Lewandowski Group - Measurement Uncertainty
Measurement Uncertainty
Measurement uncertainty is a common learning goal in physics lab courses, especially at the introductory level. It acts as a fundamental aspect of many important laboratory skills, including designing and making measurements, analyzing and visualizing data, and experimental modeling.
To study learning about measurement uncertainty, we have used the Physics Measurement Questionnaire (PMQ), an established research-based assessment instrument. We are also developing a new such instrument for measuring learning about measurement uncertainty, the Survey of Physics Reasoning on Uncertainty Concepts in Experiments (SPRUCE).
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The Physics Measurement Questionnaire (PMQ) is a survey that measures student reasoning about measurement uncertainty at the intro physics level. It was developed over a decade ago by Prof. Saalih Allie et al. at the University of Cape Town, ZA. The survey concerns an experiment in which a ball rolls down a ramp and then flies through the air in free-fall before landing some horizontal distance away from where it started. The survey contains several questions, or probes, each one concerning a different step in the measurement process (such as "data collection" or "data analysis"). Students respond to each probe by choosing from a set of closed-form options, and then writing an open-response explanation of their choice.
We have used the PMQ to measure learning in the introductory physics lab course at CU Boulder, in conjunction with a course transformation project. We have also explored the use of natural language processing to assist in the analysis of responses to the PMQ.
