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Students must actively engage in problem solving to effectively learn in introductory physics courses. However, students often get stuck and are not able to make progress when solving problems outside of their current ability, particularly when one-on-one tutoring and instructor office hours are a limited resource. One effective technique consists of providing students with worked examples during the problem-solving process. While the benefits of worked examples are well established, less is known about how the format of the worked example affects student learning, or the effect of solution videos on student metacognition. This study presents three experiments investigating how the format of animated worked examples affects student learning and metacognition. The results indicate that students learn equally well from different styles of solution videos that follow multimedia learning principles. In addition, attempting to solve problems before viewing the solution videos facilitates learning for problems just outside a student's current ability, but not for more difficult problems. Further, attempting to solve very difficult problems before viewing animated solution videos can potentially lead to overconfidence, where students believe that they learned more from the solutions than they have actually learned.

Encouraged by positive clinical results at the University of Illinois, mastery-style homework was integrated into a large semester-long preparatory physics course via an online homework system that used narrated animated video solutions as correctives. This paper discusses the impact and evolution of the homework in its first two years. The first iteration revealed that students were frustrated and did not engage with the system in an effective way. Intending to reduce that frustration and quell negative behavior, the mastery requirement was relaxed, transfer between versions was reduced, and the addition of a direct discussion with students about the homework were implemented in its second year. The results showed that details of implementation can substantially affect students' behavior; large and statistically significant effects were observed as a reduction in frustration (with self-identified "frustrated" students dropping from 60% in 2014 to 30% in 2015) and improvement in performance (average student mastery rate of 59% to 69%).

Narrated animated solution videos were implemented in a clinical study that compared a mastery setting that employed repeated cycles of testing with instructional support to a group that had a single opportunity to experience the materials. The mastery setting students attempted sequential questions sets on a topic, with animated solutions between each set, until mastery was achieved, combining formative assessment with worked examples. Students showed significant improvement from their first to second tries on similar sets of problems, attributable to the feedback and solutions they were given after the first try. These improvements were shown in two topics, superposition and electric potential. The single try group was given one version of the questions and solutions, and while they were not required to watch the solutions to move forward, they chose to. On a post-test including near and far transfer questions, no significant difference was seen between the mastery group and the single try group, but both significantly outperformed a control group that received no instructional support, indicating that students successfully transferred the skills from the solutions to the post-test.

This paper is part of a series of studies to improve the efficacy of online physics homework activities by integrating narrated animated solutions with mastery inspired exercises. In a clinical study using first- and second-year university students, the mastery group attempted question sets in four levels, with animated solutions between each attempt, until mastery was achieved on each level. This combined elements of formative assessment, the worked example effect, and mastery learning. The homework group attempted questions with immediate feedback and unlimited tries. The two groups took a similar amount of time to complete the activity. The mastery group significantly outperformed the homework group on a free response post-test that required students to show their work in solving near and far transfer problems.

Visual representations play a critical role in teaching physics. However, since we do not have a satisfactory understanding of how visual perception impacts the construction of abstract knowledge, most visual representations used in instructions are either created based on existing conventions or designed according to the instructor's intuition, which leads to a significant variance in their effectiveness. In this paper we propose a cognitive mechanism based on grounded cognition, suggesting that visual perception affects understanding by activating "perceptual symbols": the basic cognitive unit used by the brain to construct a concept. A good visual representation activates perceptual symbols that are essential for the construction of the represented concept, whereas a bad representation does the opposite. As a proof of concept, we conducted a clinical experiment in which participants received three different versions of a multimedia tutorial teaching the integral expression of electric potential. The three versions were only different by the details of the visual representation design, only one of which contained perceptual features that activate perceptual symbols essential for constructing the idea of "accumulation." On a following post-test, participants receiving this version of tutorial significantly outperformed those who received the other two versions of tutorials designed to mimic conventional visual representations used in classrooms.

This study examined the experiences of counseling students in learning and applying the SCAMPER model for creative thinking. Counseling students from three universities (N = 54) participated in a training intervention on the SCAMPER model and applied the model in eight weekly task group experiences. Participants' journals, which were completed after each group meeting, were analyzed using qualitative methods. Three themes emerged: a) SCAMPER model as a method to "stretch our thinking"; b) value of "structured creativity"; and c) shifting from "right or wrong"; application to flexibility and "flow." Implications for the training of counseling students in creative methods are discussed.

It is known that introductory physics students rarely, if ever, read the textbook prior to coming to lecture. In this study, we report results from a curriculum intervention in a large enrollment introductory physics class that addresses this problem. In particular, we introduced web-based multimedia learning modules (MLMs) as a "prelecture assignment" designed to better prepare students before coming to lecture. We used student performance on "preflight questions" that they answer prior to lecture as a measure of their before-lecture understanding of the physics concepts. We found significant improvement in student performance and on the vast majority of these preflight questions as compared to that from previous semesters in which MLMs were not available. We found significant improvement for all students, independent of their background or ability level. (Contains 5 figures and 1 table.) [A 14-item list of references and notes is provided.]

The reliability and validity of professionally written multiple-choice exams have been extensively studied for exams such as the SAT, graduate record examination, and the force concept inventory. Much of the success of these multiple-choice exams is attributed to the careful construction of each question, as well as each response. In this study, the reliability and validity of scores from multiple-choice exams written for and administered in the large introductory physics courses at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign were investigated. The reliability of exam scores over the course of a semester results in approximately a 3% uncertainty in students' total semester exam score. This semester test score uncertainty yields an uncertainty in the students' assigned letter grade that is less than 1 / 3 of a letter grade. To study the validity of exam scores, a subset of students were ranked independently based on their multiple-choice score, graded explanations, and student interviews. The ranking of these students based on their multiple-choice score was found to be consistent with the ranking assigned by physics instructors based on the students' written explanations ( r greater than 0.94 at the 95% confidence level) and oral interviews (r=0.94[subscript -0.09][superscript +0.06]). (Contains 30 endnotes, 4 tables and 7 figures.)

Examined author contributions to two sections of "The School Counselor," volumes 20-28. Results indicated that full professors wrote more for the theoretical than the pragmatic part of the journal, while school counselors contributed significantly to the "On the Scene" section. (JAC)

Advocates that a history and systems of counseling course be established in counselor education programs. Identifies potential advantages. Describes five main content areas that need to be addressed in a course of this nature. (Author)

Examined relationship between Batson's (1976) three religious orientations (Means, End, Quest) and level of moral judgment. Graduate students (N=64) completed the Religious Life Inventory; the Gladding, Lewis, and Adkins Scale of Religiosity; and the Defining Issues Test. Findings support Batson's contention that Quest orientation defines more psychologically adaptive model of religion. (NB)

Suggests that poetic and figurative language be incorporated into counselor education curricula and explores five practical ways of doing this. Concludes that a knowledge of the poetic may facilitate counselor-client communication and interaction, complement other counseling techniques, and help in counselor-client problem solving. (Author)

Surveyed 274 counselor education chairpersons concerning current status of marriage and family counseling in counselor education. Respondents indicated that marriage and family programs are growing in popularity, identified courses frequently employed in counselor training, discussed accreditation of marriage and family counseling programs. (Author/NB)