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Full-Text Articles in Education

In Pursuit Of Failure: A Project-Based Learning Approach To Introducing Generative Failure Into High School Physics, Bradford O'Brien May 2023

In Pursuit Of Failure: A Project-Based Learning Approach To Introducing Generative Failure Into High School Physics, Bradford O'Brien

Critical and Creative Thinking Capstones Collection

It is important that students encounter and learn how to respond to failure in their high school experience. In traditional education systems, failure (for students and teachers) is often penalized in a way that stigmatizes failure and disincentivizes intellectual risk-taking. In my experience, as a high school physics teacher, I have witnessed firsthand the impact of the stigmatization of failure in the science classroom. Educators in the science classroom can use projects, lessons, and reimagined grading systems to cultivate a different mindset around failure for their students. As a conceptual physics teacher, I believe that my classroom should be a …


Spring 2022 Saturday Seminars Agenda, Shubha Tewari Jan 2022

Spring 2022 Saturday Seminars Agenda, Shubha Tewari

Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars

No abstract provided.


Setting Empirically Informed Policy Benchmarks For Physical Science Teaching, Elizabeth B. Lewis, Ana Rivero, Lyrica L. Lucas, Aaron Musson, Brandon Helding May 2021

Setting Empirically Informed Policy Benchmarks For Physical Science Teaching, Elizabeth B. Lewis, Ana Rivero, Lyrica L. Lucas, Aaron Musson, Brandon Helding

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

In the United States, research on beginning science teachers provides little guidance regarding empirical minimum levels of discipline-specific science coursework for sufficient subject matter knowledge to teach science. Accordingly, in this study we analyzed secondary physical science teachers' science coursework for subject matter knowledge (SMK) and resulting misconceptions of chemistry and physics concepts. Findings were compared with state-level science teacher certification policies. Participants had either: (a) completed a master's level teacher preparation program with an undergraduate degree in science, (b) completed an undergraduate teacher preparation program with a minor degree or more in science, or (c) were undergraduate students enrolled …


The Apollo 1 Fire: A Case Study In The Flammability Of Fabrics, With Supplemental Material For On-Line Appendix, Gregory A. Dilisi Apr 2019

The Apollo 1 Fire: A Case Study In The Flammability Of Fabrics, With Supplemental Material For On-Line Appendix, Gregory A. Dilisi

2019 Faculty Bibliography

No abstract provided.


The Hottest Color For The Fastest Ride: A Problem-Based Unit Of Instruction For The Elementary And Middle School Science Classroom, Madison Wells Apr 2019

The Hottest Color For The Fastest Ride: A Problem-Based Unit Of Instruction For The Elementary And Middle School Science Classroom, Madison Wells

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

There is a major gap in the availability of Next Generation Science Standard focused curriculum that effectively utilizes technology to solve real-world problems in an authentic way. “The Hottest Color for the Fastest Ride” will allow students to participate in the real-world application of reflection absorption of light and heat due to color through designing, building, and testing two dual-tone corvettes. This three-day unit of physics instruction designed for fourth- and fifth- grade science classrooms will be tied to a grand challenge that tasks the students with designing a dual-tone car that will stay cool during Kentucky’s hot summer weather …


Holy High-Flying Hero! Bringing A Superhero Down To Earth, Gregory A. Dilisi Jan 2019

Holy High-Flying Hero! Bringing A Superhero Down To Earth, Gregory A. Dilisi

2019 Faculty Bibliography

No abstract provided.


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 …


Phys 211: Mechanics, Gravitation, And Waves, Ilya Kravchenko Oct 2017

Phys 211: Mechanics, Gravitation, And Waves, Ilya Kravchenko

Department of Physics and Astronomy: Syllabi

Syllabus for PHYS 211: Mechanics, Gravitation, and Waves syllabus for Fall 2017 semester.


Phys 201: Modern Topics In Physics And Astronomy, Ken Bloom Oct 2017

Phys 201: Modern Topics In Physics And Astronomy, Ken Bloom

Department of Physics and Astronomy: Syllabi

Syllabus for PHYS 201: Modern Topics in Physics and Astronomy syllabus for Fall 2017.


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 …


The Interactions Of Relationships, Interest, And Self-Efficacy In Undergraduate Physics, Remy Dou Mar 2017

The Interactions Of Relationships, Interest, And Self-Efficacy In Undergraduate Physics, Remy Dou

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This collected papers dissertation explores students’ academic interactions in an active learning, introductory physics settings as they relate to the development of physics self-efficacy and interest. The motivation for this work extends from the national call to increase participation of students in the pursuit of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers. Self-efficacy and interest are factors that play prominent roles in popular, evidence-based, career theories, including the Social cognitive career theory (SCCT) and the identity framework. Understanding how these constructs develop in light of the most pervasive characteristic of the active learning introductory physics classroom (i.e., peer-to-peer interactions) has …


Becoming A Scientist: Using First-Year Undergraduate Science Courses To Promote Identification With Science Disciplines, Chloe Ruff, Brett D. Jones Jul 2016

Becoming A Scientist: Using First-Year Undergraduate Science Courses To Promote Identification With Science Disciplines, Chloe Ruff, Brett D. Jones

Education Faculty Publications

In this qualitative study, we examined how two professors (a physicist and biochemist) of first year college students perceived their students’ development of identification in biochemistry or physics and how they actively supported this development. The professors described students who entered college with different levels of domain identification and different expectations for their college science experience depending upon whether they were in a biochemistry or physics major. Although neither professor was familiar with research related to the concept of domain identification, their beliefs about their students’ identification and academic support strategies generally aligned with the Osborne and Jones (2011) model …


Astr 103: Descriptive Astronomy Syllabus, Michael Sibbernsen Oct 2015

Astr 103: Descriptive Astronomy Syllabus, Michael Sibbernsen

Department of Physics and Astronomy: Syllabi

Syllabus for ASTR 103 Descriptive Astronomy for Fall 2015 semester.


Astr 113: Life In The Universe Syllabus, Edward Schmidt Oct 2015

Astr 113: Life In The Universe Syllabus, Edward Schmidt

Department of Physics and Astronomy: Syllabi

Syllabus for ASTR 113 Life in the Universe for Fall 2015 semester.


Increasing Interest Of Young Women In Engineering, Diane Hinterlong, Branson Lawrence, Purva Devol Apr 2014

Increasing Interest Of Young Women In Engineering, Diane Hinterlong, Branson Lawrence, Purva Devol

Publications & Research

The internationally recognized Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy (IMSA) develops creative, ethical leaders in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. As a teaching and learning laboratory created by the State of Illinois, IMSA enrolls academically talented Illinois students in grades 10 through 12 in its advanced, residential college preparatory program. IMSA also serves thousands of educators and students in Illinois and beyond through innovative instructional programs that foster imagination and inquiry. IMSA also advances education through research, groundbreaking ventures and strategic partnerships.


Astr 407: Physics Of The Interstellar Medium, Edward Schmidt Oct 2013

Astr 407: Physics Of The Interstellar Medium, Edward Schmidt

Department of Physics and Astronomy: Syllabi

Syllabus for ASTR 407: Physics of the Interstellar Medium syllabus for Fall 2013 semester.


An Ethnographic Study: Becoming A Physics Expert In A Biophysics Research Group, Idaykis Rodriguez Jul 2013

An Ethnographic Study: Becoming A Physics Expert In A Biophysics Research Group, Idaykis Rodriguez

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Expertise in physics has been traditionally studied in cognitive science, where physics expertise is understood through the difference between novice and expert problem solving skills. The cognitive perspective of physics experts only create a partial model of physics expertise and does not take into account the development of physics experts in the natural context of research. This dissertation takes a social and cultural perspective of learning through apprenticeship to model the development of physics expertise of physics graduate students in a research group. I use a qualitative methodological approach of an ethnographic case study to observe and video record the …


An Item Response Curves Analysis Of The Force Concept Inventory, Gary A. Morris, Nathan Harshman, Lee Branum-Martin, Eric Mazur, Taha Mzoughi, Stephen D. Baker Sep 2012

An Item Response Curves Analysis Of The Force Concept Inventory, Gary A. Morris, Nathan Harshman, Lee Branum-Martin, Eric Mazur, Taha Mzoughi, Stephen D. Baker

Faculty and Research Publications

Several years ago, we introduced the idea of item response curves (IRC), a simplistic form of item response theory (IRT), to the physics education research community as a way to examine item performance on diagnostic instruments such as the Force Concept Inventory (FCI). We noted that a full-blown analysis using IRT would be a next logical step, which several authors have since taken. In this paper, we show that our simple approach not only yields similar conclusions in the analysis of the performance of items on the FCI to the more sophisticated and complex IRT analyses but also permits additional …


Astr 404: Stellar Astrophysics, Edward Schmidt Apr 2011

Astr 404: Stellar Astrophysics, Edward Schmidt

Department of Physics and Astronomy: Syllabi

Syllabus for ASTR 404: Stellar Astrophysics for Spring 2011 semester.


Assessing High School Gifted Student Progress In Science Through Misconceptions And Mosart, Christopher G. Kolar, Evelyn Ho-Wisniewski Apr 2009

Assessing High School Gifted Student Progress In Science Through Misconceptions And Mosart, Christopher G. Kolar, Evelyn Ho-Wisniewski

Publications & Research

This paper reports how 188 high school students identified as gifted in science were assessed with the Misconceptions-Oriented Standards-Based Assessment Resource for Teachers (MOSART). Students enrolled in a year-long science-centered curriculum where this instrument appeared to be a means of identifying standards-aligned progress, avoiding ceiling effects and reliance on content mastery. This paper discusses two questions: 1. Is the MOSART a valid measure of conceptual understanding in gifted students? and 2. Can the MOSART be used with this population to measure growth in understanding? We present results from the physics and chemistry tests, and consider results from the earth science …


Strongly And Weakly Directed Approaches To Teaching Multiple Representation Use In Physics, Patrick B. Kohl, David Rosengrant, Noah D. Finkelstein Jan 2007

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

Faculty and Research Publications

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 …


Synecdoche And Surprise: Transdisciplinary Knowledge Production, Anne Dalke, Elizabeth Mccormack Jan 2007

Synecdoche And Surprise: Transdisciplinary Knowledge Production, Anne Dalke, Elizabeth Mccormack

Literatures in English Faculty Research and Scholarship

Using contemporary insights from feminist critical theory and the literary device of synecdoche, we argue that transdisciplinary knowledge is productive because it maximizes serendipity. We draw on student learning experiences in a course on “Gender and Science” to illustrate how the dichotomous frameworks and part-whole correspondences that are predominant in much disciplinary discourse must be dismantled for innovative intellectual work to take place. In such a process, disciplinary presumptions interrogate and unsettle one another to produce novel questions and answers.


Engaging Physics Students Using Environmental Lab Modules, John M. Pratte May 2006

Engaging Physics Students Using Environmental Lab Modules, John M. Pratte

Faculty and Research Publications

Discusses multi-week activity modules that use civic engagement to increase student interest and learning in physics. Components of the modules; Activities included in the modules; Assessment of student learning and interest using the modules.


Engagement Enhance Interest In Physics, Harcharan Pardhan Sep 2004

Engagement Enhance Interest In Physics, Harcharan Pardhan

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

No abstract provided.


How We Think About And Prepare To Teach Physics, Dewey I. Dykstra Aug 2004

How We Think About And Prepare To Teach Physics, Dewey I. Dykstra

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

We have been preparing physics teachers in the same manner for many decades. Yet, physics education research reveals for some observers disturbing evidence of little or no change in understanding the phenomena occurs as a direct result of physics instruction from elementary school through the college years. The apparent compatibility between these learning results and prevailing paradigm enables the construction of a description the paradigm. If it can be demonstrated that there is even just one alternative paradigm from which powerful alternative pedagogical practice is derived, are we not obligated to change how we prepare to teach physics?