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Re: Optics test


Hello All,
My name is Nate Findley, I am a research fellow at Vassar College
and I am working under Cindy Schwarz. One of our projects this summer is
to create a diagnostic exam that professors can use to test student's
qualitative knowledge of optics. We are trying to figure out what concepts
students have trouble with in optics so, similarly to the FCI, the test
will show the difference before and after a intro physics course. If
anyone can help us with our problem that would be great! Also, any
comments and questions are welcome.

Thanks,
Nate

Nate,

Andy White, one of my grad students, has been working on this for quite
some time as his dissertation project. He has a good literature review put
together and a solid grasp of student difficulties in this area, so he
should be able to help you. Cindy talked to me about this. Did she give you
Andy's name? I have serious concerns about you really accomplishing what
you want to do over the summer though, especially if this is just "one" of
your projects. Sure, you can flip through a few books and put some
questions together, but developing a valid and reliable test (i.e. suitable
for research) takes a long time and a lot of effort. I offered a model or
procedure for test development in an AJP article from August 94. You may
want to take a look at it. Let me know if you want Andy's e-mail address.

Bob

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Robert J. Beichner 919-515-7226
Assistant Professor 919-515-6538 (fax)
North Carolina State Univ. Beichner @ NCSU.edu
Physics Box 8202 http://www2.ncsu.edu/ncsu/
Raleigh, NC 27695 pams/physics/Physics_Ed/

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