Some subscribers to Phys-L might be interested in "The Impact of
Concept Inventories On Physics Education and It's Relevance For
Engineering Education" [Hake (2011)]. The abstract reads:
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ABSTRACT: I review the:
(a) Before Concept Inventory (BCI) dark ages of post-secondary
introductory physics education;
(b) 1985 advent of the first physics Concept Inventory (CI), the
"Mechanics Diagnostic" (MD) by Halloun & Hestenes (HH);
(c) 1987-90 early research use of the MD by Halloun & Hestenes, Hake,
and Crouch & Mazur;
(d) 1992 "Force Concept Inventory" (FCI), successor to the MD, and
the "Factor Analysis Debate" (1995);
(e) 1995 revision of the FCI by Halloun, Hake, Mosca, and Hestenes;
(f) 1998 meta-analysis of FCI/MD results on 62 introductory physics
courses (N = 6542) showing about a two-standard-deviation superiority
in average normalized gains for "interactive engagement" over
traditional passive-student lecture courses by Hake and subsequent
confirmation by about 25 other physics education research studies.
I then indicate:
(a) fourteen hard lessons from the physics education reform effort;
(b) suggestions for the administration and reporting of CI's;
(c) listings of CI's, including those for physics and engineering;
and comment that:
(d) for physics education the road to reform has been all uphill;
(e) the glacial inertia of the educational system, though not well
understood, appears to be typical of the slow "Diffusion of
Innovations" [Rogers (2003)] in human society;
(f) there are at least "Eleven Barriers to Change in Higher Education";
(g) but, even so, for physics education, Rogers' "early adopters" of
reform have now appeared at Harvard, North Carolina State University,
MIT, the Univ. of Colorado, California Polytechnic at San Luis
Obispo, and the Univ. of British Columbia, possibly presaging a
Rogers "take off" for physics education reform, about two decades ACI
(After Concept Inventory).
I conclude that:
(a) CI's can stimulate reform, but judging from the results in
physics it may take about two decades before even early adopters
become evident;
(b) there are at least seven reasons why the rate of adoption of
reforms may be greater in engineering education than in physics
education.
In an Appendix I respond to criticisms of the FCI and the average
normalized gain <g>.
"Physics educators have led the way in developing and using objective
tests to compare student learning gains in different types of
courses, and chemists, biologists, and others are now developing
similar instruments. These tests provide convincing evidence that
students assimilate new knowledge more effectively in courses
including active, inquiry-based, and collaborative learning, assisted
by information technology, than in traditional courses."
Wood & Gentile (2003)
REFERENCES [All URL's shortened by <http://bit.ly/> and accessed on
23 September 2011.]
Hake, R.R. 2011. "The Impact of Concept Inventories On Physics
Education and It's Relevance For Engineering Education," invited
talk, 8 August, second annual NSF-sponsored "National Meeting on STEM
Concept Inventories," Washington, D.C., online as an 8.7 MB pdf at
<http://bit.ly/nmPY8F> or as ref. 64 at <http://bit.ly/a6M5y0>. The
abstract and link are being transmitted to various discussion lists
and are also on my blog "Hake'sEdStuff" at <http://bit.ly/pYmIkP>
with a provision for comments.
Wood, W.B., & J.M. Gentile. 2003. "Teaching in a research context,"
Science 302: 1510; 28 November; online as a 209 kB pdf at
<http://bit.ly/oK46p7>.