Introductory Course Reform at Oregon State: promoting sustainable reform Dedra Demaree, Oregon State University Sissi Li, Oregon State University And the OSUPER group Presented at AAPT, July 2009

What we’re doing: Department-wide, team-based curricular reform at lower-division level Starting with introductory calculus-based physics (~1000 students per year take the sequence) Building on expertise and departmental culture established by Paradigms in Physics |P><P| reform Re-visiting content and specifying course goals New structure, text, online homework… New classroom space and remodeled lecture hall Mixed-methods assessment 2

Specific goals and influences: Goals: – Conceptual understanding, Problem solving skills, Scaffolding topics known to be difficult for our students, Epistemological development and positive attitudes, Appreciation and curiosity for physics Influences/resources: – Investigative Science Learning Environment (ISLE), Matter and Interactions (M&I), Peer Instruction, Knight textbook and MasteringPhysics, SCALE-UP, Innovations such as nano-lab extension to ISLE resistance design-activity 3

How we’re doing it: people Curriculum development teams including faculty and instructors – 3 teams, each taking on a few-week ‘bite’ of curriculum – 2 members are on all three teams for coherence – Members range from experienced to new faculty that ‘specialize’ in both upper and lower division instruction One ‘service course’ committee to bind it – Surveying other departments, choosing baseline assessments, choosing textbook change, studying what other universities have accomplished… 4

How we’re doing it: structure Original: – 3 1-hour lectures per week, 1 3-hour lab, 1 1-hour optional recitation – One instructor/faculty responsible for all lectures and supervising a TA team to do labs/recitation New structure: – 2 1-hour lectures per week, 1 2-hour SCALE-UP, 1 2-hour lab – Possible ‘7 th ’ hour for people with extra interest (computational focus), or with extra need (remedial math) – Head instructor (and coordinator) with rotating lecturers, Head TA to help lead SCALE-UP sessions, other TAs and LAs 5

6 Structural Reform: new SCALE-UP room, lecture hall remodel and course restructuring: less lecture, more group work Mixed-methods: FCI, CLASS, Classroom observations, instructor feedback, surveys, student interviews Site visits to learn from successful models, borrow materials and ideas: ISLE, Peer Instruction, M&I, Knight Department-wide involvement in 'bite- sized' chunks, head committee with broad membership Set explicit content and higher- order goals Build in Active Engagement Structural and course Reform Mixed- methods Assessment

Sustainability: Need faculty buy-in for the big picture – Department hired PER-faculty to lead this – Team-based, department-wide involvement Commitment to and understanding of choices – Bite-size curricular committees for ‘all’ faculty – Choices driven by concrete information (surveys, research at other institutions…) Need intro courses more ‘approachable’ for faculty – Can lecture a ‘bite-sized’ chunk without the administrative hassle of 500+ students 7

Conceptual Understanding Problem Solving Epistemologies/ Attitudes Scaffolding/ Math Appreciation/ Curiosity Contributes to success in Leads back to More productive participation Quality choices help improve (new nanolab) Success contributes to productive 8 Model driving reform choices:

Conceptual Understanding Problem Solving Epistemologies/ Attitudes Scaffolding/ Math Appreciation/ Curiosity FCI, CSEM… Productive attitudes enable more participation and engagement in the community of practice Student feedback, engagement CLASS, qualitative studies 9 Model driving assessment choices: ISLE Rubrics Committee choices, teacher implementation, student engagement

Why a communities of practice conceptual framework: Think about how students take ownership of learning/knowledge (deeper than epistemology) Classroom norms and practices – How they think about physics, deal with difficulties – Also considers factors from outside the classroom Participation – Engaging with the classroom activities, with fellow students, and with instructor – Productive participation produces meaningful experiences that build competence (knowledge) and feeds back to enable more productive participation and learning 10

Accomplishments to date: Site visits conducted at model institutions Lecture hall remodeled to facilitate active- engagement Service course committee implemented baseline assessment and new text Au08 Some new activities/goals tested Survey given to determine content/goals FCI normalized gain of 0.4 achieved in 200+ person lecture course Au08 Qualitative and quantitative research underway 11

Future work: Committee meetings are ongoing SCALE-UP room under construction this summer with internal grant funding and private donations Internal grant awarded to test curriculum with subset of students in the fall CCLI phase 1 grant submitted, and hopefully will have full support for taking data by winter 2010 Development for other quarters of the sequence will trail by one term Full implementation slated for spring 2010 Grant (fingers crossed) will also support collaboration with local Community Colleges 12