If we want to have a larger fraction of our students learn physics than is presently the case, we have to understand what distinguishes successful from unsuccessful students. Students not only bring to class their prior understanding of physics concepts, they bring assumptions about the nature of physics knowledge, what they are to learn, what skills will be required, and what they need to do to succeed. These "expectations" affect not only how students interpret class activities, but the type of understanding they build. To probe the distribution and impact of these expectations, we have created the Maryland Physics Expectations (MPEX) Survey, a set of statements with which students are asked to agree or disagree. Observations of more than 2000 students at a dozen institutions in first semester physics classes show that many students have expectation misconceptions. Furthermore, the first semester class tends to deteriorate rather than improve these expectations.

* Supported in part by NSF grant RED-9355849

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University of Maryland	Physics Department	PERG UMD	Abstract Listing