The viability of using complexity science in physics education research (PER) is exemplified by (1) situating central tenets of student persistence research in complexity science and (2) drawing on the methods that become available from this to illustrate analyzing the structural aspects of students' networked interactions as an important dynamic…

Numerical problem solving in classical mechanics in university physics education offers a learning situation where students have many possibilities of control and creativity. In this study, expertlike beliefs about physics and learning physics together with prior knowledge were the most important predictors of the quality of performance of a task…

We present three models of equity and show how these, along with the statistical measures used to evaluate results, impact interpretation of equity in education reform. Equity can be defined and interpreted in many ways. Most equity education reform research strives to achieve equity by closing achievement gaps between groups. An example is given…

In this meta-analysis, we synthesize the results of 24 studies using the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey (CLASS) and the Maryland Physics Expectations Survey (MPEX) to answer several questions: (1) How does physics instruction impact students' beliefs? (2) When do physics majors develop expert-like beliefs? and (3) How do…

We have conducted an investigation into how well students in introductory science classes (both physics and chemistry) are able to predict which questions they will or will not be able to answer correctly on an upcoming assessment. An examination of the data at the level of students' overall scores reveals results consistent with the…

Students often make mistakes in physics courses and are expected to identify, correct, and learn from their mistakes, usually with some assistance from an instructor, textbook, or fellow students. This aid may come in many forms, such as problem solutions that are given to a class, tutoring to an individual student, or a peer discussion among…

Compared with introductory physics, relatively little is known about the development of expertise in advanced physics courses, especially in the case of quantum mechanics. Here, we describe a framework for understanding the patterns of student reasoning difficulties and how students develop expertise in quantum mechanics. The framework posits that…

In our pilot studies, we found that many introductory physics textbook illustrations with supporting text for sound standing waves of air columns in open-open, open-closed, and closed-closed pipes inhibit student understanding of sound standing wave phenomena due to student misunderstanding of how air molecules move within these pipes. Based on…

By analysis of student use of mathematics in responses to conceptual physics questions, as well as analogous math questions stripped of physical meaning, we have previously found evidence that students often enter upper-level physics courses lacking the assumed prerequisite mathematics knowledge and/or the ability to apply it productively in a…

We present results from a comparative study of student understanding for students who attended recitation classes that used different teaching methods. Student volunteers from our introductory calculus-based physics course attended a special recitation class that was taught using one of four different teaching methods. A total of 272 students were…

We report on a project to introduce interactive learning strategies (ILS) to physics classes at the Université Pierre et Marie Curie, one of the leading science universities in France. In Spring 2012, instructors in two large introductory classes, first-year, second-semester mechanics, and second-year introductory electricity and magnetism,…

Solving physics problem in university physics education using a computational approach requires knowledge and skills in several domains, for example, physics, mathematics, programming, and modeling. These competences are in turn related to students' beliefs about the domains as well as about learning. These knowledge and beliefs components are…

We recently developed a multiple-choice conceptual survey in mechanical waves. The development, evaluation, and demonstration of the use of the survey were reported elsewhere [A. Tongchai et al. Int. J. Sci. Educ. 31 2437 (2009)]. We administered the survey to 902 students from seven different groups ranging from high school to second year…

In prior research, the classification of concepts into three types--descriptive, hypothetical and theoretical--has allowed for the association of students' use of different concept types with their level of understanding. Previous studies have also examined the ways in which students link concepts to determine whether students have a meaningful…

We use clustering, an analysis method not presently common to the physics education research community, to group and characterize student responses to written questions about two-dimensional kinematics. Previously, clustering has been used to analyze multiple-choice data; we analyze free-response data that includes both sketches of vectors and…