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2011 AAPT Summer Meeting
July 30-August 3, 2011
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Sessions and Events w/Abstracts

Date: Tuesday, August 02

 

Total Number of Records Found: 13

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EB:   

PER: Topical Understanding and Attitudes
  Location: HC 3023 & 3023A
  Date: Tuesday, Aug.02
  Time: 1:15PM - 3:15PM
  Presider: Linda Winkler,
  Co-Presiders(s): None
  Equipment: N/A
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EB01:   

Analysis of Multiple Choice Problems in Terms of Conditions in the National Test about Force and Energy
  Location: HC 3023 & 3023A
  Date: Tuesday, Aug.02
  Time: 1:15PM - 1:25PM
  Author: Hyeon-Suk Choi, Korea National University of Education
821055222097, eovnddl@hotmail.com
  Co-Author(s): Jung bok Kim
  Abstract: Multiple-choice tests are widely used and their importance seems likely to grow, due to their inherent suitability. Many diagnostic instruments have been developed often in the form of multiple-choice tests. This study was to survey setting up conditional terms on the choice items of the Force and Energy section in a high school physics test by Korea Institute of Curriculum & Evaluation (KICE). A total of 78 items were analyzed by a framework representing the conditional terms. 23 among 78 items contained connotative conditional terms. Expressed conditional terms presented 69 of the 78 items. On the other hand, nine of 78 items did not contain both connotative and expressed conditional terms. We were able to group conditional terms into preventing correct dispute, conditional terms of scientific error, or unnecessary conditional terms to get the correct answer to items.
  Footnotes: None
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EB02:   

Using Online Homework Data to Assess Student Confidence
  Location: HC 3023 & 3023A
  Date: Tuesday, Aug.02
  Time: 1:25PM - 1:35PM
  Author: Andrew Pawl, University of Wisconsin-Platteville
608-342-6160, pawla@uwplatt.edu
  Co-Author(s): Joseph D. Peterson
  Abstract: A popular type of question in online homework involves a set of several true/false statements where students must submit their answer to all the statements at once. This discourages random guessing because although one true/false statement has only two possible answers, a question containing N such statements has two raised to the Nth power possible answers. We have studied student response patterns to a number of these questions with the goal of determining which of the individual true/false statements exhibit a large proportion of response switches (i.e. from true to false or from false to true) and which statements exhibit largely consistent responses. The tendency of students to change their answer to a statement or to remain consistent is one indication of student confidence in the knowledge tested.
  Footnotes: None
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EB03:   

Students' Views of Macroscopic and Microscopic Energy in Physics and Biology
  Location: HC 3023 & 3023A
  Date: Tuesday, Aug.02
  Time: 1:35PM - 1:45PM
  Author: Benjamin W. Dreyfus
Department of Physics, University of Maryland - College Park
917-821-2405, dreyfus@umd.edu
  Co-Author(s): Edward F. Redish, Jessica Watkins
  Abstract: Energy concepts are fundamental across the sciences, yet these concepts can be fragmented along disciplinary boundaries, rather than integrated into a coherent whole. To teach physics effectively to biology students, we need to understand students' disciplinary perspectives. We present interview data from an undergraduate student who displays multiple stances toward the concept of energy. At times he views energy in macroscopic contexts as a separate entity from energy in microscopic (particularly biological) contexts, while at other times he uses macroscopic physics phenomena as productive analogies for understanding energy in the microscopic biological context, and he reasons about energy transformations between the microscopic and macroscopic scales. This case study displays preliminary evidence for the context dependence of students' ability to translate energy concepts across scientific disciplines. This points to challenges that must be taken into account in developing curricula for biology students that integrate physics and biology concepts.
  Footnotes: None
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EB04:   

Comparing Students, Individual and Group Work in an Electronics Lab
  Location: HC 3023 & 3023A
  Date: Tuesday, Aug.02
  Time: 1:45PM - 1:55PM
  Author: Nasser M. Juma, Kansas State University
785-532-1612, mhuninas@phys.ksu.edu
  Co-Author(s): N. Sanjay Rebello, Kristan L. Corwin, Brian R. Washburn
  Abstract: We observed students as they worked on lab experiments in an upper-division electronics and instrumentation laboratory course. In the first half of the course the students learned about various analog and digital electronic components through mini-lectures and laboratory activities. They built various electronic circuits using their knowledge of these electronic components. In the second half of the course students teamed up to work on an open-ended capstone project that required them to use their knowledge of electronics learned in the first half of the course to improve the measurements done on a physics experiment they have worked on in a previous semester. As a group, the students thought of ideas to improve the measurement design and then built circuitry to implement this improved design. We describe findings from this study and highlight how the students' group work during the capstone project compares with their individual work before the capstone project.
  Footnotes: This work is supported in part by NSF grant DUE-0736897.
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EB05:   

Improving Students' Understanding of Coulomb's Law and Gauss's Law
  Location: HC 3023 & 3023A
  Date: Tuesday, Aug.02
  Time: 1:55PM - 2:05PM
  Author: Jing Li, University of Pittsburgh
412-526-8896, fairylee86@gmail.com
  Co-Author(s): Chandralekha Singh
  Abstract: We discuss the development and evaluation of five research-based tutorials on Coulomb's law, Gauss’s law, and the superposition principle to help students in the calculus-based introductory physics courses learn these concepts. The tutorials were developed based upon research on students' difficulties on relevant topics. We discuss the performance of students on the pre-/post-tests given before and after the tutorials, respectively, in four calculus-based introductory physics courses. We also compare the performance of students who used the tutorials with those who did not use them. We find that students performed significantly better in classes in which tutorials were used than in the classes where students learned the material via traditional lecture only. We also found that the students who worked on the tutorials and performed differently in the pre-test all have improvement in the post-test.
  Footnotes: None
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EB06:   

Student Understanding of the Approach to Thermal Equilibrium
  Location: HC 3023 & 3023A
  Date: Tuesday, Aug.02
  Time: 2:05PM - 2:15PM
  Author: Michael E. Loverude, California State University Fullerton
657-278-2270, mloverude@fullerton.edu
  Co-Author(s): None
  Abstract: This paper describes work that is part of an ongoing collaboration to study student learning of thermal physics and develop curricular materials suitable for upper-division courses. The current work describes research on student understanding of the approach to thermal equilibrium. In the hybrid "thermal physics" approach, thermal equilibrium is examined on the macroscopic level but also as a statistical phenomenon. We examine student understanding of these different treatments in the context of two interacting solids, and discuss implications for instruction.
  Footnotes: Supported in part by NSF grant DUE 0817335. Any opinions and findings are the work of the author and do not necessarily represent the view of the National Science Foundation.
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EB07:   

Students' Perceptions of the Pathway Active Learning Environment^1
  Location: HC 3023 & 3023A
  Date: Tuesday, Aug.02
  Time: 2:15PM - 2:25PM
  Author: Sytil K. Murphy
Kansas State University Physics Department
(785) 532-1824, smurphy@phys.ksu.edu
  Co-Author(s): Christopher M. Nakamura, Dean A. Zollman, Michael Christel, Scott Stevens
  Abstract: The Pathway Active Learning Environment (PALE) features a synthetic tutor that provides pre-recorded video responses to questions about physics. Additional multimedia in the form of images or video clips is used to supplement the synthetic tutors' video responses. As a context for interactions with the tutor, students working with the PALE complete online lesson activities organized in three-stage learning cycles. The activities focus on video observation and measurement. To evaluate the system, 22 students were interviewed. Complete participation consisted of three interviews over three weeks in the fall of 2010. Each interview was approximately 1.5 hours long. During the first hour the student worked through one of the lessons. In the last half hour, a researcher interviewed the student to explore the student's thoughts and opinions of the system and to probe their relevant physics knowledge. Themes emerging from a preliminary analysis of the interviews will be discussed.
  Footnotes: 1 This work is supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation under grant numbers REC-0632587 and REC-0632657.
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EB08:   

Towards the Measurement of Undergraduate Students' Physics Identity
  Location: HC 3023 & 3023A
  Date: Tuesday, Aug.02
  Time: 2:25PM - 2:35PM
  Author: Geoff Potvin
Department of Engineering & Science Education, and Department of Mathematical Sciences
864-656-4320, gpotvin@clemson.edu
  Co-Author(s): Carrie Beattie, Kylie Paige
  Abstract: Prior research has found that students' attitudes toward physics, as embodied in their "physics identity," may play a strong role in their choices toward future physics course-taking and the likelihood of their choosing physics as a college major. Theoretical work in this area has identified several domains that constitute and influence physics identity; however, to date, quantitative research in this direction has not been based in an appropriate theoretical framework while establishing valid and reliable measures of relevant constructs. In the current work, we report on progress toward the establishment of a rigorously tested, theoretically grounded instrument to measure physics identity and its related subconstructs. Evidence for the reliability and validity of this instrument, including exploratory factor analyses, is provided using pilot data taken from 300 college students enrolled in one of two courses: introductory physics for physical science or life science majors.
  Footnotes: None
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EB09:   

A Qualitative Investigation of Opportunities to Influence Self-Efficacy
  Location: HC 3023 & 3023A
  Date: Tuesday, Aug.02
  Time: 2:35PM - 2:45PM
  Author: Vashti Sawtelle, Florida International University
305-968-9311, vashti.sawtelle@gmail.com
  Co-Author(s): Eric Brewe, Renee Michelle Goertzen, Laird H Kramer
  Abstract: Considerable research has shown a connection between self-efficacy and success in science fields. The qualitative analysis we present in this talk focuses on the development of self-efficacy, and in particular on what types of activities provide opportunities for self-efficacy to develop. We focus this discussion on the qualitative analysis of three Modeling Instruction students in a single problem-solving session and the self-efficacy experience opportunities (SEOs) that were apparent in this session. After providing evidence that SEOs are abundant throughout the problem solving session, we also qualitatively analyze a post-hoc interview with one of the students from the session. The combination of these two sessions provides evidence that the opportunities to influence self-efficacy that we have characterized are in fact sometimes taken up by some students, and have a direct influence on their self-efficacy.
  Footnotes: None
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EB10:   

Student Difficulties with a Taylor Series Expansion in Statistical Mechanics
  Location: HC 3023 & 3023A
  Date: Tuesday, Aug.02
  Time: 2:45PM - 2:55PM
  Author: Trevor I. Smith, University of Maine
207-581-1022, Trevor.I.Smith@umit.maine.edu
  Co-Author(s): John R. Thompson, Donald B. Mountcastle
  Abstract: One goal of physics instruction is to have students learn to make physical meaning of specific mathematical ideas, concepts and procedures, in different physical settings. We have reported on student difficulties with these connections in the contexts of integrals, total differentials, and partial derivatives in upper-division thermal and statistical physics. As part of research investigating student understanding and use of the Boltzmann factor, we are developing materials that guide students through a derivation of the Boltzmann factor that includes a Taylor series expansion of entropy. Using results from written surveys, classroom observations, and individual think-aloud and teaching interviews, we present evidence that while some students can recognize familiar expressions as Taylor expansions, students lack fluency with Taylor expansions at the level one might expect of advanced undergraduates, despite previous exposure to Taylor series expansions in both calculus and physics courses.
  Footnotes: None
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EB11:   

What College Students Don't Know about Density
  Location: HC 3023 & 3023A
  Date: Tuesday, Aug.02
  Time: 2:55PM - 3:05PM
  Author: DJ Wagner, Grove City College
724-301-1205, djwagner@gcc.edu
  Co-Author(s): Sam Cohen, Adam Moyer, Elizabeth Carbone
  Abstract: As part of the development of a fluid statics assessment, our research group conducted clinical interviews with students in both conceptual physics and calculus-based introductory physics courses. What were intended as "basic" questions about density quickly became a significant focus of those interviews, as only one of the eight students interviewed demonstrated a confident understanding of mass density. Questions were quickly added to the diagnostic exam given at the end of the semester, and the results confirm that many students have a poor grasp of density. In this talk, I will summarize our preliminary data and discuss future plans for the assessment and our instruction.
  Footnotes: None
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EB12:   

Relationship between Students' Predicted Score and Actual Score on Class Exams
  Location: HC 3023 & 3023A
  Date: Tuesday, Aug.02
  Time: 3:05PM - 3:15PM
  Author: N. Sanjay Rebello, Kansas State University
785-532-1612, srebello@phys.ksu.edu
  Co-Author(s): None
  Abstract: It has long been known that students' self efficacy can influence their performance of assessments. I conducted a study to investigate the relationship between students' predicted performance and actual performance on five exams in a second-semester calculus-based physics class. After completion of each of the five exams during the semester, students in the class were given about 72 hours to predict their individual and class mean score on the exam. As incentive, students were offered extra credit worth 1% of the exam points for each predicted score that was correct within 1% of the actual score. I compared students' individual and mean score predictions with the actual scores to investigate the relationship between prediction accuracies and exam performance of the students. I also examined trends in the prediction accuracies of students over the five exams. I report on the results and possible implications of this study.
  Footnotes: None
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