Crucible courses: intermediate courses combining a large ADK jump with enculturation that accelerate trajectories toward central participation in a discipline's community of practice¶

Theory · All theories
Evidence · 2 claims (2 for) · 1 study (1 qualitative), q2 · 1 of 1 report an effect size · 2 claims rest on one study

Description¶

The authors introduce "crucible courses" as "the first courses in which students work on difficult physics problems surrounded primarily by other physics students, are treated by their professors as junior physicists, and take on identities as part of a community of physics students". These courses are typically intermediate level, have smaller enrollments, foster community, and carry substantially higher expectations and perceived stakes. The AdLab course is offered as a possible example, combining a jump in accountable disciplinary knowledge with enculturation elements that let students accelerate their trajectory toward central participation in the physicists' community of practice.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• A large jump in accountable disciplinary knowledge from previous courses
• An emphasis on enculturation, which the authors believe is a key feature of a crucible course

Constraints¶

• The authors state this is "a working definition" and they intend to further investigate the key elements of a crucible course

Target Learners¶

• sophomore and junior physics majors and minors

Target Learning Objectives¶

• enculturation into professional physics practices
• physics identity development

Claims¶

• Adlab Students Perceived Adk Jump And Authentic Practice [+M]
• Adlab Intergroup Interaction Time Increased Over Semester [+M]

Related Theories¶

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Irving, P. W., & Sayre, E. C. (2013). Conditions for building a community of practice in an advanced physics laboratory. https://arxiv.org/abs/1312.1953. doi:10.48550/arxiv.1312.1953