Calculus Physics I is a calculus based general physics course covering fundamental principles of mechanics. The overwhelming majority of students in this course are prepared for admission with advanced standing to a Bachelor of Science engineering program. Often found in the classroom are that many students have difficulty in solving problems, skills that are crucial for students to be successful in this rigorous curriculum. In spite of using active engagement learning approach, showing plenty of examples, asking students to practice problems during the class time and having students do their homework every week, we still found quite a few students cannot solve similar problems in the tests so that they choose to withdraw from the class. Is there anything we can do to encourage students to remain in the class and help them learn better? Weekly student-centered formative assessment using reflective quiz self-corrections is a powerful solution to this problem. Pedagogy researches have been focused on studentcentered learning inside classrooms, little attention has been paid to how formative assessments outside classrooms can support student learning, improve outcomes and actualize the drive for lifelong learning in engineering programs. In this grant-funded research project, once-a-week quiz was given in class to ask students to solve one problem. Quizzes were graded with no details. Without given solutions, students were then asked to conduct reflective self-corrections on each quiz that they did not receive full credits. It was possible to increase their quiz scores up to full points if students successfully completed the required tasks. The following data were collected for analysis: two rounds of a perception survey related to the learning of physics and a survey particularly designed for reflective quiz self-correction activity; a pre-and a post-Page 24.591.2 mechanics baseline test at the beginning and the end of the semester plus two tests and one final exam; quiz mistake categorization reports. Feedback from students was overwhelmingly great.This practice not only promotes students self-regulated learning but also helps them study consistently. Students learn much better from finding their own mistakes and score higher in exams. Therefore, they become more confident and are more motivated to remain in the program.

Conceptual Physics course is a general education introductory physics course focusing on concepts with minimum math requirements for non-science majors. The overwhelming majority of students in this course intend to become licensed teachers. Schoolteachers play a critical role in inspiring and training the next generation of students to join the STEM disciplines: science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Improving the scientific knowledge, attitude toward science and scientific communication skills of prospective teachers must be critical goals for this course. On the other hand, for many students, Conceptual Physics will be the final science course they take for the rest of their lives. The quality of their physics education may therefore have a lasting impact on their scientific literacy and their attitudes toward science. "Learners are aware of and control their learning by actively participating in reflective thinkingassessing what they know, what they need to know, and how they bridge that gap-during learning situations". (MacDonald, 2009) In this grant-funded research project, students were asked to perform reflections through journal writing after each class. They needed to include date, list of activities done in class, what they have learned from today's activities and questions/comments they still have. Journals were collected randomly once a week. The following data were collected for analysis: two rounds of a perception survey related to the learning of physics and a survey for feedback about journal writing; a pre-and a post-force concept inventory test at the beginning and the end of the semester plus final exams. Reflection through journal writing is a wonderful way for students to set their own goals, to guide their own learning. In other words, to think about what they are learning. It provides an additional method of assessment beyond standardized exams. This ongoing activity provides immediate feedback to both teachers and students; it gives teachers opportunities to gain insight into what their students are thinking and learning about science content, therefore, to make changes in instructions. It also helps students Page 24.1152.2 to improve their conceptual understanding of physics and their basic communication skills in written format.