Affective domain assessment in physical science

SC 130 Physical Science is centered on four course level learning outcomes:

1. Explore physical science systems through experimentally based laboratories using scientific methodologies
2. Define and explain concepts, theories, and laws in physical science.
3. Generate mathematical models for physical science systems and use appropriate mathematical techniques and concepts to obtain quantitative solutions to problems in physical science.
4. Demonstrate basic communication skills by working in groups on laboratory experiments and by writing up the result of experiments, including thoughtful discussion and interpretation of data, in a formal format using spreadsheet and word processing software.

The course is philosophically centered on science as an emergent truth that arises from experimentally observed data. Hence course learning outcome number three refers to generating mathematical models, not to being given mathematical models. 

In this respect the course is guided by Galileo's observation that "Science is written in that great book which ever lies before our eyes — I mean the universe — but we cannot understand it if we do not first learn the language and grasp the symbols, in which it is written. This book is written in the mathematical language." 

These mathematical models arise from experiments done in class. During the 16 week course the students discover and experience the physical universe as mathematical. As in science, the students then communicate their findings in weekly laboratory reports. 

Measuring resistance in a circuit and finding that the relationship of current to voltage is a linear relationship

The students have often experienced science as a set of facts to be memorized. This leads to the misunderstanding that science is a matter of memorized facts and thus a matter of opinion. Science becomes the opinion of a textbook and instructor, untethered from the observations and experiments that built the body of knowledge being memorized.

In SC 130 the content is radically reduced to focus on fifteen narrow topics with fifteen laboratories at the center of the curriculum. Not as an add on to curricular content, but as the focus of each week. Monday introduces a topic, Wednesday expands on the topic, and Thursday the laboratory focuses on the topic. Friday is a day that builds on and wraps up the material for that week.

This structure is intended to make science a more active and interactive subject, to change attitudes towards science class. Students who enroll in the course do not usually enter the course with a positive attitude towards science as a class. 

While most students had a neutral or even negative attitude towards science prior to the term, by the end of the term the majority of a students had a positive attitude towards science and the remainder were neutral. 

The course this term had fifteen laboratories:

Lab 01 Density of soap

Lab 02 Velocity of a rolling ball

Lab 03 Gravity and the acceleration of a falling ball

Lab 04 Conservation of energy of a Hot Wheels car on a track

Lab 05 Force of friction on sandpaper

Lab 06 Cooling curve for hot water

Lab 07 Conversion factor for arcminutes to meters

Lab 08 Geology lab with rocks and minerals

Lab 09 Clouds, SnapSeed, and Google Slides

Lab 10 Speed of sound

Lab 11 Colors of light RGB and HSV

Lab 12 Reflection in a mirror, refraction and apparent depth under water

Lab 13 Ohm's law, resistance, and electrical circuits

Lab 14 Floral litmus solutions, acids and bases

Lab 15 Site swap notation

When asked to list the laboratories the students liked, no laboratory received fewer than three likes. This suggests that students generally enjoyed the laboratory experiences, some students more so than others.

When asked to list the disliked laboratories, lab seven and ten received the most dislikes. Both laboratories featured long walks outdoors to make measurements. The dislike is of walking under the sun.

When asked to list their single most liked and disliked laboratory, laboratory fourteen was the most frequently liked and laboratory seven was the most frequently disliked laboratory. 

When asked why they liked the laboratory they listed as their most like laboratory, the students responded:

• Because I discovered things that were really interesting based on the reflection and refraction
• I like the laboratory because I enjoy teamwork and learning
• Because I enjoy learning how the flowers can turn into different colors using different materials.
• Because it's simple, fun, and shows how motion works in a clear way.
• we were exploring different things
• Because i didn't walk around much. I just stand there and clap with the two logs.
• Because you get to see a "secret" exchange happen in the real world.

When asked why they liked the laboratory they listed as their most disliked laboratory, the students responded:

• It’s a good laboratory to be honest but the walking under the sun is what makes me don’t like it
• Some of them I came late and not understand.
• Because it was very tiring and it was too hot walking under the sun
• I never dislike the laboratories because it taught me hands-on experiments which was very fun to experience it.
• mostly because of the walking
• Its boring. We didn't do much things.
• Because that day, I got so tired of walking under the sun’ AHAH!

The students were also asked to respond to one of seven prompts that were adapted from an article in Faculty Focus, A New Twist on End-of-Semester Evaluations:

Your insights into your learning in this course can help me see our course from your point of view. Pick ONE and only ONE of the statements below and respond to that statement.

1. My learning of the content was most helped when…    because…
2. The activity that contributed the most to my learning was…    because…
3. The biggest obstacle for me in learning the material was…    because…
4. I was most willing to take risks with learning new material when…    because…
5. During the first day, I remember thinking…    because…
6. What I think I will remember five years from now is… because…
7. What is something you learned to do in this course that you could not do before?…    because…

The following responses were submitted, with the numbers referring to the number of the prompt above:

• What I think I will remember five years from now is doing the Floral litmus solutions, acid and bases because I will keep remembering what colors of flowers can change color using lemon, soap, powder and etc. Also flowers that cannot change into any color. 
• During the first day, I remember thinking that I will not make it in this class because science is one of my least favorites but after a few weeks, I told myself that this class was one of the best classes I’ve ever taken. The professor is very kind and understanding and the laboratory was very fun especially when you get comfortable around with your classmates 
• The activity that contributed the most to my learning was the rolling ball experiment because it made the ideas of motion and energy easy to understand in real life. 
• 7. Soap density 
• During the first day, I remember thinking that the class was all about lecture but i was wrong. The laboratory reports was fun.  
• #7 I learned how to measure sound
• During the first day, I remember thinking “oh this is gonna be bad/why did I even take this class in the first place!!” However as time goes on I realize that I judged it too quickly because looking back, it is one of the BEST-STRUCTURED classes i’ve ever taken. 

The responses underscore the trepidation students have at the start of the term - a mix of fear and low expectations for their experience in the class. The responses also reflect the central nature of the laboratory experiences to the curriculum in the course. 

The course is a general education course with most of the students in non-science major programs. These are students who are not attracted to the sciences, and may even have actively avoided science as a subject. While changing attitudes towards science is not a course learning outcome, changing their attitudes towards science may be the most important course learning result for the students in the future.