Instructing nontraditional physics labs: Toward responsiveness to student epistemic framing

Fuente: arXiv
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Hauptverfasser: Sundstrom, Meagan, Fussell, Rebeckah K., Phillips, Anna McLean, Akubo, Mark, Allen, Scott E., Hammer, David, Scherr, Rachel E., Holmes, N. G.
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2023
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author Sundstrom, Meagan
Fussell, Rebeckah K.
Phillips, Anna McLean
Akubo, Mark
Allen, Scott E.
Hammer, David
Scherr, Rachel E.
Holmes, N. G.
author_facet Sundstrom, Meagan
Fussell, Rebeckah K.
Phillips, Anna McLean
Akubo, Mark
Allen, Scott E.
Hammer, David
Scherr, Rachel E.
Holmes, N. G.
contents Research on nontraditional laboratory (lab) activities in physics shows that students often expect to verify predetermined results, as takes place in traditional activities. This understanding of what is taking place, or epistemic framing, may impact their behaviors in the lab, either productively or unproductively. In this paper, we present an analysis of student epistemic framing in a nontraditional lab to understand 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 opportunities to construct 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.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2304_14814
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Instructing nontraditional physics labs: Toward responsiveness to student epistemic framing
Sundstrom, Meagan
Fussell, Rebeckah K.
Phillips, Anna McLean
Akubo, Mark
Allen, Scott E.
Hammer, David
Scherr, Rachel E.
Holmes, N. G.
Physics Education
Research on nontraditional laboratory (lab) activities in physics shows that students often expect to verify predetermined results, as takes place in traditional activities. This understanding of what is taking place, or epistemic framing, may impact their behaviors in the lab, either productively or unproductively. In this paper, we present an analysis of student epistemic framing in a nontraditional lab to understand 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 opportunities to construct 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.
title Instructing nontraditional physics labs: Toward responsiveness to student epistemic framing
topic Physics Education
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2304.14814