A study involving 338 students in six different lower‐division physics courses is reported in which students’ Piagetian levels of intellectual development as determined by a written questionnaire versus final semester grades are compared. A good correlation would provide the instructor with a useful counseling tool while a poor or zero correlation would not. In either case, the questionnaire results can guide the selection of instructional materials and techniques for the class. The correlation coefficients were found to be positive, but low, for the grades A, B, and C, and the statistical scatter diagrams show a wide spread of Piagetian levels of intellectual development within each letter grade level. Other factors than the ability to think logically appear to be of greater importance for the D group, and no correlation can be seen for the W’s and F’s. The wide spread of Piagetian levels of thought for each grade level suggests that students can somehow attain passing, if not high, grades in the more elementary of these courses even though they appear to lack the ability to think formally, at least at the beginning of the course. Logical thought appears to be a more necessary attribute as students progress through the engineering physics sequence, however.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
September 1977
Papers|
September 01 1977
Scores on a Piaget‐type questionnaire versus semester grades for lower‐division college physics students
George Barnes
George Barnes
Department of Physics, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada 89507
Search for other works by this author on:
George Barnes
Department of Physics, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada 89507
Am. J. Phys. 45, 841–847 (1977)
Citation
George Barnes; Scores on a Piaget‐type questionnaire versus semester grades for lower‐division college physics students. Am. J. Phys. 1 September 1977; 45 (9): 841–847. https://doi.org/10.1119/1.11059
Download citation file:
Pay-Per-View Access
$40.00
Sign In
You could not be signed in. Please check your credentials and make sure you have an active account and try again.
Citing articles via
All objects and some questions
Charles H. Lineweaver, Vihan M. Patel
Ergodic Lagrangian dynamics in a superhero universe
I. L. Tregillis, George R. R. Martin
Temperature as joules per bit
Charles Alexandre Bédard, Sophie Berthelette, et al.
Interplay between Airy and Coriolis precessions in a real Foucault pendulum
N. N. Salva, H. R. Salva
Solving introductory physics problems recursively using iterated maps
L. Q. English, D. P. Jackson, et al.
Related Content
Students’ scores on Piaget‐type questionnaires before and after taking one semester of college physics
Am. J. Phys. (August 1978)
Are Colleges Concerned with Intellectual Development?
Am. J. Phys. (September 1971)
Results of a remedial laboratory program based on a Piaget model for engineering and science freshmen
Am. J. Phys. (July 1977)
Piagetian‐styled and process‐based physics lecture course for liberal arts majors
Am. J. Phys. (July 1978)
The Learning Cycle: A Reintroduction
Phys. Teach. (February 2006)