An
excerpt from a draft of Hestenes D., Megowan-Romanowicz, C, Osborn Popp, S.,
Jackson, J., & Culbertson, R. (2011). A graduate program for high school
physics and physical science teachers. Am. J. Phys. 79 (9), p.971-979. http://modeling.asu.edu/R&E/Research.html
Student achievement of Master of Natural
Science degree program teachers.
Research
has shown that students taught with interactive engagement instructional
methods have higher pretest-posttest gains on the Force Concept Inventory (FCI)
than students taught with traditional instruction. For example, Hake found an
average normalized gain of 0.25 for students receiving traditional instruction
and an average gain of 0.48 for students receiving instruction using
interactive engagement methods.
Thirty-two MNS degree program teachers
provided student FCI pretest and posttest data during their first academic year
after taking the Modeling Workshop in mechanics. Of the 32 teachers, 40% had
degrees in physics or physics education, and half had taught physics for two
years or fewer. Sample
sizes for these teachers ranged from eight to 124, with most between 20 and 40
students. The pretest and posttest mean FCI scores for 1117 students were 7.58 (Å 25%; SD = 1.15) and 15.68 (Å 52%; SD = 3.46) points, respectively. Normalized
gains (calculated at the
class level, with matched pretest and posttest student data) ranged from
0.15 to 0.76, with over
80% of pretest-posttest gains exceeding 0.25, the average gain found for
courses taught traditionally, and over 30% of pretest-posttest gains exceeding
0.48, the average gain found for courses utilizing interactive engagement
methods. The average normalized gain was 0.36 (weighted by the number of
students per class).
Figure
5 [next page] provides pretest and posttest scores for students of these 32 MNS
degree program teachers, ordered by pretest percentage mean. The six teachers
with the lowest student mean posttest scores are crossover teachers; and those
who submitted student data in subsequent years showed improvement. Results are
consistent with findings from a previous study on
student achievement and gains observed in students of the greater population of
teachers attending MNS courses but not pursuing the degree.
Relevant
references:
Hake, R (1998). Interactive-engagement
vs. traditional methods: A six thousand-student survey of mechanics test data
for introductory physics courses. Am. J. Phys. 66, p.64-74.
Hestenes, D. and Jackson, J. (2006). ÒNSF
report: Findings of the ASU Summer Graduate Program for Physics Teachers
(2002-2006).Ó National Science Foundation, Arlington, VA, http://modeling.asu.edu/R&E/Findings-ASUgradPrg0206.pdf.
See also the reports of MNS program independent evaluators Frances Lawrenz,
Eugene Judson, and Rose Shaw at http://modeling.asu.edu/Evaluations/Evaluations.html
Halloun, I., Hake, R., Mosca, E., and
Hestenes, D. Force Concept
Inventory (revised 1995).
http://modeling.asu.edu/R&E/Research.html
in 25 languages.
Hestenes, D., Wells, M., and Swackhamer,
G. (1992). Force Concept Inventory, The Physics Teacher 30, p.141-158. http://modeling.asu.edu/R&E/Research.html
FIG.
5. Pretest and posttest student
FCI percentages by Master of Natural Science degree program teachers.
[Comments: The
highest normalized gain on the graph is 0.76: this is outstanding! Normalized
gain = actual gain/possible gain. Student post-test mean FCI scores typically
continue to increase (improve) for three or four years after a 3-week Modeling
Workshop. Modeling Instruction meets the standard for moderate evidence
established by the What Works Clearinghouse of the U.S. Department of Education.
The effect size is large: 0.9 for more than 1600 students in regular first-year
physics courses in public high schools. In comparison to traditional
instruction, under expert Modeling Instruction high school students average
more than two standard deviations higher on the FCI. See documents at http://modeling.asu.edu/R&E/Research.html
, or contact jane.jackson@asu.edu. December 2014]