Incorporating Affect in Engineering Students’ Epistemological Dynamics

Danielak, B., Gupta, A., & Elby, A. (2010). Incorporating Affect in Engineering Students’ Epistemological Dynamics. In Gomez, K., Lyons, L., & Radinsky, J. (Eds.) Learning in the Disciplines: Proceedings of the 9th International Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS2010) - Volume 2, Short Papers, Symposia, and Selected Abstracts. (pp. 411-412). International Society of the Learning Sciences: Chicago IL.

Inquiry Based Professional Development for a Diverse Population

Elby, A., Gupta, A., Conlin, L. D., Richards, J., (2013) Inquiry Based Professional Development for a Diverse Population. APS Forum on Education Newsletter (Ed: Beth Lindsey), Summer 2013 Issue (Teacher Preparation Section). (Full Text) 

Problem-solving rubrics revisited: Attending to the blending of informal conceptual and formal mathematical reasoning

Hull, M., Kuo, E., Gupta, A., & Elby, A. (2013). Problem-solving rubrics revisited: Attending to the blending of informal conceptual and formal mathematical reasoning. Phys. Rev. ST Physics Ed. Research 9, 010105 (2013)  Link to Journal Version 

Beyond Epistemological Deficits: Dynamic Explanations of Engineering Students' Difficulties with Mathematical Sense-making

1. Gupta, A. & Elby, A. (2011). Beyond Epistemological Deficits: Dynamic Explanations of Engineering Students' Difficulties with Mathematical Sense-making. International Journal of Science Education, 33(18), pp. 2463-2488.

How students blend conceptual and formal mathematical reasoning in solving physics problems

Kuo, E., Hull, M., Gupta, A., & Elby, A. (2013). How students blend conceptual and formal mathematical reasoning in solving physics problems. Sci. Ed., 97: 32–57  doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/sce.21043

Goertzen, Scherr, Elby, PRST-PER, (2009)

Accounting for tutorial teaching assistants' buy-in to reform instruction

Download a copy here.

Renee Michelle Goertzen, Rachel E. Scherr, and Andrew Elby

Accepted to the Physical Review Special Topics: Physics Education Research.

Abstract. Successful implementation of tutorials includes establishing norms for learning in the tutorial classroom. The teaching assistants (TAs) who lead each tutorial section are important arbiters of these norms. TAs who value (buy into) tutorials are more likely to convey their respect for the material and the tutorial process to the students, as well as learning more themselves. We present a case study of a TA who does not buy into certain aspects of the tutorials he teaches and demonstrate how his lack of buy-in affects specific classroom interactions. We would hope to design professional development programs to help TAs appreciate the power of tutorial instruction. However, our research suggests that the typical professional development activities offered to tutorial TAs are not likely to be effective. Instead, it appears that what we call the “social and environmental context” of the tutorials – including classroom, departmental, and institutional levels of implementation – has the potential to strongly affect TA buy-in to tutorials, and probably outweighs the influence of any particular activity that we might prepare for them.

Goertzen, Scherr & Elby, AIP Conf Proceedings (2008)

Indicators of understanding: What TAs listen for in student responses

R. M. Goertzen, R. E. Scherr & A. Elby, in AIP Conference Proceedings 1064, 2008 Physics Education Research Conference, C. Henderson, M. Sabella & L. Hsu (Eds.), p 119-122 (2008). (link to journal article)

Abstract: Before we can develop effective, research-based professional development programs for graduate student physics TAs, we must first identify their current classroom practices and why they engage in these practices. Framing, a theoretical framework developed in sociology and linguistics, provides an analytical toolbox for examining the expectations that guide the actions and attention of individuals while teaching. We use framing to develop fine-grained analyses of two episodes of TAs teaching tutorials. Despite the differences in their behaviors, the two TAs are in a sense both doing the same thing; they organize their interactions with students around ``searching for indicators'' that the students understand the targeted ideas.

Scherr & Elby, AIP Conference Proceedings (2006)

Enabling informed adaptation: Open-source physics worksheets integrated with implementation resources

R. E. Scherr & A. Elby, in AIP Conference Proceedings 883, Physics Education Research Conference, P. R. Heron, L. McCullough & J. Marx (Eds.), p 46-49 (2006).

Abstract: Instructors inevitably need to adapt even the best reform materials to suit their local circumstances. We offer a package of research-based, open-source, epistemologically-focused mechanics tutorials, along with the detailed information instructors need to make effective modifications and offer professional development to teaching assistants. In particular, our tutorials are hyperlinked to instructor's guides that include the rationale behind the various questions, advice from experienced instructors, and video clips of students working on the materials. Our materials thus facilitate their own implementation and develop instructor expertise with PER-based instructional materials.

Scherr & Elby, Proceedings of 2006 PER Conference (2007)

Enabling informed adaptation: Open-source physics worksheets integrated with implementation resources

R. E. Scherr & A. Elby, in Proceedings of the 2006 Physics Education Research Conference, P. R. Heron, L. McCollough & J. Marx (Eds.), Melville, NY: American Institute of Physics (2007).

Abstract: Instructors inevitably need to adapt even the best reform materials to suit their local circumstances. We offer a package of research-based, open-source, epistemologically-focused mechanics tutorials, along with the detailed information instructors need to make effective modifications and offer professional development to teaching assistants. In particular, our tutorials are hyperlinked to instructor's guides that include the rationale behind the various questions, advice from experienced instructors, and video clips of students working on the materials. Our materials thus facilitate their own implementation and develop instructor expertise with PER-based instructional materials.

Lising & Elby, Am J Phys (2005)

The impact of epistemology on learning: A case study from introductory physics

L. Lising & A. Elby, American Journal of Physics, 73(4), p 372-382 (2005). (html version)

Abstract: We discuss a case study of the influence of epistemology on learning for a student in an introductory college physics course. An analysis of videotaped class work, written work, and interviews indicates that many of the student's difficulties were epistemological in nature. Our primary goal is to show instructors and curriculum developers that a student's epistemological stance - her ideas about knowledge and learning - can have a direct, causal influence on her learning of physics. This influence exists even when research-based curriculum materials provide implicit epistemological support. For this reason, curriculum materials and teaching techniques could become more effective by explicitly attending to students' epistemologies.

McCaskey, Dancy & Elby, Proceedings of 2003 PER Conference (2004)

Effects on assessment caused by splits between belief and understanding

T. L. McCaskey, M. H. Dancy & A. Elby, in Proceedings of the 2003 Physics Education Research Conference, S. Franklin, J. Marx & K. Cummings (Eds.), 720, p 37-40, Melville, NY: American Institute of Physics (2004). 

Abstract: We performed a new kind of FCI study to get at the differences between what students believe and what they think scientists believe. Students took the FCI in the standard way, and then made a second pass indicating “the answer they really believe” and “the answer they think a scientist would give.” Students split on a large number of the questions, with women splitting more often than men.

Elby, Am J Phys PER Suppl (2001)

Helping students learn how to learn

A. Elby, American Journal of Physics, Physics Education Research Supplement, 69(7), S54-S64 (2001). (html version)

Abstract: Students' “epistemological” beliefs—their views about the nature of knowledge and learning—affect how they approach physics courses. For instance, a student who believes physics knowledge to consist primarily of disconnected facts and formulas will study differently from a student who views physics as an interconnected web of concepts. Unfortunately, previous studies show that physics courses, even ones that help students learn concepts particularly well, generally do not lead to significant changes in students' epistemological beliefs. This paper discusses instructional practices and curricular elements, suitable for both college and high school, that helped students develop substantially more sophisticated beliefs about knowledge and learning, as measured by the Maryland Physics Expectations Survey (MPEX) and by the Epistemological Beliefs Assessment for Physical Science.

Hammer & Elby, Proceedings of the 4th International Conference of the Learning Sciences (2000)

Epistemological Resources

D. Hammer & A. Elby, in Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference of the Learning Sciences, B. Fishman & S. O'Connor-Divelbiss (Eds.), Mahwah, NJ, p 4-5 (2000).

Abstract: Research on epistemologies has presumed a unitary ontology of "beliefs"; we propose a manifold ontology of "resources" and discuss implications for instruction.

Elby, J of Mathematical Behavior (2000)

What students' learning of representations tells us about constructivism

A. Elby, Journal of Mathematical Behavior, 19, p 481-502 (1999). (html version)

Abstract: This paper pulls into the empirical realm a longstanding theoretical debate about the prior knowledge students bring to bear when learning scientific concepts and representations. Misconceptions constructivists view the prior knowledge as stable alternate conceptions that apply robustly across multiple contexts. By contrast, fine-grained constructivists believe that much of students' intuitive knowledge consists of unarticulated, loosely-connected knowledge elements, the activation of which depends sensitively on context. By focusing on students' intuitive knowledge about representations, and by fleshing out the two constructivist frameworks, I show that they lead to empirically different sets of predictions. Pilot studies demonstrate the feasibility of a full-fledged experimental program to decide which flavor of constructivist describes students more adequately.

Elby, Amer J of Physics (1999)

Another reason that physics students learn by rote

A. Elby, American Journal of Physics, Physics Education Research Supplement, 67(7), S52-S57 (1999).

Abstract: Using written questionnaires, I surveyed introductory physics students about how they study and about how they would advise a hypothetical student to study if she were trying to learn physics deeply with no grade pressure. The survey teases apart students’ “epistemological” beliefs about learning and understanding physics from their more coursespecific beliefs about how to earn high grades. The results indicate that students perceive “trying to understand physics well” to be a significantly different activity from “trying to do well in the course.”

Louca, Elby, Hammer & Kagey, Educ Psychologist (2004)

Epistemological resources: Applying a new epistemological framework to science instruction

L. Louca, A. Elby, D. Hammer & T. Kagey, Educational Psychologist, 39(1), p 57-68 (2004). (link to journal article)

Abstract: Most research on personal epistemologies has conceived them as made up of relatively large, coherent, and stable cognitive structures, either developmental stages or beliefs (perhaps organized into theories). Recent work has challenged these views, arguing that personal epistemologies are better understood as made up of finer grained cognitive resources whose activation depends sensitively on context. In this article, we compare these different frameworks, focusing on their instructional implications by using them to analyze a third-grade teacher's epistemologically motivated intervention and its effect on her students. We argue that the resources framework has more predictive and explanatory power than stage- and beliefs-based frameworks do.

Hammer & Elby, J of the Learning Sciences (2003)

Tapping students' epistemological resources

D. Hammer & A. Elby, Journal of the Learning Sciences, 12(1), p 53-91 (2003). 

Abstract: Research on personal epistemologies has begun to consider ontology: Do naive epistemologies take the form of stable, unitary beliefs or of fine-grained, context-sensitive resources? Debates such as this regarding subtleties of cognitive theory, however, may be difficult to connect to everyday instructional practice. Our purpose in this article is to make that connection. We first review reasons for supporting the latter account, of naive epistemologies as made up of fine-grained, context-sensitive resources; as part of this argument we note that familiar strategies and curricula tacitly ascribe epistemological resources to students. We then present several strategies designed more explicitly to help students tap those resources for learning introductory physics. Finally, we reflect on this work as an example of interplay between two modes of inquiry into student thinking, that of instruction and that of formal research on learning.

diSessa, Elby & Hammer, Intentional Conceptual Change (2002)

J's epistemological stance and strategies

A. diSessa, A. Elby & D. Hammer, in Intentional Conceptual Change, G. M. Sinatra & P. R. Pintrich (Eds.), p 237-290, Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum (2002).

Hammer & Elby, Personal Epistemology (2002)

On the form of a personal epistemology

D. Hammer & A. Elby, in Personal Epistemology: The Psychology of Beliefs about Knowledge and Knowing, B. K. Hofer & P. R. Pintrich (Eds.), p 169-190, Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. 

Elby & Hammer, Science Education (2001)

On the substance of a sophisticated epistemology

A. Elby & D. Hammer, Science Education, 85(5), p 554-567 (2001).

Abstract: Among researchers who study students’ epistemologies, a consensus has emerged about what constitutes a sophisticated stance toward scientific knowledge. According to this community consensus, students should understand scientific knowledge as tentative and evolving, rather than certain and unchanging; subjectively tied to scientists' perspectives, rather than objectively inherent in nature; and individually or socially constructed rather than discovered. Surveys, interview protocols, and other methods used to probe students’ beliefs about scientific knowledge broadly reflect this outlook.

Our paper questions the community consensus about epistemological sophistication. We do not suggest that scientific knowledge is objective and fixed; if forced to choose whether knowledge is certain or tentative, with no opportunity to elaborate, we would choose “tentative.” Instead, our critique consists of two lines of argument. First, the literature fails to distinguish between the correctness and productivity of an epistemological belief. For instance, elementary school students who believe that science is about discovering objective truths to questions such as whether the earth is round or flat, or whether an asteroid led to the extinction of the dinosaurs, may be more likely to succeed in science than students who believe science is about telling stories that vary with one's perspective. Naive realism, although incorrect (according to a broad consensus of philosophers and social scientists), may nonetheless be productive for helping those students learn.

Second, according to the consensus view as reflected in commonly-used surveys, epistemological sophistication consists of believing certain blanket generalizations about the nature of knowledge and learning, generalizations that do not attend to context. These generalizations are neither correct nor productive. For example, it would be unsophisticated for students to view as tentative the idea that the Earth is round rather than flat. By contrast, they should take a more tentative stance towards theories of mass extinction. Nonetheless, many surveys and interview protocols tally students as sophisticated not for attending to these contextual nuances, but for subscribing broadly to the view that knowledge is tentative.