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Re: [Phys-l] Chronicle article: The Tough Road to Better Science Teaching



Bruce Sherwood, in his 09 Aug 2007 CTP-L (AAPT Committee on Teacher Preparation) post titled "Re: Chronicle article: The Tough Road to Better Science Teaching" [Brainard (2007)], wrote:

". . . . I am convinced that assessment data will rarely play a significant role in educational decisions in universities."

Bruce may or may not be correct, depending on one's definitions of "rarely" and "significant." Assessment data HAS played a significant role in educational decisions in a few leading universities.

In "Should We Measure Change? Yes!"[Hake (2007a)] I wrote [bracketed by lines "HHHH. . . ."; slightly edited]:

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
. . . . . my meta-analysis [Hake (1998a,b)] and subsequent confirmatory pre/post studies [for a listing see Hake (2007b)] have at least partially stimulated the reform of a tiny fraction of introductory physics courses in the U.S., including large enrollment courses at Harvard [Crouch & Mazur (2001)], North Carolina State University [Beichner & Saul (2004)], MIT [Dori & Belcher (2004)], University of Colorado at Boulder [Pollock (2004)], and California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo [Hoellwarth et al. (2005)].
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Research on innovation diffusion (or lack thereof) of the type pioneered by Everett Rogers (2003) [see e.g., <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion_of_innovations>], and Clayton Christensen (2006) ) [see e.g., <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clayton_Christensen>] might yield more information on the factors responsible for the pathologically slow diffusion of innovation in higher education.

Some physics education researchers are now pursuing such studies. For example, Henderson & Dancy (2006a,b) are interviewing faculty to determine their attitudes toward innovations in physics education and the extent to which faculty have incorporated such innovations into their own classroom practice.
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH


Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
24245 Hatteras Street, Woodland Hills, CA 91367
<rrhake@earthlink.net>
<http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake>
<http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~sdi>


REFERENCES
Beichner, R.J & J.M. Saul. 2004. "Introduction to the SCALE-UP (Student-Centered Activities for Large Enrollment Undergraduate Programs) Project," in Proceedings of the International School of Physics "Enrico Fermi" Course CLVI in Varenna, Italy, M. Vicentini and E.F. Redish, eds. IOS Press; online at
<http://www.ncsu.edu/per/Articles/Varenna_SCALEUP_Paper.pdf> (1MB).

Brainard, J. 2007. "The Tough Road to Better Science Teaching: Proponents of new methods encounter resistence (sic), especially at research universities." Chronicle of Higher Education, 3 August; online for a few days at <http://tinyurl.com/oavc2>.

Christensen, M. 2006. "The Innovator's Dilemma." Harper Collins - information at
<http://tinyurl.com/yx9k9h>. First published in 1997 by the Harvard Business School Press.

Crouch, C.H. & E. Mazur. 2001. "Peer Instruction: Ten years of experience and results," Am. J. Phys. 69: 970-977; online at <http://tinyurl.com/sbys4>.

Dori, Y.J. & J. Belcher. 2004. "How Does Technology-Enabled Active Learning Affect Undergraduate Students' Understanding of Electromagnetism Concepts?" The Journal of the Learning Sciences 14(2), online as a 1 MB pdf at <http://tinyurl.com/cqoqt>.

Hake, R.R. 1998a. "Interactive-engagement vs traditional methods: A six-thousand-student survey of mechanics test data for introductory physics courses," Am. J. Phys. 66(1): 64-74; online at <http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~sdi/ajpv3i.pdf> (84 kB).

Hake, R.R. 1998b. "Interactive-engagement methods in introductory mechanics courses," online at <http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~sdi/IEM-2b.pdf> (108 kB) - a crucial companion paper to Hake (1998a).

Hake, R.R. 2007a. "Should We Measure Change? Yes!" online at <http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake/MeasChangeS.pdf> (2.5 MB), or (if that doesn't work) as ref. 43 at <http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake>. To appear as a chapter in "Evaluation of Teaching and Student Learning in Higher Education," a Monograph of the American Evaluation Association <http://www.eval.org/>.

Henderson, C. and M. Dancy. 2006a. "Physics Faculty and Educational Researchers: Divergent Expectations as Barriers to the Diffusion of Innovations," submitted in April 2006 to Am. J. Phys. (Physics Education Research Section); online at
<http://homepages.wmich.edu/~chenders/Publications/DivergentExpectationsSubmitted.pdf> (224 KB).

Henderson, C. & M. Dancy. 2007. "Barriers to the Use of Research-Based Instructional Strategies: The Dual Role of Individual and Situational Characteristics," to be published in Physical Review Special Topics: Physics Education Research; online at
<http://homepages.wmich.edu/~chenders/Publications/HendersonPRST2007Barriers.pdf> (152 KB).

Hoellwarth, C., M. J. Moelter, and R.D. Knight. 2005. "A direct comparison of conceptual learning and problem solving ability in traditional and studio style classrooms," Am. J. Phys. 73(5): 459-463; abstract online at <http://tinyurl.com/br88n>.

Pollock, S. 2004. "No Single Cause: Learning Gains, Student Attitudes, and the Impacts of Multiple Effective Reforms," 2004 Physics Education Research Conference: AIP Conference Proceeding, vol. 790; J. Marx, P. Heron, & S. Franklin, eds., pp. 137-140, online as a 316 kB pdf at <http://tinyurl.com/9tfk4>.

Rogers, E.M. 2003. "Diffusion of Innovations." 5th edition. Free Press.