Browsing by Author "Lubben, Fred"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    Effectiveness of a GUM-compliant course for teaching measurement in the introductory physics laboratory
    (European Physical Society, 2008) Pillay, Seshini; Buffler, Andy; Lubben, Fred; Allie, Saalih
    An evaluation of a course aimed at developing university students' understanding of the nature of scientific measurement and uncertainty is described. The course materials follow the framework for metrology as recommended in the Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement (GUM). The evaluation of the course is based on responses to written questionnaires administered to a cohort of 76 first year physics students both pre- and post-instruction, which were interpreted in terms of 'point' or 'set' reasoning. These findings are compared with responses from a control group of 70 students who completed a similar laboratory course apart from the use of traditional approaches to measurement and data analysis. The results suggest that the GUM framework, together with the specific teaching strategies described, provides opportunities for more effective learning of measurement and uncertainty in the introductory laboratory.
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    Impact of a conventional introductory laboratory course on the understanding of measurement
    (American Physical Society, 2008) Volkwyn, Trevor S; Allie, Saalih; Buffler, Andy; Lubben, Fred
    Conventional physics laboratory courses generally include an emphasis on increasing students' ability to carry out data analysis according to scientific practice, in particular, those aspects that relate to measurement uncertainty. This study evaluates the efficacy of the conventional approach by analyzing the understanding of measurement of freshmen following the physics major sequence, i.e., top achievers, with regard to data collection, data processing, and data comparison, through pre and post-instruction tests by using an established instrument. The findings show that the laboratory course improved the performance of the majority of students insofar as the more mechanical aspects of data collection and data processing were concerned. However, only about 20% of the cohort of physics majors exhibited a deeper understanding of measurement uncertainty required for data comparison.
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    Profiles of freshman physics' views on the nature of science
    (Wiley, 2009) Ibrahim, Bashirah; Buffler, Andy; Lubben, Fred
    The views on various aspects of the nature of science (NOS) of 179 novice undergraduate physics students were investigated using six open-ended, written probes. These views were consolidated within compact NOS “profiles,” which were designed based on the students' responses to the probes. These profiles may be understood as sets of key descriptors, which represented the variation in the views of individual students in a succinct way. The views of 86% of the sample were found to be represented by four profiles, each containing five descriptors. The consequences for the teaching and learning of tertiary science, and advantages for linking NOS views to other research observables were explored.
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    Strategies adopted by undergraduate physics students when modelling solutions to hands-on tasks
    (2014) Fearon, John Edward; Buffler, Andy; Lubben, Fred
    Over the last three to four decades there has been a focus on the role of models and modelling in physics education. At the same time, there has also been a move away from the use of recipe-style tasks in physics laboratories to inquiry-based problem solving. From the ensuing research, model-based views of physics have emerged which have contributed to the fields of pedagogy as well as epistemology; the contribution depending on whether the research interest has been that of education or philosophy of science. And while there is still some consensus seeking on the nature and definitions of modelling, there has in recent years been a shift to research questions that consider how models are constructed by students when engaged in hands-on tasks. Model-based instruction courses have been researched at length, but there is a perceived gap in the research that considers the hands-on strategies that are actually employed by 1st-year university students who are in a teaching and learning environment in which the physics curriculum emphasises the modelling of real world systems. This study contributes to this research area in that it investigates the strategies students actually adopt when engaged in student-driven, hands-on laboratory tasks and interprets those strategies in terms of a particular model-based view of physics; a model-based view that posits that the processes of modelling are those of the particularisation and application of physics theory, the idealisation and approximation of real world phenomena, and the eventual realisation of a conceptual model.