2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Understanding Students’ Confusion and Interest in an Introductory Physics Course Through Qualitative Analysis of Self-Reflections

Presented at Engineering Physics and Physics Division (EP2D) Technical Session 1

Student reflections offer valuable insights into their learning processes and how they achieve the learning objectives set by instructors. Such insights are particularly beneficial in large-class environments commonly observed in engineering education, where it is challenging for a single instructor to gauge each student’s progress. Through qualitative analysis of self-reflections collected over a semester, this study explores the sources of confusion and interest among first-year students in an undergraduate introductory physics course for engineering and science majors. We address the following research questions specifically in a lecture-based introductory physics course: (1) What aspects of physics lectures confuse students? (2) What aspects of physics lectures interest students? (3) How are students' confusion and interest related to each other? The study proceeded in several phases. First, two researchers reviewed the student reflection data and relevant literature. Next, we developed an a priori coding scheme based on four categories of constituent knowledge: (1) understanding of physics systems, (2) execution of technical procedures when applying physics principles, (3) understanding of physics principles, and (4) understanding of physics concepts. We added two additional categories: (5) instructional reflections and (6) metacognitive thinking. Following this, the researchers independently coded 10% of the reflections and refined the coding scheme through iterative discussions, generating subcodes for each category. Using the finalized scheme, we then independently coded all reflections. We are investigating if there are specific types of physics knowledge that confuse and interest students in this context. Also, we divided students into three groups based on their academic achievement to investigate if there are differences in aspects of physics knowledge that students found confusing and interesting between these three groups. Enhanced understanding of students’ confusion and interest will assist physics educators in refining course content and instructional strategies to address student needs better.

Authors

Ms. Jiwon Kim http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4209-0991 Purdue University at West Lafayette (COE) [biography]

Jiwon Kim is a Ph.D. student at the School of Engineering Education, Purdue University West Lafayette. She earned her M.Sc. in Informatics (emphasis in Human-Computer Interaction) and B.Sc. in Earth Science Education, both at Seoul National University. Her research interests are in the intersection of engineering/science education and learning technology. Currently participating in the CourseMIRROR and IQPARC projects with Dr. Muhsin Menekse, she researches how reflection on learning activities can support engineering students in engaging in their class and improving their learning achievement.
Alfa Satya Putra http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0540-5819 Purdue University at West Lafayette (COE) [biography]

Alfa Satya Putra is a 3rd year PhD student at School of Engineering Education at Purdue University. He has Bachelor's and Master's degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Purdue University. Before joining the PhD program, Alfa has served as a lecturer in Indonesia. Alfa is mainly interested in investigating the implementation of reflective activities in large classrooms and assessing how reflective activities affect student learning and academic performance.
Dr. Muhsin Menekse Purdue University at West Lafayette (PWL) (COE) [biography]

Muhsin Menekse is an Associate Professor at Purdue University with a joint appointment in the School of Engineering Education and the Department of Curriculum & Instruction. Dr. Menekse's primary research focuses on exploring K-16 students' engagement and learning of engineering and science concepts by creating innovative instructional resources and conducting interdisciplinary quasi-experimental research studies in and out of classroom environments. Dr. Menekse is the recipient of the 2014 William Elgin Wickenden Award by the American Society for Engineering Education. He is also selected as an NSF SIARM fellow for the advanced research methods for STEM education research. Dr. Menekse received four Seed-for-Success Awards (in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2021) from Purdue University's Excellence in Research Awards programs in recognition of obtaining four external grants of $1 million or more during each year. His research has been generously funded by grants from the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), Purdue Research Foundation (PRF), and the National Science Foundation (NSF).
Eesha tur razia babar University of California, Irvine [biography]

Eesha Tur Razia Babar holds a master's degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of California, Irvine. She completed her undergraduate studies in Electrical Engineering at the University of Engineering and Technology in Lahore, Pakistan. Her primary research interests include educational technology, educational data mining, and educational data science.
Mr. Ahmed Ashraf Butt http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2047-8493 University of Oklahoma [biography]

Dr. Ahmed Ashraf Butt is an Assistant Professor at the University of Oklahoma. He recently completed his Ph.D. in the School of Engineering Education at Purdue University and pursued post-doctoral training at the School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). He has cultivated a multidisciplinary research portfolio bridging learning sciences, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), and engineering education. His primary research focuses on designing and developing educational technologies that facilitate various aspects of student learning, such as engagement. Additionally, he is interested in designing instructional interventions and exploring their relationship with first-year engineering (FYE) students’ learning aspects, including motivation and learning strategies. Prior to his time at Purdue, Dr. Butt worked as a lecturer at the University of Lahore, Pakistan, and has been associated with the software industry in various capacities.
Dr. Saira Anwar http://orcid.org/https://0000-0001-6947-3226 Texas A&M University [biography]

Saira Anwar is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Multidisciplinary Engineering, Texas A and M University, College Station. She received her Ph.D. in Engineering Education from the School of Engineering Education, Purdue University, USA. The Department of Energy, National Science Foundation, and industry sponsors fund her research. Her research potential and the implication of her work are recognized through national and international awards, including the 2023 NSTA/NARST Research Worth Reading award for her publication in the Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 2023 New Faculty Fellow award by IEEE ASEE Frontiers in Education Conference, 2022 Apprentice Faculty Grant award by the ERM Division, ASEE, and 2020 outstanding researcher award by the School of Engineering Education, Purdue University. Dr. Anwar has over 20 years of teaching experience at various national and international universities, including the Texas A and M University - USA, University of Florida - USA, and Forman Christian College University - Pakistan. She also received outstanding teacher awards in 2013 and 2006. Also, she received the "President of Pakistan Merit and Talent Scholarship" for her undergraduate studies.

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 22, 2025, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 25, 2025

« View session

For those interested in:

engineering
Faculty
undergraduate
engineering
Faculty
undergraduate