RiSE Center Colloquium, 18March – MacKenzie Stetzer

The Center for Research in STEM Education
and the
University of Maine

Present

MacKenzie R. Stetzer
Assistant Professor of Physics
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Maine

New insights into student understanding of electric circuits and analog electronics

In recent years, large-scale undergraduate course transformation efforts have become an increasingly visible response to a well-documented need for improved STEM instruction at all levels.  The role that research-validated instructional materials play in such transformations, however, is sometimes overlooked.  As the focus of these efforts shifts from introductory to upper-division courses, there is an increasing need for the kind of in-depth studies of student understanding that may inform the development of effective instructional materials.  In this talk, I present examples from an ongoing, multi-year, multi-institutional investigation of student understanding of electric circuits and analog electronics.  The insights drawn from work conducted in both introductory and upper-division courses continue to guide efforts to minimize the disconnect between what we teach and what students learn in junior-level laboratory courses in analog electronics.

 Monday, March 18, 2013
3:00 – 4:00 pm
Arthur St. John Hill Auditorium
165 Barrows Hall