Reinventing college physics for biologists: Explicating an epistemological curriculum

American Journal of Physics

Volumn 77, Issue 7, 2009, Pages 629-642

  Redish, Edward F ^a   Hammer, David ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 67649198806     PISSN: 00029505     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1119/1.3119150     Document Type: Article

References (75)

1. NSF Grant REC-008-7519, Learning How to Learn Science: Physics for Bioscience Majors.
2. B. Alberts, " The cell as a collection of protein machines: Preparing the next generation of molecular biologists.," Cell 92, 291-294 (1998). 10.1016/S0092-8674(00)80922-8
3. H. Varmus, " The impact of physics on biology and medicine.," APS News 8 (August/September, 1999).
4. Bio 2010: Transforming Undergraduate Education for Future Research Biologists (National Academy of Sciences Press, Washington, DC, 2003).
5. David Hammer, " Student resources for learning introductory physics.," Am. J. Phys. 68 (7), S52-S59 (2000). 10.1119/1.19520
6. E. F. Redish, " A Theoretical Framework for Physics Education Research: Modeling Student Thinking.," in Proceedings of the International School of Physics, "Enrico Fermi" Course CLVI, edited by, E. F. Redish, and, M. Vicentini, (IOS Press, Amsterdam, 2004), pp. 1-63.
7. D. Hammer, A. Elby, R. E. Scherr, and E. F. Redish, " Resources, Framing, And Transfer.," in Transfer of Learning from a Modern Multidisciplinary Perspective, edited by, Jose Mestre, (Information Age Publishing, Charlotte, NC, 2004), Chap..
8. D. Hammer, " Discovery learning and discovery teaching.," Cogn. Instruct. 15, 485-529 (1997). 10.1207/s1532690xci1504-2
9. A. Elby, " Helping physics students learn how to learn.," Am. J. Phys. 69 (7), S54-S64 (2001). 10.1119/1.1377283
10. D. Hammer and A. Elby, " Tapping students' epistemological resources.," J. Learn. Sci. 12 (1), 53-91 (2003). 10.1207/S15327809JLS1201- 3
11. The notion of a " hidden curriculum. " has sometimes been used in educational thought to describe problematic lessons students can take away from the structures and practices of schools, with an emphasis on social values. See, for example, B. R. Snyder, The Hidden Curriculum (Knopf, 1971), instructor ed. and H. A. Giroux, Teachers as Intellectuals: Toward a Critical Pedagogy of Learning (Bergin & Garvey, New York, 1988) and Theory and Resistance in Education: Towards a Pedagogy for the Opposition (Bergin & Garvey, New York, 2001). Here we focus specifically on student epistemologies, which are undoubtedly related to social values, but we do not pursue the relationship.
12. E. F. Redish, Teaching Physics with the Physics Suite (Wiley, New York, 2003), Chap..
13. In earlier work we have referred to some of these issues as issues of student expectations. We now view these expectations as reflections of students' context-dependent epistemological understandings of the nature of the knowledge they are learning in a particular situation and what they think they have to do to learn it.
14. L. Lising and A. Elby, " The impact of epistemology on learning: A case study from introductory physics.," Am. J. Phys. 73, 372-382 (2005). 10.1119/1.1848115
15. E. F. Redish, R. E. Scherr, and J. Tuminaro, " Reverse engineering the solution of a simple' physics problem: Why learning physics is harder than it looks.," Phys. Teach. 44 (5), 293-300 (2006). 10.1119/1.2195401
16. J. Tuminaro and E. F. Redish, " Elements of a cognitive model of physics problem solving: Epistemic games.," Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 3, 020101-1-22 (2007). 10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.3.020101
17. R. E. Scherr, " Gesture analysis for physics education researchers.," Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 4 (1), 10101-1-9 (2008). 10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.4.010101
18. R. E. Scherr and D. Hammer, " Student behavior and epistemological framing: Examples from collaborative active-learning activities in physics.," Cogn. Instruct. 0737-0008 (in press).
19. G. Hatano and K. Inagaki, " Two Courses of Expertise.," in Child Development and Education in Japan, edited by, H. Stevenson, H. Azuma, and, K. Hakuta, (Freeman, New York, 1986), pp. 262-272.
20. A. Einstein, " Physics and Reality.," J. Franklin Institute 221 (3), 349-382 (1936). 10.1016/S0016-0032(36)91047-5
21. A. A. diSessa, " Toward an epistemology of physics.," Cogn. Instruct. 10, 105-225 (1993). 10.1207/s1532690xci1002&3-2
22. J. Clement, D. Brown, and A. Zeitsman, " Not all preconceptions are misconceptions: Finding anchoring conceptions' for grounding instruction on students' intuitions.," Int. J. Sci. Educ. 11, 554-565 (1989). 10.1080/0950069890110507
23. Michael McCloskey, " Nave Theories of Motion.," in Mental Models, edited by, Dedre Gentner, and, Albert L. Stevens, (Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ, 1983), pp. 299-324.
24. K. A. Strike and G. J. Posner, " A Revisionist Theory of Conceptual Change.," in Philosophy of Science, Cognitive Psychology, and Education Theory and Practice, edited by, R. A. Duschl, and, R. J. Hamilton, (SUNY Press, New York, 1992), pp 147-176.
25. D. Hammer, " Two approaches to learning physics.," Phys. Teach. 0031-921X 27, 664-671 (1989); 10.1119/1.2342910 D. Hammer, " Epistemological beliefs in introductory physics.," Cogn. Instruct. 12 (2), 151-183 (1994). 10.1207/s1532690xci1202-4
26. E. F. Redish, J. M. Saul, and R. N. Steinberg, " Student expectations in introductory physics.," Am. J. Phys. 66, 212-224 (1998). 10.1119/1.18847
27. As a result of our project, some of the sections are currently more or less nontraditional. For example, about half of the sections now use some student response devices in lecture and nontraditional laboratories and tutorials. As of this writing, about half of the sections remain as described here.
28. From the University of Maryland online course catalog, spring term 2007 (www.sis.umd.edu/bin/soc?term=200701e&crs=PHYS).
29. The course was taught most often by the first author, whose version of the course is the principal basis of this article.
30. J. Nussbaum and S. Novick, " Alternative frameworks, conceptual conflict and accommodation: Toward a principled teaching strategy.," Instr. Sci. 11 (2), 183-200 (1983). 10.1007/BF00414279
31. L. C. McDermott, " Millikan Lecture 1990: What we teach and what is learned-Closing the gap.," Am. J. Phys. 59, 301-315 (1991). 10.1119/1.16539
32. E. Mazur, Peer Instruction: A User's Manual (Prentice Hall, New York, 1997); C. Crouch, J. Watkins, A. Fagan, and E. Mazur, " Peer Instruction: Engaging students one-on-one all-at-once.," in Reviews of Research-Based Reform Curricula in Introductory Physics, edited by, E. F. Redish, and, P. Cooney, (www.compadre.org/PER/items/detail.cfm?ID=4990).
33. D. Sokoloff and R. Thornton, Interactive Lecture Demonstrations in Introductory Physics (Wiley, New York, 2004); D. R. Sokoloff and R. K. Thornton, " Using interactive lecture demonstrations to create an active learning environment.," Phys. Teach. 35, 340-347 (1997). 10.1119/1.2344715
34. These icons are available in Ref. (part 1).
35. D. Hammer, " Two approaches to learning physics.," Phys. Teach. 27, 664-671 (1989). 10.1119/1.2342910
36. D. Schachter, Seven Sins of Memory: How the Mind Forgets and Remembers (Houghton-Mifflin, Boston, MA, 2001).
37. See EPAPS Document No. E-AJPIAS-77-007906 for supplementary online materials. For more information on EPAPS, see http://www.aip.org/pubservs/epaps. html.
38. Available online at (www.physics.umd.edu/perg/ILD.htm).
39. F. M. Goldberg and L. C. McDermott, " An investigation of student understanding of the real image formed by a converging lens or concave mirror.," Am. J. Phys. 55, 108-119 (1987). 10.1119/1.15254
40. R. M. Goertzen, R. E. Scherr, and A. Elby, " Indictors of Understanding: What TAs Listen For in Student Responses.," 2008 Physics Education Research Conference, AIP Conf. Proc., 1064, 119-122 (2008).
41. L. McDermott, P. Shaffer, and the University of Washington Physics Education Group, Tutorials in Introductory Physics (Prentice Hall, New York, 2002).
42. M. Wittmann, R. Steinberg, and E. Redish, Activity-Based Tutorials (Wiley, New York, 2004).
43. E. F. Redish, J. M. Saul, and R. N. Steinberg, " On the effectiveness of active-engagement microcomputer-based laboratories.," Am. J. Phys. 65, 45-54 (1997). 10.1119/1.18498
44. The creation of such a pair requires a good knowledge of both the research database (to identify common misconceptions) and students productive resources (to generate contexts that will facilitate students in spontaneously proposing correct answers).
45. R. Lippmann, " Students' understanding of measurement and uncertainty in the physics laboratory: Social construction, underlying concepts, and quantitative analysis.," PhD dissertation, University of Maryland, College Park, MD (2003), (www.physics.umd.edu/perg/dissertations/Lippmann).
46. F. Reif and M. St. John, " Teaching physicists' thinking skills in the laboratory.," Am. J. Phys. 47, 950-957 (1979). 10.1119/1.11618
47. R. L. Kung and C. Linder, " Metacognitive activity in the physics student laboratory: is increased metacognition necessarily better? " Metacognition and Learning 2 (1), 41-56 (2008). 10.1007/s11409-007-9006-9
48. R. Lippmann Kung, " Teaching the concepts of measurement: An example of a concept-based laboratory course.," Am. J. Phys. 73 (8), 771-777 (2005). 10.1119/1.1881253
49. P. Gresser, " A Study Of Social Interaction And Teamwork In Reformed Physics Laboratories.," PhD dissertation, University of Maryland, College Park, MD (2006), (www.physics.umd.edu/perg/dissertations/Gresser).
50. A. H. Schoenfeld, Mathematical Problem Solving (Academic Press, New York, 1985).
51. Reference, Chap..
52. The " Thinking Problems in Physics. " collection is available at (www.physics.umd.edu/perg/abp/TPProbs/ProbSubjs.htm). Many of these problems have solutions that are password protected. The password is available to instructors upon request to redish@umd.edu.
53. Unfortunately, we have no data on how many students acted on this admonition.
54. For details see Ref..
55. We only have informal experience to this effect and have not conducted a systematic study.
56. The traditional tutorial model (Ref.) relies on an ungraded cognitive-conflict pretest and on a tutorial question in each mid-semester exam to achieve similar goals. Our post-test graded model was a better fit to our epistemological goals.
57. See, for example, Ref., Chaps..
58. D. Hestenes, M. Wells, and G. Swackhamer, " Force concept inventory.," Phys. Teach. 30, 141-158 (1992). 10.1119/1.2343497
59. R. K. Thornton and D. R. Sokoloff, " Assessing student learning of Newton's laws: The force and motion conceptual evaluation.," Am. J. Phys. 66 (4), 228-351 (1998). 10.1119/1.18863
60. This measure is typically used to permit the comparison of classes with different pre-test scores. Some care must be taken, as the score is particular to the specific test used and may distort the result when either the pre-or post-test averages are high, producing end effects. We are grateful to Robert Mislevy (private communication) for this comment.
61. R. Hake, " Interactive-engagement versus traditional methods: A six-thousand-student survey of mechanics test data for introductory physics courses.," Am. J. Phys. 66, 64-74 (1998). 10.1119/1.18809
62. Although the other classes we have tested at Maryland were all calculus-based, the Hake survey shows that for the FCI in the mid range (pre-test scores from 20 to 60%), similarly structured courses tend to produce similar fractional gains in high school, algebra-based, and calculus-based physics classes. We have compared to our own results rather than to the full Hake set, because the Hake set contained self-reported results from many classes and may have mixed together classes with distinct styles of reform. For our own classes, we know exactly what was done in each case.
63. T. McCaskey, M. Dancy, and A. Elby, " Effects on Assessment Caused by Splits Between Belief and Understanding.," in 2003 Physics Education Research Conference, edited by, J. Marx, K. Cummings, and, S. Franklin, T. McCaskey, M. Dancy, and A. Elby, AIP Conf. Proc. 720, 37-40 (2004). 10.1063/1.1807248
64. L. Bao, K. Hogg, and D. Zollmann, " Model analysis of fine structures of student models: An example with Newton's third law.," Am. J. Phys. 70, 766-778 (2002). 10.1119/1.1484152
65. We cannot rule out the possibility that students left or entered the reform class because of personal preferences associated with the style of teaching.
66. We did not conduct a randomized controlled comparison of our course with others for several reasons. One was logistical: Student course selections are driven largely by schedule constraints, and to have the same population would require a second, independent "control" lecture meet at the same time as the "treatment" sections, which would not be possible under the current system. A second reason is ethical: To conduct a randomized trial would require that we require some students who would prefer otherwise to enroll in a traditional section, when there is extensive evidence that traditional approaches are problematic. Thus, this comparison is clouded by selection effects, both that the schedule constraints affect the population of students in each section, as well as the effects of students' choices who are not so constrained (in both directions). Some of these issues are addressed in T. McCaskey, PhD Thesis, U. of Maryland, forthcoming.
67. (www2.physics.umd.edu/~elby/EBAPS/home.htm).
68. W. K. Adams, K. K. Perkins, N. S. Podolefsky, M. Dubson, N. D. Finkelstein, and C. E. Wieman, " New instrument for measuring student beliefs about physics and learning physics: The Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey.," Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 2, 010101-1-14 (2006). 10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.2.010101
69. A paper on the construction, validation, and detailed results of the survey is in preparation, A. Elby and T. McCaskey (private communication).
70. From the Undergraduate Catalog (www.umd.edu/catalog/0607/Chapter5.pdf).
71. M. Wittmann, (perlnet.umephy.maine.edu/materials/template-fmce.zip).
72. Such selective attention is well documented in cognitive psychology. See, for example, D. J. Simons and C. F. Chabris, " Gorillas in our midst: Sustained inattentional blindness for dynamic events.," Perception 28, 1059-1074 (1999). 10.1068/p2952
73. Attributed to Victor Weisskopf; Union of Concerned Scientists, " Victor Weisskopf remembered.," (http://go.ucsusa.org/ucs/members/page.cfm? pageID=1015).
74. We did not attempt to include special relativity, believing that, although it is exciting and interesting, few of the students would be able to get more than a "gee whiz" insight in the limited time we had available. The reasons many faculty give for including relativity is that it shows that physics has surprises for us if we pay careful attention to experiment and inference. Although these are valuable epistemological messages that fit well with our course, the same messages can be taught in Newtonian mechanics and ray optics much more successfully in the time that is available and in a way that can excite students almost as much. But in the more classical cases, students also take the message that these surprises are something they can actually understand.
75. " Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten.." B. F. Skinner, quoted in New Scientist (21 May 1964).