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Student Expectations in University Physics: MPEX |
Here are 34 statements which may or may not describe your beliefs about this course. You are asked to rate each statement by circling a number between 1 and 5 where the numbers mean the following:
| 1: Strongly Disagree | 2: Disagree | 3: Neutral | 4: Agree | 5: Strongly Agree |
Answer the questions by circling the number that best expresses your feeling. Work quickly. Don't over-elaborate the meaning of each statement. They are meant to be taken as straightforward and simple. If you don't understand a statement, leave it blank. If you understand, but have no strong opinion, circle 3. If an item combines two statements and you disagree with either one, choose 1 or 2.
| 1 | All I need to do to understand most of the basic ideas in this course is just read the text, work most of the problems, and/or pay close attention in class. |  |
| 2 | All I learn from a derivation or proof of a formula is that the formula obtained is valid and that it is OK to use it in problems. | |
| 3 | I go over my class notes carefully to prepare for tests in this course. | |
| 4 | "Problem solving" in physics basically means matching problems with facts or equations and then substituting values to get a number. | |
| 5 | Learning physics made me change some of my ideas about how the physical world works. | |
| 6 | I spend a lot of time figuring out and understanding at least some of the derivations or proofs given either in class or in the text. | |
| 7 | I read the text in detail and work through many of the examples given there. | |
| 8 | In this course, I do not expect to understand equations in an intuitive sense; they must just be taken as givens. | |
| 9 | The best way for me to learn physics is by solving many problems rather than by carefully analyzing a few in detail. | |
| 10 | Physical laws have little relation to what I experience in the real world. | |
| 11 | A good understanding of physics is necessary for me to achieve my career goals. A good grade in this course is not enough. | |
| 12 | Knowledge in physics consists of many pieces of information each of which applies primarily to a specific situation. | |
| 13 | My grade in this course is primarily determined by how familiar I am with the material. Insight or creativity has little to do with it. | |
| 14 | Learning physics is a matter of acquiring knowledge that is specifically located in the laws, principles, and equations given in class and/or in the textbook. | |
| 15 | In doing a physics problem, if my calculation gives a result that differs significantly from what I expect, I'd have to trust the calculation. | |
| 16 | The derivations or proofs of equations in class or in the text has little to do with solving problems or with the skills I need to succeed in this course. | |
| 17 | Only very few specially qualified people are capable of really understanding physics. | |
| 18 | To understand physics, I sometimes think about my personal experiences and relate them to the topic being analyzed. | |
| 19 | The most crucial thing in solving a physics problem is finding the right equation to use. | |
| 20 | If I don't remember a particular equation needed for a problem in an exam there's nothing much I can do (legally!) to come up with it. | |
| 21 | If I came up with two different approaches to a problem and they gave different answers, I would not worry about it; I would just choose the answer that seemed most reasonable. (Assume the answer is not in the back of the book.) | |
| 22 | Physics is related to the real world and it sometimes helps to think about the connection, but it is rarely essential for what I have to do in this course. | |
| 23 | The main skill I get out of this course is learning how to solve physics problems. | |
| 24 | The results of an exam don't give me any useful guidance to improve my understanding of the course material. All the learning associated with an exam is in the studying I do before it takes place. | |
| 25 | Learning physics helps me understand situations in my everyday life. | |
| 26 | When I solve most exam or homework problems, I explicitly think about the concepts that underlie the problem. | |
| 27 | "Understanding" physics basically means being able to recall something you've read or been shown. | |
| 28 | Spending a lot of time (half an hour or more) working on a problem is a waste of time. If I don't make progress quickly, I'd be better off asking someone who knows more than I do. | |
| 29 | A significant problem in this course is being able to memorize all the information I need to know. | |
| 30 | The main skill I get out of this course is to learn how to reason logically about the physical world. | |
| 31 | I use the mistakes I make on homework and on exam problems as clues to what I need to do to understand the material better. | |
| 32 | To be able to use an equation in a problem (particularly in a problem that I haven't seen before), I need to know more than what each term in the equation represents. | |
| 33 | It is possible to pass this course (get a "C" or better) without understanding physics very well. | |
| 34 | Learning physics requires that I substantially rethink, restructure, and reorganize the information that I am given in class and/or in the text. | |
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MPEX Version 4.0, ©U. of Maryland PERG, 1997
Maintained by University of Maryland PERG
Comments and questions may be directed to
E. F. Redish
Last modified March 2, 2001