Lin Ding

Learning and Scientific Reasoning

Comparisons of Chinese and U.S. students show that content knowledge and reasoning skills diverge.

Tale of two curricula: The performance of 2000 students in introductory electromagnetism

The performance of over 2000 students in introductory calculus-based electromagnetism (EM M&I averages were significantly higher in each topic. The results suggest that the M&I curriculum is more effective than the traditional curriculum at teaching E&M concepts to students, possibly because the learning progression in M&I reorganizes and augments the traditional sequence of topics, for example, by increasing early emphasis on the vector field concept and by emphasizing the effects of fields on matter at the microscopic level.

Are we asking the right questions? Validating clicker question sequences by student interviews

When answering physics questions, students often have different perspectives than do physics experts. Sometimes this difference does not mean students possess misconceptions, but might indicate that the questions need to be revised. We conducted student interviews to identify and resolve validity issues that stem from the different perspectives of students and question designers. After interviews with 35 student volunteers, we selected 14 verbal and detail-oriented individuals for repeated interviews. Instead of using interviews for soliciting and confirming students’ incorrect answers, we conducted interviews as a “student consultation” process that revealed validity issues missed by physics experts. A four-stage response model was used to examine student verbal reports, and validity issues corresponding to each of the response stages were uncovered.

Single-Concept Clicker Question Sequences

Students typically use electronic polling systems, or clickers, to answer individual questions. Differing from this tradition, we have developed a new clicker methodology in which multiple clicker questions targeting the same underlying concept but with different surface features are grouped into a sequence. Here we present the creation, validation, and evaluation of clicker question sequences sufficient in number to populate a year of calculus-based introductory physics.

Using Conceptual Scaffolding to Foster Effective Problem Solving

Traditional end‐of‐chapter problems often are localized, requiring formulas only within a single chapter. Students frequently can solve these problems by performing “plug‐and‐chug” without recognizing underlying concepts. We designed open‐ended problems that require a synthesis of concepts that are broadly separated in the teaching time line, militating against students’ blindly invoking locally introduced formulas. Each problem was encapsulated into a sequence with two preceding conceptually‐based multiple‐choice questions. These conceptual questions address the same underlying concepts as the subsequent problem, providing students with guided conceptual scaffolding. When solving the problem, students were explicitly advised to search for underlying connections based on the conceptual questions. Both small‐scale interviews and a large‐scale written test were conducted to investigate the effects of guided conceptual scaffolding on student problem solving. Specifically, student performance on the open‐ende...

Sustained Effects of Solving Conceptually Scaffolded Synthesis Problems

Students commonly have difficulty with “synthesis problems”, which require a combination of typically two concepts that are taught separately in different chapters and/or at significantly different times during a course. One reason for this is that students frequently rely on a formula‐based approach, beginning by searching for mathematical equations or worked examples which often do not exist. We employed a guided scaffolding method to induce students to employ a more effective problem‐solving approach by first searching for fundamental concepts. This method includes a sequence of two conceptually‐based multiple‐choice questions that have similar deep structure as the synthesis problem, and an explicit instruction to remind students to make connections between the synthesis problem and these conceptual questions. We report our findings on the sustained effects of repeated training using conceptually‐scaffolded synthesis problems. In the last 2 weeks of the 2009 fall quarter, we repeatedly provided 3 grou...

A comparative study of middle school and high school students’ views about physics and learning physics

Previous studies of student epistemological beliefs about physics and learning physics focused on college and post-college students in Western countries. However, little is known about early-grade students in Asian countries. This paper reports Chinese middle and high school students’ views about the nature of physics and learning physics, measured by the Colorado Learning Attitudes Survey about Science (CLASS). Two variables—school level and gender—are examined for a series of comparative analyses. Results show that although middle school students received fewer years of education in physics, they demonstrated more expert-like conceptions about this subject matter than high school students. Also, male students in general exhibited more expert-like views than their female counterparts. While such a gender difference remained constant across both middle and high schools, for the most part it was a small-size difference.

Establishing reliability and validity: An ongoing process

Establishing validity and reliability is a necessary step in any conceptual assessment instrument. But once validity and reliability are established, it is not the end of the story. Reliability and validity are not an inherent property of the assessment instrument or its individual items, but something that must be reestablished with any changes of the instrument items, order, administration techniques or population being studied. In this paper we will discuss how validity and reliability can be established or reestablished. We will also discuss common instances in instrument development and use that requires reliability and validity to be reestablished.

Science Curriculum and Implementation in Senior Secondary School

The senior high school science curriculum reforms in China occurred after the compulsory education reform (grades 1–9). This chapter describes the historical context of the most recent high school science curriculum reforms, which consist of structure and framework of discipline-based science curriculum and textbook compilation. We also examine the current status of science curriculum implementation, with special focus on the investigation of physics curriculum and standard implementation across the country. Finally, we discuss issues and challenges related to science instruction and the development of curriculum and textbooks.

Scientific reasoning : theory evidence coordination in physics-based and non-physics-based tasks

Scientific reasoning is crucial to any scientific discipline. One sub-skill particularly relevant to the scientific enterprise is theory evidence coordination. This study, underpinned by Kuhns framework for scientific reasoning, investigates how university students coordinate their self-generated theory and evidence in a physics topic (energy) and in non-content specific (non-physics-based) situations. Twenty-seven students completed five written reasoning tasks, three of which deal with energy concepts (physics-based) and two tasks concern with non-physics-based situations. The analysis focused on: (a) the completeness and correctness of the theory; (b) the source of the evidence; (c) theory evidence coordination or non-coordination; and (d) if coordination occurs, whether the evidence supports or refutes the theory, and the quality of students’ explanations. The outcomes revealed that the students tended to coordinate theory and evidence for non-physics tasks as opposed to physics problems. When theory evidence coordination occurred, regardless of the type of scenarios, the evidence primarily supported the theory in the form of a poor explanation. The importance of content knowledge for scientific reasoning is discussed. The implications for applying scientific reasoning as an assessment tool in science are also highlighted.