Feedback from in-class worksheets and discussion improves performance on the statics concept inventory

The Statics Concept Inventory (SCI) is used to evaluate students’ conceptual understanding in introductory mechanics courses.Previous studies have shown that although performance on the SCI improves at the end of a course, performance is often stillunsatisfactory with scores well below 100%. In this study, we sought to determine if providing feedback on conceptual topicsthrough in-class worksheets and discussion would improve students’ performance on the SCI. To test this hypothesis, we designedeight multiple-choice worksheets, each inspired by a different topic on the SCI, for use during an introductory mechanics course. Inorder to evaluate the impact of the worksheets on SCI performance, we divided the eight worksheets into two groups and eachgroup of worksheets was deployed in a different offering of the course. Each worksheet was completed at the end of a class periodand, at the beginning of the next class period, the instructor led a discussion of the results and common misconceptions on eachworksheet. Students took the SCI at the beginning and end of the course and the change in SCI scores for topics with and withoutworksheets were compared. Results from both course offerings indicated that the in-class worksheets were effective at improvingperformance on the SCI, as SCI scores improved significantly more for topics that had worksheets than the topics that did nothave worksheets. Furthermore, overall SCI performance at the end of each course was greater than in previous courses. Theseresults suggest that a quick and easy-to-implement addition to the curriculum using in-class worksheets and next-class discussionwere effective at providing feedback on conceptual topics, exposing misconceptions, and improving performance on the SCI. Theworksheets developed as part of this study are available on-line for other instructors to use (http://del.stanford.edu). The SCI isalso free to use and can be found at cihub.org.