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Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research
written by Justyna P. Zwolak and Corinne A. Manogue
[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Upper Division Physics Courses.] Standardized assessment tests that allow researchers to compare the performance of students under various curricula are highly desirable. There are several research-based conceptual tests that serve as instruments to assess and identify students' difficulties in lower-division courses. At the upper-division level assessing students' difficulties is a more challenging task. Although several research groups are currently working on such tests, their reliability and validity are still under investigation. We analyze the results of the Colorado Upper-Division Electrostatics diagnostic from Oregon State University and compare it with data from the University of Colorado. In particular, we show potential shortcomings in the Oregon State University curriculum regarding separation of variables and boundary conditions, as well as uncover weaknesses of the rubric to the free-response version of the diagnostic. We also demonstrate how the diagnostic can be used to obtain information about student learning during a gap in instruction. Our work complements and extends the previous findings from the University of Colorado by highlighting important differences in student learning that may be related to the curriculum, illuminating difficulties with the rubric for certain problems and verifying decay in post-test results over time.
Subjects Levels Resource Types
Education Foundations
- Assessment
= Conceptual Assessment
= Instruments
- Research Design & Methodology
= Evaluation
= Statistics
= Validity
Electricity & Magnetism
- Electrostatics
- General
General Physics
- Physics Education Research
Quantum Physics
- General
- Upper Undergraduate
- Reference Material
= Research study
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Access Rights:
Free access
License:
This material is released under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license.
Rights Holder:
American Physical Society
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.11.020125
NSF Numbers:
DUE
1023120
DUE
1323800
Keywords:
CUE ElectrodyNamics Test, CUE-CMR, CUE-Electrostatics Test, Paradigms in Physics, QMAT, QMCS, Quantum Mechanics Assessment Tool, Quantum Mechanics Conceptual Survey
Record Creator:
Metadata instance created December 18, 2015 by Lyle Barbato
Record Updated:
May 6, 2022 by Caroline Hall
Last Update
when Cataloged:
September 23, 2015
Other Collections:

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AIP Format
J. Zwolak and C. Manogue, , Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 11 (2), 020125 (2015), WWW Document, (https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.11.020125).
AJP/PRST-PER
J. Zwolak and C. Manogue, Assessing student reasoning in upper-division electricity and magnetism at Oregon State University, Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 11 (2), 020125 (2015), <https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.11.020125>.
APA Format
Zwolak, J., & Manogue, C. (2015, September 23). Assessing student reasoning in upper-division electricity and magnetism at Oregon State University. Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res., 11(2), 020125. Retrieved May 6, 2024, from https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.11.020125
Chicago Format
Zwolak, Justyna, and Corinne Manogue. "Assessing student reasoning in upper-division electricity and magnetism at Oregon State University." Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 11, no. 2, (September 23, 2015): 020125, https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.11.020125 (accessed 6 May 2024).
MLA Format
Zwolak, Justyna, and Corinne Manogue. "Assessing student reasoning in upper-division electricity and magnetism at Oregon State University." Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 11.2 (2015): 020125. 6 May 2024 <https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.11.020125>.
BibTeX Export Format
@article{ Author = "Justyna Zwolak and Corinne Manogue", Title = {Assessing student reasoning in upper-division electricity and magnetism at Oregon State University}, Journal = {Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res.}, Volume = {11}, Number = {2}, Pages = {020125}, Month = {September}, Year = {2015} }
Refer Export Format

%A Justyna Zwolak %A Corinne Manogue %T Assessing student reasoning in upper-division electricity and magnetism at Oregon State University %J Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. %V 11 %N 2 %D September 23, 2015 %P 020125 %U https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.11.020125 %O application/pdf

EndNote Export Format

%0 Journal Article %A Zwolak, Justyna %A Manogue, Corinne %D September 23, 2015 %T Assessing student reasoning in upper-division electricity and magnetism at Oregon State University %J Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. %V 11 %N 2 %P 020125 %8 September 23, 2015 %U https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.11.020125


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