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Abstract BackgroundIn college science laboratory and discussion sections, student-centered active learning strategies have been implemented to improve student learning outcomes and experiences. Research has shown that active learning activities can increase student anxiety if students fear that they could be negatively evaluated by their peers. Error framing (i.e., to frame errors as natural and beneficial to learning) is proposed in the literature as a pedagogical tool to reduce student anxiety. However, little research empirically explores how an instructor can operationalize error framing and how error framing is perceived by undergraduate students. To bridge the gap in the literature, we conducted a two-stage study that involved science graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) and undergraduate students. In stage one, we introduced cold calling (i.e., calling on non-volunteering students) and error framing to 12 chemistry and 11 physics GTAs. Cold calling can increase student participation but may increase student anxiety. Error framing has the potential to mitigate student anxiety when paired with cold calling. GTAs were then tasked to rehearse cold calling paired with error framing in a mixed-reality classroom simulator. We identified GTA statements that aligned with the definition of error framing. In stage two, we selected a few example GTA error framing statements and interviewed 13 undergraduate students about their perception of those statements. ResultsIn the simulator, all the GTAs rehearsed cold calling multiple times while only a few GTAs made error framing statements. A thematic analysis of GTAs’ error framing statements identified ways of error indication (i.e., explicit and implicit) and framing (i.e., natural, beneficial, and positive acknowledgement). Undergraduate student interviews revealed specific framing and tone that are perceived as increasing or decreasing student comfort in participating in classroom discourse. Both undergraduate students and some GTAs expressed negative opinions toward responses that explicitly indicate student mistakes. Undergraduate students’ perspectives also suggest that error framing should be implemented differently depending on whether errors have already occurred. ConclusionError framing is challenging for science GTAs to implement. GTAs’ operationalizations of error framing in the simulator and undergraduate students’ perceptions contribute to defining and operationalizing error framing for instructional practice. To increase undergraduate student comfort in science classroom discourse, GTAs can use implicit error indication. In response to students’ incorrect answers, GTAs can positively frame students’ specific ideas rather than discussing broadly how errors are natural or beneficial.
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Physics Graduate Teaching Assistant Use of Error Framing in Recitations and Laboratories
Despite the positive gains towards student learning outcomes and engagement, active learning has been shown to potentially increase student anxiety due to a fear of negative evaluation. A pedagogical strategy proposed to mediate this issue is known as error framing; it asks instructors to encourage a perception of errors as being a natural part of the learning process. Previous work on this project investigated how graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) operationalized error framing during their training in a mixed-reality simulator but did not investigate their usage of it in their classrooms. This analysis characterizes the error framing statements made by GTAs during a set of classroom observations. We find that GTAs who employ error framing effectively avoid statements that might decrease student comfort and instead tend towards implicit, indirect strategies.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1725554
- PAR ID:
- 10491538
- Editor(s):
- Dyan Jones, Qing X.
- Publisher / Repository:
- American Association of Physics Teachers
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Proceedings of the Physics Education Research Conference
- ISSN:
- 1539-9028
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 296 to 301
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Location:
- Sacramento, CA
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Conference Paper:
- https://doi.org/10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Sharkey
