AERA-B: Curriculum Studies Forum

Some subscribers to AERA-A and AERA-B  might be interested in a 
recent discussion-list post "Re: FCI and CCI in China #2"  [Hake 
(2012)]. The abstract reads:

***********************************************
ABSTRACT: PhysLrnR's Jerry Epstein wrote (paraphrasing): "The 
Calculus Concept Inventory (CCI) has been given to about 1000 
university students enrolled in a TEACHER-CENTERED calculus course in 
Shanghai, China.  Their average normalized gains <g> were about 
two-standard deviations above those of U.S. university calculus 
courses, possibly due to student-organized out-of-class interactive 
group work."

Craig Ogilvie responded: "Are there FCI (Force Concept Inventory) 
gains reported for a similar group of students/physics courses in 
China? It would support your hypothesis if they also showed high 
gains for non-IE pedagogy." Here IE = "Interactive Engagement," 
*operationally* defined [Hake (1998a)] as "those designed at least in 
part to promote conceptual understanding through the active 
engagement of students in heads-on (always) and hands-on (usually) 
activities that yield immediate feedback through discussion with 
peers and/or instructors."

David Meltzer then pointed to the research of Bao et al. on FCI 
pretest scores of Chinese and U.S. freshmen university students 
enrolled in science/engineering major courses, whose publication in 
the "Science" article "Learning and Scientific Reasoning: Comparisons 
of Chinese and U.S. Students" at <http://bit.ly/90sdAG> has been 
widely publicized.

Although Bao et al. measured only pretest scores (not pre-to-posttest 
gains) for Chinese freshmen university students enrolled in 
science/engineering major courses, they pointed out that those 
students had taken "algebra-based courses with emphasis on 
development of conceptual understanding and skills needed to solve 
problems" for FIVE YEARS in grades 8-12, whereas the U.S. students 
had taken at most ONE YEAR of physics.

That suggests that the Chinese K-12 math curriculum might also be 
more intensive than that in the U.S.  IF that's the case then it 
might help to explain the relatively high CCI gains for non-IE 
pedagogy, irrespective of possible student-organized out-of-class 
interactive group work.
***********************************************

To access the complete 16 kB post please click on <http://bit.ly/zz7WXk>

Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
Honorary Member, Curmudgeon Lodge of Deventer, The Netherlands
President, PEdants for Definitive Academic References which Recognize the
       Invention of the Internet (PEDARRII)
<[log in to unmask]>
<http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake>
<http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~sdi>
<http://HakesEdStuff.blogspot.com>
<http://iub.academia.edu/RichardHake>

REFERENCES [URL shortened by <http://bit.ly/> and accessed on 22 Jan 2012.]
Hake, R.R. 2012. "Re: FCI and CCI in China #2 online on the OPEN! 
AERA-L  archives at <http://bit.ly/zz7WXk>. Post of 22 Jan 2012 
16:27:43-0800 to AERA-L and Net-Gold. The abstract and link to the 
complete post are being transmitted to several discussion lists and 
are also on my blog "Hake'sEdStuff" at <http://bit.ly/AbW5oy> with a 
provision for comments.

AERA Division B: Curriculum Studies Forum
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