Survey and Survey Results (PDF) (HTML)
Figures and Statistics for Grade Improvement with Worksheets
Student learning was measured by worksheets and exams. During the semester I pioneered my worksheets, the same course was taught concurrently in a traditional lecture style by a colleague. We assigned the same homework and tested students using the same exams. The exams were comprised of half multiple choice questions and half short-answer/picture questions similar to worksheet questions. Mean exam scores for students in the worksheet-based class were significantly higher for three of the four exams. The mean final course grades for students who used worksheets during class were 4.5% higher than the traditional lecture course (see Figures and Statistics). While the entire distribution shifted toward higher grades when worksheets were incorporated into class, a particularly notable improvement was in the modal scores. The most common grade for the lecture-based course was between 65-70% compared to the course involving worksheets, in which the highest number of students achieved 75-80%. This shift is consistent with the results Eric Mazur achieved he enhanced his physics course with peer instruction techniques (Mazur, 1997).
I also surveyed my students midway through the semester to gauge their perception of the value of worksheets (see Survey and Survey Results
(PDF) (HTML)). Most of the students agreed or strongly agreed that the worksheets helped them learn the material better.
Anecdotally, these worksheets appeared to help students better understand difficult physics concepts. Students seemed more willing to work with peers as time passed, and performance on worksheets improved over the course of the semester (see Student Work).
When students made mistakes expressing concepts in words, their misconceptions were similar to those discussed in the “Instructors Guide” to the textbook “Physics for Scientists and Engineers.” One direct benefit that came from discussing worksheets is that I could use students’ own words –as opposed to the text -- as a starting point for discussing these misconceptions. For example, one common conceptual stumbling block for students in physics involves understanding that if a variable equals zero, the rate of change of that variable is not necessarily zero. Distinguishing between zero electrical potential and zero electrical field requires that students understand that the field is the derivative of potential energy. Even after completing homework problems, students could not explain this concept in words when they attempted the worksheets. Because the completed worksheets provided examples of the misconceptions, I used the mistakes I identified in the worksheet solutions as a springboard for providing correct explanations and new examples of electrical potential and field. Such timely responses to misconceptions may be one reason exam scores improved with the use of worksheets in class.
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