Comparing two forms of instruction in college physics

We hypothesize that the amount of learning that takes place in a classroom is related to the teaching methodology employed. To test this hypothesis, several forms of examinations have been administered to the nonscience‐major students attending physical sciences classes at the University of Oklahoma in an attempt to determine the relative effectiveness of two instructional methodologies which we label Formal Instruction and Concrete Instruction. The results of these studies indicate a need to seriously reevaluate our present approach to teaching these ’’survey’’ or ’’introductory’’ physics classes designed for the nonscience major.