Comparing pre/post item response curves to identify changes in misconceptions

Walter, Paul J.; Smith, Trevor I.

» home » Detail Page

Conference Proceedings Detail Page

Comparing pre/post item response curves to identify changes in misconceptions

written by Paul J. Walter and Trevor I. Smith

We use quantitative measures and visual inspection to compare the item response curves (IRCs) of matched pre-/post-instruction Force Concept Inventory (FCI) data. We find that the IRCs are not static; the pre-instruction IRCs differ from the post-instruction IRCs by more than can be explained by random chance. This result is also the case for a subpopulation consisting of students who make little or no gains on the FCI, suggesting that learning is taking place even when scores do not change appreciably. We consider three items where students make substantial progress (item 4) or little progress (items 14 and 21) compared to overall changes in FCI scores.

Physics Education Research Conference 2021
Part of the PER Conference series
Virtual Conference: August 4-5, 2021
Pages 426-431

download 1755kb .pdf
Last Modified: October 4, 2021

Subjects	Levels	Resource Types
Education - Basic Research - Assessment = Conceptual Assessment = Instruments = Methods - Research Design & Methodology = Statistics	- Lower Undergraduate	- Reference Material = Research study

PER-Central Type	Intended Users	Ratings
- PER Literature	- Researchers	Currently 0.0/5 Want to rate this material? Login here!

Format:: application/pdf
Mirror:: https://doi.org/10.1119/perc.2021…
Access Rights:: Free access
License:: This material is released under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the published article's author(s), title, proceedings citation, and DOI.
Rights Holder:: American Association of Physics Teachers
DOI:: 10.1119/perc.2021.pr.Walter
NSF Number:: 1836470
Keyword:: PERC 2021
Record Creator:: Metadata instance created October 4, 2021 by Lyle Barbato
Record Updated:: October 7, 2021 by Lyle Barbato
Last Update when Cataloged:: October 10, 2021

Post a new comment on this item

ComPADRE is beta testing Citation Styles!

Record Link

<a href="https://www.per-central.org/items/detail.cfm?ID=15792">Walter, Paul J., and Trevor I. Smith. "Comparing pre/post item response curves to identify changes in misconceptions." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2021, Virtual Conference, August 4-5, 2021.</a>

AIP Format

P. Walter and T. Smith, , presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2021, Virtual Conference, 2021, WWW Document, (https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=15792&DocID=5521).

AJP/PRST-PER

P. Walter and T. Smith, Comparing pre/post item response curves to identify changes in misconceptions, presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2021, Virtual Conference, 2021, <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=15792&DocID=5521>.

APA Format

Walter, P., & Smith, T. (2021, August 4-5). Comparing pre/post item response curves to identify changes in misconceptions. Paper presented at Physics Education Research Conference 2021, Virtual Conference. Retrieved December 14, 2024, from https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=15792&DocID=5521

Chicago Format

Walter, Paul J., and Trevor I. Smith. "Comparing pre/post item response curves to identify changes in misconceptions." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2021, Virtual Conference, August 4-5, 2021. https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=15792&DocID=5521 (accessed 14 December 2024).

MLA Format

Walter, Paul J., and Trevor I. Smith. "Comparing pre/post item response curves to identify changes in misconceptions." Physics Education Research Conference 2021. Virtual Conference: 2021. 426-431 of PER Conference. 14 Dec. 2024 <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=15792&DocID=5521>.

BibTeX Export Format

@inproceedings{ Author = "Paul J. Walter and Trevor I. Smith", Title = {Comparing pre/post item response curves to identify changes in misconceptions}, BookTitle = {Physics Education Research Conference 2021}, Pages = {426-431}, Address = {Virtual Conference}, Series = {PER Conference}, Month = {August 4-5}, Year = {2021} }

Refer Export Format

%A Paul J. Walter %A Trevor I. Smith %T Comparing pre/post item response curves to identify changes in misconceptions %S PER Conference %D August 4-5 2021 %P 426-431 %C Virtual Conference %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=15792&DocID=5521 %O Physics Education Research Conference 2021 %O August 4-5 %O application/pdf

EndNote Export Format

%0 Conference Proceedings %A Walter, Paul J. %A Smith, Trevor I. %D August 4-5 2021 %T Comparing pre/post item response curves to identify changes in misconceptions %B Physics Education Research Conference 2021 %C Virtual Conference %P 426-431 %S PER Conference %8 August 4-5 %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=15792&DocID=5521

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.

Citation Source Information

The AIP Style presented is based on information from the AIP Style Manual.

The AJP/PRST-PER presented is based on the AIP Style with the addition of journal article titles and conference proceeding article titles.

The APA Style presented is based on information from APA Style.org: Electronic References.

The Chicago Style presented is based on information from Examples of Chicago-Style Documentation.

The MLA Style presented is based on information from the MLA FAQ.