Education research: SPCI gains (Cuesta College, Summer Session 2007)

The Star Properties Concept Inventory was developed by Janelle Bailey as a pre-test and post-test for introductory astronomy courses. For an overview of how <g> quantifies gains in learning (Hake), see the previous post: Education research: FCI gains (Cuesta College).

The SPCI was administered to Astronomy 10 (one-semester introductory astronomy) students at Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA during the first class meeting, then on the last class meeting. The results below are class averages for the initial and final SPCI scores (given as percentages, with standard deviations), as well as the Hake normalized gain <g>:

Astronomy 10 Summer Session 2007 section 8027
         N = 11
<initial%> = 26% +/- 12%
  <final%> = 55% +/- 13%
       <g> = 0.39

Despite the extremely small number of students in this course, these results are comparable to previous semesters of Astronomy 10 taught by this instructor at Cuesta College, but with a slightly higher gain than is typical.

For earlier results at Cuesta College and further discussion of the SPCI, see previous post: Education research: SPCI gains (Cuesta College, Spring Semester 2006-Spring Semester 2007).

• Bailey, J. M. (2006). "Development of a concept inventory to assess students' understanding and reasoning difficulties about the properties and formation of stars." Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ.
  Development of the SPCI, a 30-question survey of stellar properties concepts (blackbody radiation laws).


• R.R. Hake, "Interactive-engagement vs. traditional methods: A six-thousand-student survey of mechanics test data for introductory physics courses," Am. J. Phys. 66, 64 -74 (1998).
  Definition of <g>, and relative comparison of many interactive engagement and traditional courses.