Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0009-0005-5330-9575

Semester

Spring

Date of Graduation

2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

PhD

College

Eberly College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Physics and Astronomy

Committee Chair

John Stewart

Committee Member

Marjorie Darrah

Committee Member

Paul Miller

Committee Member

Joonhee Lee

Abstract

The study of student misconceptions about physics concepts has long been an important area of inquiry in physics education research (PER). The research discussed in this dissertation builds upon the developments in PER by exploring the prevalence of consistently held undergraduate student misconceptions in introductory calculus-based physics. This thesis explores the nature of student misconceptions, mistakes, and naive answering patterns in both introductory undergraduate Newtonian mechanics and electromagnetism by applying a network analytic technique called module analysis to student responses to different concept inventories from institutions of various levels of incoming physics preparation. Each study applying these methods also demonstrates how they can also be used to inform future inventory development. Network analysis was also used to study the growth and evolution of the First2 Network, a project with the goal of doubling the retention rate of STEM students in West Virginia, with a particular emphasis on rural and first-generation students. The final part of this thesis compares students’ performance and attendance in an introductory electricity and magnetism course before and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

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