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Meyer, Josephine C.; Passante, Gina; Pollock, Steven J.; Wilcox, Bethany R. – Physical Review Physics Education Research, 2022
Interdisciplinary introduction to quantum information science (QIS) courses are proliferating at universities across the US, but the experiences of instructors in these courses have remained largely unexplored in the discipline-based education research (DBER) communities. Here, we address this gap by reporting on the findings of a survey of…
Descriptors: Quantum Mechanics, Information Science, Interdisciplinary Approach, Introductory Courses
Wilcox, Bethany R.; Pollock, Steven J.; Bolton, Daniel R. – Physical Review Physics Education Research, 2020
The cyclic format of the undergraduate physics curriculum depends on students' ability to recall and utilize material covered in prior courses in order to reliably build on that knowledge in later courses. However, there is evidence to suggest that people often do not retain all, or even most, of what they learned previously. How much information…
Descriptors: Retention (Psychology), Interaction, Introductory Courses, Instructional Effectiveness
Schermerhorn, Benjamin P.; Passante, Gina; Sadaghiani, Homeyra; Pollock, Steven J. – Physical Review Physics Education Research, 2019
Undergraduate quantum mechanics (QM) uses a variety of notations, each with their own advantages and constraints, for representing quantum states and carrying out individual calculations. An example of this can be seen when calculating expectation values, which can be solved using several different methods. Analysis of written exam data given at…
Descriptors: Preferences, Student Attitudes, Computation, Quantum Mechanics
Wilcox, Bethany R.; Pollock, Steven J. – Physical Review Physics Education Research, 2019
Historically, the implementation of research-based assessments (RBAs) has been a driver of educational change within physics and helped motivate adoption of interactive engagement pedagogies. Until recently, RBAs were given to students exclusively on paper and in class; however, this approach has important drawbacks including decentralized data…
Descriptors: Student Behavior, Student Evaluation, Evaluation Methods, Computer Assisted Testing
Ryan, Qing X.; Wilcox, Bethany R.; Pollock, Steven J. – Physical Review Physics Education Research, 2018
Identifying and understanding student difficulties with physics content in a wide variety of topical areas is an active research area within the physics education research community. Of particular value are investigations of physics topics that appear multiple times in different contexts across the undergraduate physics curriculum. As these common…
Descriptors: Physics, Science Instruction, Energy, Difficulty Level
Caballero, Marcos D.; Doughty, Leanne; Turnbull, Anna M.; Pepper, Rachel E.; Pollock, Steven J. – Physical Review Physics Education Research, 2017
Reliable and validated assessments of introductory physics have been instrumental in driving curricular and pedagogical reforms that lead to improved student learning. As part of an effort to systematically improve our sophomore-level classical mechanics and math methods course (CM 1) at CU Boulder, we have developed a tool to assess student…
Descriptors: Mechanics (Physics), Outcomes of Education, Mathematics Instruction, College Faculty
Baily, Charles; Ryan, Qing X.; Astolfi, Cecilia; Pollock, Steven J. – Physical Review Physics Education Research, 2017
As part of ongoing investigations into student learning in advanced undergraduate courses, we have developed a conceptual assessment tool for upper-division electrodynamics (E&M II): the Colorado UppeR-division ElectrodyNamics Test (CURrENT). This is a free response, postinstruction diagnostic with 6 multipart questions, an optional 3-question…
Descriptors: Undergraduate Students, Physics, Science Education, College Science
Wilcox, Bethany R.; Pollock, Steven J. – Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research, 2015
Separation of variables can be a powerful technique for solving many of the partial differential equations that arise in physics contexts. Upper-division physics students encounter this technique in multiple topical areas including electrostatics and quantum mechanics. To better understand the difficulties students encounter when utilizing the…
Descriptors: Physics, Advanced Students, Problem Solving, Calculus
Wilcox, Bethany R.; Pollock, Steven J. – Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research, 2015
Standardized conceptual assessment represents a widely used tool for educational researchers interested in student learning within the standard undergraduate physics curriculum. For example, these assessments are often used to measure student learning across educational contexts and instructional strategies. However, to support the large-scale…
Descriptors: Science Instruction, Scientific Concepts, College Science, Physics
Chasteen, Stephanie V.; Wilcox, Bethany; Caballero, Marcos D.; Perkins, Katherine K.; Pollock, Steven J.; Wieman, Carl E. – Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research, 2015
In response to the need for a scalable, institutionally supported model of educational change, the Science Education Initiative (SEI) was created as an experiment in transforming course materials and faculty practices at two institutions--University of Colorado Boulder (CU) and University of British Columbia. We find that this departmentally…
Descriptors: Physics, Advanced Courses, College Science, Foreign Countries
Wilcox, Bethany R.; Caballero, Marcos D.; Baily, Charles; Sadaghiani, Homeyra; Chasteen, Stephanie V.; Ryan, Qing X.; Pollock, Steven J. – Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research, 2015
The use of validated conceptual assessments alongside conventional course exams to measure student learning in introductory courses has become standard practice in many physics departments. These assessments provide a more standard measure of certain learning goals, allowing for comparisons of student learning across instructors, semesters,…
Descriptors: Student Evaluation, Physics, Tests, Advanced Courses
Wilcox, Bethany R.; Pollock, Steven J. – Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research, 2015
The Dirac delta function is a standard mathematical tool that appears repeatedly in the undergraduate physics curriculum in multiple topical areas including electrostatics, and quantum mechanics. While Dirac delta functions are often introduced in order to simplify a problem mathematically, students still struggle to manipulate and interpret them.…
Descriptors: Science Instruction, Undergraduate Study, College Science, Physics
Sadaghiani, Homeyra R.; Pollock, Steven J. – Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research, 2015
As part of an ongoing investigation of students' learning in first semester upper-division quantum mechanics, we needed a high-quality conceptual assessment instrument for comparing outcomes of different curricular approaches. The process of developing such a tool started with converting a preliminary version of a 14-item open-ended quantum…
Descriptors: Science Instruction, Quantum Mechanics, Mechanics (Physics), Multiple Choice Tests
Wilcox, Bethany R.; Pollock, Steven J. – Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research, 2014
Free-response research-based assessments, like the Colorado Upper-division Electrostatics Diagnostic (CUE), provide rich, fine-grained information about students' reasoning. However, because of the difficulties inherent in scoring these assessments, the majority of the large-scale conceptual assessments in physics are multiple choice. To increase…
Descriptors: Science Tests, Science Process Skills, Student Evaluation, Physics
Pepper, Rachel E.; Chasteen, Stephanie V.; Pollock, Steven J.; Perkins, Katherine K. – Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research, 2012
We discuss common difficulties in upper-division electricity and magnetism (E&M) in the areas of Gauss's law, vector calculus, and electric potential using both quantitative and qualitative evidence. We also show that many of these topical difficulties may be tied to student difficulties with mathematics. At the junior level, some students…
Descriptors: Evidence, Calculus, Pragmatics, Scientific Concepts
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