Detail Page

Physical Review Physics Education Research
written by Katherine D. Rainey, Michael Vignal, and Bethany R. Wilcox
Currently there are no assessment instruments available for upper-division thermal physics, though several introductory assessments are currently available. Notably missing from these introductory assessment are items targeting statistical mechanics. This leaves a gap in the content that can be assessed by upper-division thermal physics faculty. In this paper, we present a new, upper-division thermal physics assessment that explicitly addresses both classical thermodynamics and statistical mechanics: The Upper-level Statistical and Thermodynamics Evaluation for Physics (U-STEP). We piloted the U-STEP in multiple classes across various institutions during three semesters, and collected over 600 student responses in total. Here, we present multiple measures of validity and reliability for the U-STEP. We utilized classical test theory to determine item difficulties and discriminations, and differential item functioning to identify potential bias in assessment items that can manifest as performance gaps between different genders and races. The completed U-STEP will be the first upper-division thermal physics assessment available, and one of the first standardized physics assessments to explicitly address identification of possible item bias during the development process.
Physical Review Physics Education Research: Volume 18, Issue 2, Pages 020116
Subjects Levels Resource Types
Education Foundations
- Assessment
= Instruments
- Research Design & Methodology
= Data
= Validity
- Student Characteristics
= Ability
= Skills
General Physics
- Physics Education Research
Thermo & Stat Mech
- General
- Upper Undergraduate
- Reference Material
= Research study
Intended Users Formats Ratings
- Researchers
- Professional/Practitioners
- Administrators
- Educators
- application/pdf
- text/html
  • Currently 0.0/5

Want to rate this material?
Login here!


Access Rights:
Free access
License:
This material is released under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license.
Rights Holder:
American Physical Society
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.18.020116
NSF Number:
DUE-2013332
Keywords:
Statistical thermal physics, Upper division stat mech, Upper division thermal physics, stat mech, stat mech assessment, thermal physics assessment
Record Creator:
Metadata instance created September 28, 2022 by Lyle Barbato
Record Updated:
April 20, 2023 by Caroline Hall
Last Update
when Cataloged:
September 12, 2022
Other Collections:

ComPADRE is beta testing Citation Styles!

Record Link
AIP Format
K. Rainey, M. Vignal, and B. Wilcox, , Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 18 (2), 020116 (2022), WWW Document, (https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.18.020116).
AJP/PRST-PER
K. Rainey, M. Vignal, and B. Wilcox, Validation of a coupled, multiple response assessment for upper-division thermal physics, Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 18 (2), 020116 (2022), <https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.18.020116>.
APA Format
Rainey, K., Vignal, M., & Wilcox, B. (2022, September 12). Validation of a coupled, multiple response assessment for upper-division thermal physics. Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res., 18(2), 020116. Retrieved February 15, 2025, from https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.18.020116
Chicago Format
Rainey, K, M. Vignal, and B. Wilcox. "Validation of a coupled, multiple response assessment for upper-division thermal physics." Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 18, no. 2, (September 12, 2022): 020116, https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.18.020116 (accessed 15 February 2025).
MLA Format
Rainey, Katherine, Michael Vignal, and Bethany Wilcox. "Validation of a coupled, multiple response assessment for upper-division thermal physics." Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 18.2 (2022): 020116. 15 Feb. 2025 <https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.18.020116>.
BibTeX Export Format
@article{ Author = "Katherine Rainey and Michael Vignal and Bethany Wilcox", Title = {Validation of a coupled, multiple response assessment for upper-division thermal physics}, Journal = {Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res.}, Volume = {18}, Number = {2}, Pages = {020116}, Month = {September}, Year = {2022} }
Refer Export Format

%A Katherine Rainey %A Michael Vignal %A Bethany Wilcox %T Validation of a coupled, multiple response assessment for upper-division thermal physics %J Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. %V 18 %N 2 %D September 12, 2022 %P 020116 %U https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.18.020116 %O application/pdf

EndNote Export Format

%0 Journal Article %A Rainey, Katherine %A Vignal, Michael %A Wilcox, Bethany %D September 12, 2022 %T Validation of a coupled, multiple response assessment for upper-division thermal physics %J Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. %V 18 %N 2 %P 020116 %8 September 12, 2022 %U https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.18.020116


Disclaimer: ComPADRE offers citation styles as a guide only. We cannot offer interpretations about citations as this is an automated procedure. Please refer to the style manuals in the Citation Source Information area for clarifications.

Citation Source Information

The AIP Style presented is based on information from the AIP Style Manual.

The APA Style presented is based on information from APA Style.org: Electronic References.

The Chicago Style presented is based on information from Examples of Chicago-Style Documentation.

The MLA Style presented is based on information from the MLA FAQ.

Save to my folders

Contribute

Similar Materials