More Like this

1. Effect of a Concept Review Intervention on the Student’s Knowledge Retention and Demonstration of Pre-requisite Fundamental Concepts

   https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--37006  

   Chauda, Gaurav; Recktenwald, Geoffrey (July 2021, ASEE Conferences)

   Students achieve functional knowledge retention through active, spaced repetition of concepts through homework, quizzes, and lectures. True knowledge retention is best achieved through proper comprehension of the concept. In the engineering curriculum, courses are sequenced into prerequisite chains of three to five courses per subfield –- a design aimed at developing and reinforcing core concepts over time. Knowledge retention of these prerequisite concepts is important for the next course. In this project, concept review quizzes were used to identify the gaps and deficiencies in students' prerequisite knowledge and measure improvement after a concept review intervention. Two quizzes (pre-intervention and post-intervention) drew inspiration from the standard concept inventories for fundamental concepts and include concepts such as Free Body Diagrams, Contact and Reaction Forces, Equilibrium Equations, and Calculation of the Moment. Concept inventories are typically multiple-choice, in this evaluation the concept questions were open-ended. A clear rubric was created to identify the missing prerequisite concepts in the students' knowledge. These quizzes were deployed in Mechanics of Materials, a second-level course in the engineering mechanics curriculum (the second in a sequence of four courses: Statics, Mechanics of Materials, Mechanical Design, and Kinematic Design). The pre-quiz was administered (unannounced) at the beginning of the class. The class then actively participated in a 30-minute concept review. A different post-quiz was administered in the same class period after the review. Quizzes were graded with a rubric to measure the effect of the concept review intervention on the students’ knowledge demonstration and calculations. The study evaluated four major concepts: free body diagrams, boundary reaction forces (fixed, pin, and contact), equilibrium, and moment calculation. Students showed improvements of up to 39\% in the case of drawing a free body diagram with fixed boundary condition, but continued to struggle with free body diagram involving contact forces. This study was performed at a large public institution in a class size of 240 students. A total of 224 students consented to the use of their data for this study (and attended class on the day of the intervention). The pre-quiz is used to determine the gaps (or deficiencies) in conceptual understanding among students. The post-quiz measures the response to the review and is used to determine which concept deficiencies were significantly improved by the review, and which concept deficiencies were not significantly improved by the concept review. This study presents a concept quiz and associated rubric for measuring student improvement resulting from an in-class intervention (concept review). It quantifies a significant improvement in the students’ retrieval of their prerequisite knowledge after a concept review session. This approach, therefore, has utility for improving knowledge retention in programs with a similar, sequenced course design. 

   more » « less
2. In-class vs. Online Administration of Concept Inventories and Attitudinal Assessments

   https://doi.org/10.1119/perc.2016.pr.039  

   Jariwala, Manher; White, Jada-Simone S.; Van Dusen, Ben; Close, Eleanor W. (December 2016, Proc. 2016 Physics Education Research Conference)

   This study investigates differences in student responses to in-class and online administrations of the Force Concept Inventory (FCI), Conceptual Survey of Electricity and Magnetism (CSEM), and the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey (CLASS). Close to 700 physics students from 12 sections of three different courses were instructed to complete the concept inventory relevant to their course, either the FCI or CSEM, and the CLASS. Each student was randomly assigned to take one of the surveys in class and the other survey online using the LA Supported Student Outcomes (LASSO) system hosted by the Learning Assistant Alliance (LAA). We examine how testing environments and instructor practices affect participation rates and identify best practices for future use. 

   more » « less
3. Using Learning Maps and Bloom’s Taxonomy to Develop a New Instrument to Assess Knowledge Transfer from Physics to Statics Courses.

   https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--57307  

   Wijesinghe, Priyantha; Seneviratne, Varuni; Medsker, Larry; Giles, Courtney; Ottati, Marlee (June 2025, ASEE Conferences)

   This paper presents the design and analysis of a pilot problem set deployed to engineering students to assess their retention of physics knowledge at the start of a statics course. The problem set was developed using the NSF-IUSE (grant #2315492) Learning Map project (LMap) and piloted in the spring and fall of 2024. The LMap process is rooted in the Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation (ADDIE) model [1] and Backward Design [2,3], extending these principles to course sequences to align learning outcomes, assessments, and instructional practices. The primary motivation for this problem set (Statics Knowledge Inventory, SKI) was to evaluate students' understanding and retention of physics concepts at the beginning of a statics course. The SKI includes a combination of multiple-choice questions (MCQ) and procedural problems, filling a gap in widely-used concept inventories for physics and statics, such as the Force Concept Inventory (FCI) and Statics Concept Inventory (SCI), which evaluate learning gains within a course, rather than knowledge retention across courses. Using the LMap analysis and instructor consultations, we identified overlapping concepts and topics between Physics and Statics courses, referred to here as “interdependent learning outcomes” (ILOs). The problem set includes 15 questions—eight MCQs and seven procedural problems. Unlike most concept inventories, procedural problems were added to provide insight into students’ problem-solving approach and conceptual understanding. These problems require students to perform calculations, demonstrate their work, and assess their conceptual understanding of key topics, and allow the instructors to assess essential prerequisite skills like drawing free-body diagrams (FBDs), computing forces and moments, and performing basic vector calculation and unit conversions. Problems were selected and adapted from physics and statics textbooks, supplemented by instructor-designed questions to ensure full coverage of the ILOs. We used the revised 2D Bloom’s Taxonomy [4] and a 3D representation of it [5] to classify each problem within a 6x4 matrix (six cognitive processes x four knowledge dimensions). This classification provided instructors and students with a clear understanding of the cognitive level required for each problem. Additionally, we measured students’ perceived confidence and difficulty in each problem using two questions on a 3-point Likert scale. The first iteration of the problem set was administered to 19 students in the spring 2024 statics course. After analyzing their performance, we identified areas for improvement and revised the problem set, removing repetitive MCQs and restructuring the procedural problems into scaffolded, multi-part questions with associated rubrics for evaluation. The revised version, consisting of five MCQs and six procedural problems, was deployed to 136 students in the fall 2024 statics course. A randomly selected subset of student answers from the second iteration was graded and analyzed to compare with the first. This analysis will inform future efforts to evaluate knowledge retention and transfer in key skills across sequential courses. In collaboration with research teams developing concept inventories for mechanics courses, we aim to integrate these procedural problems into future inventories. 

   more » « less
4. What topics of peer interactions correlate with student performance in physics courses?

   https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6404/ad358b  

   Simpfendoerfer, L. N.; Sundstrom, Meagan; Dew, Matthew; Holmes, N. G. (April 2024, European Journal of Physics)

   Abstract Research suggests that interacting with more peers about physics course material is correlated with higher student performance. Some studies, however, have demonstrated that different topics of peer interactions may correlate with their performance in different ways, or possibly not at all. In this study, we probe both the peers with whom students interact about their physics course and the particular aspects of the course material about which they interacted in six different introductory physics courses: four lecture courses and two lab courses. Drawing on social network analysis methods, we replicate prior work demonstrating that, on average, students who interact with more peers in their physics courses have higher final course grades. Expanding on this result, we find that students discuss a wide range of aspects of course material with their peers: concepts, small-group work, assessments, lecture, and homework. We observe that in the lecture courses, interacting with peers about concepts is most strongly correlated with final course grade, with smaller correlations also arising for small-group work and homework. In the lab courses, on the other hand, small-group work is the only interaction topic that significantly correlates with final course grade. We use these findings to discuss how course structures (e.g. grading schemes and weekly course schedules) may shape student interactions and add nuance to prior work by identifying how specific types of student interactions are associated (or not) with performance. 

   more » « less
5. Learning Map Framework to Align Instruction and Improve Student Learning in a Physics-Engineering Mechanics Course Sequence

   Giles, Courtney D; Medsker, L R; Seneviratne, V A; Wijesinghe, P (August 2024, ASEE Peer)

   This project supports the success of undergraduate engineering students through coordinated design of curricula across STEM course sequences. The Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, Evaluation (ADDIE) framework and backward design are being used to develop guides for instructors to align learning outcomes, assessments, and instructional materials in a physics – engineering mechanics course sequence. The approach relies on the analysis of student learning outcomes in each course, identification of interdependent learning outcomes, and development of skills hierarchies in the form of visual learning maps. The learning maps are used to illustrate the knowledge required and built upon throughout the course sequence. This study will assess the effectiveness of a course redesign intervention, which uses visual learning maps and backward design concepts, to guide instructors within a common course sequence to align learning outcomes and assessments. If successful, the intervention is expected to improve students’ primary learning and knowledge retention, as well as persistence and success in the degree. The study will compare academic performance among Mechanical Engineering B.S., Environmental Engineering B.S., and Civil Engineering B.S. students who begin a Physics for Engineers – Statics – Dynamics course prior to the intervention (control) and after the intervention (treatment). During control and treatment terms, students’ primary learning in individual courses will be assessed using established concept inventories. Retention of knowledge from pre-requisite courses will be tracked using pre-identified problem sets (quizzes, exams) specifically associated with interdependent learning outcomes in the Statics and Dynamics courses. Students’ primary learning and knowledge retention in the sequence will be related to longer term student success outcomes, including retention and graduation. The poster will show the results of the research team’s first year of work, including an analysis of current course materials, learning maps for each course, identification of interdependent learning outcomes, example guiding materials and templates for instructors, and preliminary student performance data from the control cohort. 

   more » « less