Assessing Students in a Reformed Laboratory Course at Michigan State University

As a relatively new field of study, physics education research (PER) has made many strides toward understanding the teaching and learning of physics. Over the course of approximately 40 years, much of the research has been focused on topics such as conceptual understanding, problem solving, curriculum and instruction, and student attitudes and beliefs about learning and teaching. However, with the recent development of the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) Recommendation for the Undergraduate Physics Laboratory Curriculum, a significant portion of the PER community has turned much of their attention toward the undergraduate laboratory environment. The Michigan State University Physics and Astronomy Department has recently transformed its algebra-based, introductory physics laboratory curriculum. This newly transformed course, Design, Analysis, Tools, and Apprenticeship (DATA) Lab, emphasizes the development of experimental skills and laboratory practices and provides students with an authentic physics laboratory experience. Students in DATA Lab engage in the exploration of physical systems to increase their understanding of data analysis, model development, measurement uncertainty, and scientific communication. In the presentation, I will discuss the various types of assessments we've been using to analyze student outcomes within this course including student understanding of measurement uncertainty and experimental design as well as student attitudes toward experimental physics.