Student strengths at start of physical science
Summer session physical science is a high speed romp through a blur of topics. This summer there is only a single lecture and laboratory session each, limiting the class to sixteen students. The term started on a three day week, thus the first Friday test is almost a pre-test. I used the test to have a look at some of the graph skills I evaluated at term end spring 2011.
The test is an HTML5 document with MathML and SVG served as html/text, which means that only FireFox 4 can natively render the document as of June 2011. Chrome and IE 9 can handle SVG, but MathML remains a missing piece.
Test one focused on measurements and a density of soap experiment. A follow-up report on the laboratory including data gathered is available.
Fifteen of the sixteen students completed test one, the following table indicates the number answering each question correctly, along with a descriptor of the question.
The students demonstrated a strong ability to plot (x, y) scatter graph data, draw a line through the data, and to make a basic volume calculation. The volume calculation involved only multiplying three numbers together. The students enter physical science knowing how to plot data.
They have some ability to calculate the slope of a line on a graph and can recall some memorized information.
Their ability to handle units correctly is quite weak. While question twelve directly asked students to determine units based on the heading row of tabular data, many other questions included numbers that had units in their answers. In the above item analysis these questions were considered correct if the value was correct. The above item analysis does not look at whether the units were correct. In at least half of the answers, the units were incorrect.
The test is an HTML5 document with MathML and SVG served as html/text, which means that only FireFox 4 can natively render the document as of June 2011. Chrome and IE 9 can handle SVG, but MathML remains a missing piece.
Test one focused on measurements and a density of soap experiment. A follow-up report on the laboratory including data gathered is available.
Fifteen of the sixteen students completed test one, the following table indicates the number answering each question correctly, along with a descriptor of the question.
| t | q | topic | n | corr | perc | strength |
| 1 | 1 | calculate slope from line on graph | 15 | 10 | 0.67 | weak |
| 1 | 2 | density as equal to slope | 15 | 7 | 0.47 | weak |
| 1 | 3 | infer effect of density | 15 | 10 | 0.67 | weak |
| 1 | 4 | calculate volume from measurements | 15 | 15 | 1.00 | strong |
| 1 | 5 | calculate density from measurements | 15 | 8 | 0.53 | weak |
| 1 | 6 | identify vocabulary term | 15 | 12 | 0.80 | moderate |
| 1 | 7 | inferential reasoning | 15 | 11 | 0.73 | moderate |
| 1 | 8 | calculate mass from density and volume | 15 | 10 | 0.67 | weak |
| 1 | 9 | plot data on graph | 15 | 15 | 1.00 | strong |
| 1 | 10 | draw line through data points | 15 | 14 | 0.93 | strong |
| 1 | 11 | calculate slope from line on graph | 15 | 11 | 0.73 | moderate |
| 1 | 12 | determine units from table | 15 | 2 | 0.13 | weak |
| 1 | 13 | recall fact from text | 15 | 9 | 0.60 | weak |
| 1 | 14 | recall fact from text | 15 | 11 | 0.73 | moderate |
| 1 | 15 | recall fact from text | 15 | 5 | 0.33 | weak |
| 1 | 16 | recall fact from homework | 15 | 10 | 0.67 | weak |
The students demonstrated a strong ability to plot (x, y) scatter graph data, draw a line through the data, and to make a basic volume calculation. The volume calculation involved only multiplying three numbers together. The students enter physical science knowing how to plot data.
They have some ability to calculate the slope of a line on a graph and can recall some memorized information.
Their ability to handle units correctly is quite weak. While question twelve directly asked students to determine units based on the heading row of tabular data, many other questions included numbers that had units in their answers. In the above item analysis these questions were considered correct if the value was correct. The above item analysis does not look at whether the units were correct. In at least half of the answers, the units were incorrect.
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