PROCEEDINGS OF THE 22ND ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH IN UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION
2019
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
The physics inventory of quantitative reasoning: Assessing student reasoning about sign
Page: 992
An increase in general quantitative literacy and discipline-specific Physics Quantitative Literacy (PQL) is a major course goal of most introductory-level physics sequences—yet there exist no instruments to assess how PQL changes with instruction in these types of courses. To address this need, we are developing the Physics Inventory of Quantitative Literacy (PIQL), a multiple-choice inventory to assess students’ sense-making about arithmetic and algebra concepts that underpin reasoning in introductory physics courses—proportional reasoning, covariational reasoning and reasoning about sign and signed quantities. The PIQL will be used to not only to assess students’ PQL at specific points in time, but also to track changes in and development of PQL that can be attributed to instruction. Data from early versions of the PIQL suggest that students experience difficulty reasoning about sign and signed quantities.