Related papers: Best Practices for Administering Concept Inventori…
Although the Synthetic Control Method (SCM) is now widely applied, its most commonly-used inference method, placebo test, is often problematic, especially when the treatment is not uniquely assigned. This paper discuss the problems with the…
Traditional problem-based exams are not efficient instruments for assessing the "structure" of physics students' conceptual knowledge or for providing diagnostically detailed feedback to students and teachers. We present the Free Term Entry…
This study presents a review of the current state of research on teaching quantum mechanics in secondary and lower undergraduate education. A conceptual approach to quantum mechanics is being implemented in more and more introductory…
The notion of concept drift refers to the phenomenon that the distribution, which is underlying the observed data, changes over time; as a consequence machine learning models may become inaccurate and need adjustment. Many unsupervised…
The use of lab notebooks for scientific documentation is a ubiquitous part of physics research. However, it is common for undergraduate physics laboratory courses not to emphasize the development of documentation skills, despite the fact…
These lectures deal with the problem of inductive inference, that is, the problem of reasoning under conditions of incomplete information. Is there a general method for handling uncertainty? Or, at least, are there rules that could in…
Concept Induction refers to the problem of creating complex Description Logic class descriptions (i.e., TBox axioms) from instance examples (i.e., ABox data). In this paper we look particularly at the case where both a set of positive and a…
Assessing forecasting performance is a time intensive activity, often requiring months or years before we know whether or not the reported forecasts were accurate. Cognitive tests can be quickly administered and are predictive of…
This proposal presents a methodology called enriched three-tier test, based on a similar test previously discussed in the literature. Ours consists of the use of justification and degrees of confidence combined with a multiple-choice test.…
Our main goal is to develop plans to increase physics enrollment. Once again we thoroughly analyze the problem from the beginning and reach the conclusion that the most appropriate starting point in this direction should be to look into…
Assessments are usually thought of as ways for instructors to get information from students. In this work, we flip this perspective and explore how assessments communicate information to students. Specifically, we consider how assessments…
We propose a unified approach to addition of some physical quantities (among which resistors and capacitors are the most well-known) that are usually encountered in introductory physics such that the formulae required to solve problems are…
The Institute of Physics New Quantum Curriculum (quantumphysics.iop.org) consists of online texts and interactive simulations with accompanying activities for an introductory course in quantum mechanics starting from two-level systems.…
Effective teaching relies on knowing what students know-or think they know. Revealing student thinking is challenging. Often used because of their ease of grading, even the best multiple choice (MC) tests, those using research based…
This paper presents the authors recommended practices for spreadsheet testing. Documented spreadsheet error rates are unacceptable in corporations today. Although improvements are needed throughout the systems development life cycle,…
Since the introduction of quantum mechanics, it has been taught mostly as a theoretical subject. It is also viewed as a theory that provides a best understanding of the nature, but which does not have much practical applications in our day…
Studies indicate that pre-existing misconceptions negatively impact the effectiveness of traditional physics education. Research has also shown that activity based instruction improves posttest scores on conceptual evaluations. However, the…
We consider the problem of inference in shift-share research designs. The choice between existing approaches that allow for unrestricted spatial correlation involves tradeoffs, varying in terms of their validity when there are relatively…
Many complex problems are naturally understood in terms of symbolic concepts. For example, our concept of "cat" is related to our concepts of "ears" and "whiskers" in a non-arbitrary way. Fodor (1998) proposes one theory of concepts, which…
There exist dozens of interpretations of quantum theory, but they do not seem to contribute much to understanding the theory. This paper attempts to clarify some issues that are discussed in those interpretations. The main keywords are:…