Talking and learning physics: Predicting future grades from network measures and Force Concept Inventory pretest scores

Authors

Jesper Bruun, University of Copenhagen
Eric Brewe, Department of Physics, Florida International UniversityFollow

Date of this Version

7-31-2013

Document Type

Article

Abstract

We present a method of analyzing the development of self-efficacy in real time using a framework of self-efficacy opportunities (SEOs). Considerable research has shown a connection between self-efficacy, or the confidence in one’s own ability to perform a task, and success in science fields. Traditional methods of investigating the development of self-efficacy have required participants to recollect past events. This reliance on participant memory makes it difficult to understand what impact particular events may have on developing self-efficacy in the moment. We use video recordings of three undergraduate Modeling Instruction students solving a physics problem to characterize SEOs in a moment-by-moment analysis. We then validate these characterizations of the development of self-efficacy by reviewing the problem-solving session with the participants and find evidence that the SEOs identified are taken up and impact self-efficacy. This characterization and validation of SEOs in the moment represents a first step towards establishing a methodology for analyzing the development of self-efficacy in real time.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Comments

Originally published in Physical Review Physics Education Research .

Recommended Citation

Vashti Sawtelle, Eric Brewe, Renee Michelle Goertzen, and Laird H. Kramer Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 8, 020111