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The Science Education Initiative
at the University of Colorado
SEI PHYSICS FACULTY UPDATE
What resources are available?
Where can I find them?
What should we do next?
The Science Education Initiative
at the University of Colorado
•  5-­‐year, $5M (Chancellor) •  catalyze and support improvements in science educa3on •  Physics, MCDB, IPHY, APS, EBio, GeoSci, Chem Carl Wieman (founding director) Kathy Perkins (current director) Currently in the final year of funding. What has been done? •  SEI Proposal in ’07 (+ 3 more NSF grants) •  Structure (working groups, 7 postdocs, and PER) Our approach to course transforma3on Using Research
& Assessment
Establish
learning goals
Faculty & Staff Apply research-based
teaching techniques &
measure progress
What should students learn? Learning goals & student difficul2es Explicit learning goals “What do we want students to be able to do by
the end of the course?”!
•  Broad interdepartmental collaboration:"
"
•  Directs course transformations and assessments."
•  Beneficial for instructors and students."
Topic-­‐specific examples Students should be able to: …calculate and sketch the direcQon of the dipole moment of a given charge distribuQon. …outline the general steps necessary for solving a problem using separaQon of variables. Broader learning goals #5 – Problem-­‐solving techniques Students should be able to: …choose and apply the problem-­‐solving technique that is appropriate to a parQcular problem. …jusQfy their approach for solving a parQcular problem. Student difficul3es (from the CUE) •  Do not solve, but give “the easiest method you
would use to solve the problem” & “why you chose
that method”."
ρ(r) = ρ 0e
−r 2 / a 2
33% of students did not recognize Gauss’ law
as the easiest way to solve. (N=325)
24% of students incorrectly chose
Gauss’ law as the easiest way to
solve. (N=325)
How to improve learning? Instruc2onal Approaches Upper-­‐division courses •  Materials for instrucQon and evaluaQon –  Clicker QuesQons –  Tutorial-­‐style AcQviQes –  Homework and Exam quesQons –  End-­‐of-­‐course assessments Sample Clicker Ques3on (Class. Mech. 1) The position of a moving particle is given by
r(t) = bcos ωt xˆ + bsin ωt yˆ
Describe this orbit:
A)  circular, uniform motion
B)  circular, non-uniform motion
C)  helical
D)  elliptical
E)  Other!!
Bonus q: Is it moving CW or CCW?
34
ˆ, all at this one time.
and
also
showing
the
unit
vectors
î,
ĵ,
r̂,
and
CARTESIAN: I tell you x(t) and y(t).
POLAR: I tell you r(t) and (t). (Here r(t) = |~r(t)|, it’s the “distance to the origin”)
Sample Tutorial (Class. Mech. 1) (a)
Draw a picture
showing AND
the location
of the point at
arbitrary
time, labeling x, y, r,
TUTORIAL:
VELOCITY
ACCELERATION
INsome
POLAR
COORDINATES
and also showing the unit vectors î, ĵ, r̂, and ˆ, all at this one time.
Part 1 – Getting Oriented
A particle moves in the plane. We could describe its motion in two di↵erent ways:
CARTESIAN: I tell you x(t) and y(t).
(b)
UsingIthis
formula
r̂(t) it’s
in terms
of the Cartesian
unit vectors
POLAR:
tell picture,
you r(t)determine
and (t). the
(Here
r(t) =for
|~r(t)|,
the “distance
to the origin”)
(x̂ & ŷ). Your answer should contain (t).
(a) Draw a picture showing the location of the point at some arbitrary time, labeling x, y, r,
and also showing the unit vectors î, ĵ, r̂, and ˆ, all at this one time.
(b) Using this picture, determine the formula for r̂(t) in terms of the Cartesian unit vectors
(x̂ & ŷ). Your answer should contain (t).
(c) Write down the analogous expression for ˆ(t).
(c) Write down the analogous expression for ˆ(t).
(d) I claim the position vector in Cartesian coordinates is ~r(t) = x(t)î + y(t)ĵ. Do you agree?
Is
consistent
with your
picture
(b)this
Using
this picture,
determine
theabove?
formula for r̂(t) in terms of the Cartesian unit vectors
Upper-­‐division courses •  Materials for instrucQon and evaluaQon –  Clicker QuesQons –  Tutorial-­‐style AcQviQes –  Homework and Exam quesQons –  End-­‐of-­‐course assessments •  Resources for instructors –  User’s guides –  DocumentaQon of observed student difficulQes –  One-­‐on-­‐one support from post-­‐docs Where can I get these materials? •  Modern Physics (2130) •  Classical Mechanics I (2210) •  ElectrostaQcs (3310) •  Electrodynamics (3320) •  Quantum I (3220) •  Advanced Lab (3340, 4430, 5430) All materials available at: www.colorado.edu/sei/physics/ What are students learning? Research & Assessment Data sources •  Classroom observaQons & student work •  Student interviews •  Aetude surveys •  TradiQonal exams •  End-­‐of-­‐course conceptual assessments Research validated course assessments •  E&M 1: Colorado Upper-­‐Division Electrosta2cs Assessment (CUE) •  E&M 2: Colorado UppeR-­‐division ElectrodyNamics Test (CURrENT) •  Classical Mechanics: Colorado Classical Mech./Math Methods Instrument (CCMI) •  Quantum Mechanics: Quantum Mechanics Assessment Tool (QMAT) •  Advanced Lab: Colorado Learning AFtudes about Science Survey for Experimental Physics (E-­‐CLASS) Used at universi2es around the country Sample outcomes (E&M1 CUE scores) Order of courses listed is randomized 90 80 Post-­‐Test Average (across courses) CUE Score (%) 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Standard Lecture-­‐Based Courses Transformed Courses SEI Future direc3ons: A perfect storm Lots of postdocs for one more year: E&M, Class. Mech./Math Methods, QM, Adv. Lab Revisi:ng the desired outcomes of a physics major? Coordina:ng across the major? Emphasizing scien:fic prac:ces? SEI Future direc3ons: Baby Steps •  Development of math skills •  IntegraQng analyQcs and computaQonal modeling •  Open-­‐ended problem solving: •  Oral/wriken communicaQon skills in all courses Do you have ques3ons/thoughts about… …what is available? …where can you can find it? …what we should we do next? …anything else? www.colorado.edu/sei/physics/