Learning to Think Like Scientists with the PET Curriculum

Abstract

Abstract. Instructional techniques based on research in cognitive science and physics education have been used in physics courses to enhance student learning. While dramatic increases in conceptual understanding have been observed, students enrolled in these courses tend to shift away from scientist-like views of the discipline (and views of learning within the discipline) and toward novice-like views. Shifts toward scientist-like views are found when course materials and instruction explicitly address epistemology, the nature of science, and the nature of learning. The Physics and Everyday Thinking (PET) curriculum has specific goals for helping non-science majors explicitly reflect on the nature of science and the nature of science learning. We show that in PET courses with small and large enrollments, shifts toward scientist-like thinking ranged from +4% to +16.5% on the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey. These results are compared to results from other studies using a variety of similar assessment instruments.

Effects of two different types of physics learning on the results of CLASS test

“…Otero and Gray have published positive results on the CLASS from courses with preservice teachers utilizing the Physics and Everyday Thinking (PET) curriculum (shifts toward expert responses ranged from þ4% to þ16:5%) which includes an explicit nature of science theme [19]. Positive effects on CLASS results have also been observed in courses based on modeling instruction [20].…”

Implementation of physics and everyday thinking in a high school classroom: Concepts and argumentation

“…When implemented in semester-long undergraduate university classrooms, students have been shown to demonstrate learning gains on the PET conceptual test, indicating that the PET curriculum helped students gain a conceptual understanding of physics ideas including Newton's laws, energy transfer and change, electric circuits, and light [6]. Additionally, when learning with the PET curriculum, undergraduate students demonstrated positive shifts in their understanding and attitudes toward science [7]. The PET curriculum was initially designed for use with post-secondary non-science major populations; however we hypothesized that because the curriculum is highly-interactive, evidence-based, and dependent on students owning and defending their ideas, it would be very effective in the high school setting.…”

Physics Myth Busting: A Lab-Centered Course for Non-Science Students

“…There have been dramatic improvements in conceptual physics courses designed for nonscience students reported in the literature. 14 What are similar successful strategies for teaching the process of science? Future versions of this course could be used to answer these questions and clearly identify the most important strategies.…”

“…The overall favorable scores showed a shift of +8.6% (with a standard deviation of 2.6%), results that are similar to other successful physics courses for non-science majors that have favorable score shifts from +4% to +14%. 14 Student feedback from the course was overwhelmingly positive. The students particularly found the myth approach useful in thinking about science outside of the classroom.…”