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Science and Mathematics Education Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Science and Mathematics Education

The Influence Of Previous Subject Experience On Interactions During Peer Instruction In An Introductory Physics Course: A Mixed Methods Analysis, Judy A. Vondruska Dec 2017

The Influence Of Previous Subject Experience On Interactions During Peer Instruction In An Introductory Physics Course: A Mixed Methods Analysis, Judy A. Vondruska

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Over the past decade, peer instruction and the introduction of student response systems has provided a means of improving student engagement and achievement in large-lecture settings. While the nature of the student discourse occurring during peer instruction is less understood, existing studies have shown student ideas about the subject, extraneous cues, and confidence level appear to matter in the student-student discourse. Using a mixed methods research design, this study examined the influence of previous subject experience on peer instruction in an introductory, one-semester Survey of Physics course. Quantitative results indicated students in discussion pairs where both had previous subject experience …


Let's Get Physical! Teaching Mathematics Through The Lens Of Physics, Peggy Bertrand Ph.D., Lauren Jeneva Clark Ph.D. Aug 2017

Let's Get Physical! Teaching Mathematics Through The Lens Of Physics, Peggy Bertrand Ph.D., Lauren Jeneva Clark Ph.D.

Faculty Publications and Other Works -- Mathematics

In 2017, a professional development project, Let's Get Physical! Teaching Mathematics through the Lens of Physics, was funded by a Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) Improving Teacher Quality (ITQ) grant, and was hosted by the University of Tennessee Department of Mathematics. These proceedings contain physics-based secondary mathematics lessons that guided this project. For example, in one lesson, tracking the behavior of live insects helps students learn about displacement, velocity, geometry, and measurement. In another, dropping coffee filters helps students learn about drag, logarithms, and graphical methods. Lasers and lenses can be used to teach reflection and refraction, and one …


Strongly And Weakly Directed Approaches To Teaching Multiple Representation Use In Physics, Patrick B. Kohl, David Rosengrant, Noah D. Finkelstein Jul 2017

Strongly And Weakly Directed Approaches To Teaching Multiple Representation Use In Physics, Patrick B. Kohl, David Rosengrant, Noah D. Finkelstein

David Rosengrant

Good use of multiple representations is considered key to learning physics, and so there is considerable motivation both to learn how students use multiple representations when solving problems and to learn how best to teach problem solving using multiple representations. In this study of two large-lecture algebra-based physics courses at the University of Colorado (CU) and Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, we address both issues. Students in each of the two courses solved five common electrostatics problems of varying difficulty, and we examine their solutions to clarify the relationship between multiple representation use and performance on problems involving …