. Date: Fri, 24 Sep 2010 10:23:43 -0700 From: Richard Hake <rrhake@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Reply-To: Net-Gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To: naturalmath@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Cc: AERA-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Net-Gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [Net-Gold] Re: Concept Inventories in Mathematics #2 If you reply to this long (10 kB) post please don't hit the reply button unless you prune the copy of this post that may appear in your reply down to a few relevant lines, otherwise the entire already archived post may be needlessly resent to subscribers. ******************************************* ABSTRACT: In response to my posts"Concept Inventories in Mathematics" [Hake (2010a,b)] Natural Math's Maria Droujkova wrote: "I'd like to ask for some context, to see why any of this is significant. It looks like an argument about what a particular test is measuring, but none of the terms under discussion (appreciative, shallow, acumen, common sense) are measurable. . . . ." I agree that the aforementioned terms used by Math-Teach's Robert Hansen are not *operationally defined* and therefore essentially meaningless. But among the terms mentioned in Hake (2010a,b) were the "Force Concept Inventory" which *tests understanding of basic concepts of Newtonian Mechanics*. As for more context, see e.g., "Lessons from the physics education reform effort" [Hake (2002)] - generally either ignored or dismissed by math educators - and Eric Mazur's masterful presentation "Confessions of a Converted Lecturer," regarding use of the FCI at Harvard to increase the effectiveness of introductory courses. ******************************************* In response to my posts "Concept Inventories in Mathematics" [Hake (2010a.b], Maria Droujkova (2010) wrote: "I'd like to ask for some context, to see why any of this is significant. It looks like an argument about what a particular test is measuring, but none of the terms under discussion (appreciative, shallow, acumen, common sense) _are measurable. Tests usually measure something very narrow and particular (the success at taking this test, as some people joke). . . . ." I agree with Maria that the terms "appreciative, shallow, acumen, common sense" used by Math-Teach's Robert Hansen are not *operationally defined* and therefore essentially meaningless - see e.g., "Education Research Employing Operational Definitions Can Enhance the Teaching Art" [Hake (2010c)]. But perhaps Maria did not notice that among the terms discussed in Hake (2010a) was: "the FCI (Force Concept Inventory) [Hestenes et al. (1992), Halloun et al. (1995)] and its precursor the Mechanics Diagnostic [Halloun & Hestenes (1985a,b)] . . . .[which]. . . _TEST UNDERSTANDING OF THE BASIC CONCEPTS OF NEWTONIAN MECHANICS." As for more context as requested by Maria, my thanks to Natural Math's Brenda Weiss (2010) for filling in some of it. For yet more context see e.g.: a. "Lessons from the physics education reform effort" [Hake (2002)] (generally either ignored or dismissed by math educators). The abstract reads: "Several years ago, I reported a survey of pretest and posttest data for 62 introductory physics courses attended by a total of 6542 students. The present article provides a summary of that survey and offers 14 lessons from the physics education reform effort that may assist in the general upgrading of education and science literacy." b. the masterful presentation "Confessions of a Converted Lecturer" by Eric Mazur (2010) on how the FCI has been used at Harvard to increase the effectiveness of introductory courses. Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University Honorary Member, Curmudgeon Lodge of Deventer, The Netherlands President, PEdants for Definitive Academic References which Recognize the Invention of the Internet (PEDARRII) <rrhake@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> <http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake> <http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~sdi> <http://HakesEdStuff.blogspot.com> <http://iub.academia.edu/RichardHake> REFERENCES [All URL's accessed on 24 September 2010; some shortened by <http://bit.ly/>.] Droujkova, M. 2010. "Re: Concept Inventories in Mathematics," Natural Math post of 22 September 2010 6:26pm (Google Groups fails to give the time zone); online at <http://bit.ly/csvWXQ>, scroll down to the second post. Hake, R.R. 2002. "Lessons from the physics education reform effort," Ecology and Society 5(2): 28; online at <http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol5/iss2/art28/>. For an update on six of the lessons on "interactive engagement" see Hake (2007). Hake, R.R. 2007 "Six Lessons From the Physics Education Reform Effort," Latin American Journal of Physics <http://journal.lapen.org.mx/sep07/HAKE%20Final.pdf> (124 kB). Hake, R.R. 2010a. "Concept Inventories in Mathematics," online on the OPEN! Math-Teach archives at <http://mathforum.org/kb/thread.jspa?threadID=2144651&tstart=0>. Postof 21 September 2010 4:39:00-0700 to Math-Learn, Math-Teach, NaturalMath, and PhysLrnR. Transmitted to AERA-L, MathEDCC, and Net-Gold on 22 September 2010. Hake, R.R. 2010b. "Concept Inventories in Mathematics," online on the OPEN! AERA-L archives at archives at <http://bit.ly/bl3voJ>. Post of 22 Sep 2010 10:54:11-0700 to AERA-L, MathEDCC, Math-Learn, Math-Teach, NaturalMath, Net-Gold, and PhysLrnR. Therein I counter two absurd comments on Hake (2010a) by Math-Teach's Robert Hansen. Hake, R.R. 2010c. "Education Research Employing Operational Definitions Can Enhance the Teaching Art," invited talk, Portland, OR, AAPT meeting, 19 July; online as a 3.8 MB pdf at <http://bit.ly/aGlkjm>, and as ref. 60 at <http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake>. Halloun, I. & D. Hestenes. 1985a. "The initial knowledge state of college physics students." Am. J. Phys. 53: 1043-1055; online at <http://bit.ly/b1488v> - see under "Evaluation Instruments." The print version contains the Mechanics Diagnostic Test. Halloun, I. & D. Hestenes. 1985b. "Common sense concepts about motion," Am. J. Phys. 53: 1056-1065; online at <http://bit.ly/b1488v> - see under "Evaluation Instruments." Halloun, I., R.R. Hake, E.P. Mosca, & D. Hestenes, "Force Concept Inventory (1995 Revision)," online (password protected) at <http://bit.ly/b1488v>, scroll down to "Evaluation Instruments." Currently available in 20 languages: Arabic, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, English, Finnish, French, French (Canadian), German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Malaysian, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Slovak, Swedish, & Turkish. Hestenes, D., M. Wells, & G. Swackhamer, "Force Concept Inventory," Phys. Teach. 30(3), 141-158 (1992); online (but without the test itself) at <http://bit.ly/b1488v>. Mazur, E. 2010. "Confessions of a Converted Lecturer" talk at the University of Maryland on 11 November 2009. The abstract reads: "I thought I was a good teacher until I discovered my students were just memorizing information rather than learning to understand the material. Who was to blame? The students? The material? I will explain how I came to the agonizing conclusion that the culprit was neither of these. It was my teaching that caused students to fail! I will show how I have adjusted my approach to teaching and how it has improved my students' performance significantly." That talk is now on UTube at <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwslBPj8GgI>; and the abstract, slides, and references - sometimes obscured in the UTube talk - are at <http://bit.ly/9N19Rq> as a 4 MB pdf. . . . .[That URL is now dead :-( but may recover]]. . . . As of 24 September 2010 10:25:00-0700 Eric's talk had been viewed by 25,116 UTube fans, up from 12,800 on 16 March 2010. In contrast, serious articles in the education literature, often read only by the author and a few cloistered academic specialists, usually create tsunamis in educational practice equivalent to those produced by a pebble dropped into the Pacific Ocean. Weiss, B. 2010. "Re: Concept Inventories in Mathematics," Natural Math post of 23 September 2010 8:22pm (Google Groups fails to give the time zone); online at <http://bit.ly/csvWXQ>, scroll down to the third post. .