Lines of Force: Faraday's and Students' Views

In this work we analyzed how electric and magnetic lines of force were conceived byFaraday and how they are understood by a group of Argentine university studentsafter receiving instruction. Our results show that many students possess ideas similarto those of Faraday in that lines of force are conceived as real physical entities responsible for the transmission of the electric action. These results are in accordance with the interpretation of physical entities as ``matter-based' suggested by Chi et al. (1994). It is suggested that emphasis on the geometrical character of these lines seems imperative in basic electromagnetism classes in order to avoid this kind of confusion.     

Process Evaluation of a Career Course: A Replication and Extension

A process evaluation of a three-credit, upper division career course at a southeastern university is described. Student responses to a standardized course rating instrument were analyzed. Anonymous course evaluations of 293 students enrolled in 11 sections of the career course were compared to student ratings of one section of the course 5 years earlier, and normative data taken from summary reports provided by the university. Results indicated that student perceptions of the course are consistent over time, and more positive in classes meeting multiple times per week. The course was rated higher in course demands, student-instructor involvement, and course organization than other courses. The career course was rated lower in student interest than other courses. Implications of the findings and directions for future research are discussed. Course designers and instructors might benefit from using the information gleaned from this study in structuring career courses and in planning course schedules.     

The faces of dignity: Rethinking the politics of homelessness and poverty in America

The conditions of homelessness and poverty in America are being criminalized and pathologized such that people who are poor or homeless are marginalized and paternalized to the point of corrupting the possibility of human dignity. In a radical revision of accepted charity models for dealing with homelessness, a group of homeless people have established their own tent community based in the concepts of democracy, community, and care. At Dignity Village, human compassion and self-governance are guiding homeless people into better lives. These street people have recognized and directly address their responsibilities to develop and practice a liberating pedagogy. In partnership with the author in a project at Washington State University, Vancouver, Village residents are involved in learning about technology and are engaged in other literacy efforts, while also playing an active role as teacher educators, providing a curriculum for understanding the living situations of students who are poor or homeless.     

Using propositions from clinical interviews as variables to compare student knowledge

During the past several years interest in using clinical interviews to assess students conceptual knowledge has increased. However, using clinical interviews when research questions require quantitative comparisons has been difficult. The central difficulty is to construct variables that can be used to quantify and statistically compare the results of interviews while maintaining exactly what student conceptions are associated with each variable. The purpose of this article is to present a technique for constructing variables that overcomes this difficulty. The technique involves the representation of each proposition a student uses in terms of a standard set of underlying predicates, concepts, and relationships among concepts. Each proposition represented in these standard terms can be used as a variable to quantitatively compare the knowledge of students as expressed in clinical interviews.