Exploring Students' Patterns of Reasoning
Mojgan Matloob-Haghanikar, Sytil Murphy, and Dean Zollman
As a part of the National Study of Education in Undergraduate Science (NSEUS) Project, students’ ability to learn content in courses with interactive engagement teaching-learning strategies and those in traditional courses are being compared. On most campuses, a traditional course and an interactive engagement course at the same level and in the same subject area do not exist making direct comparisons on subject matter learning impossible. Therefore, we are concentrating on comparisons of reasoning skills within the content that they have learned. Because of the size of the study, we cannot interview the students and must rely on written responses to exam questions. We believe that we can develop a method for comparison of the students’ reasoning patterns. In order to examine the efficacy of our method, we began by analyzing exam responses from students enrolled in conceptual physics courses at Kansas State. We will present the insights we have gained throughout this process.
Supported by National Science Foundation grant ESI-055 4594
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Murphy and Zollman: AAPT S2009 poster
An Apparatus for Investigating the Magnetic Field due to a Wire
Sytil Murphy and Dean Zollman
A new apparatus has been developed for exploring the magnetic field due to a wire. The apparatus is made of clear Plexiglas with a wire running through a triangular channel. The wire is connected to a battery and a switch. A compass can be used to detect the strength and direction of the magnetic field due to the wire and, because the apparatus is clear, compasses placed above and below the wire can be viewed simultaneously. When the switch is tapped, a compass placed above or below the wire may deflect depending on the orientation of the apparatus relative to an external magnetic field. Using the compass as a detector, the direction and strength of the magnetic field due to the wire can be investigated. In addition, the apparatus can be used to investigate the resonance frequency of a compass in a magnetic field.
Sytil Murphy and Dean Zollman
A new apparatus has been developed for exploring the magnetic field due to a wire. The apparatus is made of clear Plexiglas with a wire running through a triangular channel. The wire is connected to a battery and a switch. A compass can be used to detect the strength and direction of the magnetic field due to the wire and, because the apparatus is clear, compasses placed above and below the wire can be viewed simultaneously. When the switch is tapped, a compass placed above or below the wire may deflect depending on the orientation of the apparatus relative to an external magnetic field. Using the compass as a detector, the direction and strength of the magnetic field due to the wire can be investigated. In addition, the apparatus can be used to investigate the resonance frequency of a compass in a magnetic field.
Murphy, Matloob, Zollman: AAPT S2009 presentation
Study on how college science courses influence elementary school teachers
Sytil Murphy, Mojgan Matloob-Hagrahanikar, Zollman
How much influence do we have? Can we convince elementary education majors that the methods used to teach them science from elementary school to high school may not be the best methods? The National Study of Education in Undergraduate Science (NSEUS) is investigating the impact that college science courses have on pre- and in-service elementary school teachers. As part of this study, we are performing site visits to colleges and universities around the nation along with elementary school classrooms taught by that institution’s graduates. The institutions participating in this study were part of the NASA-NOVA project leading to the development of active engagement courses for elementary education majors at the institution. A comparison of the opinions of the faculty and pre- and in-service elementary school teachers regarding the teaching of science will be made.
Supported by the National Science Foundation grant NSF ESI-055-4594
Sytil Murphy, Mojgan Matloob-Hagrahanikar, Zollman
How much influence do we have? Can we convince elementary education majors that the methods used to teach them science from elementary school to high school may not be the best methods? The National Study of Education in Undergraduate Science (NSEUS) is investigating the impact that college science courses have on pre- and in-service elementary school teachers. As part of this study, we are performing site visits to colleges and universities around the nation along with elementary school classrooms taught by that institution’s graduates. The institutions participating in this study were part of the NASA-NOVA project leading to the development of active engagement courses for elementary education majors at the institution. A comparison of the opinions of the faculty and pre- and in-service elementary school teachers regarding the teaching of science will be made.
Supported by the National Science Foundation grant NSF ESI-055-4594
Murphy: 2009 AAPT Apparatus Competition
Investigating the effect of the magnetic field from a wire on a compass
Sytil Murphy
This apparatus has two primary applications. The first is in teaching the concepts of resonance in the context of magnetism, which can be applied to the teaching and understanding of magnetic resonance imaging. The second investigates the direction of the field around a current carrying wire and the superposition of magnetic fields. The compass deflection angle can be measured as a function of the distance from the wire and compared to theory.
Sytil Murphy
This apparatus has two primary applications. The first is in teaching the concepts of resonance in the context of magnetism, which can be applied to the teaching and understanding of magnetic resonance imaging. The second investigates the direction of the field around a current carrying wire and the superposition of magnetic fields. The compass deflection angle can be measured as a function of the distance from the wire and compared to theory.
Murphy, McBride, Gross and Zollman: PERC 2009
Probing Students's Understanding of Resonance
Sytil Murphy, Dyan McBride, Josh Gross and Dean Zollman
Resonant phenomena play a crucial role in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), a widely used medical tool in today's society. The basic features of the resonance in MRI can be taught by looking at the resonance of a compass driven by an electromagnetic field. However, resonance in a oscillating magnetic field is not a phenomenon that is familiar to most students. Thus, as a precursor to creating instructional materials, we investigated how students applied their learning about resonance as traditionally taught to this novel system.
Sytil Murphy, Dyan McBride, Josh Gross and Dean Zollman
Resonant phenomena play a crucial role in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), a widely used medical tool in today's society. The basic features of the resonance in MRI can be taught by looking at the resonance of a compass driven by an electromagnetic field. However, resonance in a oscillating magnetic field is not a phenomenon that is familiar to most students. Thus, as a precursor to creating instructional materials, we investigated how students applied their learning about resonance as traditionally taught to this novel system.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Chini, Carmichael, Rebello, Puntambekar: NARST 2009
Future Elementaty Teachers Integrating Hypertext with Hands-on Experimentation in a Design-Based Context
Jacquelyn J. Chini, Adrian Carmichael, N. Sanjay Rebello
Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506; USA
Sadhana Puntambekar
University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706; USA
We discuss how future elementary teachers in a physics class progress through the CoMPASS (Concept Map Project-based Activity Scaffolding System) curriculum that facilitates learning by integrating hands-on and hypertext activities in a design-based context. We report on the criteria that participants use while making design predictions, their navigation strategies on the hypertext system, and what they learn about their design task after completing the hypertext and hands-on activities.
*This research is funded in part by the U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences Award R305A080507.
Jacquelyn J. Chini, Adrian Carmichael, N. Sanjay Rebello
Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506; USA
Sadhana Puntambekar
University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706; USA
We discuss how future elementary teachers in a physics class progress through the CoMPASS (Concept Map Project-based Activity Scaffolding System) curriculum that facilitates learning by integrating hands-on and hypertext activities in a design-based context. We report on the criteria that participants use while making design predictions, their navigation strategies on the hypertext system, and what they learn about their design task after completing the hypertext and hands-on activities.
*This research is funded in part by the U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences Award R305A080507.
Chini, Carmichael, Rebello, Puntambekar: AAPT Summer 2009 (Talk)
Interview Room versus Classroom: How Do the Data Compare*?
Jacquelyn J. Chini, Adrian Carmichael, N. Sanjay Rebello
Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506; USA
Sadhana Puntambekar
University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706; USA
In our research, we often use data collected during teaching/learning interviews [1] to investigate student learning. While the teaching/learning interview is intended to model a natural learning environment, it is different than an actual classroom learning atmosphere. A teaching/learning interview typically involves one to four students working with one researcher/facilitator in an interview room. The interaction is audio and video recorded. These differences may potentially cause students to act differently than they would in their actual class. To investigate this possibility, we used the same instructional materials in a teaching interview and laboratory setting. The instructional materials were from the CoMPASS curriculum that integrates hypertext based concept maps with design-based activities [2]. All participants were enrolled in introductory concept-based physics. We will describe how the data collected in these two settings compare.
[1] Engelhardt, P.V., et al. The Teaching Experiment - What it is and what it isn't. in Physics Education Research Conference, 2003. 2003. Madison, WI.
[2] Puntambekar, S., A. Stylianou, and R. Hübscher, “Improving navigation and learning in hypertext environments with navigable concept maps.” Human-Computer Interaction, 2003. 18: p. 395-428.
*This work is funded in part by the U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, Award # R305A080507
Jacquelyn J. Chini, Adrian Carmichael, N. Sanjay Rebello
Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506; USA
Sadhana Puntambekar
University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706; USA
In our research, we often use data collected during teaching/learning interviews [1] to investigate student learning. While the teaching/learning interview is intended to model a natural learning environment, it is different than an actual classroom learning atmosphere. A teaching/learning interview typically involves one to four students working with one researcher/facilitator in an interview room. The interaction is audio and video recorded. These differences may potentially cause students to act differently than they would in their actual class. To investigate this possibility, we used the same instructional materials in a teaching interview and laboratory setting. The instructional materials were from the CoMPASS curriculum that integrates hypertext based concept maps with design-based activities [2]. All participants were enrolled in introductory concept-based physics. We will describe how the data collected in these two settings compare.
[1] Engelhardt, P.V., et al. The Teaching Experiment - What it is and what it isn't. in Physics Education Research Conference, 2003. 2003. Madison, WI.
[2] Puntambekar, S., A. Stylianou, and R. Hübscher, “Improving navigation and learning in hypertext environments with navigable concept maps.” Human-Computer Interaction, 2003. 18: p. 395-428.
*This work is funded in part by the U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, Award # R305A080507
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