FCI post-test comparison: Cuesta College versus UC-Davis

Students at both Cuesta College (San Luis Obispo, CA) and the University of California at Davis were administered the Force Concept Inventory (Doug Hestenes, et al.) during the last week of instruction, in order to follow up on the pre-test results from the first week of instruction (which showed no statistical difference between pre-test scores).

     Cuesta College    UC-Davis
     Physics 205A      Physics 7B
     Spring Semester   Summer Session II
     2009              2002
N    42 students       76 students
low   4                 3
mean 15.6 +/- 6.4      12.9 +/- 5.5
high 27                26

A "Student" t-test of the null hypothesis results in p = 0.017, thus there is a significant difference between Cuesta College and UC-Davis FCI post-test scores.

The pre- to post-test gain for this semester at Cuesta College is:

Physics 205A Fall Semester 2008 sections 70854, 70855
<initial%> = 33% +/- 19% (N = 55)
  <final%> = 52% +/- 21% (N = 39)
       <g> = 0.25 +/- 0.21 (matched-pairs); 0.28 (class-wise)

This Hake gain is in line with the previous semester's results at Cuesta College (Fall semester 2008, 0.29-0.33), and greater than previous gains for algebra-based introductory physics at Cuesta College (0.21-0.23), UC-Davis (0.16), and for calculus-based introductory physics at Cuesta College (0.14-0.16), as discussed in previous postings on this blog.

Notable about this Physics 205A class at Cuesta College during this Spring 2009 semester, and Fall semester 2008 is not just the mere implementation of electronic response system "clickers" (Classroom Performance System, einstruction.com), but the use of known best practices of using clickers (i.e., "think-(pair)-share"), from current education research. More analysis on the impact of using clickers on this introductory physics class will be forthcoming on this blog.

Previous FCI results:

• Cuesta College versus UC-Davis, Fall semester 2008 pre-tests and post-tests.
• Cuesta College versus UC-Davis, Spring semester 2008 pre-tests and post-tests.
• Cuesta College versus UC-Davis, Fall semester 2007 pre-tests and post-tests.