Figure 5 - uploaded by Teresa L. Larkin
Content may be subject to copyright.
Source publication
!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE This paper provides an overview of the evolution of an introductory physics course for non-majors entitled Physics for a New Millennium (PNM) at American University. Following a brief summary of the research and pedagogical framework for the course design, a summary of the course cur...
Context in source publication
Citations
... The use of writing-based approaches might seem formidable for an instructor whose subject matter might appear to better lend itself to more traditional problem-based exams and quizzes. However, the use of various writing-based and writing-to-learn-type approaches can be effective assessment vehicles and they can play an important role in increasing student interest and motivation as well as enhancing conceptual understanding [11][12][13][14][15][16][17] . This enhanced interest and motivation, in turn, may serve as a catalyst to improve and enhance student understanding 18 . ...
... However, the significance of a writing-based approach has been widely documented to show that it can enhance student interest and motivation to learn. This enhanced interest and motivation often, in turn, translate into increased student understanding 31 . It is hoped that the examples, illustrations, and time-saving grading techniques, such as the use of an electronic grading format and strict limitations on word length, will provide additional incentive and motivation to other instructors who may be considering adapting a writing-based approach in their own classrooms. ...
Most of us who teach within the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) curricular areas expect to have teaching assignments that directly align with these disciplines. A teaching assignment in a curricular area outside of STEM is much less common. One focus of this paper is to describe a course that is taught by our physics faculty entitled Changing Views of the Universe. Changing Views is a course that is part of our general education core of courses in a curricular area entitled Traditions that Shape the Western World. Courses taught within this curricular area are typically taught by such departments as anthropology, art history, communication, government, history, and philosophy. Students who enroll in this course are non-science majors who are looking to fulfill their general education requirements towards graduation in this particular content area. Because the course is filled with non-science majors, the often technical course content must be presented in a non-mathematical way. Since the course content includes just about everything from the Big Bang to our present-day understanding of the cosmos, teaching these topics without much mathematics presents many unique challenges. A brief overview of the curriculum developed for the Changing Views course will be provided. Particular attention will be placed on some of the unique ways a writing-based approach has been implemented with the ultimate goal of enhancing of student learning. Emphasis here will be placed on a short paper activity designed to elicit student understanding of key topics addressed in class. In addition, strategies such as rubric development and time-saving grading techniques related to the use of these writing-based approaches will be shared.
Over the past year, the global pandemic caused by Covid-19 challenged educators from around the world to almost instantaneously become experts in online teaching and learning. While these challenges were often intense, frustrating, and very time-consuming, faculty from institutions of higher learning stepped up to the plate. As all courses ranging from A-Z across all levels of undergraduate and graduate studies went online and faculty scrambled to revise syllabi and reframe learning outcomes, many lessons were learned. As we prepare to potentially resume face-to-face teaching very soon, it may be prudent to pause and ask ourselves the following question: What has worked or is working in the online teaching and learning environment? The primary goal of this paper is to shed some light on the lessons that we learned – both the good and the bad. A secondary goal is to take the positive experiences and reshape them into longer-term teaching takeaways.
This paper provides an overview of a team-based approach to learning physics in a second-level course for non-majors entitled Light, Sound, Action (LSA) taught at XX University. Designed using a workshop format, LSA provides students numerous opportunities to learn physics using a number of interactive engagement strategies. These interactive engagement strategies provide the backbone for the structure of the course. Using a carefully crafted set of collaborative activities, students in LSA engage in a wide range of experiences in a team setting. Within these collaborative activities are strategies aimed at enhancing communication and building community within the classroom. Perceptions about the team-based collaborative activities in LSA will be presented based on the responses to a short survey sent to students who have taken the course in the past three years. One emergent theme based on these results is that the community-building, team-based activities used in LSA can serve to transcend the classroom experience and carry over into other domains.
The importance of effective communication, both written and oral, has been widely documented within the STEM community. In fact, the ability to communicate effectively is a skillset that is often required by employers. Often-times it is challenging to make the transition from academia to the work place. The ability to communicate well is a critical element of this transition. This paper will describe a more authentic experience using a professional conference format that provides students an opportunity to sharpen both their written and oral communication skills. The professional conference paper activity has been utilized in a second-level physics course at American University for 15 years. The conference paper activity allows students to experience all aspects of a professional conference, which is something that they do not get in other courses. This paper will describe the conference paper activity and focus on the use of a rubric that has recently been implemented in order to assist students during multiple phases of the writing process. Through the conference paper, students must communicate about a technical topic in physics while simultaneously connecting that topic to their major field of study. Numerous steps are involved in the paper writing process and each one is designed to emulate an actual conference. The conference paper activity and the associated rubric discussed in this paper offer a unique opportunity for multiple points of feedback, both from the instructor and from their classmates, while the writing process is taking place. Too often in academia a writing activity is designed in such a way that students merely submit their final written papers for a grade. Once a final paper is submitted, there is no opportunity for feedback that will aid in the actual development and writing of the paper. A more traditional paper writing experience does not provide opportunities for formative feedback prior to submission of the final paper. Hence, students do not have the necessary opportunities to really think about and reflect on what they are writing. This paper will address the importance of providing this more formative feedback using a unique rubric designed to assist students while the writing is actually taking place. A summary of students' perceptions of this process will also be provided.
In the global STEM professional arena, the ability to communicate, both orally and in writing, is a skillset demanded by employers. Unfortunately, typical academic exercises that involve written and oral communication are often just that … academic exercises. To provide a more authentic and robust experience, a student conference activity has been developed for use in a second-level physics course entitled Physics for a New Millennium (PNM) at American University (AU). This conference paper activity involves writing a formal research paper using professional guidelines. Students then present their papers at a class conference held at the end of the semester. The primary focus of the research paper is to allow students to synthesize a subset of the physics topics that are being studied in class. The secondary focus of the research paper is to make a solid connection between physics and its connection to the overall paper topic. For example, in an earlier semester, one student, with a major in sociology and a minor in applied physics, wrote a paper on the physics associated with the cochlear implant and its impact on the deaf community. A topic such as this allows students the opportunity to connect the physics being studied in class to something that directly relates to their major course of study. Being able to make this type of connection is invaluable to the students and provides the instructor with a unique opportunity to assess their understanding.
The research paper and conference presentation take the place of a traditional final exam. Unlike a traditional final exam, the research paper activity provides for multiple points of assessment of student learning. A traditional final exam merely provides a data point regarding student learning after the learning has actually taken place. In fact, most exams do not provide students with an opportunity to correct flaws in their reasoning and make adjustments to their current understanding. The non-traditional research paper activity, however, provides for multiple opportunities to correct one’s understanding of key physics concepts and to utilize this adjusted understanding in the next phase of the paper-writing process. To illustrate, students must submit an abstract, as well as a first, second, and final draft of their papers. At each juncture, a carefully crafted rubric is utilized to better capture student learning. This paper will focus on one such evaluative rubric and provide discussion regarding how it was utilized in terms of assessing students’ understanding of key physics topics.
In the global marketplace, the ability to com-municate, both orally and in writing, is a skillset demanded by employers. Unfortunately, typical academic exercises that involve written and oral communication are often just that … academic exercises. To provide a more authentic and robust experience, a student conference activity has been developed for use in a second-level physics course entitled Physics for a New Millennium (PNM) at American Universi-ty (AU). This activity involves writing a formal research paper using professional guidelines. In addition, students present their research paper during a class event modeled after an actual professional conference. A focus of this paper is to discuss the assessment strategies developed for the con-ference paper activity. A major goal of the assessment strat-egies designed for the conference paper and the associated presentation is to better capture (and then assess) what stu-dents are actually learning in the course. This paper will provide an overview of the student conference paper activity with emphasis on its value as an alternative assessment tool. To that end, a synopsis of how the conference paper activity has been designed will be shared. This synopsis will begin with a general discussion of assessment, assessment meth-ods, and the "language of assessment." Following this syn-opsis a model of non-traditional assessment using the stu-dent conference paper will be highlighted. Subsequently a description of the course curriculum and the specific struc-ture for the writing activity will be outlined as they relate to the learning outcomes for the course. Shadowing the presen-tation of the course-specific learning outcomes, a description of the strategies used to uncover student learning will be shared. These strategies provide an opportunity for multiple assessment "snapshots" to be made throughout various phases of the learning process. To illustrate these snapshots, examples from actual student work will be presented and discussed. The assessment strategies developed for the stu-dent conference paper can be used as an alternative, or as a supplement, to more traditional pencil and paper examina-tions, quizzes, and homework assignments. Whether used as a stand-alone assessment tool or coupled with more tradi-tional measures, the model presented here can provide an enhanced and more authentic way to capture what students are actually learning while the learning is taking place.
