Re: [Phys-l] the role of simulation

["John Clement" <clement@hal-pc.org>]

> Hi all-
>  	It is certainly an alleged fact, because John alleged it in his
> e-mail.  It may also be a fact, I have no way of telling from John's
> e-mail.  Nor, incidentally have I found the so-called "experiment" that
> John claims to have 'referenced".
>  	John's posting raisesan interesting question in the field of
> Physics Teaching - to the extent that there is such a field.  Namely,
> under what conditios have I performed a reportable "experiment".  I have
> an algebra test that I've given to several classes of first year college
> physics students.  Am I justified in reporting the average grade achieved
> on the test ?  And would the editor of AJP, for example, be justified in
> publishing it?  If so, under what circumstance?
>  	Regards,
>  			Jack

If the test had been designed according to sound principles, it might be
reportable.  One would have to assess its validity, and this would mean some
sort of interview protocols, and probably tests of validity.

But just having a valid test would not be enough.  It would have to be
tested under different pedagogical methods, or it would have to be
correlated with other variables.

At present there are a number of tests which have been developed and are
being used for standard comparison between classes.  These tests have been
reported in AJP, and in other journals.

If the article is deemed not to be of interest to the community, it might be
rejected for reasons other than soundness of research.  And at present PER
has been recognized at a number of universities as a valid line of research.
It even has its own journal now.  AJP and TPT have only a comparatively few
PER articles.

Apparently my message with the location of one of the articles got through
because others have read it.  It should be in the archives.

John M. Clement
Houston, TX