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Physical Review Physics Education Research
written by Cole Walsh, Katherine N. Quinn, Carl E. Wieman, and N. G. Holmes
Introductory physics lab instruction is undergoing a transformation, with increasing emphasis on developing experimentation and critical thinking skills. These changes present a need for standardized assessment instruments to determine the degree to which students develop these skills through instructional labs. In this article, we present the development and validation of the physics lab inventory of critical thinking (PLIC). We define critical thinking as the ability to use data and evidence to decide what to trust and what to do. The PLIC is a 10-question, closed-response assessment that probes student critical thinking skills in the context of physics experimentation. Using interviews and data from 5584 students at 29 institutions, we demonstrate, through qualitative and quantitative means, the validity and reliability of the instrument at measuring student critical thinking skills. This establishes a valuable new assessment instrument for instructional labs.
Physical Review Physics Education Research: Volume 15, Issue 1, Pages 010135
Subjects Levels Resource Types
Education - Applied Research
- Curriculum Development
= Laboratory
Education - Basic Research
- Assessment
= Instruments
- Problem Solving
- Student Characteristics
= Ability
- Graduate/Professional
- Lower Undergraduate
- Upper Undergraduate
- Reference Material
= Article
= Research study
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Access Rights:
Free access
License:
This material is released under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license.
Rights Holder:
American Physical Society
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.15.010135
Keywords:
education reform, laboratory skills
Record Creator:
Metadata instance created June 5, 2019 by Kim Coy
Record Updated:
June 5, 2019 by Bruce Mason
Last Update
when Cataloged:
May 31, 2019
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