Abstract
The gain of conceptual learning in introductory Physics of incoming students at the university, submitted to different methodological approaches, was measured with a standardized and internationally recognized instrument. The study involved 599 engineering, physics and mathematics students from São Carlos campus of the University of São Paulo (USP), during the first semester of 2017. Among the main results is the basic conceptual knowledge profile of these students and their correlation with the admission process. We evaluate these results and the conceptual gains obtained within the different classes and courses of the campus, presenting a direct and quantitative comparison of the performances of traditional classes with classes that make use of active learning methodologies. These results are compared with data from national and international studies, contributing to fill a gap still present in the national literature, lacking large-scale quantitative studies in this area. We were able to confirm that classes involved with active learning methodologies present greater conceptual gain at the end of the course, in agreement with the international literature, obtaining in this study, on average, a normalized gain two times higher.
Keywords:
FCI; Mechanics; Physics Teaching; Graduate Studies
