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What Factors Really Influence Shifts in Students' Attitudes and Expectations in an Introductory Physics Course?
written by Jeffrey Marx and Karen Cummings
To gauge the impact of instruction on students' general expectations about physics and their attitudes about problem solving, we administered two different, but related, survey instruments to students in the first semester of introductory, calculus-based physics at McDaniel College. The surveys we used were the Maryland Physics Expectation Survey (MPEX) and the Attitudes about Problem Solving Survey (APSS). We found that the McDaniel College students' overall responses were more "expert-like" post-instruction: on the MPEX, the students' Overall agree/disagree score started at 59/18 and ended at 63/17, and on the APSS, the students' agreement-score went from 63 to 79. (All scores are out of 100%.) All of the students to whom we administered the MPEX and a significant sub-group to whom we administered the APSS realized these improvements without experiencing any explicit instructional intervention in this course aimed toward improving attitudes and expectations. These results contrast much of the previously reported findings in this area.
Physics Education Research Conference 2006
Part of the PER Conference series
Syracuse, New York: July 26-27, 2006
Volume 883, Pages 101-104
Subjects Levels Resource Types
Education Foundations
- Behavior
- Cognition
- Student Characteristics
= Affect
- Lower Undergraduate
- Reference Material
= Research study
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Mirror:
https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2508701
Access Rights:
Available for purchase
Restriction:
© 2006 American Institute of Physics
DOI:
10.1063/1.2508701
PACSs:
01.40.Fk
01.40.Ha
Keywords:
Learning theory, PERC 2006, educational courses, problem solving, science teaching, student attitudes, student expectations
Record Creator:
Metadata instance created June 4, 2007 by Shawn Weatherford
Record Updated:
July 16, 2013 by Lyle Barbato
Last Update
when Cataloged:
January 30, 2007
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Record Link
AIP Format
J. Marx and K. Cummings, , presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2006, Syracuse, New York, 2006, WWW Document, (https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=5278&DocID=2124).
AJP/PRST-PER
J. Marx and K. Cummings, What Factors Really Influence Shifts in Students' Attitudes and Expectations in an Introductory Physics Course?, presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2006, Syracuse, New York, 2006, <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=5278&DocID=2124>.
APA Format
Marx, J., & Cummings, K. (2006, July 26-27). What Factors Really Influence Shifts in Students' Attitudes and Expectations in an Introductory Physics Course?. Paper presented at Physics Education Research Conference 2006, Syracuse, New York. Retrieved December 2, 2024, from https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=5278&DocID=2124
Chicago Format
Marx, Jeffrey, and Karen Cummings. "What Factors Really Influence Shifts in Students' Attitudes and Expectations in an Introductory Physics Course?." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2006, Syracuse, New York, July 26-27, 2006. https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=5278&DocID=2124 (accessed 2 December 2024).
MLA Format
Marx, Jeffrey, and Karen Cummings. "What Factors Really Influence Shifts in Students' Attitudes and Expectations in an Introductory Physics Course?." Physics Education Research Conference 2006. Syracuse, New York: 2006. 101-104 Vol. 883 of PER Conference. 2 Dec. 2024 <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=5278&DocID=2124>.
BibTeX Export Format
@inproceedings{ Author = "Jeffrey Marx and Karen Cummings", Title = {What Factors Really Influence Shifts in Students' Attitudes and Expectations in an Introductory Physics Course?}, BookTitle = {Physics Education Research Conference 2006}, Pages = {101-104}, Address = {Syracuse, New York}, Series = {PER Conference}, Volume = {883}, Month = {July 26-27}, Year = {2006} }
Refer Export Format

%A Jeffrey Marx %A Karen Cummings %T What Factors Really Influence Shifts in Students' Attitudes and Expectations in an Introductory Physics Course? %S PER Conference %V 883 %D July 26-27 2006 %P 101-104 %C Syracuse, New York %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=5278&DocID=2124 %O Physics Education Research Conference 2006 %O July 26-27 %O application/pdf

EndNote Export Format

%0 Conference Proceedings %A Marx, Jeffrey %A Cummings, Karen %D July 26-27 2006 %T What Factors Really Influence Shifts in Students' Attitudes and Expectations in an Introductory Physics Course? %B Physics Education Research Conference 2006 %C Syracuse, New York %V 883 %P 101-104 %S PER Conference %8 July 26-27 %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=5278&DocID=2124


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What Factors Really Influence Shifts in Students' Attitudes and Expectations in an Introductory Physics Course?:


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