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UMD PERG Papers & Talks: Abstracts |
Maintained by
University of Maryland PERG
Analyzing student discourse from an epistemological perspective -- what can we learn?
Laura Lising and Andy Elby
Contributed talk presented at
AAPT National Meeting
Rochester, 7/22/01
Studies of students’ epistemologies and expectations in the
context of introductory physics courses have shown that even in
research-based courses where conceptual understanding is successfully
fostered, students’ epistemologies and expectations can remain at
low levels or deteriorate. In the University of Maryland’s
algebra-based introductory physics course, student discourse data are
obtained by videotaping laboratory and tutorial sessions. (The tutorials
are University of Washington tutorials or modified versions of these.)
We analyze the students’ discourse in these small group
interactions from an epistemological perspective, identifying when and
why certain epistemological resources (Hammer and Elby, in press) are
activated and what happens. This type of analysis also provides insight
into curricular design and the student’s conceptual learning and
understanding.
Bringing Epistemological Considerations to Interactive Lecture Demonstrations
Laura Lising
Invited talk presented at AAPT National Meeting,
Philadelphia, January 22, 2002
In previous work, we have described epistemologically focused instruction
designed for small (e.g., high school size) classes.1 For the Learning
How to Learn Science Project, we are asking, How can we scale up some of
these curricular elements and teaching strategies to large lectures? This
talk discusses how we modified some Interactive Lecture Demonstrations (ILD)2 in order to make learning about learning, along with learning
about physics, a central focus. Choosing one ILD, we present (1) the
rationale behind our modifications, (2) the updated ILD itself, (3) a
videotape of the ILD in action, and (4) evidence pertaining to the
ILD’s effectiveness at fostering epistemological change. Because
our modified ILDs are fine-tuned to the constraints and goals of one
particular course, they might not be appropriate elsewhere. The point of
this talk is to spark brainstorming and discussion about how instructors
teaching lectures can bring an epistemological focus to their courses.
Research on student learning in physics: Why is it needed and what can it tell us?
Laura Lising
Colloquium given at McMaster University
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
April 2002
Research on student learning in introductory physics courses has shown
clearly that, while many students are able to solve textbook-style
problems sufficiently, most lack the deeper understanding of the concepts that
underlie the problems. In addition, students come into most
introductory courses with expectations of science as incoherent and unconnected to
their everday experience, and find that the courses reinforce and even
strengthen these ideas. The field of physics education research has been growing
rapidly over the last decade, responding to these and other challenges
with research on conceptual difficulties, the nature of student learning in
physics, the learning implications of beliefs and attitudes about
scientific knowledge and learning, and the effect of minor and major curricular
revisions. An introduction to these topics will be presented, with some
specifics of the author's work on how beliefs and attitudes affect
learning in both college and K-8 learners.
Com8ments and questions may be directed to
E. F. Redish
Last modified 7 November 2001