Submitted Fall, 2006
Summary of Assessment for the Department of Physics and Physical Sciences for the Academic Year 2005-2006
1. Physics Assessment
The introductory (general studies) physics classes took the AP Physics B-level exam at the end of the Spring Semester 2006. The exam has 70 multiple-choice questions that span the physics curriculum from vectors to nuclear physics. Below, we report the number of students taking the exam and the mean score for each class.
PHYS 206, section 01, lecture- and algebra-based: 26 students, mean = 28%
PHYS 206, section 04, lecture- and algebra-based: 31 students, mean = 34%
PHYS 276, section 01, lecture- and calculus-based: 34 students, mean = 39%
This is the second year that we have administered the AP exam for assessment purposes. The results show a remarkable consistency between this year and last. This also is the first years that the introductory courses have been entirely lecture-based. In previous years, we have offered the introductory courses as either lecture- or activity-based. Furthermore, last school year was the first we have not offered the staggered introductory physics course. Lastly, copies of the AP physics exam that we use are on file at the UNK Assessment Office.
When we discuss the results at our November Department meeting, we will consider whether to give the AP exam in two parts. Approximately half of the 70 questions are about mechanics, and the other half are about electricity and magnetism. We will decide whether to give the assessment in two parts. Part One after the Fall semester and the second part after the Spring semester.
As a preparation for this possible change, the summer physics course was assessed in our proposed divided way. The results are reported below.
PHYS 205, section 01, lecture- and algebra-based: 21 students,
pre-test mean = 36%
post-test mean = 29%
PHYS 206, section 01, lecture- and algebra-based: 21 students,
pre-test mean = 27%
post-test mean = 36%
At the end of the Fall semester, we administered the Force Concepts Inventory examination. It is a widely used test, and would be an alternative to dividing the AP exam in two parts. We report the results below.
PHYS 206, section 04, lecture- and algebra-based: 30 students, mean = 44%
The introductory (general studies) astronomy class during the Spring Semester took the Introductory Astronomy Survey as a pre- and post-test. The astronomy results are reported below.
PHYS 210 (introductory astronomy)
Pre-test, 46 students, mean = 30%
Post-test, 50 students, mean = 42%
These results are consistent with last year’s results. Copies of the Introductory Astronomy Survey are on file at the UNK Assessment Office.
Extensive demographic information was recorded for the astronomy assessment test. Beyond the broad category of male/female, we did not collect demographic information for the physics assessment test.
This past year, we administered an exit interview questionnaire for the two graduating physics majors. Unfortunately, they did not respond. We have mailed the questionnaires to both students at their respective graduate schools. When we receive their replies, we will add them to our assessment report. Additionally, one graduating physics major took the Physics Subject-specific GRE and submitted the scores to the Physics Department. Copies of these results are included in this report. For the student’s privacy, we ask that these scores not be published on the Assessment web site. The other student was admitted to graduate school before he took the GRE.
Our plans for this coming year are to continue with the testing of our introductory physics and astronomy courses. We also will continue with exit interviews and encouraging the taking of Subject-specific GRE for our physics majors. Lastly, we will decide whether to divide the AP exam into two assessments, whether to continue with the Force Concepts Inventory, and whether to request demographic information in our introductory physics assessment.
2. Physical Science Assessment
We started our assessment of the PHYS 100 class. We selected the Electric Circuit Concept test as our diagnostic tool. As preliminary to administering the exam to the PHYS 100 students, we gave the exam to PHYS 206 students. We report these results below.
PHYS 206, section 01, lecture- and algebra-based: 21 students,
pre-test mean = 44%
post-test mean = 65%
The follow are the results from two sections PHYS 100.
PHYS 100, Fall 2005, 26 students
pre-test mean = 30%
post-test mean = 55%
PHYS 100, Spring 2006, 22 students
pre-test mean = 26%
post-test mean = 54%
Because of the retirement of the two instructors that teach the PHYS 100 and the PHYS 201 courses, no futher assessments were done last year.