concepts [34,35].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electronics lab instructors’ approaches to troubleshooting instruction

Dounas-Frazer

Lewandowski

2017

Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res.

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In this exploratory qualitative study, we describe instructors' self-reported practices for teaching and assessing students' ability to troubleshoot in electronics lab courses. We collected audio data from interviews with 20 electronics instructors from 18 institutions that varied by size, selectivity, and other factors. In addition to describing participants' instructional practices, we characterize their perceptions about the role of troubleshooting in electronics, the importance of the ability to troubleshoot more generally, and what it means for students to be competent troubleshooters. One major finding of this work is that, while almost all instructors in our study said that troubleshooting is an important learning outcome for students in electronics lab courses, only half of instructors said they directly assessed students' ability to troubleshoot. Based on our findings, we argue that there is a need for research-based instructional materials that attend to both cognitive and non-cognitive aspects of troubleshooting proficiency. We also identify several areas for future investigation related to troubleshooting instruction in electronics lab courses.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electronics lab instructors’ approaches to troubleshooting instruction

Dounas-Frazer

Lewandowski

2017

Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res.

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“…Finally, students often construct circuits that don't initially work, and the need to troubleshoot arises naturally in most lab activities. Previous work in the domain of electronics courses for physics students has focused on: characterizing college students' understanding of electric circuits [26][27][28][29][30]; characterizing expertise-related differences among high school students troubleshooting simulated circuits [18,19]; and designing teaching strategies to develop college students' conceptual understanding [31][32][33], engage college students in model-based reasoning [12], and improve high school students' troubleshooting ability [20][21][22][23]. However, we are not aware of work that focuses on physics students' ability to troubleshoot physical (as opposed to simulated) electric circuits, or of work that focuses on the troubleshooting processes employed by post-secondary physics students.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating the role of model-based reasoning while troubleshooting an electric circuit

Dounas-Frazer

Bogart

Stetzer

et al. 2016

Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res.

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We explore the overlap of two nationally recognized learning outcomes for physics lab courses, namely, the ability to model experimental systems and the ability to troubleshoot a malfunctioning apparatus. Modeling and troubleshooting are both nonlinear, recursive processes that involve using models to inform revisions to an apparatus. To probe the overlap of modeling and troubleshooting, we collected audiovisual data from think-aloud activities in which eight pairs of students from two institutions attempted to diagnose and repair a malfunctioning electrical circuit. We characterize the cognitive tasks and model-based reasoning that students employed during this activity. In doing so, we demonstrate that troubleshooting engages students in the core scientific practice of modeling.

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“…In recent decades extensive research has been conducted into the teaching and learning of electric circuits (e.g. [1][2][3] and references therein). There are two common misunderstandings students have [1].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

First-year university Physics students’ knowledge about direct current circuits: probing improvement in understanding as a function of teaching and learning interventions

2017

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Probing university students' understanding of direct-current (DC) resistive circuits is still a field of active physics education research. We report here on a study we conducted of this understanding, where the cohort consisted of students in a large-enrollment first-year physics module. This is a noncalculus based physics module for students in the life sciences stream. The study involved 366 students enrolled in the physics (bio) 154 module at Stellenbosch University in 2015. Students' understanding of DC resistive circuits was probed by means of a standardized test instrument. The instrument comprises 29 multiple choice questions that students have to answer in ~40 min. Students were required to first complete the standardized test at the start of semester (July 2015). For ease of reference we call this test the pre-test. Students answered the pre-test having no university-level formal exposure to DC circuits in theory or practice. The pre-test therefore served to probe students' school level knowledge of DC circuits. As the semester progressed students were exposed to a practical (E1), lectures, a prescribed textbook, a tutorial and online videos focusing on DC circuits. The E1 practical required students to solve DC circuit problems by means of physically constructing circuits, algebraically using Kirchhoff's Rules and Ohm's Law, and by means of simulating circuits using the app iCircuit running on iPads (iOS platform). Each E1 practical involved ~50 students in a three hour session. The practical was repeated three afternoons per week over an eight week period. Twenty three iPads were distributed among students on a practical afternoon in order for them to do the circuit simulations in groups (of 4-5 students). At the end of the practical students were again required to do the standardized test on circuits and complete a survey on their experience iopscience.org/ped

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Assessing inquiry learning in a circuits/electronics course

Cited by 8 publications

References 5 publications

Electronics lab instructors’ approaches to troubleshooting instruction

Electronics lab instructors’ approaches to troubleshooting instruction

Investigating the role of model-based reasoning while troubleshooting an electric circuit

First-year university Physics students’ knowledge about direct current circuits: probing improvement in understanding as a function of teaching and learning interventions

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