New Models of Learning and Teaching

Edward F. Redish
University of Maryland

Talk Presented at Conference of Physics Department Chairs

Undergraduate Education in Physics:
Responding to Changing Expectations

College Park, MD
May 9-11, 1997

New Models of Learning

We are being asked to change the way we teach

What do we have to offer?

To do this...

Few currently do this

Why aren’t we achieving our goals with non-physicists?

Some general results

The card test: version 1

The card test: version 2

Implications

Student responses depend on context: Problem 1

Student responses depend on context: Problem 2

Results of Problems 1 and 2

Implications

Getting students to know the right answer is not enough: Problem 3

Results of Problem 3

Implications

Getting students to solve algorithmic problems is not enough: Problem 4

Problem 5

Results and implications

How can we evaluate a functional understanding or "mental model"?

The Force Concept Inventory (FCI)

The results on the FCI are dismal.

The Hake plot

What kind of instructional models produce better conceptual gains?

Tutorials produced significantly higher gains than recitations

How can we improve the situation?

Many new effective instructional models are being developed

RETURNS

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