Probing physics students’ conceptual knowledge structures through term association

Abstract

Traditional problem-based exams are not efficient instruments for assessing the "structure" of physics students' conceptual knowledge or for providing diagnostically detailed feedback to students and teachers. We present the Free Term Entry task, a candidate assessment instrument for exploring the connections between concepts in a student's understanding of a subject. In this task, a student is given a general topic area and asked to respond with as many terms from the topic area as possible in a given time; the "thinking time" between each term-entry event is recorded along with the response terms. The task was given to students from two different introductory physics classes. Response term thinking times were found to correlate with the strength of the association between two concepts. In addition, sets of thinking times from the task show distinct, characteristic patterns which might prove valuable for student assessment. We propose a quantitative dynamical model named the Matrix Walk Model which is able to match many aspects of the observed data. One particular feature of the data -a distinct "spike" superimposed on the otherwise log-normal distribution of most thinking time sets -has not been fit. The spike, other patterns observed in the data, and the proposed phenomenological model could all benefit from a grounding in cognitive theory.

Multidimensional item response theory and the Force Concept Inventory

“…One commonly accepted difference in the knowledge structure of experts is the hierarchical nature of the structure, with the most fundamental principles at the top and less fundamental concepts branching out from there [32][33][34]. This more deliberate structuring of knowledge allows experts to engage more efficiently in chunking of knowledge [35][36][37] for more expedient application of the correct physics principles when engaging in problem solving.…”

Topic Order in Introductory Physics and its Impact on the STEM Curricular Ladder

“…A discouraging fact is, after instruction, students have often emerged from our classes with significant misconceptions [9 -15]. Additionally, Beatty and Gerace have argued that traditional exams are not the most effective tools for understanding the structure and knowledge of students' knowledge of physics [16].…”

Brief, embedded, spontaneous metacognitive talk indicates thinking like a physicist

“…TLP is also generally considered a learning goal in the hidden curriculum (especially in laboratory learning environments and the upper division) 6,7,13,15,36 , though occasionally it is made explicit 73 . As a learning goal, TLP is related to moving students from aspiring physicists to professional physicists 12,39 .…”