Improving Student Understanding of Physics at an Inner-City University through the use of Concept and Activity-Based Tutorials

通过使用概念和基于活动的教程提高内城大学学生对物理的理解

• 批准号: 0410068
• 负责人: Mel Sabella
• 金额: $ 5.35万
• 依托单位: Chicago State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2004
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2004-10-01 至 2007-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0410068&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Improving; Student; Understanding; Physics; Inner

The physics program at Chicago State University (CSU) is making major improvements in its classes by implementing high quality instructional materials that utilize results from Physics Education Research (PER) and stress modern pedagogy and technology. This implementation is expected to produce large gains in student understanding and greatly improve the physics program at CSU. Current conceptual activities are being supplemented with microcomputer-based activities focusing on the same ideas, particularly the University of Maryland Activity-Based Tutorials (UMD-ABTs) and the RealTime Physics Laboratories (RTP-Ls). This combination of concept and activity-based materials (CAB-Ms) will constitute a series of three-hour laboratories in which students will be engaged in "minds-on" and "hands-on" activities. In addition, the University of Illinois Tycho Web-based Homework System is being used in classes. The inclusion of these materials helps students make explicit links between the concepts and how they are applied to real situations. The main goals of this project are (1) to improve learning for all students in the introductory algebra- and calculus-based physics classes at an inner-city university in Chicago, (2) to involve undergraduate science majors in the implementation and creation of innovative teaching materials, and (3) to document the effectiveness of the implementation in promoting student learning through the use of multiple assessment instruments and disseminate these results to the community of physics teachers and education researchers both locally and nationally. Additional goals are to create a program in physics that can serve as a resource and model to the community of teachers and students on the predominantly low-income south-side of Chicago, and to foster new dialogue and to continue collaborations with colleagues testing similar materials at other institutions. The intellectual merit of the project is in the adaptation of well-established, well-tested curricula. Both PIs have experience with these materials and are in an excellent position to build upon existing efforts and improve student understanding of physics. Although the project specifically targets students in the introductory physics courses at CSU, it will have a much broader impact. Current efforts have highlighted the fact that one must be intimately aware of the strengths and weakness of the student population before providing effective instruction. Because of CSU's location on the south-side of Chicago, this work has the potential to be important in informing the community of teachers at inner-city colleges and universities throughout the country and to aid students underrepresented in STEM education. The effectiveness of the implementation will be well documented and therefore closely integrates aspects of research and education.

芝加哥州立大学（CSU）的物理课程通过采用高质量的教学材料，利用物理教育研究（PER）的结果，并强调现代教学法和技术，在课堂上取得了重大进展。这一实施有望在学生的理解方面产生巨大的收益，并大大改善科罗拉多州立大学的物理课程。目前的概念性活动正在补充以微电脑为基础的活动，侧重于同样的想法，特别是马里兰大学以活动为基础的教程（UMD-ABTs）和实时物理实验室（RTP-Ls）。这种概念和基于活动的材料（CAB-Ms）的结合将构成一系列三小时的实验室，学生将在其中进行“思考”和“实践”活动。此外，伊利诺斯大学第谷网络作业系统正在课堂上使用。这些材料的包含有助于学生在概念之间建立明确的联系，以及如何将这些概念应用于实际情况。该项目的主要目标是：(1)改善芝加哥一所市中心大学所有学生在以代数和微积分为基础的物理入门课程中的学习，(2)让本科理科专业的学生参与到创新教材的实施和创造中来。(3)通过使用多种评估工具来记录实施在促进学生学习方面的有效性，并将这些结果传播给地方和全国的物理教师和教育研究人员。另外的目标是创建一个物理项目，可以作为芝加哥南部低收入地区教师和学生社区的资源和模型，并促进新的对话，并继续与其他机构的同事合作，测试类似的材料。这个项目的智力价值在于它改编了已经建立的、经过充分测试的课程。两位pi都有使用这些材料的经验，在现有努力的基础上，他们处于一个很好的位置，可以提高学生对物理的理解。虽然这个项目专门针对科罗拉多州立大学物理入门课程的学生，但它将产生更广泛的影响。目前的努力突出了这样一个事实，即在提供有效的教学之前，必须密切了解学生群体的优缺点。由于科罗拉多州立大学位于芝加哥南侧，这项工作有可能在通知全国市中心学院和大学的教师社区以及帮助在STEM教育中代表性不足的学生方面发挥重要作用。将充分记录执行的有效性，从而将研究和教育的各个方面紧密结合起来。