Conceptual Inventory and Assessment Results from a Department at Risk

Assessment results from a large-scale assessment of the introductory courses of a department at risk are presented. The results compared the understanding of students taught traditionally to those with Physics Education Research Informed (PER-informed) instruction in the labs and recitations only to those with PER-informed instruction in labs, recitations and lecture sessions. The results reflect those found in other studies that indicate that student-centered pedagogy is more effective at increasing students' understanding. Still, the majority of physics faculty at Texas Tech University (TTU) are hesitant to introduce student-centered pedagogy into the lecture instruction, at odds with results of studies, such as those in the Strategic Programs for Innovations in Undergraduate Physics (SPIN-UP) report that indicate that the adoption of interactive, student-centered introductory physics curricula is an important component in increasing retention.