Physics lab courses are integral parts of an undergraduate physics education, and offer a variety of opportunities for learning. Many of these opportunities center around a common learning goal in introductory physics lab courses: measurement uncertainty. Accordingly, when the stand-alone introductory lab course at the University of Colorado Boulder (CU) was recently transformed, measurement uncertainty was the focus of a learning goal of that transformation. The Physics Measurement Questionnaire (PMQ), a research-based assessment of student understanding around statistical measurement uncertainty, was used to measure the effectiveness of that transformation. Here, we analyze student responses to the PMQ at the beginning and end of the CU course. We also compare such responses from two semesters: one before and one after the transformation. We present evidence that students in both semesters shifted their reasoning in ways aligned with the measurement uncertainty learning goal. Furthermore, we show that more students in the transformed semester shifted in ways aligned with the learning goal, and that those students tended to communicate their reasoning with greater sophistication than students in the original course. These findings provide evidence that even a traditional lab course can support valuable learning, and that transforming such a course to align with well-defined learning goals can result in even more effective learning experiences.

中文翻译：

---

课程转换对学生测量不确定性推理的影响

物理实验室课程是本科物理教育不可或缺的一部分，并提供各种学习机会。这些机会中有许多都围绕入门物理实验室课程的共同学习目标：测量不确定性。因此，当科罗拉多大学博尔德分校（CU）的独立入门实验课程最近进行转换时，测量不确定性是该转换学习目标的重点。物理测量问卷（PMQ）是一项基于研究的学生对统计测量不确定性的理解评估，用于测量该转换的有效性。在这里，我们分析了CU课程开始和结束时学生对PMQ的反应。我们还比较了两个学期的回答：一个在转换之前，一个在转换之后。我们提供的证据表明，两个学期的学生都以与测量不确定性学习目标一致的方式改变了他们的推理。此外，我们显示，在转换后的学期中，有更多的学生以与学习目标相一致的方式进行转变，并且这些学生比原始课程的学生更倾向于交流自己的推理。这些发现提供了证据，即使传统的实验室课程也可以支持有价值的学习，并且改变这种课程以符合明确的学习目标可以带来更有效的学习体验。我们发现，在转换后的学期中，有更多的学生以与学习目标相一致的方式进行转变，并且这些学生比原先的课程的学生倾向于以更高的技巧交流其推理能力。这些发现提供了证据，即使传统的实验室课程也可以支持有价值的学习，并且改变这种课程以符合明确的学习目标可以带来更有效的学习体验。我们发现，在转换后的学期中，有更多的学生以与学习目标相一致的方式进行转变，并且这些学生比原先的课程的学生倾向于以更高的技巧交流其推理能力。这些发现提供了证据，即使传统的实验室课程也可以支持有价值的学习，并且改变这种课程以符合明确的学习目标可以带来更有效的学习体验。