assessment Recommendations

30 Recommendations are tagged with "assessment"

How are research-based assessment instruments developed and validated?

April 10, 2021 by Adrian Madsen, Sarah B. McKagan and Eleanor C. Sayre

This article discusses the process of developing and validating research-based assessment instruments in the physics and astronomy education research community.

assessment,  concept inventories


Which mechanics research-based assessment should I use in my class?

April 10, 2021 by Adrian Madsen, Sarah B. McKagan, Eleanor C. Sayre

This article discusses and compares 11 research-based assessments in kinematics and forces, energy, rotation and density to help instructors choose one to use in their introductory course. It also discusses one assessment for intermediate mechanics.

assessment,  concept inventories,  mechanics,  kinematics,  energy,  rotation,  density


Which electricity and magnetism research-based assessment should I use in my class?

April 10, 2021 by Adrian Madsen, Sarah B. McKagan, Eleanor C. Sayre

This article discusses and compares 9 research-based assessments in electricity, magnetism and circuits to help instructors choose one to use in their introductory course. It also discusses 3 electricity and magnetism for upper-level courses.

assessment,  concept inventories,  electricity and magnetism,  circuits,  electrodynamics


Which quantum mechanics or modern physics research-based assessment should I use in my class?

April 10, 2021 by Adrian Madsen, Sarah B. McKagan and Eleanor C. Sayre

This article discusses and compares 3 intermediate quantum mechanics research-based assessments, 5 upper-level quantum mechanics assessments and one relativity assessment to help instructors choose one to use in their course.

concept inventories,  assessment,  quantum mechanics,  modern physics


Which thermodynamics research-based assessment should I use in my class?

April 10, 2021 by Adrian Madsen, Sarah B. McKagan and Eleanor C. Sayre

This article discusses and compares 4 research-based assessments on thermodynamics help instructors choose one to use in their course.

concept inventories,  assessment,  thermodynamics


Which optics and waves research-based assessment should I use in my class?

April 10, 2021 by Adrian Madsen, Sarah B. McKagan and Eleanor C. Sayre

This article discusses and compares 5 research-based assessments on optics and waves: 4 for introductory courses and 1 for an upper-level course.

concept inventories,  assessment,  optics,  waves


Which astronomy research-based assessment should I use in my class?

April 10, 2021 by Adrian Madsen, Sarah B. McKagan and Eleanor C. Sayre

This article discusses and compares 8 research-based assessments in astronomy to help instructors choose one to use in their introductory course.

assessment,  concept inventories,  astronomy


Which mathematics research-based assessment should I use in my physics class?

April 10, 2021 by Adrian Madsen, Sarah B. McKagan, Eleanor C. Sayre, and Cassandra A. Paul

This article discusses and compares 6 research-based assessments in mathematics to use in your physics class to assess students' level of math readiness for a given physics class, or to assess students' understanding of math topics that are covered in physics classes.

concept inventories,  assessment,  mathematics,  vectors


Which beliefs and attitudes research-based assessment should I use in my class?

April 10, 2021 by Adrian Madsen, Sarah B. McKagan, Eleanor C. Sayre, and Cassandra A. Paul

This article discusses and compares 9 research-based assessments about students' beliefs and attitudes, 2 assessments about the nature of science and 3 assessments about self-efficacy in physics.

assessment,  concept inventories,  beliefs and attitudes,  nature of science,  self-efficacy


Which problem-solving research-based assessment should I use in my class?

April 10, 2021 by Adrian Madsen, Sarah B. McKagan, Eleanor C. Sayre, and Cassandra A. Paul

This article discusses and compares 3 research-based assessments on problem-solving to help you choose one to use in your course.

concept inventories,  assessment,  problem-solving


Which scientific reasoning research-based assessment should I use in my class?

April 10, 2021 by Adrian Madsen, Sarah B. McKagan, Eleanor C. Sayre, and Cassandra A. Paul

This article discusses and compares 2 research-based assessments on scientific reasoning to help you choose one to use in your course.

assessment,  concept inventories,  scientific reasoning


Which laboratory skills research-based assessment should I use in my class?

April 10, 2021 by Adrian Madsen, Sarah B. McKagan, Eleanor C. Sayre, and Cassandra A. Paul

This article discusses and compares 4 research-based assessments on lab skills to help you choose one to use in your course.

concept inventories,  research-based assessment,  lab skills


Best Practices for Administering Attitudes and Beliefs Surveys in Physics

June 13, 2019 by Adrian Madsen, Sam McKagan, Ellie Sayre; PhysPort director, assistant director, and research director

Physics education researchers have created several surveys to assess one important aspect of thinking like a physicist: what students believe that learning physics is all about. In this article, we introduce attitudes and beliefs surveys and give advice on how to choose, administer, and score them in your classes.

assessment,  beliefs,  best practices


Best Practices for Administering Concept Inventories

May 28, 2019 by Adrian Madsen, Sam McKagan, Ellie Sayre; PhysPort director, assistant director, and research director

There are a plethora of concept inventories in physics available for faculty to use. These multiple-choice research-based tests about physics concepts are valuable because they allow for standardized comparisons among institutions, instructors, or over time. In order for these comparisons to be meaningful, you should use best practices for administering and interpreting the tests.

assessment,  concept inventories,  best practices


Which observation protocols are available online?

January 22, 2019 by Cassandra Paul and Adrian Madsen

Several observation protocols are available on the General Observation and Reflection Platform (GORP). GORP is a secure web-based platform that allows users to customize existing observation protocols, (and create their own protocols), in order to simplify data collection and sharing.

observation protocol,  online tools,  assessment


How can I assess the level of student engagement in my class?

June 20, 2017 by Stephanie Chasteen, University of Colorado Boulder

Instructors who are attempting active learning are often concerned that students won't like it, or will resist. It can be hard, even in the middle of a course, to gauge how well-engaged students are. This article focuses on ways to assess student engagement, both formally and informally.

assessment,  active learning,  productive engagement,  student buy-in


Where can I find good questions to use with clickers or Peer Instruction?

September 26, 2016 by Sam McKagan, PhysPort director

Many research-based teaching methods in physics, including Peer Instruction, CAE Think-Pair-Share, Technology Enhanced Formative Assessment, and teaching with clickers, involve having your students discuss and answer multiple-choice conceptual questions. A challenge of using these methods is finding and writing good questions. This recommendation helps you find and write questions for your class.

Peer Instruction,  CAE Think-Pair-Share,  Technology-Enhanced Formative Assessment,  clickers


Where can I find good activities for small group discussions?

September 26, 2016 by Sam McKagan, PhysPort director

Nearly all research-based teaching methods in physics involve some kind of small group discussions of challenging conceptual activities. Finding good activities is an important component of making small group discussions work in your class. This recommendation includes links to collections where you can find activities to use in your class.

active learning,  cooperative groups,  SCALE-UP,  Peer Instruction,  CAE Think-Pair-Share,  Technology-Enhanced Formative Assessment,  clickers


Addressing common concerns about concept inventories

July 8, 2016 by Adrian Madsen, Sam McKagan and Eleanor Sayre

Concept inventories are useful for assessing the effectiveness of your teaching, but as you use them, concerns and questions often come up. Here we discuss some common concerns about using concept inventories and related research that addresses these concerns.

assessment,  concept inventories


What are some tips for using PhET with homework?

June 28, 2016 by Stephanie Chasteen

PhET simulations are free, online interactive simulations for teaching and learning science.   PhET is ideal for use in homework because the simulations are designed to cue students to explore cause-and-effect relationships, even without an instructor present.

active learning,  PhET Interactive Simulations,  homework,  assessment


Normalized gain: What is it and when and how should I use it?

March 18, 2016 by Sam McKagan, Eleanor Sayre, and Adrian Madsen

Introduction to normalized gain:
The normalized gain, introduced by Hake in 1998 "as a rough measure of the effectiveness of a course in promoting conceptual understanding," has become the standard measure for reporting scores on research-based concept inventories. Hake defined the average normalized gain as:
<g> = (<Post> - <Pre>)/(100 - <Pre>)

assessment,  concept inventories,  normalized gain,  best practices


Effect size: What is it and when and how should I use it?

March 18, 2016 by Adrian Madsen, Eleanor Sayre, and Sam McKagan

When making changes in the way we teach our physics classes, we often want to measure the impact of these changes on our students' learning. Often we do this by administering a research-based assessment at the beginning and end of the class and calculating the change between pre and post. There are several different measures that can be used to tell you, in one number, how to compare learning...

assessment,  concept inventories,  effect size,  best practices


Recursos en Español / Research-based teaching resources in Spanish

March 16, 2016 by Sam McKagan, PhysPort Director

PhysPort es un recurso de internet para apoyar a los profesores de física a utilizar estrategias de enseñanza y evaluación basadas en investigación en sus clases. El sitio es en ingles, pero muchos de los recursos a que se refiere han sido traducido a español. Esta página tiene una lista de recursos para enseñanza y evaluación…

active learning,  assessment,  español


Arguments for skeptical colleagues

February 12, 2016 by Sam McKagan, PhysPort Director

Do your skeptical colleagues question you or ask you to justify your use of research-based teaching methods in physics? This recommendation provides answers to the most frequently asked questions about research-based teaching in physics from your skeptical colleagues.
-What is PER and why should I care?
-What are research-based teaching methods in physics and why should I care?

skeptical colleagues,  physics education research,  active learning,  assessment,  problem-solving


Ten results of physics education research that every physics instructor should know

February 11, 2016 by Sam McKagan, PhysPort Director

This is a draft outline for an article describing the results of physics education research that are most important for practicing physics instructors to know and apply in their classrooms. We will be publishing the results in installments on PhysPort. The goals of this article are to explain the research behind each result in enough detail that readers can easily understand why…

physics education research,  active learning,  assessment,  problem-solving,  beliefs


Which polling method should I use for Peer Instruction?

February 10, 2016 by Sam McKagan, PhysPort Director

Several research-based teaching methods, including Peer Instruction, CAE Think/Pair/Share, and Technology-Enhanced Formative Assessment, involve asking students to discuss and answer multiple-choice conceptual questions in class. There are at least three methods of collecting students’ answers to these questions: clickers, flashcards, and show of hands. Lasry…

clickers,  flashcards,  Peer Instruction,  CAE Think-Pair-Share,  Technology-Enhanced Formative Assessment,  active learning


Administering research-based assessments online

February 10, 2016 by Adrian Madsen & Sam McKagan, PhysPort Assistant Director & Director

An overview of ways to administer research-based assessments online. Includes general guidelines and details about platforms for administering specific assessments including the FCI, FMCE, BEMA, CSEM, PCA, SOSESC-P, EMCS, CLASS, LSCI, E-CLASS, PLIC, FliP-CoIn, and MBT.

assessment,  concept inventories,  best practices,  online tools


How can I get my students’ answers to concept inventories into electronic spreadsheets?

February 10, 2016 by Sam McKagan, PhysPort Director

If you are using multiple-choice concept inventories such as the FCI, BEMA, or CLASS to assess your students’ learning, the PhysPort Data Explorer can help you get instant analysis and visualization of your results. In order to use the Data Explorer, you’ll need to have your students’ responses in some kind of electronic spreadsheet, such as an Excel or .csv file.…

assessment,  concept inventories


Security FAQ for the PhysPort Data Explorer

January 22, 2016 by Eleanor Sayre, Sarah McKagan, and Adrian Madsen

A common question about the Data Explorer is: "This all sounds great, but can I really upload student data to your site? Is it safe and secure? Do I have to have approval?" We've compiled detailed responses to these Frequently Asked Questions and more about the Data Explorer's safety and security.

assessment,  Data Explorer


How do I get my students to take concept inventories seriously?

January 12, 2016 by Adrian Madsen, PhysPort Assistant Director

Concept inventories are useful for assessing the effectiveness of your teaching, but only if your students take them seriously. You may be worried about how seriously your students are taking them. Here is what we know about students taking concept inventories seriously and some ideas for how you can encourage your students to do their best on these kinds of tests.
How seriously do…

assessment,  concept inventories


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