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(HB) Introductory Courses I
7/12/2022 | 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Room: CC: Grand Gallery B
Moderator: / Co-Organizer:
Session Code: HB | Submitting Committee: / Co-Sponsoring Committee:
HB01 (4:00 to 4:10 PM) | Contributed | Lessons Learned from Teaching a Physics Sequence with Contract Grading
Presenting Author: Jon Gaffney, Utica University
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For the academic year 2021-2022, I designed and created a two-semester algebra-based physics sequence specifically for students enrolled in the construction management program at Utica University. This course met for 115 minutes a day, 3 days a week in a studio-style physics classroom. The course sequence integrated lectures and lab activities, and students engaged with active-learning methods during class time. Students chose to follow an A, B, or C contract and were graded based on criteria on those contracts. In this talk I will discuss some of the advantages of that grading style, some of the lessons I wish I had learned before starting it, and some unexpected consequences. I will also describe some of the changes I made between the first and second semester course and describe the effectiveness of those changes.
HB02 (4:10 to 4:20 PM) | Contributed | Interviews on Computation in Introductory Physics: Reading Code is Everything!
Presenting Author: Justin Gambrell, Drexel University
Additional Author | Eric Brewe, Drexel University
Additional Author | Adam Ikehara, Drexel University
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We present a qualitative analysis of twenty-six interviews asking physicists about computational thinking in introductory physics courses. The interviews are part of a longer-term project in developing an assessment protocol for computational thinking in introductory physics. The focus of this presentation is on sub-nodes and themes developed for seven nodes coded from the interviews using emergent coding, constant comparative method, and grounded theory. We find that python/vpython or spreadsheets are the preferred environment, and that students being able to read code, identify the core physics within an environment, explain to others about their code, and use program hygiene (commenting and using meaningful variable names) are the most important skills to be gained. We also find that the experience and skills gained from computation are most useful for student’s future careers, and the limiting factors of computation in introductory physics are curricular overhaul, no space for computation, and student/faculty rejection.
HB03 (4:20 to 4:30 PM) | Contributed | Exploring Pseudoscientific Beliefs Among Undergraduate Students
Presenting Author: Melanie Good, University of Pittsburgh
Additional Author | Eric S Swanson, University of Pittsburgh
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A rationale for requiring undergraduate students to take natural science classes as part of their general education is to promote critical thinking skills and scientific literacy. Belief in pseudoscientific, paranormal, and conspiracy theory claims could be indicative of weaker scientific literacy and critical thinking skills. Thus, uncovering to what degree students subscribe to such beliefs can serve as a diagnostic test of the effectiveness of natural science classes in promoting scientific literacy and critical thinking skills. As a preliminary step in exploring this question, we measured how students enrolled in several introductory level physics and astronomy classes respond to pseudoscientific, paranormal, and conspiracy theory claims, as well as genuine scientific claims at the end of a semester of instruction by administering survey questions from the \textit{Inventory of Epistemically Unwarranted Beliefs} (Dyer \& Hall, 2018). We compare the persistence of these beliefs across classes and to prior results in the literature
HB04 (4:30 to 4:40 PM) | Contributed | Instrument Projects for Acoustics Students Who Are Non-Science Majors
Presenting Author: Ting-Hui Lee, Western Kentucky University
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At Western Kentucky University, the students in the introductory acoustics course are about one-third music majors, one-third communication disorders majors, and one-third from other disciplines. Such a diverse group provides an excellent opportunity for collaborative learning. Students from different disciplines are grouped together to build an instrument using common household materials. The instrument must be able to play a simple tune. The students showcase their instruments and explain how they work using the physics of vibration, resonance, pitches, and tone colors. In this talk, I will discuss how these projects engage students, and I will present some of the instruments that the students have made.
HB05 (4:40 to 4:50 PM) | Contributed | Student Resilience: Advantages of a Hybrid NextGen PET Adaptation
Presenting Author: Paul Miller, West Virginia University
Additional Author | Gay Stewart, West Virginia University
Additional Author | Lynnette Michaluk, West Virginia University
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The Next Generation Physical Science and Everyday Thinking (NextGen PET) is a proven research-based curriculum that centers the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and has been shown to significantly impact both future teacher content knowledge and understanding of how students learn science. In a recent project*, we developed a hybrid lecture-lab implementation of existing materials and wrote new materials that targeted the NGSS scientific practice of Planning and Conducting Investigations (PCI). Then COVID hit. In this talk, we report on how this recent format change helped us manage the shift online. The students were resilient, based on their course evaluation comments. We examine whether their content learning, attitudes changes, and knowledge of PCI (using materials developed for this purpose) were as resilient with data from before, during, and after the online course. Results of pre-post instruction analyses between groups and evaluation responses are discussed, as are implications for future instruction.
* This work funded in part by the Adapting the Next Generation Physical Science and Everyday Thinking Curriculum for a Lecture-Laboratory Format grant from the NSF, DUE-1611738.
HB06 (4:50 to 5:00 PM) | Contributed | Playing the Marble Game in Excel
Presenting Author: Peter Nelson, Fisk University
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The Marble game is a kinetic Monte Carlo simulation of diffusion that introduces students to computation and modeling in a biological context. Ten marbles are distributed between two boxes. The roll of a ten-sided die determines whether a marble jumps from box 1 to box 2 or vice versa. The game can be built using two weigh boats, ten marbles and a ten-sided dice. Once students have learned the rules by playing the game by hand, they implement it in a blank Excel spreadsheet following a guided inquiry methodology. Students plot the number of marbles in box 1 as a function of time for games of different sizes and with various initial conditions and learn how to interpret the data presented in the graphs of their own games. Ultimately, students discover that the random jumping between boxes produces a net flux that’s consistent with Fick’s laws of diffusion. http://circle4.com/biophysics
Supported by NSF Grant No. 1817282.
(HB) Introductory Courses I
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