Measuring Engagement with Scientific Practices, Core Ideas, and Crosscutting Concepts in Physics Courses: Development of the Three-Dimensional Learning Observation Protocol

In 2013, Michigan State University (MSU) launched an interdisciplinary project to transform introductory courses across chemistry, biology, and physics to three-dimensional learning (3DL) environments. As part of this effort, we have developed an observation protocol (the 3-Dimensional Learning Observation Protocol, or 3DLOP) to measure the extent to which instructors and students engage in scientific practices, disciplinary core ideas, and crosscutting concepts (the three dimensions) during class time. Simply put, the 3DLOP differs from other classroom observation protocols in that it does not only measure how active a class is, but rather, it measures how rich the activity is. Using the 3DLOP on videos of instructors, our goal is to measure the change in the amount of 3DL in gateway courses pre- and post-transformation. Protocol development and initial findings from using the 3DLOP on physics lecture courses will be discussed.