Success of students in a college physics course with and without experiencing a high school course

High school students with high ability were enrolled in a standard college physics course for each of two summers with the same professor, same course outline, same textbook, same laboratories, and the same examinations. Half of each group had completed a high school physics course; half had not. Dormitory counselors were available for assistance and support. In addition, tutors were available in the laboratories to provide any help necessary with interpretation of lectures and performances in the laboratory, and with mathematical computation. Pre- and posttest measures concerning course content and attitude were given. After the eight-week summer instruction, the students who had not completed high school physics performed as well on the final course examination; there were no differences with respect to course grade or attitude toward physics. The group that had not completed high school physics used the tutors provided far more frequently than did students who had completed the high school course. When high-ability students are enrolled in college physics with tutors made available for needed assistance, there appears to be no advantage for students to complete the standard high school physics course.     

A causal model of students' achievement in a college physics course

To explain students' achievement in the mechanics segment of a college physics course, a causal model is proposed whose variables are the three constructs: Newtonian physics, math ability, and science experience. Each variable specifies several variates, whose numerical values were measured and intercorrelations computed. The Factorial Modeling (FaM) procedure is applied to the data to estimate the coefficients of the proposed model's structural equations. The FaM results indicate that the model is plausible and that its first two variables account for approximately 34% of the variance in the criterion variate, students' mechanics achievement. The implications of the findings for physics instruction are discussed.     

大学物理课程教学改革的研究与实践

为促进高等院校进一步深化教学改革,加强学校建设,以适应新世纪对高素质人才培养的需要,结合教育部新制定的《理工学科大学物理课程教学基本要求》和我校实际及大学物理的自身特点,对大学物理课程的教材建设与教学内容、教学方法与手段及课程考核等,进行综合的改革研究与实践,进一步提高大学物理的教学质量和学生的综合素质。     

网络课程在大学物理实验教学中的应用探索

网络课程在教学中日益发挥着重要的作用。立足校园网构建大学物理实验网络课程,进行开放式教学,已成为大学物理实验教学过程中不可或缺的组成部分。从教学性、技术性、可用性几方面介绍了网络课程的内容和要求,分析了其在实验教学中的作用,阐述了网络课程建设对培养学员自主学习能力和创新能力的重要意义。     

A comparison of cognitive skills between completes and dropouts in a college physics course

Separate tests of mathematics skills, proportions and translations between words, and mathematical expression given the first week of class were correlated with performance for students who completed a college physics course (completes) and students who dropped the course (drops). None of the measures used discriminated between completes and drops as groups. However, the correlations between score on the test of math skills and on both of the measures involving mathematical reasoning (proportions, and translations) were dramatically different for the two groups. For the completes, these correlations were slightly negative, but not significant. For the drops, the correlation was positive and signficant at the p < 0.01 level. This suggests the possibility that the students who complete the course tend to have independent cognitive skills for the “mechanical” mathematical operations and for questions requiring some degree of reasoning, while, in contrast, the same skills for students at high risk for dropping overlap significantly. The study also found that when students are given the results of mathematics skills tests in a diagnostic mode, with feedback on specific areas of weakness and time to remediate with self study, the correlation between mathematics and physics is lower than previously reported values.     

浅谈大学英语拓展课程教学中的形成性评价

随着大学英语教学改革的深化,英语教学要突出强调听说能力和语言实际运用的能力及学生的终身学习能力,这样就给教学评价提出了新的要求和标准,传统评价体系已经不能起到以评促教,以评促学的作用,把形成性评价运用到大学英语拓展课程中,能够明显的改善教学的效果。     

师范院校物理学专业开设课程的调查分析

采用问卷调查的方法,对高中、初中物理教师及中学领导进行了教师教育专业课程重要性的问卷调查.从结果分析可以看出,各类课程在师范教育课程中所起的作用不同.认为物理教师教育专业应立足学生发展,构建以通识教育课程、物理学科课程和教育学科课程为架构的教育课程模式,增加教育学科课程在教师教育中的比例.     

试谈档案评价中的学生档案

档案评价,又称文件夹评价(portfolioassessment)是以档案袋为依据而对评价对象进行的客观的综合的评价。档案评价有教师档案和学生档案两种表现形式。本文主要对学生档案的设计与实施进行阐述。     

应用型本科院校大学物理实验课融入“慕课”模式的探索

席卷全球的"慕课"浪潮给高等教育领域带来了巨大的挑战和机遇。本文分析了大学物理实验教学中存在的问题,初步探索了如何将"慕课"模式融入大学物理实验教学当中,以期为应用型本科大学物理实验教学的改革提供借鉴。     

浅论传统文化对我国教育评价制度的影响

在政府职能转换，由微观的直接管理转向宏观的间接管理的大背景下，教育评价作 为一种管理手段得到广泛应用，建立我国自己教育评价制度已势在必行，但教育评价是“舶 来物”，如何使教育评价的功能得到充分的发挥，必须考虑我国的国情，考虑传统文化对 我 国教育评价制度的影响。     

Dialogue in a distance education physics course

This study investigated the kinds of dialogues utilized by Open University students while studying an intermediate level physics course. Research objectives were twofold: to document what dialogue types, mediated through which resources, were (1) generally utilized by students as they learned; and (2) were specifically utilized by students to overcome conceptual difficulties. It was found that all students initially chose individual study characterized by intrapersonal dialogue. Only when individual study failed did students opt for interpersonal dialogue. This finding conflicts with the assumed importance often ascribed to interpersonal dialogue by some distance education theorists.     

Learning through science writing via online peer assessment in a college biology course

This study used an online peer assessment activity to help 47 college students to learn biology through writing. Each student submitted a biology writing report to an online system and then experienced three rounds of peer assessment. During the online peer assessment process, self, peer and expert evaluation scores for the writing were gathered across three rounds. It was found that self-assessment scores were not quite consistent with the expert's scores, but the peer assessment scores demonstrated adequate validity with the expert's evaluation. In particular, when the students had more rounds of peer assessment for reviewing the writing, the validity of the peer scores was enhanced. An examination of the students' writing scores, allocated by peers and expert, indicated that the students significantly improved the writing as the peer assessment activity proceeded. Content analyses of the students' writing also revealed that their writing gradually developed with significantly better coverage, richness and organization resulting from the online peer assessment activity.     

Using demonstrations as a contextual road map: Enhancing course continuity and promoting active engagement in introductory college physics

We present a series of standard demonstrations as examples of activities that can be used to introduce multiple concepts and tie different sections of the introductory physics course together. These demonstrations can serve as the context through which concepts for a section of the course can be discussed. The demonstrations are simple enough that student volunteers from the class can do them. Students are asked to predict the outcome of parts of the demonstration and participate in discussion of the demonstration as it is being presented. This interactive approach helps to promote active engagement. The first semester introductory physics course is divided into 6 sections and a demonstration is presented which is used to introduce most of the new concepts of that section. Understanding of the demonstration is used as a goal in studying the chapters during that section of the course. At the end of the section the demonstration is repeated to review the concepts learned and then to introduce some of the concepts of the new section. A new demonstration is then used to further introduce the concepts of the new section. This activity is repeated for each new section of the course. This work is part of an NSF sponsored program where we sought to change the classroom environment for women and minorities and to attempt to more actively engage all students. Through these as well as other classroom changes we attempt to raise students' confidence levels and improve attitudes about science through increased engagement. Our overall approach is to change the structure of the course by introducing a few activities at a time and not disrupt the lecture format significantly. Our project was evaluated by in-class observation of student interaction and the results were compared to observations in conventionally taught introductory physics courses. Our demonstration approach contributes to changes in classroom dynamics by stimulating student engagement and encouraging inclusivity.     

大学物理教学过程中几个问题的思考

在大学物理课教学过程中,“物理思维”、“思想政治工作”对大学生学习大学物理课的兴趣起着不可磨灭的贡献,通过四种途径可以提高大学物理课程的教学质量,从而提高学生自身素质。这四种途径分别是：（1）激发学生学习物理学的兴趣;（2）提高教师队伍的专业素质;（3）根据物理课的特点及学生特点因材施教：（4）发挥思想工作的重要作用。     

Changes in a preservice elementary teachers physics course

Conclusion Preservice elementary teachers demonstrated the ability to read and interpret distance-time graphs before instruction. Posttest results suggested the new motion curriculum materials greatly improved students’ abilities to read and interpret velocity-time graphs. Despite conducting only one activity with acceleration, students also showed improvement with acceleration-time graphs. The instruction, which included MBL activities, improved the preservice teachers’ general conceptual understanding of these kinematic topics. Future research might include a means to better measure the cause for the conceptual change. Multiple factors played a role, including positive student attitudes toward using the computers, ability to make abstract concepts measurable and describable, and opportunities for frequent experimentation. The capabilities of MBLs changed the focus of the motion curriculum. An MBL’s capacity to quickly gather data and display it opens the door for a rich variety of activities. Developing new motion curriculum was enhanced with opportunities for experimentation and exploration made possible by this technology. The revision of the curriculum was rewarding and exciting for both the instructors and students. The students learned the content, saw an appropriate use of technology, and enjoyed using the computer. The instructors enjoyed exploring the topics using MBLs and became excited with the possibilities of further usage of MBLs. Using MBLs as the powerful tool they are, motion curriculum will continue to be revised, and the instructors will explore more effective ways of structuring the lessons with ways to better teach. This material is based upon work supported in part by a grant from the National Science Foundation (Grant No. TPE-9050039). Any opinions, findings, conclusions, and/or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the National Science Foundation.