Interview Project Goals “This assignment is an opportunity to (a) increase your skills with and (b) deepen your understanding of the importance of the practice of asking students questions to find out about their thinking. The purpose of this assignment is to give you an opportunity to ask questions about physics without trying to guide the person you are asking to a particular line of reasoning or correct way of thinking. Instead, your task is to do your best to understand the interviewee’s mental models of the phenomena you are discussing, and to ask questions in order to learn more about them. Many kinds of questioning are useful in the classroom; this is one kind that many people have little practice with.” Excerpt from Eleanor Close’s “Physics Interview Project”, part of her Learning Assistant Pedagogy Course at Texas State University, San Marcos

Interview Project Steps 0. Craft an open-ended physics question 1.Develop a set of interview questions to ask about this open-ended question 2.Perform and video tape the interview 3.Reflect on what could be improved 4.Find a new person to interview 5.Develop a new set of interview questions to ask about the same open-ended question 6.Perform and video tape this second interview 7.Reflect on the experience as a whole

When you turn on an electric stove, it turns red. 1. What is happening? 2. What causes the stove to heat up? 3. Why does it change color? Helen’s Interview Questions (Pause here and consider her questions) Photo by Joel Kramer, CCL 2.0

Questions to Ask Yourself While Watching the Video What about the interview catches your attention? To what extent do you think that Helen successfully elicits ideas? What could she keep in mind for a second interview to do this better? Questions and chosen clips adapted from Eleanor Close

Take a Moment to Reflect: What about the interview caught your attention? To what extent do you think that Helen successfully elicited ideas? What could she keep in mind for a second interview to do this better?

Overall, Do You Think That Helen Successfully Elicited Ideas? A)Yes B)No

Which of Following Should Helen Keep in Mind for Her Next Interview? A)She could ask more follow up questions on what her interviewee meant by various science terms (e.g. heat) that she used. B)She was leading her interviewee a lot and could try to limit this. C)She could spend more time exploring ideas with her interviewee rather than asking another new question. D)Fill in your own

Helen’s Reflections on First Interview