Thesis Detail Page
Designing an Energy Assessment to Evaluate Student Understanding of Energy Topics
written by
Lin Ding
The well-established approaches to energy in traditional introductory mechanics courses are often oversimplified or even erroneous. Unlike the traditional courses, Matter & Interactions (M&I) Modern Mechanics presents students a scientific view of energy by emphasizing the energy principle and the atomic nature of matter. Motivated by a great need for an appropriate assessment tool that matches the accurate approaches to energy as employed in the M&I mechanics course, this study carries out a valid and reliable energy assessment to evaluate student understanding of energy topics. This energy assessment is a 33-item multiple-choice test and is suitable for the M&I mechanics course or courses of similar content and approaches. In general, questions in the energy assessment test higher-level thinking yet involve only short reasoning processes.
Students from different academic levels participated in completing the energy assessment. The majority participants are students from the M&I mechanics course who took both the pretest and posttest in the 2006 fall semester at North Carolina State University. Results from a series of quantitative analyses show that the M&I students performed significantly better in the posttest than in the pretest not only on the entire assessment, but also on most of the individual items and all the test objectives. Moreover, a small number of student interviews were conducted to probe student reasoning. Qualitative analyses of the student interviews indicate that students are able to use the energy principle correctly to tackle physics questions if they choose to start from the fundamental principles. Another aspect highlighted in the interviews is that students are capable of performing qualitative analysis without using exact formulas.
University:
North Carolina State University
Academic Department: Physics Pages 264
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<a href="https://www.per-central.org/items/detail.cfm?ID=5345">Ding, Lin. "Designing an Energy Assessment to Evaluate Student Understanding of Energy Topics." Ph.D., North Carolina State University, 2007.</a>
AIP Format
L. Ding, , Ph.D., North Carolina State University, 2007, WWW Document, (https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=5345&DocID=2844).
AJP/PRST-PER
L. Ding, Designing an Energy Assessment to Evaluate Student Understanding of Energy Topics, Ph.D., North Carolina State University, 2007, <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=5345&DocID=2844>.
APA Format
Ding, L. (2007, May 14). Designing an Energy Assessment to Evaluate Student Understanding of Energy Topics (Ph.D., North Carolina State University, 2007). Retrieved October 5, 2024, from https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=5345&DocID=2844
Chicago Format
Ding, Lin. "Designing an Energy Assessment to Evaluate Student Understanding of Energy Topics." Ph.D., North Carolina State University, 2007. https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=5345&DocID=2844 (accessed 5 October 2024).
MLA Format
Ding, Lin. "Designing an Energy Assessment to Evaluate Student Understanding of Energy Topics." Ph.D.. 14 May 2007. North Carolina State University, 2007. 5 Oct. 2024 <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=5345&DocID=2844>.
BibTeX Export Format
@phdthesis{
Author = "Lin Ding",
Title = {Designing an Energy Assessment to Evaluate Student Understanding of Energy Topics},
School = {North Carolina State University},
Type = {Ph.D.},
Month = {May},
Year = {2007}
}
Refer Export Format
%A Lin Ding %T Designing an Energy Assessment to Evaluate Student Understanding of Energy Topics %R Ph.D. %D May 14, 2007 %P 264 %I North Carolina State University %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=5345&DocID=2844 %O Physics %O application/pdf %O Ph.D.
EndNote Export Format
%0 Thesis %A Ding, Lin %D May 14, 2007 %T Designing an Energy Assessment to Evaluate Student Understanding of Energy Topics %B Physics %I North Carolina State University %P 264 %8 May 14, 2007 %9 Ph.D. %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=5345&DocID=2844 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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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. Designing an Energy Assessment to Evaluate Student Understanding of Energy Topics:
References Key Document
Energy Concept Assessment
The Energy Concept Assessment, appendix B & C of Ding's thesis, is provided separately in a password protected file to help ensure its integrity. Know of another related resource? Login to relate this resource to it. |
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