42
Sunday afternoon
AA10:
3:50-4 p.m. Behavioral Analysis Techniques for
Mobile Phone Collected Data
Contributed – Yong J. Kwon, Randolph College, Lynchburg, VA 24503;
Evan Goulding, Northwestern University
Bipolar disorder (BPD) is a severe and chronic mental illness that in-
creases mortality nearly three-fold. Despite the use of mood stabilizers
for many decades, BPD still disables many, and is listed as the ninth
leading cause of disability worldwide. The ongoing suffering produced
by this disease drives a clear need for improved treatment. This
project aims to develop a smartphone intervention that will capture
and feed back behavioral data to improve patient self-management
and increase the effectiveness of psychological interventions to reduce
symptoms and prevent relapse in BPD patients. The study is currently
testing various techniques to capture the behavioral data in a useful
form. Among them are, Eigenbehavior – identifying principle com-
ponents of the daily behavior, Non-Parametric measure – discovering
intradaily and inter-daily activity pattern, and Detrended Fluctua-
tion Analysis – determining scale-invarianceness of the activity. We
will discuss the effectiveness of above techniques for capturing the
behavioral data.
Session AB: PER: Investigating
Classroom Strategies
Location: Salon 4
Sponsor: AAPT
Date: Sunday, January 5
Time: 2–3:50 p.m.
Presider: Chris Whittaker
AB01:
2-2:10 p.m. Implementing, Documenting, and
Assessing Evidence-based Physics Instruction*
Contributed – David E. Meltzer, Arizona State University, Mesa, AZ
85212;
For at least 90 years, physics educators have attempted to improve
instructional practices through systematic analysis of student-learning
data. I will review some of the highlights of these investigations in
order to focus on key issues and problems that have surfaced. For
example, although some analysis of students’ physics ideas had
occurred in the 1930s and 1940s, implementation of instructional
materials based closely on such research did not take place until the
1970s. I will also address the evolution in diagnostic instruments and
offer perspective on issues related to statistical analysis of assessment
data, the validity of observational protocols, and trade-offs between
practicality and reliability.
*Supported in part by NSF DUE #1256333
AB02:
2:10-2:20 p.m. Challenges Faced by Learning
Assistants in a Studio Physics Course
Contributed – Joshua S. Von Korff, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA
30303;
Anna-Marie Smith, Megan Smith, Georgia State University
Georgia State University’s Learning Assistant program recruits under-
graduates to assist with instruction in our introductory algebra-based
physics courses. Although the Learning Assistant model has been
shown to be effective at enhancing student learning, little is known
about the obstacles that Learning Assistants face. How do these ob-
stacles evolve over the semester, and how do Learning Assistants deal
with them? In order to investigate these questions, we interviewed
four learning assistants who were assigned to SCALE-UP studio
physics courses. We arranged four interviews with each Learning As-
sistant and examined all of their weekly essays written for the required
science pedagogy course. We analyzed this data using constant com-
parative analysis, a technique associated with the grounded theory
approach to qualitative research. The Learning Assistants described
many barriers that they encountered including student disengage-
ment, difficulty finding the right question to ask, and others.
AB03:
2:20-2:30 p.m. Facilitating Discourse in Physics
Whiteboard Meetings
Contributed – Scot A. Hovan, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
55417;
The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
1
identify eight
practices as essential to science and engineering, and several of these
emphasize the role of students’ constructing explanations, engaging in
argumentation, and communicating scientific information. However,
few teacher-training programs instruct teachers on how to facilitate
discourse in the classroom. Developed at Arizona State University,
Modeling Instruction
2
emphasizes the role of student discourse in the
construction of scientific knowledge by having students participate
in large group conversations called whiteboard meetings. However,
the novelty of this conversation format can inhibit student participa-
tion and make the facilitation of this discourse mode quite challeng-
ing. This research is a portion of one high school teacher’s self study
analyzing his experiences facilitating discourse in his attempt to move
students closer to those practices espoused by the NGSS.
1. National Research Council (2012).
A Framework for K-12 science education:
Practices,
crosscutting concepts, and core ideas. Committee on a Conceptual
Framework for New K-12 Science Education Standards. Board on Science Edu-
cation, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington,
DC: National Academy Press.
2.
/
AB04:
2:30-2:40 p.m. Video Resource for Professional
Development of University Physics Educators
Contributed – Rachel E. Scherr, Seattle Pacific University, Seattle, WA
98119;
Renee Michelle Goertzen, American Physical Society
The Video Resource for Professional Development of University Phys-
ics Educators is being developed to support a wide range of university
physics educators (four-year university faculty, two-year-college
faculty, graduate teaching assistants, and undergraduate learning
assistants) in engaging with key issues in teaching and learning. Based
on compelling classroom video of best-practices university physics in-
struction, the resource is organized into “video workshops” that each
introduce a significant topic in the teaching and learning of physics,
such as formative assessment or cooperative learning. The topic is
introduced through a captioned video episode of introductory physics
students in the classroom, chosen to prompt collaborative discussion.
Discussion questions prompt participants who view the episode to re-
flect on their pedagogical beliefs and on their own practice. The Video
Resource will provide materials to be incorporated into a variety of
professional development situations, including self-organized groups
of professors, graduate TA training, LA pedagogy courses, and online
professional development communities.
AB05:
2:40-2:50 p.m. A Taxonomy for Identifying Visual
Elements of Textbooks
Contributed – Juan R. Burciaga, Mount Holyoke College, Department of
Physics, Hadley, MA 01075-1424;
Alexandra Lau, Mount Holyoke College
Visual elements are integral components of todays textbooks. The ap-
plications for these elements vary from simply breaking up the textual
narrative ... to establishing a supplemental or an alternative narrative
... to summarizing or communicating key concepts. To better under-
stand the impact of visual elements in the pedagogical framework
of textbooks we have created a taxonomy to identify their roles. The
taxonomy is being used to analyze the number and placement of
visual elements in both a traditional text and a non-traditional one.
The resulting analysis is being used as a basis for designing additional
visual elements.
