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On his Chemed-L post of 28 Sep 2004 21:34:13-0700 titled "The Inertia
of the Educational System," Michael Horton first QUOTED A QUOTE from
my post [Hake (2004a)] of that title:
" 'As an example, I think that the pre/post testing movement [see
Sect. V and VI below], stimulated to some extent by Design Based
Research in physics education, has the potential to drastically
improve undergraduate science/math (SM) instruction and thereby
upgrade K-12 Science/Math education.' "
Then Michael wrote:
"I am curious why you think that pre/post testing is so important. I
couldn't tell what you were referring to as "Sect. V and VI below."
Michael evidently did not realize that in my post the brackets
"HHHHHHHHH. . . ." surrounded material quoted from "Design-Based
Research: A Primer for Physics Education Researchers" [Hake (2004d)].
Therefore, to see why I think pre/post testing is so important, scan
Sect. V and VI of [Hake (2004d)].
For the record, among other recent posts featuring arguments in favor
of pre/post testing are:
(g) "Re: pre-post testing in assessment" [Hake (2004g)],
(h) "Re: pre- post testing in assessment" [Scriven (2004)].
As indicated in Hake (2004e), pre/post testing using valid and
consistently reliable tests constructed by disciplinary experts is
becoming more and more widespread in astronomy, economics, biology,
chemistry, computer science, engineering, and physics [but not math
or psychology, why?].
For example, such tests played an important role in stimulating the
shift of introductory physics courses at Harvard [Mazur (1997)] and
MIT [Dori & Belcher (2004)] from passive-student lectures to
interactive engagement activities, as described in Hake (2004f). If
pre/post testing is taken seriously at Harvard and MIT it may not be
ALL bad.
Even the expert education committees of the NRC may be finally coming
to their senses: Donovan & Pellegrino (2003) actually acknowledge the
existence of the landmark pre/post test work of Halloun & Hestenes
(1985a)!
REFERENCES
Donovan, M.S. & J. Pellegrino, eds. 2003. "Learning and Instruction:
A SERP Research Agenda," National Academies Press; online at
<http://books.nap.edu/catalog/10858.html>.
Dori, Y.J. & J. Belcher, J. 2004. "How Does Technology-Enabled Active
Learning Affect Undergraduate Students' Understanding of
Electromagnetism Concepts?" To appear in The Journal of the Learning
Sciences 14(2), online at
<http://web.mit.edu/jbelcher/www/TEALref/TEAL_Dori&Belcher_JLS_10_01_2004.pdf>
(1 MB).
Hake, R.R. 2003a. "Can Chemists Learn Anything from Physics/Astronomy
Education Research?" online at
<http://listserv.nd.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0309&L=pod&F=&S=&P=171>.
Post of 1 Sep 2003 14:49:12-0700 to ASSESS, Biopi-L, Chemed-L,
EvalTalk, Biolab, PhysLrnR, and POD. Later transmitted to AERA-D,
Biolab, FYA (First Year Assessment), and STLHE-L.
Hake, R.R. 2003b. "Can Biologists Learn Anything from
Physics/Astronomy Education Research? post of 30 Aug 2003
15:23:16-0700 to ASSESS, Biopi-L, Chemed-L, EvalTalk, Biolab,
PhysLrnR, and POD; online at
<http://listserv.nd.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0308&L=pod&O=D&P=21082>.
This post was also transmitted to AERA-D, Biolab, FYA (First Year
Assessment), and STLHE-L.
Hake, R.R. 2003c. "Can Mathematicians Learn Anything from
Physics/Astronomy Education Research?" post of 3 Sep 2003
12:26:34-0700 to ASSESS, Biopi-L, Chemed-L, EvalTalk, FYI, MathTeach,
Phys-L, PhysLrnR, and POD; online at
<http://listserv.nd.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0309&L=pod&F=&S=&P=1252>:
Later transmitted to AERA-D and Biolab.
Hake, R.R. 2003d. "Can Pre/post Testing Inform Curriculum Design? "
post of 6 Sep 2003 16:12:51-0700 to AERA-D, ASSESS, Biolab, Biopi-L,
Chemed-L EvalTalk, FYA, PHYS-L, PhysLrnR, Physhare, POD. and
STLHE-L; online at
<http://listserv.nd.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0309&L=pod&O=D&P=2981>
Hake, R.R. 2004a. "The Inertia of the Educational System," online at
<http://lists.nau.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0409&L=phys-l&O=D&P=25165>.
Post of 28 Sep 2004 16:53:09-0700 to AERA-C, AERA-D, AERA-J, AERA-K,
ASSESS, Biopi-L, Chemed-L, EvalTalk, Math-Learn, Phys-L, PhysLrnR,
Phys-L, POD, & RUME. Later sent to AP-Physics, Physhare, and STLHE-L.
See also the related posts Hake (2004b,c).
Hake, R.R. 2004b. "The Inertia of the Educational System," online at
<http://listserv.nd.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0410&L=pod&F=&S=&P=2491>.
Post of 2 Oct 2004 17:34:07-0700to AERA-C, AERA-D, AERA-J, AERA-K, AERA-L,
ASSESS, Biopi-L, Chemed-L, EvalTalk, Math-Learn, Physhare, Phys-L, PhysLrnR,
POD, RUME, & STLHE-L.
Hake, R.R. 2004c. "Re: Student resistance to changes in professional
education practice," online at
<http://listserv.nd.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0410&L=pod&F=&S=&P=2348>.
Post of 1 Oct 2004 12:30:24-0700 to AERA-I, AERA-J, AP-Physics,
ASSESS, DrEd, EvalTalk, PBL, Phys-L, PhysLrnR, POD, & STLHE-L.
Hake, R.R. 2004e. "Re: Measuring Content Knowledge", online at
<http://listserv.nd.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0403&L=pod&O=D&P=16472>.
Post of 14 Mar 2004 16:29:47-0800 to ASSESS, Biopi-L, Chemed-L,
EvalTalk, Physhare, Phys-L, PhysLnrR, POD, and STLHE-L.
Hake, R.R. 2004f. "Re: student assessment/content knowledge," online at
<http://listserv.nd.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0403&L=pod&D=0&O=A&P=18653>.
Post of 17 Mar 2004 21:44:34-0800 to ASSESS, Biopi-L, Chemed-L,
EvalTalk, Physhare, Phys-L, POD, & STLHE-L. Sent to Math-Teach on 18
Mar 2004.