[LON-CAPA-cvs] cvs: modules /gerd/discussions/paper discussions.bib discussions.tex

[www]

www		Wed Jan  4 15:07:16 2006 EDT

  Modified files:              
    /modules/gerd/discussions/paper	discussions.bib discussions.tex 
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Index: modules/gerd/discussions/paper/discussions.bib
diff -u modules/gerd/discussions/paper/discussions.bib:1.8 modules/gerd/discussions/paper/discussions.bib:1.9
--- modules/gerd/discussions/paper/discussions.bib:1.8	Tue Dec 13 10:13:10 2005
+++ modules/gerd/discussions/paper/discussions.bib	Wed Jan  4 15:07:12 2006
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@
 }
 
 @BOOK{redish,
-   author = "Edward F. (Joe) Redish",
+   author = "Edward F. Redish",
    title = "Teaching Physics",
    isbn="0-471-39378-9",
    publisher="Wiley",
@@ -112,10 +112,34 @@
    title = " The Influence of Web-Based Homework on Quantitative Problem-Solving in a University Physics Class"
 }
 
-@BOOK{pascarellathesis,
+@PHDTHESIS{pascarellathesis,
    year = "2004",
    title = "Unpublished PhD. Thesis: CAPA (Computer-Assisted Personalized Assignments) in a Large University Setting",
    author = "Andrea Pascarella",
    year = "2002",
    publisher="University of Colorado, Boulder"
 }
+
+@ARTICLE{aleven,
+   author = "Vincent Aleven and Elmar Stahl and Silke Schworm and Frank Fischer and Raven Wallace",
+   year = "2003",
+   journal = "Review of Education Research",
+   volume = "73",
+   pages = "277-320",
+   title = "Help Seeking and Help Design in Interactive Learning Environments"
+}
+                                                                                                                                                     
+@ARTICLE{mpex,
+   author = "Edward F. Redish and Richard N. Steinberg and Jeffery M. Saul",
+   year = "1998",
+   journal = "Am. J. Phys.",
+   volume = "66",
+   pages = "212-224",
+   title = "Student Expectations in Introductory Physics"
+}
+                                                                                                                                                     
+@MISC{fci,
+   author = "Ibrahim Halloun and Rchard R. Hake and E. P. Mosca and David Hestenes",
+   url= "http://modeling.la.asu.edu/R&E/Research.html",
+   title = "Force Concept Inventory"
+}
Index: modules/gerd/discussions/paper/discussions.tex
diff -u modules/gerd/discussions/paper/discussions.tex:1.31 modules/gerd/discussions/paper/discussions.tex:1.32
--- modules/gerd/discussions/paper/discussions.tex:1.31	Wed Jan  4 13:38:25 2006
+++ modules/gerd/discussions/paper/discussions.tex	Wed Jan  4 15:07:12 2006
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-\documentclass[twocolumn,showpacs,preprintnumbers,amsmath,amssymb]{revtex4}
+\documentclass[twocolumn,showpacs,preprintnumbers,amsmath,amssymb,floatfix]{revtex4}
 %\documentclass[preprint,showpacs,preprintnumbers,amsmath,amssymb]{revtex4}
 
 % Some other (several out of many) possibilities
@@ -609,7 +609,7 @@
 assumption that solving the problem correctly is a reliable indicator of the concept or problem solving strategy being successfully communicated. What the (expert) instructor had in mind, and what the
 (novice) learner actually does, can be worlds apart~\cite{lin,chi}. Students are going through reasoning processes and steps that are hardly imaginable to the instructor, and more often than not do several times more work
 than necessary. The situation that they get a problem right for the wrong reasons is rare, but the instances that they get the problem correct with the same (minimal) amount of steps that an expert 
-would are equally rare --- in the end, the concept that was meant to be communicated is lost.
+would are equally rare --- in the end, the concept that was meant to be communicated is lost, since due to their approach, the students ``don't see the forest for the trees."
 
 As an example, consider the example Figure~\ref{fig:discussionexample}: there is no external torque, and the problem was meant as a simple example of angular momentum conservation. Since the disk has several centimeters radius, a bug can safely be approximated as a point mass. It is $(\frac{1}{2}m_dr^2+m_b0^2)\omega_0=(\frac{1}{2}m_dr^2+m_br^2)\omega$, and therefore $\omega=\omega_0m_d/(m_d+2m_b)$. As long as the disk is much larger than the bug, the result is independent of its radius, and no unit conversions are needed. Several things jump out to the expert reader of the discussion:
 \begin{itemize}
@@ -647,7 +647,11 @@
 Discussions around single-response multiple choice problems and numerical problems have a significantly lower prominance of conceptual discussions than other problem types.
 Ranking problems show very favorable discussion patterns, but their sample size has been too small to make definitive statements. 
 \end{description}
-Analyzing online discussions around problems has been found to provide valuable insights into student problem-solving strategies. 
+Analyzing online discussions around problems has been found to provide valuable insights into student problem-solving strategies.
+\section{Outlook}
+In this current study, little is known about the student except their gender and final course grade, and the analysis of discussion behavior by student characteristics thus yielded less results than the study by problem characteristics.
+Research~\cite{aleven} suggests that learning processes are strongly influenced by epistemological beliefs, and it will be interesting to analyze the correlation between attitudes and beliefs (as measured for example by the MPEX~\cite{mpex}) regarding physics and online discussion behavior.
+Also, the final grade in the course incorporates a lot of factors, and interactions with for example the FCI~\cite{fci} gains might result in better correlations to the students' conceptual understanding of physics.
 \begin{acknowledgments}
 Supported by the National Science Foundation under NSF-ITR 0085921 and NSF-CCLI-ASA 0243126. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this 
 publication are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.