studying student attitudes and beliefs about physics: their importance and what affects them carl...

Studying Student Attitudes and Beliefs About Physics:

their importance and what affects them

Carl Wieman

Work mostly done by Wendy Adams and Kathy Perkins, also Jack BarberaUniversity of Colorado at Boulder

http://class.colorado.edu

(some also on chem if desired)

• supported by: Hewlett Found., NSF, Univ. of Col., and A. Nobel

• phet.colorado.edu•b. Interactive simulations

•Physics Education Technology Project (PhET)

• >70 simulations• Wide range of physics (& chem) topics. Activities database.• Run in regular web-browser, online or download site.

• laser• balloon and sweater

Lots of research on effectiveness in manydifferent settings. Optimal design.

• balloon and sweater• circuit construction kit• photoelectric• ...

Outline• Measuring attitudes and beliefs:

The CLASS-Phys and CLASS-Chem Survey

• Importance of studying students’ beliefs:– Characterizing beliefs – Chemistry and Physics

–impact of instruction on beliefs

– Correlations between beliefs and … : • Choice of major & pursuit of study• Changes in self-reported interest• (Content learning)

Novice Expert

• Content: isolated pieces of information to be memorized.

• Handed down by an authority. Unrelated to world.

• Problem solving: pattern matching to memorized recipes.

• Beliefs about physics and problem solving

• Content: coherent structure of concepts.

• Describes nature, established by experiment.

• Prob. Solving: Systematic concept-based strategies. Widely applicable.

• *adapted from D. Hammer

Survey development process similar to concept test development

1. Structured interviews with students. Find patterns.2. Open ended written questions- code & classify3. Create survey questions

a. test expert responsesb. validate in student interviews (interpretation

consistent, responses for desired reasons)4. Give to bunch of students- test reliability

The CLASS Survey(Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey)

• Main Goals: – Focus on beliefs about the discipline and learning the discipline – Valid/Reliable across university populations (non-sci to majors)– Probe additional facets of beliefs (problem solving)

• CLASS-Phys (42 statements) & CLASS-Chem (50 statements) (39 common statements)

1. Redish, E., Saul, J. M. Steinberg, R. N., (1998). Amer. Journal of Phys. 2. Halloun, I. E., (1996). Proceedings of the ICUPE.

I think about the physics I experience in everyday life.

It is possible to explain physics ideas without mathematical formulas.

Strongly Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 Strongly Agree

Builds on previous work in physics by (MPEX1 & VASS2)

9. I find that reading the text in detail is a good way for me to learn physics.

10. There is usually only one correct approach to solving a physics problem.

11. I am not satisfied until I understand why something works the way it does.

12. I cannot learn physics if the teacher does not explain things well in class.

13. I do not expect physics equations to help my understanding of the ideas; they are just for doing calculations.

14. I study physics to learn knowledge that will be useful in my life outside of school.

15. If I get stuck on a physics problem on my first try, I usually try to figure out a different way that works.

16. Nearly everyone is capable of understanding physics if they work at it.

17. Understanding physics basically means being able to recall something you've read or been shown.

CLASS: Scoring

I think about the physics I experience in everyday life.

Strongly Disagree Strongly Agree1 2 3 4 5

- Score % Favorable : percentage of students agreeing with expert

- Score % Favorable on overall and categories : percentage of statements for which student agree with expert

• Personal Interest• Real World Connection• Problem Solving (PS) General• PS Confidence• PS Sophistication

• Sense Making / Effort• Conceptual Connections• Conceptual Learning• Atomic-Molecular Perspective of

Chemistry

CLASS-Phys: Adams et al., Physical Review ST - PER CLASS-Chem: Barbera et al., (JCE)

Outline• What do we mean by beliefs?

• Measuring beliefs: The CLASS-Phys and CLASS-Chem Survey



• Can we impact students’ beliefs? • Developing belief surveys

Surveyed beliefs and choice of major• Students who choose to major in physics see

physics as highly relevant and useful in everyday life.

Elementary ed majors

Non-sci majors

Bio & Chem

Whole classmostly engineers

1st yr Phys majors

2nd yr Phys majors & honours

1st and 2nd yr phys grads

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%% Favorable Score (PRE)

(Calc-based Phys I)

‘Personal Interest’‘Overall’

Elementary Ed Majors Don’t!

(Alg-based Phys I)

Distribution of Beliefs

0%5%

10%15%20%25%30%35%40%45%

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100‘Overall’ % Favorable (PRE)

(Percentage of statements for which student agrees w/ expert)

Pe

rce

nta

ge

of

res

po

nd

en

tsAlg-based Phys I (N=309)

Calc-based Phys I (N=389)3rd semester for phys majors (N=61)

expert-likenovice-like

Impact of teaching on students’ beliefs

• MPEX work in Physics: Students’ expectations shift to be more novice (decline of ~5-8% in ‘Overall’ %fav)

• CLASS-Phys results at CU-Boulder:

-15 -10 -5 0 5 10% Favorable

-15 -10 -5 0 5 10Shift in % Favorable (Post-Pre)

Overall

Calc-based Phys II (N = 218)

Alg-based Phys I (N = 128, 312, 306)

Calc-based Phys I (N = 389, 348, 398)

MORE NOVICE MORE EXPERT

Shift in % Favorable (Post-Pre)

minor changes addressing beliefs

Overall

Personal Interest

Real WorldConnection

Problem Solving

ConceptualConnections


-15 -10 -5 0 5 10% Favorable

Calc-based Phys II

Alg-based Phys I

Calc-base Phys I

Impact on categories of students’ beliefs


What about in chemistry?

-15 -10 -5 0 5 10

Overall

Personal Interest

Real WorldConnection

Problem Solving

% Favorable


GenChem 1

GenChem 2

Honors Gen 1Honors Gen 2

N=298N=403N=239N=406N=21N=25


Are we …

Creating majors with expert-like

beliefs

Filtering out those without pre-existing expert-like

beliefs

OR ?

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%All StudentsIntended Physics MajorsMajor in Sp07

Pe

rce

nta

ge

of

res

po

nd

en

ts

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

‘Overall’ % Favorable (PRE)

Beliefs at START of Phys I

Who from Calc-based Phys I, majors in physics?

• Calc-based Phys I (Fa04-Fa05): 1306 students• “Intend to major in physics”: 85 students• Actually majoring in physics in Sp07: 18 students

Most students who end up majoring in physics, arrive at university with expert-like beliefs at the start.

• Beliefs correlate with measures of learning, particularly learning gains on conceptual tests

Surveyed Beliefs and Self-reported Interest

• Students’ beliefs as measured by CLASS, and

• Self-rated interest – supplemental questions

“Currently, what is your level of interest in physics? “

(very low, low, moderate, high, very high)

“During the semester, my interest in physics…”

(increased, decreased, stayed the same)

“Why?” (Open response)

Surveyed Beliefs correlate with Self-reported Interest

0

20

40

60

80

100

0 1 2 3 4 5 6Self-rated Interest (1=Very Low; 5=Very High)

Po

st 'O

vera

ll' %

F

avo

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RawDataAverage

0

10

20

30

40

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100Post ‘Overall’ % Favorable

(rounded to nearest 10)

# o

f s

tud

en

ts

• Calc-based Phys I course (N=391)

• Students’ with higher self-reported interest have more expert-like beliefs.

• Correlation of

R=0.65

Very LowLow

HighVery High

Interest:

How and ‘Why’ students’ interest in physics changes

Increased No change

Decreased

19% 37% 45%

• Change in Interest :% Favorable on CLASS shifted toward novice (-7%)

• Change in Beliefs :

• Reasons given for ‘Why’ interest changed: Coded into 5 types of reasons- Beliefs (as probed by CLASS)- Specific Aspects of Instruction- Personal Success in Course- Comparison with Prior Experience (HS)- Relation to Career Path

• Same course (Calc-based Phys I course; N=391)

Spe

cific

A

spec

ts o

f In

stru

ctio

nR

elat

ion

to

Car

eer

Pla

ns

Per

sona

l S

ucce

ss

Prio

r E

xper

ienc

e

Bel

iefs

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

% o

f S

tud

ents

Calc Phys 1 (A): 19%↑ and 45%↓

Calc Phys 1 (B): 17%↑ and 39%↓

Alg Phys 1: 45%↑ and 16%↓

Reasons for Increased Interest

Reasons ‘Why’ students’ interest change

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

% o

f S

tud

ents

Decreased Interest

• Over 50% of increased interest reasons related to surveyed beliefs

• Top 3 belief reasons: 1. Real World Connection

2. Personal Interest(usefulness)

3. Prob. Solv. Confidence

• Top reason for decreased interest is Specific Aspects of Instruction

Outline• What do we mean by beliefs?

• Measuring beliefs: The CLASS-Phys and CLASS-Chem Survey



• Can we impact students’ beliefs?

Insights and successes in addressing students’ beliefs

Important question:

Do students’ know what experts’ believe or not?

Do students’ know what physicists believe?

Personal Score

1. A significant problem in learning physics is being able to memorize all the information I need to know.

Strongly Agree Strongly Disagree1 2 3 4 5What do YOU think?

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

% O

vera

ll fa

vora

ble

sc

ore

prepost

Personal

prepost

“Physicist”

Courses

PHYS I-Calculus

PHYS I- Algebra

PHYS of Sound

91.9% favPhysics faculty

What would a physicist say? “Physicist” Score

• Conclusion-- students know what physicists believe. They just don’t think those beliefs are true (at least for them).

• Requires persuasion & demonstration, not simply information.

Strategies that have helped

Explicitly attending to beliefs in all aspects of course• Using many real-world, everyday-life contexts • Including conceptual questions• Emphasizing students’ developing and

explaining reasoning, e.g. using peer learning and requiring reasoning.

• Having students explicitly discuss/explain connections, e.g. using compare/contrast cases, including multiple representations.

CU Phys: Seen beliefs hold steady

Summer 08 PERC meetingtwo reports of courses fully designed to address beliefsMaryland PER group & Florida Inter. both got largeexpert-like shifts!

• Attitudes and beliefs about physics and how it is learned are important!

• Traditional teaching often worse than ineffective!

• Explicitly target beliefs works!

Summary

CLASS: Development- Creating statements

represent novice – expert differences (how do biologists think about biology, what do students say that experts would disagree to?)

EXAMPLES SPECIFIC TO FIELD:

Why chemicals react the way they do does not usually make sense to me; I just memorize what happens.

A poem means anything I think it means.

Programming is really mostly debugging.

Chemistry: Surveyed Beliefs correlate with Self-reported Interest

• Gen Chem I Course (N=564)

• Students’ with higher self-reported interest have more expert-like beliefs.

• Correlation of

R=0.60

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

# o

f s

tud

en

ts

Post ‘Overall’ % Favorable

Very LowLow

HighVery High

Interest:

0

20

40

60

80

100

0 1 2 3 4 5 6Self-rated Interest (1=Very Low; 5=Very High)

Po

st 'O

vera

ll' %

F

avo

rab

le

RawDataAverage

Chemistry: Surveyed beliefs & choice of major• Students who choose to major in chemistry see

chemistry as highly relevant and useful in everyday life.

Environmental

Prep for Gen I

General I (non-majors)

Organic II (non-majors)

General I (majors)

Organic II (majors)

Physical I (Juniors-Seniors)

Chem Faculty

0 20 40 60 80 100

‘Personal Interest’‘Overall’

% Favorable Score (PRE)

Majors in same class more expert

Chemistry vs Physics Beliefs: Individual Statements

Why do biology majors see chemistry …. • as having less to do with the real world• as being less conceptual, needing math to explain

chemistry but not making sense of the math. • as being more about memorizing disconnected pieces of

information and sample problems,

?

Chemistry vs Physics Beliefs: Experts

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

120%

Statements sorted by Chem Faculty %Favorable

PHYS CHEM% Favorable

% Unfavorable

Personal beliefs of Physics and Chemistry Faculty

91.9% fav89.4% fav

CLASS: Development- Creating statements

represent novice – expert differences (how do biologists think about biology, what do students say that experts would disagree)

clarity of language use students’ voiceavoid multiple ideas in one statementavoid “intuitive”, “theory”, “domain”, “concept”(in chem: avoid “structure”, specify “equation” and “formula” in

chem)

probe students general beliefs … avoid course-specific beliefs

“in this course ….” (also creates pre-survey issues)

… make appropriate for all levels of students EXAMPLES OF MPEX STATEMENTS DROPPED OR REVISED: A good understanding of physics is necessary for me to achieve my career

goals. A good grade in this course is not enough.Knowledge in physics consists of many pieces of information each of which

applies primarily to a specific situation.

CLASS: Development

- Testing (validating) statementsInterview with students (variety of levels) Collect responses from and interviews with professors (experts)Verify that:

1) Interpretation is clear and consistent 2) Students reasoning for response consistent with response

and with novice-expertness of view3) Professors have consistent response4) Reasonable spread among student responses

- Conducting factor analysis to determine categories need a lot of responses from a variety of students categories emerges from student data (represent student thinking)categories are not determined by expert.

Who from Gen Chem I, majors in chemistry?

• Gen Chem I (Fa06): 567 students• “Intend to major in chemistry”: 60 students

Pe

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‘Overall’ % Favorable (PRE)

Beliefs at START of GEN CHEM

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%All StudentsIntended Chem Majors

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Fav Unfav Fav Unfav

66% 14% 63% 8% 14. I cannot learn chemistry if the teacher does not explain things well in class.

71% 16% 84% 2% 1. A significant problem in learning chemistry is being able to memorize all the information I need to know.

72% 12% 82% 6%9. When I solve a chemistry problem, I locate an equation that uses the variables given in the problem and plug in the values.

72% 8% 84% 3% 16. I study chemistry to learn knowledge that will be useful in my life outside of school.

73% 6% 82% 3% 19. Nearly everyone is capable of understanding chemistry if they work at it.

73% 16% 85% 11% 45. It is possible to explain chemistry ideas without mathematical formulas.

77% 10% 87% 5% 22. To understand chemistry I discuss it with friends and other students.

80% 8% 92% 3%43. To understand chemistry, I sometimes think about my personal experiences and relate them to the topic being analyzed.

PHYSCHEMChemistry vs Physics Beliefs: Experts

Looking at Individual Statements

Statements Pre-fav

4. I think about the chemistry I experience in everyday life.

30%

29. When I see a chemical formula, I try to picture how the atoms are arranged and connected.

36%

43. To understand chemistry, I sometimes think about my personal experiences and relate them to the topic being analyzed.

38%

6. After I study a topic in chemistry and feel that I understand it, I have difficulty solving problems on the same topic.

45%

Gen Chem I

Conclusions

http://class.colorado.edu

• CLASS probes general beliefs about physics or chemistry

• Major findings: • Majors more expert-like than non-majors from the start• Students’ level of interest correlated with beliefs

• Evidence that beliefs drive increases in interest• Biology majors: Less expert-like beliefs about chemistry• Specifically attending to beliefs can avoid regression

Chemistry vs Physics Beliefs• Comparable population; 39 matching statements; PRE-beliefs

Biology Majors in Chem I (CLASS-Chem, N=156) vs Biology Majors in Alg-based Phys I (CLASS-Phys, N=212)

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Unfavorable (%)

Fav

ora

ble

(%

)

OverallReal World ConnectionConceptual ConnectionsApplied ConceptualUnderstanding

PHYS ICHEM I

• ‘Overall’ & 3 categories show statistically significant differences in PRE beliefs

• Biology Majors consistently have more expert-like beliefs about Physics

38. It is possible to explain [] ideas without mathematical formulas.

37. To understand [], I sometimes think about my personal experiences and relate them to the topic being analyzed.

1. A significant problem in learning [] is being able to memorize all the information I need to know.

6. Knowledge in [] consists of many disconnected topics.

17. Understanding [] basically means being able to recall something you've read or been shown.

22. If I want to apply a method used for solving one [] problem to another problem, the problems must involve very similar situations.

29. To learn [], I only need to memorize solutions to sample problems.

35. The subject of [] has little relation to what I experience in the real world.

26. In [], mathematical formulas express meaningful relationships among measurable quantities.

13. I do not expect [] equations to help my understanding of the ideas; they are just for doing calculations.


Statements

0% 40% 80%

PHYS I

CHEM I

% Favorable

0% 40% 80%% Unfavorable










13. I do not expect equations to help my understanding of the idea in []s; they are just for doing calculations.

0% 40% 80%

PHYS I

CHEM I

% Favorable



Statements










13. I do not expect [] equations to help my understanding of the ideas; they are just for doing calculations.

0% 40% 80%% Favorable

PHYS I

CHEM I



Statements

1. A significant problem in learning physics is being able to memorize all the information I need to know.

2. When I am solving a physics problem, I try to decide what would be a reasonable value for the answer.

3. I think about the physics I experience in everyday life.

4. It is useful for me to do lots and lots of problems when learning physics.

5. After I study a topic in physics and feel that I understand it, I have difficulty solving problems on the same topic.

6. Knowledge in physics consists of many disconnected topics.

7. As physicists learn more, most physics ideas we use today are likely to be proven wrong.

8. When I solve a physics problem, I locate an equation that uses the variables given in the problem and plug in the values.

18. There could be two different correct values for the answer to a physics problem if I use two different approaches.

19. To understand physics I discuss it with friends and other students.

20. I do not spend more than five minutes stuck on a physics problem before giving up or seeking help from someone else.

21. If I don't remember a particular equation needed to solve a problem on an exam, there's nothing much I can do (legally!) to come up with it.

22. If I want to apply a method used for solving one physics problem to another problem, the problems must involve very similar situations.

23. In doing a physics problem, if my calculation gives a result very different from what I'd expect, I'd trust the calculation rather than going back through the problem.

24. In physics, it is important for me to make sense out of formulas before I can use them correctly.

25. I enjoy solving physics problems.

26. In physics, mathematical formulas express meaningful relationships among measurable quantities.

27. It is important for the government to approve new scientific ideas before they can be widely accepted.

28. Learning physics changes my ideas about how the world works.

29. To learn physics, I only need to memorize solutions to sample problems.

30. Reasoning skills used to understand physics can be helpful to me in my everyday life.

31. We use this statement to discard the survey of people who are not reading the questions. Please select agree (not strongly agree) for this question.

32. Spending a lot of time understanding where formulas come from is a waste of time.

33. I find carefully analyzing only a few problems in detail is a good way for me to learn physics.

34. I can usually figure out a way to solve physics problems.

35. The subject of physics has little relation to what I experience in the real world.

36. There are times I solve a physics problem more than one way to help my understanding.

37. To understand physics, I sometimes think about my personal experiences and relate them to the topic being analyzed.

38. It is possible to explain physics ideas without mathematical formulas.

39. When I solve a physics problem, I explicitly think about which physics ideas apply to the problem.

40. If I get stuck on a physics problem, there is no chance I'll figure it out on my own.

41. It is possible for physicists to carefully perform the same experiment and get two very different results that are both correct.

42. When studying physics, I relate the important information to what I already know rather than just memorizing it the way it is presented.

• During this Term, my interest in physics: increased decreased stayed about the same

• Why?

studying student attitudes and beliefs about physics: their importance and what affects them carl...

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