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

Chini, Carmichael, Rebello, Puntambekar: AAPT Summer 2009 (Poster)

Can Simulations Replace Hands-on Experiments in Mechanics Too?*

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

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

It has previously been demonstrated [1] that an appropriately designed simulation can be more effective than analogous hands-on activities in the context of circuits. Circuits involve microscopic phenomenon, such as the movement of electrons, which can be modeled more clearly by a computer than real equipment. Will simulations be more effective than hands-on activities in other contexts, too? We investigated whether simulations could effectively replace hands-on experiments in a unit on inclined planes from the CoMPASS curriculum, which integrates hypertext concept maps with design-based activities [2]. Three sections of an introductory physics laboratory completed hands-on experiments, and two sections completed the same experiment in simulation. Students who used the simulations performed statistically significantly better on the post-test than students who completed the hands-on experiments.

[1] Finkelstein, N.D., et al., “When learning about the real world is better done virtually: A study of substituting computer simulations for laboratory equipment.” PRST-PER, 2005. 1: p. 010103.[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.

Juma, Edwards, Chang, Corwin, Washburn, Rebello : AAPT - Advanced Labs Summer 2009

Measuring the speed of light in an optical fiber - Integrating Experimentation and Instrumentation

Nasser M. Juma, Anthony D. Edwards, Pi-Jung Chang, Kristan L. Corwin, Brian R. Washburn, N. Sanjay Rebello
Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506 ; USA

Successful experimental physicists must understand the conceptual basis of experiments and the techniques of modern instrumentation, data collection and analysis. Through new capstone projects at Kansas State University, students in an electronics course, Physical Measurements and Instrumentation (PMI), apply their knowledge of electronics, instrumentation and LabVIEW to experiments from previous courses. This allows students to revisit the physics of earlier experiments and to solve real-world problems associated with experimental control and data acquisition. As an example, in the undergraduate Modern Physics Lab (MPL), students measure the speed of light in air with a time-of-flight measurement where pulses of ultraviolet light are reflected across the room in ~ 30 ns. Thus, measurement requires use of a fast photodiode and oscilloscope. This experiment is too fast for standard data acquisition software and hardware such as LabVIEW and NI ELVIS to be used for the measurement. As a solution, students proposed and implemented a much slower and inexpensive experiment using optical fiber. A fiber-coupled laser diode ~1300 nm (Part No. BA5979, Mitsubishi) is directly driven by circuitry on the NI ELVIS board and LabVIEW. The light is then sent through 1 km optical fiber (Corning SMF-28e) and detected by a 200 Hz Infrared Photoreceiver (New Focus, Model 2033). The time between the driving and the detected electronic pulse is determined via NI ELVIS using Virtual Instruments (LabVIEW VIs) which allows the calculation of the speed of light.

This work is supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation under grant DUE-0736897.

Zollman, AAPT Summer 2009 Invited

Interactions between the Art & Science of Physics Learning-Teaching
Dean Zollman


“Instruction begins when you, the teacher, learn from the learner, put yourself in his place so that you may understand what he understands and in the way he understands it,…”* Long before physics education research began studying how students learn physics, Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) expressed much of the goals of physics education research. Teaching is the art of realizing our students are not us and understanding how they learn topics which came easy to us. Some “natural” teachers seem to do this automatically and we can learn from how they do it. At the same time, research on the teaching-learning process can go a long way toward helping all of us understand how the student understands physics. This interplay between the art (what some teachers do naturally) and the science (physics education research) is the foundation for the continual improvement of physics education.

* Søren Kierkegaard, The Point of View for My Work as an Author , 1848 English translation, Princeton University Press, 1998, available on Google Books.

Zollman, Murphy Adrian,Stevens,Christel, AAPT Summer 2009

Pathway –24/7 Online Pedagogical Assistance for Teachers of Physics

Dean Zollman, Sytil Murphy & Brian Adrian
Kansas State University, 116 Cardwell Hall, Manhattan, KS 66506; 785-532-1824; fax 785-532-6806;

Scott Stevens, & Michael Christel Carnegie Mellon University

The Physics Teaching Web Advisory (Pathway) continues to expand its efforts to address pedagogical issues of many physics teachers via the Web. Pathway’s “Synthetic Interviews” engage inexperienced teachers in a natural language dialog about effective teaching of physics. These virtual conversations are now coupled to related graphical materials as well as the National Science Education Standards and comPADRE. Thus, pre-service and out-of-field in-service teachers can obtain the advice of experienced teachers and quick connections to other related material. The database is a growing digital library and now contains about 7,000 different recorded answers and over 10,000 question/answer pairs. Additional video material, including films from the old AAPT Film Repository, provides addition videos for classroom use. Pathway is available at http://www.physicspathway.org

Supported by the National Science Foundation under Grants 0455772 & 0455813.