A new approach for uncovering student resources with multiple-choice questions

Nolan K. Weinlader, Eric Kuo, Benjamin M. Rottman, Timothy J. Nokes-Malach

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

The traditional approach to studying student understanding presents a question and uses the student’s answer to make inferences about their knowledge. However, this method doesn’t capture the range of possible alternative ideas available to students. We use a new approach, asking students to generate a plausible explanation for every choice of a multiple-choice question, to capture a range of explanations that students can generate in answering physics questions. Asking 16 students to provide explanations in this way revealed alternative possibilities for student thinking that would not have been captured if they only provided one solution. The findings show two ways these alternatives can be productive for learning physics: (i) even students who ultimately chose the wrong answer could often generate the correct explanation and (ii) many incorrect explanations contained elements of correct physical reasoning. We discuss the instructional implications of this multiple-choice questioning approach and of students’ alternative ideas.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationPhysics Education Research Conference, PERC 2019
EditorsYing Cao, Steven Wolf, Michael Bennett
PublisherAmerican Association of Physics Teachers
Pages621-626
Number of pages6
ISBN (Print)9781931024365
DOIs
StatePublished - 2019
Externally publishedYes
EventPhysics Education Research Conference, PERC 2019 - Provo, United States
Duration: Jul 24 2019Jul 25 2019

Publication series

NamePhysics Education Research Conference Proceedings
ISSN (Print)1539-9028
ISSN (Electronic)2377-2379

Conference

ConferencePhysics Education Research Conference, PERC 2019
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityProvo
Period7/24/197/25/19

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Education
  • General Physics and Astronomy

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