Chini, Carmichael, Rebello, Puntambekar: PERC 2009

Does the Teaching/Learning Interview Provide an Accurate Snapshot of Classroom Learning?

Jacquelyn J. Chini, Adrian Carmichael, and N. Sanjay Rebello
Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506; USA

Sadhana Puntambekar
University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706; USA

The teaching/learning interview has been used to investigate student learning. The aim of the teaching/learning interview is to model a natural learning environment while allowing more direct access to a student’s or group’s thinking and reasoning. The interview typically involves one to four students working with a researcher/interviewer while being audio and video recorded. It has previously been reported [1] that the data collected in a teaching/learning interview is richer in detail than data collected in an actual classroom. We investigated the possibility that there were also other differences between these formats. We used the same instructional materials as well as pre-, mid- and post-tests in a teaching/learning interview and in a classroom laboratory setting. We will describe how the data collected in these two settings compare.

1. D. L. McBride, “Concept Categorization Analysis: Comparing Verbal and Written Data” in American Association of Physics Teachers Winter Meeting, Chicago, IL, 2009

**This work is funded in part by U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences Award R305A080507.