written by Brian W. Frank and Paul Mittura

This research investigates relationships between students' understanding of force and motion as measured by the Force Concept Inventory (FCI) and their out-of-school engagement as measured by the Transformative Experience (TE) Survey. Surveys were administered in an introductory algebra-based physics course (N = 68 completely matched). Positive correlations are observed between students' overall TE scores and FCI pre and post scores (r = 0.4, p < 0.005). Correlations between TE scores and FCI gains and normalized gains, however, are not statistically discernable from zero. These preliminary results suggest that students with a better understanding of force and motion concepts may more readily engage with content outside of the class, but such out-of-school engagement may not be contributing to further learning gains. We conclude with a discussion of how responses to individual statements on the TE survey vary between students in the top and bottom quartiles based on FCI performance.

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Last Modified April 24, 2015

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