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What Else (Besides the Syllabus) Should Students Learn in Introductory Physics?
written by David E. Pritchard, Analia Barrantes, and Brian R. Belland
We have surveyed what various groups of instructors and students think students should learn in introductory physics. We started with a Delphi Study based on interviews with experts, then developed orthogonal responses to "what should we teach non-physics majors besides the current syllabus topics?" AAPT attendees, atomic researchers, and PERC08 attendees were asked for their selections. All instructors rated "sense-making of the answer" very highly and expert problem solving highly. PERers favored epistemology over problem solving, and atomic researchers "physics comes from a few principles." Students at three colleges had preferences anti-aligned with their teachers, preferring more modern topics, and the relationship of physics to everyday life and also to society (the only choice with instructor agreement), but not problem solving or sense-making. Conclusion #1: we must show students how old physics is relevant to their world. Conclusion #2: significant course reform must start by reaching consensus on what to teach and how to hold students' interest (then discuss techniques to teach it).
Physics Education Research Conference 2009
Part of the PER Conference Invited Paper series
Ann Arbor, Michigan: July 29-30, 2009
Volume 1179, Pages 43-46
Subjects Levels Resource Types
Education Foundations
- Student Characteristics
- Teacher Characteristics
Education Practices
- Curriculum Development
= Course Goals
- Lower Undergraduate
- Graduate/Professional
- Upper Undergraduate
- Reference Material
= Article
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Mirror:
https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3266749
Access Rights:
Free access and
Available for purchase
Restriction:
© 2009 American Institute of Physics
A preprint of the work is available. A hard copy of the PERC 2009 proceedings is also available.
DOI:
10.1063/1.3266749
NSF Number:
0757931
PACSs:
01.40.Fk
01.40.Di
01.40.G
Keywords:
Delphi study, PERC 2009, instructional goals, introductory physics
Record Cloner:
Metadata instance created March 11, 2010 by Lyle Barbato
Record Updated:
March 11, 2010 by Vince Kuo
Last Update
when Cataloged:
November 11, 2009
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Record Link
AIP Format
D. Pritchard, A. Barrantes, and B. Belland, , presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2009, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 2009, WWW Document, (https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=9898&DocID=1530).
AJP/PRST-PER
D. Pritchard, A. Barrantes, and B. Belland, What Else (Besides the Syllabus) Should Students Learn in Introductory Physics?, presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2009, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 2009, <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=9898&DocID=1530>.
APA Format
Pritchard, D., Barrantes, A., & Belland, B. (2009, July 29-30). What Else (Besides the Syllabus) Should Students Learn in Introductory Physics?. Paper presented at Physics Education Research Conference 2009, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Retrieved April 24, 2024, from https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=9898&DocID=1530
Chicago Format
Pritchard, D, A. Barrantes, and B. Belland. "What Else (Besides the Syllabus) Should Students Learn in Introductory Physics?." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2009, Ann Arbor, Michigan, July 29-30, 2009. https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=9898&DocID=1530 (accessed 24 April 2024).
MLA Format
Pritchard, David E., Analia Barrantes, and Brian Belland. "What Else (Besides the Syllabus) Should Students Learn in Introductory Physics?." Physics Education Research Conference 2009. Ann Arbor, Michigan: 2009. 43-46 Vol. 1179 of PER Conference Invited Paper. 24 Apr. 2024 <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=9898&DocID=1530>.
BibTeX Export Format
@inproceedings{ Author = "David E. Pritchard and Analia Barrantes and Brian Belland", Title = {What Else (Besides the Syllabus) Should Students Learn in Introductory Physics?}, BookTitle = {Physics Education Research Conference 2009}, Pages = {43-46}, Address = {Ann Arbor, Michigan}, Series = {PER Conference Invited Paper}, Volume = {1179}, Month = {July 29-30}, Year = {2009} }
Refer Export Format

%A David E. Pritchard %A Analia Barrantes %A Brian Belland %T What Else (Besides the Syllabus) Should Students Learn in Introductory Physics? %S PER Conference Invited Paper %V 1179 %D July 29-30 2009 %P 43-46 %C Ann Arbor, Michigan %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=9898&DocID=1530 %O Physics Education Research Conference 2009 %O July 29-30 %O application/pdf

EndNote Export Format

%0 Conference Proceedings %A Pritchard, David E. %A Barrantes, Analia %A Belland, Brian %D July 29-30 2009 %T What Else (Besides the Syllabus) Should Students Learn in Introductory Physics? %B Physics Education Research Conference 2009 %C Ann Arbor, Michigan %V 1179 %P 43-46 %S PER Conference Invited Paper %8 July 29-30 %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=9898&DocID=1530


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What Else (Besides the Syllabus) Should Students Learn in Introductory Physics?:


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