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Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons™
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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics
An Exploration Of Misconceptions In Introductory Physics, Christopher Mattthew Wheatley
An Exploration Of Misconceptions In Introductory Physics, Christopher Mattthew Wheatley
Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports
The study of student misconceptions about physics concepts has long been an important area of inquiry in physics education research (PER). The research discussed in this dissertation builds upon the developments in PER by exploring the prevalence of consistently held undergraduate student misconceptions in introductory calculus-based physics. This thesis explores the nature of student misconceptions, mistakes, and naive answering patterns in both introductory undergraduate Newtonian mechanics and electromagnetism by applying a network analytic technique called module analysis to student responses to different concept inventories from institutions of various levels of incoming physics preparation. Each study applying these methods also demonstrates …
Examining The Relations Among Academic And Non-Cognitive Factors And Student Achievement, Dona Sachini Hasanjalie Hewagallage
Examining The Relations Among Academic And Non-Cognitive Factors And Student Achievement, Dona Sachini Hasanjalie Hewagallage
Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports
Since the 1980s, Physics Education Research (PER) has explored the factors influencing students' success in college. This manuscript reports three different studies to understand the impact of different factors on students' college physics achievement. The first study explored several academic (high school physics preparation, high school preparation, math readiness, and ACT or SAT verbal and mathematics scores) and non-cognitive (self-efficacy, personality, belonging, grade expectation, and demographic) factors using correlation and linear regression analysis to understand their relation to students' physics conceptual understanding measured by the Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation (FMCE). High school preparation was found to be the most …
Methods For Analyzing Physics Student Retention And Physics Curricula, John Darrell Hansen
Methods For Analyzing Physics Student Retention And Physics Curricula, John Darrell Hansen
Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports
Retention of students in college has been a concern of academic institutions for many years. In the last two decades, the focus on student retention in STEM fields has intensified. The current graduation rate of students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields is well below that required to fill the projected need of STEM professionals. The work presented in this dissertation investigates the problem of student retention in physics programs. Four studies were performed. The first identifies the relationships between student retention and pre-college and early-college academic factors at an eastern U.S. university using logistic regression and Bayesian …