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Rationale Lecture generally has negative connotations, conjuring up images of students zoned out or sleeping in a large lecture hall as the instructor drones on. Understanding and retention are typically low. Instructors have little or no idea how much the students are comprehending. It doesn't have to be that way. The wireless tablet PCs allow us to engage the students by making the lecture environment more interactive and holding the students instantly accountable for their learning. The technology also lets the instructor know, almost instantaneously, if the students comprehend the material, allowing the instructor to redirect or review the material as needed. Coming in ,students are generally terrified of physics, but not of technology. The tablet PCs have taken away some of the student fear.
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Implementation (pedagogy) Physics 1150 is a typical conceptual level course, with traditional lecture and lab. While the value of lab is without question, lecture is often questioned. Lecture can be an effective teaching tool if it's done right. This project has the instructors working in that direction by making the lecture a two-way street. Student interaction not only gets the students involved, but provides valuable feedback to the instructor as to the level of understanding that is occurring.
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Implementation (technology) Before the tablet PCs, lecture, which comprised a significant portion of the course, was pretty static: the instructor talked and the students listened. Students are now using the tablet PCs in a variety of ways making the once static lecture dynamic. Students now interact during the lecture. The main use is to respond to interactive PowerPoint questions through a software product called Turning Point and vPad. The student answers are compiled and available for immediate viewing. This allows the instructor to know immediately if a concept is understood by the students. Students are also working out problem examples on the tablet PCs. Through a software program called NetOp School, the instructor can "see" every students computer screen from one location and can send students notes, commandeer their screens and broadcast a student screen to the class for discussion and viewing. Finally, students are interacting with "physlets", small java applets that illustrate a variety of concepts that cannot be duplicated in the classroom.
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Impact on Teaching This project has made the instructors more quickly aware of whether or not the students are learning the material. We no longer are waiting until problems show up on homework or tests. Instead, we know almost immediately if the students are comprehending the material and can make adjustments to our lectures accordingly. Students are more engaged in the lectures and are more interested, especially with the addition of physics Java applets (known as physlets). These quick and simple simulations give students another method to see the physics concepts in action.
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Impact on Student Learning The two methods used to indicate student advancement are surveys and test scores. Surveys have given to students at the beginning and end of each quarter before and after the implementation of the model course. Topics on the survey included science and math background, comfort level, opinion of effectiveness of lecture, opinion of effectiveness of real-world application, willingness to ask questions, usefulness of class, confidence in ability to be successful, and teacher responsiveness to lack of understanding. The rating scale is be 1-5 with 1 being the lowest and 5 the highest. The scores in virtually all of these areas has gone up an average of 1.4 points. The second major method is looking at average test scores. Prior to implementation of the new course, the PI gathered data on at least four quarters using the same test and current methods of instruction. Records of individual and class performance have been maintained throughout the project to assess student gains. After project implementation, the PI saw an overall increase iof 6% in the test scores. That signifies a dramatic increase in student comprehension. The final impact was somewhat unexpected. Before this project was implemented, students would generally take nearly 5 weeks (1/2 the quarter) before they felt confident in their ability to succeed in physics, severly hindering their chances to succeed. After implementation, this time was cut significantly and students within the first or second week seemed confident. We are currently collecting date to support this very exciting development. Early results are showing that students are losing their fear of physics sooner and where there is confidence, there is a much greater chance of student success.
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Students actively engaged in lecture via tablet PC's (students: Kyle Arnold, Ben Hrabik, Jeremy Landon)
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Michelle Strand believes that, "all students can learn physics, because it's all about understanding how the world works." Say the word PHYSICS and most people run scared. But from learning how to walk, throwing a football, riding a bike, or driving a car, we are using the basic principles of physics. Students don't initially know the terms or the math to solve problems, but they do have a basic understanding of physics. It is my job to show them that. The tablet PCs have allowed us to integrate the students into the lectures. It gives the instructors valuable real-time data on how well the students are or are not grasping the concepts and allows us to adjust the lecture accordingly. We are also able to show the students more real-world example of the physics concepts, further reinforcing the information and showing them evidence of the importance of physics knowledge in their chosen occupations.
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Quick Facts Dept: General Education Courses Impacted: Physics 1150 (Descriptive Physics) # Students Impacted: averaging 60/quarter # Faculty Involved: 2 This project is funded in part by an HP Technology for Teaching grant.
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References & Publications Response software (Turning Point and vPad): www.turningtechnologies.com Applets & Simulations: http://phet.colorado.edu
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