Educating in Bulk:The Introductory Physics Course

Revisions at Illinois

Check it out at: http://www.physics.uiuc.edu/education/course_revision.html

Gary GladdingUniversity of

IllinoisOctober 21, 2001

Academic-Industrial WorkshopRochester, NY

Outline of Talk

• Overview (from the OLD to the NEW)– Describe the OLD– Demonstrate Success of Revisions

• The Revision– The Big Ideas– Lectures– Discussion Sections– Labs– Homework

• Concluding Thoughts– Why did it work?– What does it take to have it work elsewhere?

The OLD • Introductory Physics at Illinois prior to Fall 1996

– We do “Educate in Bulk”• Calculus-based sequence FALL

SPRING– Physics 106 (Mechanics) 500 1000– Physics 107 (E&M) 800 450– Physics 108 (Waves) 400 750

• Algebra-based sequence– Physics 101 (Mechanics, thermo) 300 200– Physics 102 (E&M, modern) 200 300

2200 2700– Tradition, Tradition, Tradition

• Large (200-300) Lectures with Small (24) Sections for Discussions and Labs (6-7 hrs/week)

• Lecturers free to “reinvent the flat tire” , Discussion TAs pretty much on their own, Labs intellectually disconnected from rest of course.

• Exams: Quantitative Problems• RESULTS: NOBODY IS HAPPY !!

The NEW • Introductory Physics at Illinois as of Spring 2000

Calculus-based: PHYCS 111 (fall96) 112 (spring97) 113/114 (fall97)

Algebra-based: PHYCS 101 (fall99) 102 (spring00)

• Faculty Participation• 16-17 Faculty assigned for these courses (2500 students) • Responsibilities: Lecturer,Discussion Coordinator,Lab Coordinator• Faculty team meets weekly to keep course on track.• Faculty team creates exams

• The Good Things• Pain and gain are shared.. No burnout.. NO HEROES • Existing Infrastructure lowers the bar for participation.. This assignment is seen as an ordinary assignment!47 Faculty have taught in these revised courses!

ALL COURSES TOTALLY REVISED !

The Big Idea: Integrate all aspects of a course using active learning methods based on physics education research in a

team teaching environment

Student Satisfaction • What do students think of physics after taking our courses?

Student Attitudes Towards Physics 102 (fall99)

0

510

15

20

2530

35

enth

usia

stic

posi

tive

neut

ral

nega

tive

awfu

l

No

of

Stu

den

ts

Before Course

After Course

THE OLDStudent Attitudes Towards Physics 101 (fall99)

0102030405060708090

100

enth

usia

stic

posi

tive

neut

ral

nega

tive

awfu

l

No

of

Stu

den

ts

Before Course

After Course

THE NEW

• How do students rate their TAs?– University-wide ranking of “excellent” top 30% of peers

THE OLD Spring 95Total Physics TAs = 77# “Excellent” = 15 19 ± 5 %

THE NEW Spring 01Total Physics TAs = 75# “Excellent” = 58 77 ± 6 %

What is My Point? • We have made large systemic changes to the way we

teach introductory physics at Illinois.– Good things have happened!

• The faculty are happy– No heroes are needed or wanted.. Assignment is seen as regular

assignment.– Most regular faculty can participate in and contribute to “the

system”.• The students are happy

– They gain a more positive opinion of physics– They recognize uniformly good instruction

• The college is happy– Of the last 25 College of Engineering Awards for

excellence/innovation in teaching, 8 have gone to Physics faculty (we make up 15% of COE faculty)

– What next?• What did we do to achieve these good results?

The PLAN• ONE COURSE !!

– All pieces of the course (lectures, discussion, labs, homework) must be made of the same cloth.

– The student should see a coherent plan at work.

• Emphasize Concepts !– Traditionally, there is a large gap between what we think we are

teaching (physics) and what is being learned (equation manipulation)– Introduce explicit instruction on concepts (and test for it !)

• Use Active Learning Methods – The learning of physics is NOT a spectator sport– Engage the student in all aspects of the course (including lecture)– Make use of the products of Physics Education Research (materials and

knowledge). There is a research base here and faculty (especially at a research university) should use it!

Lectures• Calculus-Based Courses (111-114)

• Powerpoint Lectures with Video Projection• Students can buy hard copies of slides & bring them to lecture • Lectures are also available for viewing on the Web• Lectures punctuated by ACTs (interactive segments)

• Algebra-Based Courses (101-102)• “Just In Time Teaching”

• Students complete Web-based “preflights” (questions based on readings) BEFORE 8am on day of lecture.• Lecturer reads the responses of students and prepares “Lecture” between 8am and noon.• Lecture (at 1pm and 2pm) consists of explanations and ACTs that are designed to address the student difficulties seen in the preflights.

• PER Basis:• ACTs: “Peer Instruction”, E. Mazur• JiTT: “JiTT”, G.Novak, E.Patterson, A.Gavrin, W.Christian

Physics 102 ACTs

1v

v

3

Which loop has the greatest induced current at the instantshown above? 1 or 2 or 3 or all the same?

L

W

2

v

S

N

Lower magnet towards loop which way does the current in the loop flow?

• In on right, out on left• Out on right, in on left• No current

Three swimmers can swim equally fast relative to the water. They have a race to see who can swim across a river in the least time. Relative to the water, Beth (B) swims perpendicular to the flow, Ann (A) swims upstream, and Carly (C) swims downstream. Which swimmer wins the race?

Sample Preflight from Physics 101

A B C

A) Ann16%

B) Beth30%

C) Carly53%

While Carly is moving forward she will also be moving along with the current. two positive(+) direction motions = faster velocity.

Beth will reach the shore first because the vertical component of her velocity is greater than that of the other swimmers.

The shortest distant across is a straight line. Beth starts off straight but the current is taking her to the right so she has to swim longer to get across. Carly is already going to the right and plus the current so she would have to travel the farthest. Ann is swimming to the left and because the current is goin to the right it would push her into a straight line. So Ann would get there the fastest.

Discussion Sections

TA to the rescue?A Question!!

NO LECTURING HERE

• Key Idea: Collaborative Learning– Students work in groups of 4 on problems prepared by the senior staff.

TAs act as facilitators, not lecturers.– TA preparation very important (credit to Tim Stelzer)

• Orientation, Weekly Meetings, Mentor TAs, Observation– Content of prepared materials very important

Content in Discussion Sections• Calculus-Based Sequence

– Physics 111 (Mechanics) and Physics 112 (E&M)

• First 45 minutes: Focus on conceptual questions using Tutorials developed at the University of Washington. (note: performance on conceptual question on flux/superposition improved from 55% to 74%)

• Next 45 minutes: Focus on problem-solving using materials developed by faculty in the course over the past few years.

• Last 20 minutes: Quiz

– Physics 113 (Thermal Physics) and Physics 114 (Quantum Physics)

• Use materials developed by faculty in courses (mostly problem-solving)

• Algebra-Based Sequence– Use materials developed by faculty. A workbook, “The Problem

Solver”, has been developed by David Hertzog and is currently being used in Physics 102.

Labs• PREDICT• OBSERVE• EXPLAIN

– Adopt the approach of Thornton & Sokoloff to actively engage the students in the learning process and to promote mastery of concepts by manipulation of experimental apparatus.

– Prelab assignments; Lab reports finished within class period.

Homework Assignments• Weekly Homework Assignments are done on the World-

Wide Web, using the TYCHO system developed by Denny Kane at Illinois.

– “The Original Version” Quantitative Problems• Students receive immediate feedback on their answers.

– Was the answer right? Also programmed ”help” available.• Students can try a homework problem as many times as needed

before the due date, and can continue to work on the problems for some time after the due date with a minor reduction in credit.

– “Some New Additions !”• Concepts exercises: optional multiple choice questions using

physical setup of assigned problems. Help and explanations available.

• Preflights: initial questions on subject matter of class. Results available to staff prior to class meeting.

• On-line quizzes: sample hour exam question (qualitative and quantitative multiple-choice parts). No feedback before deadline.

• Interactive examples: web-based “Socratic dialogues” designed to develop concept-based problem solving.

– More on this now as these exercises become our contribution to the research base !!

What is an Interactive Example?

• Base question is a quantitative problem (multi-step).• Students can request help which comes in the form of more questions.

– Questions for which more help is always available. Immediate feedback (right or wrong with possibility of comment) is given.

• Numeric• Algebraic

– Questions that must be answered correctly to get more help. Immediate feedback (e.g. consequences of chosen wrong answer or explanation of chosen correct answer) is given. (Pauses also used in this way)

• Radio button (single correct answer)• Checkbox (multiple correct answers possible)• Free response

– Complex topologies available through links (eg alternate paths, help modules)

• Students can opt to answer the base question at any time.• Eventually, enough help is given to solve the problem (it is an

“example”!)• Once base question is answered correctly:

– Full credit is given.– A Recap is given (Conceptual, Strategic and Quantitative Analyses).– Follow-Up Questions (optional, i.e. no credit) are asked.

http://wug.physics.uiuc.edu/courses/ie.html

Results and Plans for Future• Students really like the IEs

– Independent (OIR) Focus Group Study• 100% of students preferred IEs to the usual computer problems

– Our End of Term Surveys• How effective were IEs at helping you to develop a problem solving

strategy? “very effective” (31%), “effective” (56%), – Direct Comment Facility from IE itself:

• Some examples:– “the drawn out explainations are much like a one on one

learning environment and are very helpful not only in the problem but in the concepts behind it”

– “if these interactive examples were not there to help me i would have gone insane trying to figure out these problems....and this makes me understand the problems much better than if i were to get help from someone in the class...i believe anyways...because this way i'm figuring it out basically on my own.…”

• But Are They Learning More?– Fall 2001: full implementation in Physics 112 (calculus-based E&M)– Assessment tools in place (on-line quizzes, final exams)

Why Is It Working?• Key 1: Design Process was a Collective Effort

– Committee of 8 met for a year to generate the design– These people became the core

• Key 2: Infrastructure– People (veteran faculty, computing help, lecture, lab & secretarial

support)– Computing (all materials on NT server, faculty get NT machine for desk

while teaching)– Welcome to 1XX, here’s how we do things….

• Key 3: Team-Teaching– All faculty (3-4 per course) do faculty-type jobs– Pain and Gain are shared … no more burnout… NO HEROES

• Key 4: Administrative Support– Released time essential for initial creation of materials– Total support for systemic change… JUST DO IT!– Continuing support (e.g., new Assoc Head position) to maintain the

system as the “newness” wears off.

What Does it Take to Work Elsewhere?• ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE

– An Unnatural Act ?? – Probably more important than any of the substantive details presented

earlier!

• MAJOR OBSTACLES (US !!)

BOTTOM LINE: Overcoming these obstacles is a liberating experience

–Character issue: The Arrogance of Physicists•What makes effective instruction is largely an empirical question.•Listen to students •Learn from others

–Cultural issue: “My” Course•Course is NOT just lectures •Progress comes from contributions of many