Conference Session

Innovations in Teaching Physics or Engineering Physics II

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Teresa L. Larkin, American University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Physics & Physics

basic concepts in mechanics to be opened a little wider.VI. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS A variety of quantitative and qualitative assessment tools are currently available withinthe PER community. Qualitatively, the current study made use of free-writing activities to assessstudent understanding of basic mechanics. Critical to the writing activities is the feedbackprovided to the students. The benefits of instructor- (as well as peer-) feedback are numerous.The instructor-student relationship is quickly fostered and enhanced. Because students are givenprompt critical and detailed feedback, they take the writing activities very seriously. Oneoutcome is the quality of the students‘ work is clearly improved. Furthermore, the writingactivities