Bulletin of the American Physical Society
APS March Meeting 2014
Volume 59, Number 1
Monday–Friday, March 3–7, 2014; Denver, Colorado
Session S38: Invited Session: Assessment Issues in Physics Education |
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Sponsoring Units: FEd Chair: Eric Brewe, Florida International University Room: 709/711 |
Thursday, March 6, 2014 8:00AM - 8:36AM |
S38.00001: Foundations for Conceptualizing Assessment in Your Course Invited Speaker: Eugenia Etkina In this talk I will discuss how to think about assessment as a part of student learning experiences and of faculty professional development. Specifically, how to set the goals of the class and how to collect evidence that the students achieved the goals and how to use this evidence to change what the students and you will do later. These three seemingly simple steps, called Assessment For Learning (AFT), might dramatically change your approach to assessment and possibly to what you do in your classroom in general. I will provide examples of setting goals, developing assessment questions and altering existing instructional approaches for conceptual understanding, quantitative problem solving, and experimental abilities. [Preview Abstract] |
Thursday, March 6, 2014 8:36AM - 9:12AM |
S38.00002: Research-based assessment instruments: Design, validation and interpretation Invited Speaker: Wendy Adams This presentation describes the process for creating and validating a research-based assessment instrument that measures the effectiveness of instruction. These assessments are designed to measure how well instruction causes students to think like experts. Although, the primary goal is not to obtain a comprehensive assessment of student learning; rather it is to provide formative assessment of teaching. Specific examples of instruments for physics conceptual understanding and student perceptions of the discipline of physics will be described, including the extent and limitations of how results can be interpreted. [Preview Abstract] |
Thursday, March 6, 2014 9:12AM - 9:48AM |
S38.00003: Colorado Learning about Science Survey for Experimental Physics (E-CLASS) Invited Speaker: Heather Lewandowski In response to national calls to better align physics laboratory courses with the way physicists engage in research, we have developed an epistemology and expectations survey to assess how students perceive the nature of physics experiments in the contexts of laboratory courses and the professional research laboratory. The E-CLASS evaluates students' shifts in epistemology and affect at the beginning and end of a semester. Also, at the end of the semester, the E-CLASS assesses students' reflections on their course's expectations for earning a good grade. By basing survey statements on widely embraced learning goals and common critiques of teaching labs, the E-CLASS serves as an assessment tool for lab courses across the undergraduate curriculum and as a tool for PER research. We present the development, evidence of validation, and initial formative assessment results from a sample that includes 45 classes at 20 institutions. [Preview Abstract] |
Thursday, March 6, 2014 9:48AM - 10:24AM |
S38.00004: Using research-based assessment to improve teaching in your classroom and department: New resources on the PER User's Guide Invited Speaker: Adrian Madsen Often physics faculty want to know how their students are doing compared to other ``students like mine.'' As part of the PER User's Guide (http://perusersguide.org), we are developing a national database of research validated assessment results (like the Force Concept Inventory) and an accompanying data explorer. Here faculty can securely upload their students' anonymized assessment results and compare them to students from peer institutions, the national dataset or before and after a change in teaching method. ``One-click analysis'' allows faculty members to visualize their data and view statistics such as gain scores and statistical significance and then download a report of the results. Results can be used to improve teaching, to make a case for more resources, for accreditation reports, or for promotion and tenure. Additionally, we are developing guides to these research validated assessments including background, guidelines for administration, and access to the test itself. We will showcase our new online system and provide information about how you can use it. [Preview Abstract] |
Thursday, March 6, 2014 10:24AM - 11:00AM |
S38.00005: TBA Invited Speaker: Melissa Dancy |
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