Journal article
Instructing nontraditional physics labs: Toward responsiveness to student epistemic framing
Physical review. Physics education research, v 19(2), p020140
01 Oct 2023
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Instructional labs: Improving traditions and new directions.] Research on nontraditional laboratory (lab) activities in physics shows that students often expect to verify predetermined results, as takes place in traditional lab activities. This understanding of what is taking place, or epistemic framing, may impact students' behaviors in the lab, either productively or unproductively. In this paper, we present an analysis of student epistemic framing in a nontraditional lab with the aim of understanding how instructional context, specifically instructor behaviors, may shape student framing. We present video data from a lab section taught by an experienced teaching assistant (TA), with 19 students working in seven groups. We argue that student framing in this lab is evidenced by whether or not students articulate experimental predictions and by the extent to which they take up cognitive authority when constructing knowledge (epistemic agency). We show that the TA's attempts to shift student frames generally succeed with respect to experimental predictions but are less successful with respect to epistemic agency. In part, we suggest, the success of the TA's attempts reflects whether and how they are responsive to students' current framing. This work offers evidence that instructors can shift students' frames in nontraditional labs, while also illuminating the complexities of both student framing and the role of the instructor in shifting that framing in this context.
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Details
- Title
- Instructing nontraditional physics labs: Toward responsiveness to student epistemic framing
- Creators
- Meagan Sundstrom - Cornell UniversityRebeckah K. Fussell - Cornell UniversityAnna McLean Phillips - Monash UniversityMark Akubo - Cornell UniversityScott E. Allen - Cornell UniversityDavid Hammer - Tufts UniversityRachel E. Scherr - University of Washington BothellN. G. Holmes - Cornell University
- Publication Details
- Physical review. Physics education research, v 19(2), p020140
- Publisher
- Amer Physical Soc
- Number of pages
- 18
- Grant note
- NSF; National Science Foundation (NSF) DGE-2139899 / NSF GRFP; National Science Foundation (NSF); NSF - Office of the Director (OD) Research Corporation for Science Advancement; Research Corporation For Science Advancement (RCSA)
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Physics
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:001145582200001
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-85173923969
- Other Identifier
- 991022032156604721
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- International collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Education & Educational Research
- Education, Scientific Disciplines