CITRAL Resource Library

Unlike other subjects such as electricity and magnetism, there is no widespread agreement on the essential topics to teach in the college undergraduate QM course for physics majors, the order in which those topics should be taught and the amount of time that should be spent on various topics.

The difference between what experts and novices do is not rooted in general abilities, intelligence, or memory. Instead, the difference is that experts have extensive knowledge that impacts how they organize, represent, and interpret information in their environment. Novices do not yet have these skills.

Ambrose et al. outline seven principles of effective learning: 1. Students’ prior knowledge can help or hinder learning. 2. How students organize knowledge influences how they learn and apply what they know. 3. Students’ motivation determines, directs, and sustains what they do to learn. 4. To develop mastery, students must acquire component skills, practice integrating them, and know when to apply what they have learned. 5. Goal-directed practice coupled with targeted feedback enhances the quality of students’  learning. 6. Students’ current level of development interacts with the social, emotional, and intellectual climate of the course to impact learning. 7. To become self-directed learners, students must learn to monitor and adjust their approaches to learning (principles 4-6).

To assess course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs), Shortlidge and Brownell recommend that instructors first identify their anticipated learning outcomes, then work to identify an assessment instrument that aligns to those learning outcomes and critically evaluate the results from their course assessment. To aid instructors in becoming aware of what instruments have been developed, the authors have also synthesized a table of “off-the-shelf” assessment instruments that instructors could use to assess their own CUREs.

Educators have a moral duty to respond when a microaggression occurs; not interceding is allowing harm to occur.           

Based on a study that collected 2,776 student responses to the question, “What can be done to improve student wellbeing?,” this article identifies and provides insights into seven categories of student recommendations: academic teachers and teaching practices; student services and support; environment, culture and communication; course design; program administration; assessment; and student society activities.