Bringing Lecture-Tutorials Online: An Analysis of A New Strategy to Teach Planet Formation in the Undergraduate Classroom

Fuente: arXiv
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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Archer, Haylee N., Simon, Molly N., Mead, Chris, Prather, Edward E., Brunkhorst, Mia, Hunsley, Diana
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Archer, Haylee N.
Simon, Molly N.
Mead, Chris
Prather, Edward E.
Brunkhorst, Mia
Hunsley, Diana
author_facet Archer, Haylee N.
Simon, Molly N.
Mead, Chris
Prather, Edward E.
Brunkhorst, Mia
Hunsley, Diana
contents Previous studies conclusively show that pencil-and-paper lecture-tutorials (LTs) are incredibly effective at increasing student engagement and learning gains on a variety of topics when compared to traditional lecture. LTs in astronomy are post-lecture activities developed with the intention of helping students engage with conceptual and reasoning difficulties around a specific topic with the end goal of them developing a more expert-like understanding of astrophysical concepts. To date, all astronomy LTs have been developed for undergraduate courses taught in-person. Increases in online course enrollments and the COVID-19 pandemic further highlighted the need for additional interactive, research-based, curricular materials designed for online classrooms. To this end, we developed and assessed the efficacy of an innovative, interactive LT designed to teach planet formation in asynchronous, online, introductory astronomy courses for undergraduates. We utilized the Planet Formation Concept Inventory to compare learning outcomes between courses that implemented the new online, interactive LT, and those that used either a lecture-only approach or utilized a standard pencil-and-paper LT on the same topic. Overall, learning gains from the standard pencil-and-paper LT were statistically indistinguishable from the in-person implementation of the online LT and both of these conditions outperformed the lecture-only condition. However, when implemented asynchronously, learning gains from the online LT were lower and not significantly above the lecture-only condition. While improvements can be made to improve the online LT in the future, the current discipline ideas still outperform traditional lecture, and can be used as a tool to teach planet formation effectively.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2405_19435
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Bringing Lecture-Tutorials Online: An Analysis of A New Strategy to Teach Planet Formation in the Undergraduate Classroom
Archer, Haylee N.
Simon, Molly N.
Mead, Chris
Prather, Edward E.
Brunkhorst, Mia
Hunsley, Diana
Physics Education
Previous studies conclusively show that pencil-and-paper lecture-tutorials (LTs) are incredibly effective at increasing student engagement and learning gains on a variety of topics when compared to traditional lecture. LTs in astronomy are post-lecture activities developed with the intention of helping students engage with conceptual and reasoning difficulties around a specific topic with the end goal of them developing a more expert-like understanding of astrophysical concepts. To date, all astronomy LTs have been developed for undergraduate courses taught in-person. Increases in online course enrollments and the COVID-19 pandemic further highlighted the need for additional interactive, research-based, curricular materials designed for online classrooms. To this end, we developed and assessed the efficacy of an innovative, interactive LT designed to teach planet formation in asynchronous, online, introductory astronomy courses for undergraduates. We utilized the Planet Formation Concept Inventory to compare learning outcomes between courses that implemented the new online, interactive LT, and those that used either a lecture-only approach or utilized a standard pencil-and-paper LT on the same topic. Overall, learning gains from the standard pencil-and-paper LT were statistically indistinguishable from the in-person implementation of the online LT and both of these conditions outperformed the lecture-only condition. However, when implemented asynchronously, learning gains from the online LT were lower and not significantly above the lecture-only condition. While improvements can be made to improve the online LT in the future, the current discipline ideas still outperform traditional lecture, and can be used as a tool to teach planet formation effectively.
title Bringing Lecture-Tutorials Online: An Analysis of A New Strategy to Teach Planet Formation in the Undergraduate Classroom
topic Physics Education
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.19435