Improving Undergraduate Instruction in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Report of a Workshop (2003) / Chapter Skim
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Appendix B: Reference Paper
Appendix B: Reference Paper
Pages 127-139
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Appendix B Reference Caper 127
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For both intellectual and practical reasons, disciplinebased education research must be conducted by science faculty within science departments. ~ shall present some evidence that this is an effective approach for improving student learning (K-201.
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As part of our research on how to improve student learning in physics, we try to identify specific difficulties that students encounter in the study of various topics. The results are used to design instructional materials that target these difficulties and help guide students through the reasoning required to overcome them and to develop a coherent conceptual framework.
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If one documents intellectual outcomes for student learning, teaching can be treated as a science. If the criteria for success are clearly stated and the results are reproducible, findings from research can contribute to "a reasonable foundation of accepted fact." This foundation is represented by a rapidly growing research base.
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132 SCIENCE COURSES FOR INTRODUCTORY STUDENTS Introductory science courses should help students construct basic concepts, integrate them into a coherent conceptual framework, and develop the reasoning ability necessary to apply them in situations not explicitly memorized. Significant progress towar(1 these goals is not usually ma(le in a tra(litional course.
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SCIENCE COURSES FOR K-12 TEACHERS Science departments have a major responsibility for the education of K-12 teachers, both prospective en c} practicing. Many science faculty assume that this is a role solely for education faculty.
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Virtually all students can state that "light travels in straight lines" and many can elaborate that "light travels outward from every point on an object in straight lines." To determine whether students can apply these concepts in a simple situation, we designed a written question. Pretest Students were asked to predict the image formed on a screen by various light sources located in front of a small aperture in a mask.
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They are then asked to predict and APPENDIX B explain up-down and left-right inversions of images formed by asymmetric sources. These and other exercises help students recognize how the shape and relative size of the source and aperture and the distances involved affect the image.
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This result is consistent with our experience that advanced study may not increase student un(lerstan(ling of basic topics. We consider the pretest performance of graduate students to be a reasonable post-test goal for introductory students.
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Reprinted with permission of the American Association of Physics Teachers and Optical Society of America. COMMENTARY It is tempting for instructors to think that the rectilinear propagation of light is such a simple concept that only a brief discussion of the topic is needed.
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stan(lar for student learning. CONCLUSION A major goal of a science course that is likely to be terminal in the (liscipline is to help students recognize whether or not they understand the basic concepts.
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Our experience indicates that it is difficult to develop effective curriculum that yields consistent positive results. Therefore, unless faculty can devote a long-term effort to the development and refinement of their own instructional materials, they should take advantage of already existing curriculum that has been carefully designed and thoroughly assessed.
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