Ian Descamps

Aug 23, 2024 | link.aps.org | Sophia Jeon |Rachel E. Scherr |David Hammer |Ian Descamps

In introductory physics laboratory instruction, students often expect to confirm or demonstrate textbook physics concepts. This expectation is largely undesirable: labs that emphasize confirmation of textbook physics concepts are generally unsuccessful at teaching those concepts and even in contexts that do not emphasize confirmation, such expectations can lead to students disregarding or manipulating their data in order to obtain the expected result.