28th International Conference on Multimedia in Physics Teaching and Learning (MPTL'28)

Interactive Online Interventions for Helping Students Succeed in Physics

4 Sept 2025, 16:00

1h 30m

Room 0.87 (ELTE TTK)

Workshop Modern Equipment and Technology to Improve Physics Teaching and Learning Workshops

Speaker

Dr Robert Teese (Rochester Institute of Technology)

Description

Many students taking their first course in physics are afraid that the course may be very difficult for them. The Interactive Online Interventions (IOIs) project is developing socio-psychological interventions that help students learn and succeed. The IOIs will cultivate students' sense of belonging in introductory physics courses, and help them learn how to learn physics. They enhance the effectiveness of evidence-based active engagement instruction. IOIs are easy for instructors to implement in Learning Management Systems such as Moodle, itslearning, Blackboard and others that support SCORM. An IOI is an interactive online activity that includes videos of students explaining their experience in taking physics courses. Four are being developed: (1) "What worries you?" helps students understand that they are not alone; many other students share the same fears and worries about taking a physics course. (2) "Saying is believing" reinforces the first IOI by showing upper-level students explain how they overcame their fears. (3) "Exam wrapper" is a structured process that helps students reflect on the score of their first exam and prepare for future exams. (4) "End-of-term reflection" helps students interpret their performance and identify learning strategies that worked. IOIs are designed for use in the first calculus-based physics course in secondary schools or universities.
In the workshop you will learn more about the research basis behind the IOIs, how to use them effectively in your class, and how to customize them to your language. The current versions are only available in English. Participants interested in customizing should bring a laptop with version 8u441 of Java installed (see https://www.compadre.org/IVET/VS2.cfm). The online IOIs are made with free, open-source Vignette Studio II software (https://www.compadre.org/IVET/VS2.cfm). The page https://sciencetutorials.net/IOI/sample/ links to a sample IOI you can try.