Erie, Pa. -- After two years of planning, the Scale-Up physics classroom at Penn State Erie is ready for its close-up.
Scale-Up is an innovative approach to teaching introductory physics, frequently a stumbling block for would-be scientists and engineers. Using an innovative pedagogical approach and a unique classroom design, Scale-Up seeks to reduce physics courses' traditionally high dropout rate by giving students greater responsibility in the classroom, not less. The Scale-Up lab is the first in the Penn State system and the region; the closest Scale-Up program is at Rochester Institute of Technology.
An acronym for Student Centered Activities for Large Enrollment Undergraduate Programs, Scale-Up changes the passive lecture-and-lab format of introductory science courses; in fact, it eliminates lectures entirely.
When a student walks into a Scale-Up class, he or she is assigned an activity that might be an experiment to conduct, a problem to solve or a question to answer.
"There isn't even an introductory lecture," said G. William Baxter, an associate professor of physics and the campus point person for creation of the new classroom. "The students set up and start the activity themselves. But in order to do the activity, they will have had to do their assigned reading in preparation for the class. The idea is that you have to take responsibility for your own learning at all times."
Real questions Scale-Up students can expect to ponder: What is the thickness of a single page of your text? (No measuring tools allowed.) How many two-step paces is it between Los Angeles and New York City? What are the dimensions of the standard kilogram? How many candy bars' worth of energy does it take to push a shopping cart past the snack aisle?
"Physics education research shows that students learn better when they are actively engaged," Baxter added. "Scale-Up makes hands-on collaborative learning possible for intro courses with a large number of students, when previously it was really only practical when you taught a smaller, upper-level class."
Students work in groups of three; each group has its own networked computer with laboratory interfaces and probes for measurement. Three groups sit at each of the classroom's eight round tables to give a small-classroom feel to class sizes of up to 72 students. A Scale-Up classroom has no front or back; when needed, ceiling-mounted projectors aimed at three seven-foot screens can display computer screen shots, transparencies or instructor notes.
As students work, the instructor circulates to offer assistance or engage in Socratic-like dialogue. Baxter said that one of his Scale-Up colleagues wittily refers to this kind of teaching as "guide-on-the-side rather than sage-on-the-stage." After instructing two trial sections of Physics 211: "Mechanics using Scale-Up Methodology," Baxter understands the difference. "As you walk and listen, you hear groups argue, you hear them solve problems," he said. "It's exciting to know that they are getting it and helpful to know when they are not. You aren't just staring at a sea of blank faces in a lecture hall."
Scale-Up was created by the Physics Education Research and Development (PERD) project at North Carolina State University, coincidently headed by Harborcreek native Robert J. Beichner, the Alumni distinguished professor of physics at NCSU. Beichner said that PERD "takes a scholarly approach to learning. We treat teaching as a science in itself, something that can be improved by systematic studies of classrooms and students. Scale-Up is the application of what we've discovered."
Using data that compared 16,000 students enrolled in Scale-Up with those in traditional lecture physics courses, PERD research found that overall failure rates were cut by one-third. Results were even more dramatic for female and African-American students. Problem-solving ability and conceptual understanding improved for all Scale-Up students regardless of gender or race.
Baxter experienced similar results in Penn State Erie's trial run of teaching Mechanics using Scale-Up methodology. For the first time, he said, there was no final grade lower than a B, an event he called "miraculous."
Scale-Up was made possible in part by the summer opening of the Research and Economic Development Center (REDC), new home to the School of Engineering and Sam and Irene Black School of Business. The School of Science relocated from the Otto Behrend Science Building to the larger complex vacated by engineering, making 21 Witkowski, formerly a large mechanical processing lab, available for complete renovation to Scale-Up design.
It was a luxury to design and build a Scale-Up classroom from scratch, Baxter noted; most universities have had to retrofit an existing laboratory. "This is easily the best Scale-Up facility in existence right now," he said.
Creation of the Scale-Up lab received $168,859 in support from Penn State's University Committee on Instructional Facilities and a $56,286 campuus match by the School of Science and Office of the Chancellor. Other universities that have adopted Scale-Up for physics education include Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Western Kentucky, University of New Hampshire, Clemson University, American University, University of Alabama, University of Central Florida, University of Puerto Rico and Coastal Carolina University.