CANCELLED: Improving Student Learning
The talk by Professor Paula Heron, University of Washington, is unfortunately cancelled. We hope to host Dr. Heron another time.
Dr. Heron is one of the most prominent scholars of physics education. She holds a B.Sc. and an M.Sc. in physics from the University of Ottawa and a Ph.D. in theoretical physics from Western University. She joined the Physics Department at the University of Washington in 1995. Dr. Heron's research focuses on the development of conceptual understanding in topics including mechanics, electricity and magnetism, and thermal physics and on the development of formal reasoning skills.
Title
Improving Student Learning: The Dual Roles of Conceptual Understanding and Reasoning Ability
Abstract
Why do students make errors on science problems? Errors that directly contradict what they have been taught? Errors that don’t arise from the failure to remember the correct formula?
For the past several decades, STEM education researchers have focused on one compelling explanation: students arrive in the classroom with pre-formed ideas about how the world works. Even though they may blend these ideas with those presented in formal instruction, the prior conceptions often win out.
According to these accounts, students’ prior knowledge has been built through rational, if imperfect, processes of observation and analysis, and any new or different ideas presented in the classroom must likewise be built, not simply received. Figuring out what ideas students bring with them to the classroom, and how to take them into account, has proven to be a complex, multi-faceted program of research that has significantly influenced physics teaching.
However, it is not always the case that students produce incorrect answers through logical inferences based on incorrect or inappropriate premises – often they don’t know why they chose a particular answer, just that it seems right. “Dual-process” theories suggest that their answers might not be based on so-called “slow” thinking, which is deliberate and laborious. Instead they might be based on so-called “fast” thinking, which is automatic and effortless.
The basic idea is that students immediately and effortlessly form a first-impression of a physics problem. If this impression is found to be satisfactory, it will be adopted. Otherwise, a deliberate and analytical process ensues. It is believed that this sequence cannot be “turned off.” That is, a first impression will always be formed. If it is attractive, and the benefits of engaging in more effortful thinking are not obvious, then a student may answer incorrectly, masking their conceptual knowledge.
In this talk, I will discuss recent efforts to improve both conceptual understanding and reasoning skills. I will illustrate the process with examples from introductory physics, but connections can be made to other disciplines.