Impact of a course transformation on students’ reasoning about measurement uncertainty

Physics lab courses are integral parts of an undergraduate physics education, and offer a variety of opportunities for learning. Many of these opportunities center around a common learning goal in introductory physics lab courses: measurement uncertainty. Accordingly, when the stand-alone introducto...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales:	Benjamin Pollard, Alexandra Werth, Robert Hobbs, H. J. Lewandowski
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	American Physical Society 2020
Materias:	Special aspects of education LC8-6691 Physics QC1-999
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/09359da22eee448eaafaa9a02fbbf2b9
Etiquetas:	Agregar Etiqueta Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!

id	oai:doaj.org-article:09359da22eee448eaafaa9a02fbbf2b9
record_format	dspace
spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:09359da22eee448eaafaa9a02fbbf2b92021-12-02T14:09:02ZImpact of a course transformation on students’ reasoning about measurement uncertainty10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.16.0201602469-9896https://doaj.org/article/09359da22eee448eaafaa9a02fbbf2b92020-12-01T00:00:00Zhttp://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.16.020160http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.16.020160https://doaj.org/toc/2469-9896Physics lab courses are integral parts of an undergraduate physics education, and offer a variety of opportunities for learning. Many of these opportunities center around a common learning goal in introductory physics lab courses: measurement uncertainty. Accordingly, when the stand-alone introductory lab course at the University of Colorado Boulder (CU) was recently transformed, measurement uncertainty was the focus of a learning goal of that transformation. The Physics Measurement Questionnaire (PMQ), a research-based assessment of student understanding around statistical measurement uncertainty, was used to measure the effectiveness of that transformation. Here, we analyze student responses to the PMQ at the beginning and end of the CU course. We also compare such responses from two semesters: one before and one after the transformation. We present evidence that students in both semesters shifted their reasoning in ways aligned with the measurement uncertainty learning goal. Furthermore, we show that more students in the transformed semester shifted in ways aligned with the learning goal, and that those students tended to communicate their reasoning with greater sophistication than students in the original course. These findings provide evidence that even a traditional lab course can support valuable learning, and that transforming such a course to align with well-defined learning goals can result in even more effective learning experiences.Benjamin PollardAlexandra WerthRobert HobbsH. J. LewandowskiAmerican Physical SocietyarticleSpecial aspects of educationLC8-6691PhysicsQC1-999ENPhysical Review Physics Education Research, Vol 16, Iss 2, p 020160 (2020)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Special aspects of education LC8-6691 Physics QC1-999
spellingShingle	Special aspects of education LC8-6691 Physics QC1-999 Benjamin Pollard Alexandra Werth Robert Hobbs H. J. Lewandowski Impact of a course transformation on students’ reasoning about measurement uncertainty
description	Physics lab courses are integral parts of an undergraduate physics education, and offer a variety of opportunities for learning. Many of these opportunities center around a common learning goal in introductory physics lab courses: measurement uncertainty. Accordingly, when the stand-alone introductory lab course at the University of Colorado Boulder (CU) was recently transformed, measurement uncertainty was the focus of a learning goal of that transformation. The Physics Measurement Questionnaire (PMQ), a research-based assessment of student understanding around statistical measurement uncertainty, was used to measure the effectiveness of that transformation. Here, we analyze student responses to the PMQ at the beginning and end of the CU course. We also compare such responses from two semesters: one before and one after the transformation. We present evidence that students in both semesters shifted their reasoning in ways aligned with the measurement uncertainty learning goal. Furthermore, we show that more students in the transformed semester shifted in ways aligned with the learning goal, and that those students tended to communicate their reasoning with greater sophistication than students in the original course. These findings provide evidence that even a traditional lab course can support valuable learning, and that transforming such a course to align with well-defined learning goals can result in even more effective learning experiences.
format	article
author	Benjamin Pollard Alexandra Werth Robert Hobbs H. J. Lewandowski
author_facet	Benjamin Pollard Alexandra Werth Robert Hobbs H. J. Lewandowski
author_sort	Benjamin Pollard
title	Impact of a course transformation on students’ reasoning about measurement uncertainty
title_short	Impact of a course transformation on students’ reasoning about measurement uncertainty
title_full	Impact of a course transformation on students’ reasoning about measurement uncertainty
title_fullStr	Impact of a course transformation on students’ reasoning about measurement uncertainty
title_full_unstemmed	Impact of a course transformation on students’ reasoning about measurement uncertainty
title_sort	impact of a course transformation on students’ reasoning about measurement uncertainty
publisher	American Physical Society
publishDate	2020
url	https://doaj.org/article/09359da22eee448eaafaa9a02fbbf2b9
work_keys_str_mv	AT benjaminpollard impactofacoursetransformationonstudentsreasoningaboutmeasurementuncertainty AT alexandrawerth impactofacoursetransformationonstudentsreasoningaboutmeasurementuncertainty AT roberthobbs impactofacoursetransformationonstudentsreasoningaboutmeasurementuncertainty AT hjlewandowski impactofacoursetransformationonstudentsreasoningaboutmeasurementuncertainty
_version_	1718391885459881984

Impact of a course transformation on students’ reasoning about measurement uncertainty

Ejemplares similares