Extending positive CLASS results across multiple instructors and multiple classes of Modeling Instruction

We report on a multiyear study of student attitudes measured with the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey in calculus-based introductory physics taught with the Modeling Instruction curriculum. We find that five of six instructors and eight of nine sections using Modeling Instruction showed significantly improved attitudes from pre- to postcourse. Cohen’s $d$ effect sizes range from 0.08 to 0.95 for individual instructors. The average effect was $d=0.45$, with a 95% confidence interval of (0.26–0.64). These results build on previously published results showing positive shifts in attitudes from Modeling Instruction classes. We interpret these data in light of other published positive attitudinal shifts and explore mechanistic explanations for similarities and differences with other published positive shifts.

Figure 1

Published positive shifts on the CLASS; see also Table . Blue and red represent the pre- and postcourse percentages, respectively, of overall favorable responses. The error bars show standard error for pre and post.

Figure 2

Plot of Cohen’s $d$ by instructor. Error bars reflect the 95% confidence interval on the effect.

Figure 3

Box plot of the shift in overall percent favorable responses for each of the instructors in the new data set. The box width is scaled by the square root of $n$ for each instructor. In each box, the thick center line indicates median shift, and the lower and upper bounds represent the first and third quartiles, respectively. The whiskers show the extent of the remaining data out to $1.5\times$ the box size; points outside this range are marked as circles, and represent students with very large shifts.

Figure 4

MI-New CLASS data ($N=221$) for all categories. Blue and red represent the pre- and postcourse percentages, respectively, of overall favorable responses. The error bars show standard error for pre and post.