A physics instructor’s enactment of three-dimensional learning: Action research

Abstract

This action research study was conducted in a physics education class focusing on electricity and magnetism. The instructor aimed to integrate three-dimensional learning into curriculum, lesson planning, and instruction to understand successes and challenges of teaching through a new approach and students’ perceptions of their learning process. The data collection included instructor’s lesson planning, pre- and post-lesson reflections, student artifacts, and students’ reflections. The qualitative data were analyzed through constant comparative method to identify theory-driven and data-driven codes, determine their frequency to categorize and construct themes. The results were provided with three themes: (1) the instructor’s integration of three-dimensional learning, (2) the strengths and challenges of the implementation, and (3) students’ experiences. These findings suggested the need for focusing on developing teachers’ knowledge in different domains connected to each other such as scientific practices, crosscutting concepts, subject matter knowledge, and nature of science for student conceptions and instructional strategies.