When And How Do Students Engage In Sense-Making In A Physics Lab?

Karelina, Anna; Etkina, Eugenia

doi:10.1063/1.2508699

Cited by 12 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…It is clear from the literature that the cyclical process of creating models can help students acquire scientific abilities [28,29], and that such a process can be implemented using apparatus-based labs and simulations [46]. What has not been known, until now, is if activities based on direct measurement videos could also help students acquire some of these skills.…”

Section: Conclusion and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…If the model no longer fits, then the previous model is refined or replaced and the process continues. This pattern can be seen in ISLE cycles (Investigative Science Learning Environments) [28], in Windschitl's "generation, testing, and revision of scientific models" [11], and in the iterative refinement described by Clement [37]. Two important parts of this process are developing a provisional model (i.e., model making) and then critically testing it in a new situation (i.e., model breaking).…”

Section: Conclusion and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…"The goal is to engage students in actions and decisions similar to those of real physicists by working with simple experiments [27]." The ISLE method has been shown to help students design experiments, analyze data, and communicate like scientists [12,28,29]. Although the ISLE website [30] hosts many ISLE video experiments, the ISLE research thus far has concentrated on the efficacy of apparatus-based (rather than video-based) learning.…”

Section: A Review Of the Literature On Student-analyzed Videomentioning

confidence: 99%

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Developing model-making and model-breaking skills using direct measurement video-based activities

Vonk

Bohacek²,

Militello

et al. 2017

Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res.

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This study focuses on student development of two important laboratory skills in the context of introductory college-level physics. The first skill, which we call model making, is the ability to analyze a phenomenon in a way that produces a quantitative multimodal model. The second skill, which we call model breaking, is the ability to critically evaluate if the behavior of a system is consistent with a given model. This study involved 116 introductory physics students in four different sections, each taught by a different instructor. All of the students within a given class section participated in the same instruction (including labs) with the exception of five activities performed throughout the semester. For those five activities, each class section was split into two groups; one group was scaffolded to focus on model-making skills and the other was scaffolded to focus on model-breaking skills. Both conditions involved direct measurement videos. In some cases, students could vary important experimental parameters within the video like mass, frequency, and tension. Data collected at the end of the semester indicate that students in the model-making treatment group significantly outperformed the other group on the model-making skill despite the fact that both groups shared a common physical lab experience. Likewise, the model-breaking treatment group significantly outperformed the other group on the model-breaking skill. This is important because it shows that direct measurement video-based instruction can help students acquire science-process skills, which are critical for scientists, and which are a key part of current science education approaches such as the Next Generation Science Standards and the Advanced Placement Physics 1 course.

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Section: Conclusion and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Conclusion and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: A Review Of the Literature On Student-analyzed Videomentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Developing model-making and model-breaking skills using direct measurement video-based activities

Vonk

Bohacek²,

Militello

et al. 2017

Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res.

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“…28 The AP question was included because students designing their own experiments spend more time sense-making. 29,30 I therefore hypothesized that the students in the Reduced Scaffolding group would perform better on the AP questions since they would be more likely to consider several designs for their circuit.…”

Section: Procedural Recall (Pr)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of reducing scaffolding in an undergraduate electronics lab

Halstead

2016

American Journal of Physics

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Design and scientific investigation are recognized as key components of undergraduate physics laboratory curricula. In light of this, many successful lab programs have been developed to train students to develop these abilities, and students in these programs have been shown to exhibit a higher transfer rate of scientific abilities to new situations. In this paper, I use data from an electronics class for physics majors to investigate how giving students the opportunity to design circuits -by removing steps from traditional cookbook lab guides -affects the students' ability to determine the function of circuits they haven't seen before. I compared post-lab quiz results from students who were given explicit procedures to those of students who were given incomplete procedures, and I found no statistically significant difference in the results of the two groups. I explore possible explanations for the null effect and recommend future research directions.

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“…RES. 12, 020121 (2016) 020121-2 but many studies use a categorization scheme to analyze student behavior [5,28,29]. The outcome of this type of research is often an identification of problems with the effectiveness of lab work.…”

Section: B Research About Learning In Labsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Video Observation as a Tool to Analyze and Modify an Electronics Laboratory

Coppens

Bossche

Cock

2016

Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res.

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Laboratories are an important part of science and engineering education, especially in the field of electronics. Yet very little research into the benefits of such labs to student learning exists. In particular, it is not well known what students do and, even more importantly, think during electronics laboratories. Therefore, we conducted a study based on video observation of second year students at 3 university campuses in Belgium during a traditional lab on first order RC filters. In this laboratory, students spent the majority of their time performing measurements, while very little time was spent processing or discussing the results. This in turn resulted in hardly any time spent talking about content knowledge. Based on those observations, a new laboratory was designed that includes a preparation with a virtual oscilloscope, a black box approach during the lab session itself, and a form of quick reporting at the end of the lab. This adjusted laboratory was evaluated using the same methodology and was more successful in the sense that the students spent less time gathering measurements and more time processing and analyzing them, resulting in more content-based discussion.

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When And How Do Students Engage In Sense-Making In A Physics Lab?

Cited by 12 publications

References 4 publications

Developing model-making and model-breaking skills using direct measurement video-based activities

Developing model-making and model-breaking skills using direct measurement video-based activities

Effects of reducing scaffolding in an undergraduate electronics lab

Video Observation as a Tool to Analyze and Modify an Electronics Laboratory

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