PERC 2015 Abstract Detail Page
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| Abstract Title: | Advanced Lab as a Community of Practice |
|---|---|
| Abstract: | We use the theory of Communities of Practice and the concept of Accountable Disciplinary Knowledge to describe how a learning community develops in the context of an upper-division physics laboratory course. The change in accountable disciplinary knowledge motivates students' enculturation into a community of practice. The enculturation process is facilitated by four specific structural features of the course and supported by a primary instructional choice. We don't focus on the physics that students learn; rather we focus on how their interactions with each other and the equipment show classroom community development. We support our claims with video-based observations of laboratory classroom interactions and individual, semistructured interviews with students about their laboratory experiences and physics identity. |
| Abstract Type: | Symposium Talk |
| Parallel Session: | Research methodologies in Laboratory Contexts |
Author/Organizer Information | |
| Primary Contact: |
Paul W. Irving Michigan State University |
| Co-Author(s) and Co-Presenter(s) |
Eleanor C. Sayre |
