Collaborative Research: Assessing Undergraduate Student Learning in Upper-Level Courses in Thermal and Statistical Physics

University Of Colorado At Boulder, Boulder CO

Investigators

Abstract

This project aims to serve the national interest by improving undergraduate physics education. Thermal and statistical physics is a core component of the undergraduate physics major and includes the study of fluids, heat flow, energy transfer, and the connection between atomic-level interactions and macroscopic behavior. These topics are central not only to physics, but also to chemistry, biology, and engineering. Ensuring that physics majors and other students who take thermal and statistical physics understand this subject area is important for producing graduates who can meet the expectations of employers for the STEM workforce. Because of the broad importance of thermal and statistical physics across STEM fields, it is crucial to understand the effectiveness of courses targeting this content area. However, no standardized tool exists to measure student learning in upper-level courses in thermal and statistical physics. To address this gap, the investigators intend to develop and pilot-test an assessment tool that will measure students’ knowledge as well as their ability to "do" physics. It will help instructors identify effective teaching approaches by comparing student learning across courses, instructional strategies, institutions, and student populations. This assessment tool should have long-term impact on the quality of physics students' education as well as their preparedness to enter the STEM workforce. The Thermal and Statistical Physics Assessment (TaSPA) will include items targeting both students' conceptual understanding and their ability to engage in scientific practices (e.g., modeling). To accommodate both the variation in content coverage in different thermal physics courses and the importance of assessing practices, the TaSPA will feature a flexible format in which instructors will be able to select a subset of items that best aligns with the specific learning goals of their course. Development of the TaSPA will be guided by: 1) Evidence-Centered Design, which has been highlighted as an approach to developing assessments that include scientific practices and core ideas; and 2) Item Response Theory, which has historically been used to develop assessments with this type of flexible content coverage. Use of Item Response Theory will also allow explicit attention to assessment tasks that perform differently for different subpopulations, a possibility that is particularly important for identifying and reducing the potential for bias in the TaSPA. Detailed documentation and dissemination of the development process will allow other educators to replicate the process in the development of future assessments for other content areas. This collaborative project involves investigators at the University of Colorado at Boulder (Award DUE-2013332) and Kansas State University (Award DUE-2013339). The 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.