multifaceted problems

Key to changing students' approaches to solving problems is to have the students attempt to solve multifaceted problems. These contain more than one concept, so students cannot utilize weaker strategies of searching for formulae, rather they must figure out what is happening in the problem, qualitatively analyze the prolem, and form there build a solution.

Students work on these multifaceted problems several times a semester during recitation. Twice a semester the students take a group exam on one of these problems and their solution is graded on the processes they used to solve the problem.

I have shortened the rubric for this grading. It used to run over two pages and have 10 items for the TAs to evaluate. Now it is 1 page, and only 6 items. See linked doc file

Modeling project

Finished several key aspects of the modeling project, where student groups take a real system and simplify it to its essential features.

• Rewrote the instructions to emphasize the goal is to improve some aspect of the system's performance, and that is why a quantitative model is a crucial tool, and that the model should be based on the key physics principles
• Changed the feedback form for the draft report to focus on the three main items the students should improve before the final. This should help the students improve their final version of the project report. The feedback form was adapted from "Tomorrow's Prof" newsletter
• Clarified rubric for the physics model so it more directly matches the steps strong project reports contain
  
• Adopted ISUComm's rubric for writing quality

See this link for a doc file of the rubric