Collaborative Research: Measuring and Improving Physics Quantitative Literacy throughout the Undergraduate Curriculum

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This project aims to serve the national interest by developing tools to assess and characterize students’ mathematical reasoning skills in physics across a diverse student population. Introductory physics is required for many STEM majors, in large part, because it can help develop mathematical reasoning skills so that students can succeed in their degree program. New instructional materials and methods are needed that can help students learn these essential skills. This study plans to assess the development of these skills in physics majors as they complete middle- and upper-division physics courses. A new assessment instrument will be developed and validated to allow instructors and researchers to measure mathematical reasoning skills across geographically and socioeconomically diverse populations. Results from these assessments will be used to design, develop, and test interventions to improve these skills. Project results will be presented at national conferences and published in peer-reviewed journals in STEM education. The assessment instruments will be made available to the STEM education community through online repositories. The project addresses a national need to improve students’ mathematical reasoning skills so that they can describe and understand the world from a quantitative perspective.This project builds on the recent development of the Physics Inventory of Quantitative Literacy (PIQL) to meet the need for a formative assessment of students’ mathematical reasoning in physics, referred to as Physics Quantitative Literacy (PQL). The PIQL was validated with calculus-based introductory physics students at a large public research university. This project will map the development of PQL throughout the undergraduate physics major by collecting PIQL data in introductory and advanced undergraduate courses. The project will develop and validate a new test, based on the PIQL, that is appropriate for populations with less exposure to formal mathematics courses. This new test will be used to measure PQL in the breadth of physics courses taken by many STEM majors, across multiple institutions. Evidence for the validity and reliability of this new test will be established through an iterative cycle of quantitative and qualitative analyses, based on the successful procedures established while validating the PIQL. Ultimately, this project will develop and pilot instructional activities to improve students’ PQL as an outcome. The effectiveness of these materials will be assessed using either the PIQL or the newly developed test. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program 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.