Ralph Schumacher

Enhancing physics learning with cognitively activating instruction: A quasi-experimental classroom intervention study

Physics educators today face two major challenges: supporting the acquisition of a solid base of conceptual knowledge and reducing the persisting gender gap. In the present quasi-experimental study, we investigated the potential of physics instruction that is enriched with evidence-based cognitively activating methods, such as inventing with contrasting cases or metacognitive questions, to overcome both of these challenges. Four physics teachers in charge of two parallel classes each applied our cognitively activating instruction in one of their classes (CogAct classes). The other classes received regular physics lessons (regular classes) on the same content. The sample consisted of 172 individuals from the advanced track of Swiss secondary school. Controlling for several individual student variables, CogAct classes (N = 87) outperformed regular classes (N = 85) in conceptual understanding at posttest (p < .01, &bgr; = 0.19, 95% CI [0.07, 0.32]) and three months later (p < .05, &bgr; = 0.13, 95% CI [0.00, 0.26]). The CogAct classes’ advantage in conceptual understanding was not at the expense of their quantitative problem-solving performance, which even exceeded the quantitative problem-solving performance of the regular classes at posttest (p < .05, &bgr; = 0.14, 95% CI [0.00, 0.28]). In addition, female students with above-average intelligence (PR >75) particularly benefited from CogAct instruction, as indicated by descriptive statistics and the interaction between intelligence and condition in the group of the female students for posttest conceptual understanding (p < .05, &bgr; = 0.88, 95% CI [0.06, 1.69]). We conclude that teachers can successfully be supported in implementing cognitively activating methods that improve their students’ conceptual understanding and reduce the gender gap in physics.

When problem-solving followed by instruction is superior to the traditional tell-and-practice sequence

Instruction often starts with an explanation of a concept or principle before students are presented with problems to be solved. Recent research indicates that reversing this widely used tell-and-practice sequence (T&P) so that exploratory problem-solving precedes the instructional explanation (i.e., PS-I) might be more beneficial. We aimed to replicate this advantage, but we also hypothesized based on previous research that the effectiveness of PS-I would depend on how scaffolding prompts and specific ways of representing the problems are combined. In an in vivo experimental classroom study, 213 ninth graders were randomly allocated to either a T&P or 1 of 4 PS-I conditions (in a 2 × 2 design). In all PS-I conditions, exploratory problem-solving consisted of a comparing and contrasting cases activity. However, we varied whether the students processed grounded or idealized cases (containing or stripped off contextual detail, respectively) and whether the activity was scaffolded by an invention or a self-explanation prompt. We assessed transfer performance immediately after learning and 4 weeks later. The PS-I sequences were not generally more effective than the T&P sequence, the effectiveness was influenced by an interaction of scaffolding prompts and problem representation. Immediately after learning, T&P students were only outperformed by students who learned with grounded cases and self-explanation prompts, by students who learned with grounded cases and invention prompts, and by students who learned with idealized cases and invention prompts; only the latter retained this advantage 4 weeks after learning. We discuss potential reasons and emphasize that PS-I sequences demand careful design.

The test of basic Mechanics Conceptual Understanding (bMCU): using Rasch analysis to develop and evaluate an efficient multiple choice test on Newton’s mechanics

BackgroundValid assessment of the understanding of Newton’s mechanics is highly relevant to both physics classrooms and research. Several tests have been developed. What remains missing, however, is an efficient and fair test of conceptual understanding that is adapted to the content taught to secondary school students and that can be validly applied as a pre- and posttest to reflect change. In this paper, we describe the development and evaluation of the test of basic Mechanics Conceptual Understanding (bMCU), which was designed to meet these requirements.ResultsIn the context of test development, qualitative and quantitative methods, including Rasch analyses, were applied to more than 300 Swiss secondary school students. The final test’s conformity to the Rasch model was confirmed with a sample of Nxa0=xa0141 students. We further ascertained the bMCU test’s applicability as a change measure. Additionally, the criterion validity of the bMCU test was investigated in a sample of secondary school students (Nxa0=xa066) and a sample of mechanical engineering students (Nxa0=xa021). In both samples, the bMCU test was a useful predictor of actual student performance.ConclusionsThe bMCU test proved to enable fair, efficient, and simultaneously rigorous measurement of secondary school students’ conceptual understanding of Newton’s mechanics. This new instrument might fruitfully be used in both physics classrooms and educational research.