written by Brian W. Frank and Leslie Atkins Elliott

Transformative experience (TE) is a theoretical construct intended to capture the extent to which science concepts learned in the classroom shape students' everyday meaning-making and engagement with science outside the classroom. One tool available to assess the depth and prevalence of TE is with surveys. We have been adapting existing surveys for use in various undergraduate physics courses at two different institutions, including algebra-based introductory physics courses and physical science courses for pre-service elementary teachers. We describe our efforts to modify existing surveys for use across different courses and content areas and describe our initial findings concerning the depth and prevalence of TE. From survey data, large differences can be detected in both the depth of students' overall engagement and the degree to which that engagement falls off when students are not in the classroom or working on required assignments.

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Published February 1, 2014
Last Modified January 31, 2014

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