Normalized gain, g, has been the standard statistic in PER for the past two decades, but its statistical properties haven’t been explored until recently.
Continue reading
Author: Nick Young
I am a physics and computational mathematics, science, and engineering PhD student at Michigan State University and the founder of PERbites. I'm interested in applying machine learning to analyze educational datasets and am currently studying the physics graduate school admissions process.
The Original Case for Active Learning
Arguably one of the most significant papers in physics education, this paper gave strong evidence in favor of active learning over traditional lecture courses.
Continue reading
What’s DAT? A new approach to departmental change
DATs are a new way to create long-term, sustainable changes in an academic department.
Continue reading
What can explain the gender gap on conceptual inventories?
Men score better than women do on physics conceptual inventories and the reasons aren’t straightforward.
Continue reading
What do students think about experimental physics?
Lecture courses have been extensively studied but lab courses have not been. Are students developing the beliefs we would expect them to in lab courses?
Continue reading
What do students think will happen to the universe?
Students learn astronomy informally through various forms of media. How does this inform their ideas about the fate of universe?
Continue reading
Can Math Tutorials Improve Physics Grades?
Math is essential to solving physics problems. Does improving students’ math skills help them do better in physics?
Continue reading
Maybe students can complete introductory physics and still have a positive view of physics
Traditional lecture courses leave students with more negative attitudes about physics when they finish the course than when they begin. Modeling Instruction may be different.
Continue reading
What makes a physics problem similar to another: professors vs students
It may be obvious that physics professors and introductory students solve physics problems differently. However, how they differ may not be so obvious.
Continue reading
Why choose physics over another science?
Physics and Chemistry are similar in terms of prerequisites, difficulty, and admission standards. So why do more women chose chemistry instead of physics?
Continue reading