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Physics laboratory courses have been generally acknowledged as an important component of the undergraduate curriculum, particularly with respect to developing students' interest in, and understanding of, experimental physics. There are a number of possible learning goals for these courses including reinforcing physics concepts, developing laboratory skills, and promoting expertlike beliefs about the nature of experimental physics. However, there is little consensus among instructors and researchers interested in the laboratory learning environment as to the relative importance of these various learning goals. Here, we contribute data to this debate through the analysis of students' responses to the laboratory-focused assessment known as the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey for Experimental Physics (E-CLASS). Using a large, national data set of students' responses, we compare students' E-CLASS performance in classes in which the instructor self-reported focusing on developing skills, reinforcing concepts, or both. As the classification of courses was based on instructor self-report, we also provide additional description of these courses with respect to how often students engage in particular activities in the lab. We find that courses that focus specifically on developing lab skills have more expertlike postinstruction E-CLASS responses than courses that focus either on reinforcing physics concepts or on both goals. Within first-year courses, this effect is larger for women. Moreover, these findings hold when controlling for the variance in postinstruction scores that is associated with preinstruction E-CLASS scores, student major, and student gender.
Physical Review Physics Education Research: Volume 13, Issue 1, Pages 010108
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![]() <a href="https://www.per-central.org/items/detail.cfm?ID=14358">Wilcox, Bethany, and Heather J. Lewandowski. "Developing skills versus reinforcing concepts in physics labs: Insight from a survey of students’ beliefs about experimental physics." Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 13, no. 1, (February 15, 2017): 010108.</a>
![]() B. Wilcox and H. Lewandowski, , Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 13 (1), 010108 (2017), WWW Document, (https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.13.010108).
![]() B. Wilcox and H. Lewandowski, Developing skills versus reinforcing concepts in physics labs: Insight from a survey of students’ beliefs about experimental physics, Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 13 (1), 010108 (2017), <https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.13.010108>.
![]() Wilcox, B., & Lewandowski, H. (2017, February 15). Developing skills versus reinforcing concepts in physics labs: Insight from a survey of students’ beliefs about experimental physics. Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res., 13(1), 010108. Retrieved February 9, 2025, from https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.13.010108
![]() Wilcox, Bethany, and Heather J. Lewandowski. "Developing skills versus reinforcing concepts in physics labs: Insight from a survey of students’ beliefs about experimental physics." Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 13, no. 1, (February 15, 2017): 010108, https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.13.010108 (accessed 9 February 2025).
![]() Wilcox, Bethany, and Heather J. Lewandowski. "Developing skills versus reinforcing concepts in physics labs: Insight from a survey of students’ beliefs about experimental physics." Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 13.1 (2017): 010108. 9 Feb. 2025 <https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.13.010108>.
![]() @article{
Author = "Bethany Wilcox and Heather J. Lewandowski",
Title = {Developing skills versus reinforcing concepts in physics labs: Insight from a survey of students’ beliefs about experimental physics},
Journal = {Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res.},
Volume = {13},
Number = {1},
Pages = {010108},
Month = {February},
Year = {2017}
}
![]() %A Bethany Wilcox %A Heather J. Lewandowski %T Developing skills versus reinforcing concepts in physics labs: Insight from a survey of students' beliefs about experimental physics %J Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. %V 13 %N 1 %D February 15, 2017 %P 010108 %I American Physical Society %C College Park %U https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.13.010108 %O application/pdf ![]() %0 Journal Article %A Wilcox, Bethany %A Lewandowski, Heather J. %D February 15, 2017 %T Developing skills versus reinforcing concepts in physics labs: Insight from a survey of students' beliefs about experimental physics %J Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. %I American Physical Society %V 13 %N 1 %P 010108 %8 February 15, 2017 %U https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.13.010108 Disclaimer: ComPADRE offers citation styles as a guide only. We cannot offer interpretations about citations as this is an automated procedure. Please refer to the style manuals in the Citation Source Information area for clarifications.
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