Collaborative Research: Measuring Learning and Improving Teaching of the Physics of Fluids in Introductory Physics for the Life Sciences

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This project aims to serve the national interest by improving biology students' mastery of physics concepts. More than 100,000 students graduate from college each year with degrees in the biological sciences, and many of them go on to become physicians and other health professionals. Most of these biological sciences majors take an introductory physics course as part of their degree program or as a prerequisite for admission to a graduate or professional school. This course is usually the only physics course they take in college and it is often a special introductory physics class targeted to biology majors. As a result, this course provides their most significant opportunity to understand how physics constrains and enables life. Although these Introductory Physics for Life Sciences (IPLS) courses have been the target of significant national reform efforts, more improvements are needed. This project will address a specific area of need: the study of static and dynamic fluids. Fluids are essential to life and understanding fluids is essential to life science students. The need for students to understand the physics of fluids has been cited by biologists and health professionals alike. However, these topics are not always included or taught well in IPLS courses. To help physics instructors design more effective approaches to teaching fluids, this project will develop and pilot-test a Fluids Conceptual Evaluation (FCE), which will allow instructors to evaluate the effectiveness of their teaching and measure students' understanding of the concepts. While developing this assessment tool, the investigators will also develop supports to help IPLS instructors teach the physics of fluids well.The investigators will pursue two complementary lines of work in the project. First, they will develop a preliminary version of the FCE, using a process that is novel not only in the content covered but also in following psychometric methodologies, in gathering data from a diverse set of students, and in producing several forms of the conceptual evaluation. The FCE will consist entirely of two-tier test items, where the first tier consists of a multiple-choice conceptual question and the second tier consists of a multiple-choice question asking test-takers to explain the reason they chose the answer they did for the first question. Using Rasch analysis, the investigators will create several forms of the instrument that are on the same scale. These variations are intended to address the concern that conceptual evaluations do not function well as both a pre-test and a post-test, since some questions are too hard for the pre-test and others are too easy for the post-test. The availability of different forms will also address the concern that some topics are not included in different IPLS courses. In summary, the development process is designed to increase the rigor and flexibility of conceptual evaluations. Second, the investigators will conduct surveys and virtual discussions with IPLS instructors to develop insights about how they perceive the difficulty and value of teaching fluids. With that information, the investigators aim to build supports and dissemination activities to meet instructors' needs. Those resources should increase the likelihood that fluids will be included in IPLS courses, as recommended. This collaborative project involves investigators at the University of New Hampshire (Award DUE-2021273), the American Association of Physics Teachers (Award DUE-2021059), the University of New England (Award DUE-2021261), and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Award DUE-2021224). This project is funded by the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE: EHR) program, which supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.