Specificity, transfer, and the development of expertise

David T. Brookes, Brian H. Ross, and José P. Mestre

PHYS. REV. ST PHYS. EDUC. RES. 7, 010105 (2011)

In this paper we present the results of two experiments designed to understand how physics students’ learning of the concept of refraction is influenced by the cognitive phenomenon of ‘‘specificity.’’ In both experiments participants learned why light bends as it travels from one optical medium to another with an analogy made to a car driving from paved road into mud and vice versa. They then learned how to qualitatively draw the direction of refracted light rays with an example of a glass prism. One group learned with a rectangular prism example while a second group learned with a triangular prism example. In a transfer test, the participants revealed how, even when they seemed able to implement the refraction concept, their responses were biased by the example they had seen. Participants frequently violated the refraction principle they had just learned (reversing the bend direction) in order to make sure their response matched the surface features of their learning example. This tended to happen when their test question looked superficially similar to their learning example. We discuss the implications of these results for physics instruction.

Join a Physics Teaching Community

David Jones

The Physics Teacher, 46 (4), pp. 251-252, 2 pages, (2008).

You have been teaching physics for a few years now and, in that time, you have interacted with no other physics teachers ... are you feeling lonely? Does this sound like your situation? This is a fairly typical experience for high school physics teachers. Many of us are the only physics teacher in our high school and have limited opportunities to have meaningful discussions with peers.

Time Trials - An AP Physics Challenge Lab

David Jones

The Physics Teacher, 47(6), pp. 342-344, 3 pages (2009).

I have come to the conclusion that for high school physics classroom and laboratory experiences, simpler is better! In this paper I describe a very simple and effective lab experience that my AP students have thoroughly enjoyed year after year. I call this lab exercise “Time Trials.” The experiment is simple in design and it is a lot of fun for students. Time Trials is the type of lab experience that I call a “design challenge lab” or just “challenge lab.” A “challenge lab” is basically an experiment where physics students attempt to obtain a specific outcome under some sort of constraint conditions set by the instructor. The students must work within the constraints set by the instructor and they must work only with the equipment given by the instructor.

Impact of multimedia learning modules on an introductory course on electricity and magnetism

Timothy Stelzer, David T. Brookes, Gary Gladding, and Jose P. Mestre

American Journal of Physics, 78(7), pp. 755-759, 5 pages (2010).

Web-based multimedia learning modules were added as prelectures to our reformed introductory electricity and magnetism course. Each module consisted of approximately 20 min of narrated animation, and students were given credit for completing them before lecture. To compensate for this additional time, lectures were reduced from 75 to 50 min. In addition to a modest increase in exam performance, the changes dramatically improved student attitudes toward the course in general and lectures in particular.

"Force", Ontology, and Language

David T. Brookes and Eugenia Etkina

Physical Review Special Topics Physics Education Research, 5(1), 010110, 13 pages (2009).

We introduce a linguistic framework through which one can interpret systematically students’ understanding of and reasoning about force and motion. Some researchers have suggested that students have robust misconceptions or alternative frameworks grounded in everyday experience. Others have pointed out the inconsistency of students’ responses and presented a phenomenological explanation for what is observed, namely, knowledge in pieces. We wish to present a view that builds on and unifies aspects of this prior research. Our argument is that many students’ difficulties with force and motion are primarily due to a combination of linguistic and ontological difficulties. It is possible that students are primarily engaged in trying to define and categorize the meaning of the term “force” as spoken about by physicists. We found that this process of negotiation of meaning is remarkably similar to that engaged in by physicists in history. In this paper we will describe a study of the historical record that reveals an analogous process of meaning negotiation, spanning multiple centuries. Using methods from cognitive linguistics and systemic functional grammar, we will present an analysis of the force and motion literature, focusing on prior studies with interview data. We will then discuss the implications of our findings for physics instruction.

Comparing the efficacy of multimedia modules with traditional textbooks for learning introductory physics content

Timothy Stelzer, Gary Gladding, Jose P. Mestre, and David T. Brookes

American Journal of Physics, 77(2), pp. 184-190, 7 pages (2009).

We compared the efficacy of multimedia learning modules with traditional textbooks for the first few topics of a calculus-based introductory electricity and magnetism course. Students were randomly assigned to three groups. One group received the multimedia learning module presentations, and the other two received the presentations via written text. All students were then tested on their learning immediately following the presentations as well as 2 weeks later. The students receiving the multimedia learning modules performed significantly better on both tests than the students experiencing the text-based presentations.

Scientific abilities and their assessment

Eugenia Etkina, Alan Van Heuvelen, Suzanne White-Brahmia, David T. Brookes, Michael Gentile, Sahana Murthy, David Rosengrant, and Aaron Warren

Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research, 2, 020103, 15 pages (2006).

The paper introduces a set of formative assessment tasks and rubrics that were developed for use in an introductory physics instruction to help students acquire and self-assess various scientific process abilities. We will describe the rubrics, tasks, and the student outcomes in courses where the tasks and rubrics were used.