Andreas Vaterlaus

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Vaterlaus

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Andreas

ORCID

0000-0002-6876-5179

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03815 - Vaterlaus, Andreas / Vaterlaus, Andreas

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Publications 1 - 9 of 9

Verständnis der Grundkonzepte in Chemie und Physik effektiv fördern
Lichtenberger, Andreas; Togni, Antonio; Vaterlaus, Andreas; et al. (2023)
Wie guter Unterricht intelligentes Wissen schafft
A virtual reality learning environment for high school students to learn the concepts of the electric field and potential:
Schmid, Roman; Vaterlaus, Andreas; Lichtenberger, Andreas (2023)
Progress in Science Education
Background: Virtual reality (VR) is a modern technology that is currently receiving attention in many studies on how it can be used to support learning in schools. It is expected to have various benefits for learning physics. However, little attention has been given to the implementation of VR with a VR headset and to the three-dimensionality of the representations that VR technology can provide. Purpose: We designed a three-dimensional VR learning environment for Microsoft HoloLens for learning the con-cepts of the electric field and the electric potential. In the present paper, we show preliminary results of a first inter-vention study with 26 high school students. With self-developed test instruments, we evaluate the learning progress through the VR intervention. In addition, we explore how the students rate the usability of the VR headset and the VR learning environment. Sample/Setting: We tested our VR learning environment on two classes of a high school in Bern, Switzerland. We collected and analysed data from 26 students aged 17 to 20 from an intervention study of 75 minutes. The use of the VR learning environment was 15 minutes. Design and Methods: In a pre- and posttest design, we investigated the effect of the VR learning environment on students’ understanding of the electric field and potential. In addition, we asked questions and evaluated the answers regarding the students’ experience with the VR headset and the VR learning environment. Results: Students made significant learning progress by using the VR learning environment: Cohen’s d = .89. The learning progress was better in items that were similar to those of the VR learning environment, but problems occurred when students were asked to transfer their knowledge to the field of electric charges. Most students considered the technology of the VR headset as good to handle and the VR learning environment to be very interesting and beneficial for their learning process. Conclusions: Our VR learning environment seems to be suitable for learning, which is shown by the fact that students progressed from the pretest to the posttest. However, further research needs to address the question of whether stu-dents learn better with a VR headset than on computers or with paper and pencil. Keywords: Virtual reality, visible learning, electric field, electric potential, field vectors, 3D simulations
Magnetic Domains
Portmann, Oliver; Vaterlaus, Andreas; Stamm, Christian; et al. (2024)
Encyclopedia of Condensed Matter Physics
Enhanced conceptual understanding through formative assessment: results of a randomized controlled intervention study in physics classes
Lichtenberger, Andreas; Hofer, Sarah Isabelle; Stern, Elsbeth; et al. (2025)
Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability
While formative assessment is a widely valued instructional approach to support meaningful learning, putting it into classroom practice remains a challenge, also because the time resources required may conflict with other goals. In a cluster-randomized controlled intervention study with 29 teachers and 604 students (mean age 15.6 years) at secondary school level, we examined the yield of formative assessment with regard to students’ conceptual understanding and quantitative problem-solving skills in physics. Ten teachers applied formative assessment (FA group) in a 14-lesson curriculum on kinematics after having undergone a training that focused on the implementation of multiple-choice concept questions together with monitoring tools, clicker sessions, and reflective lessons. In the frequent testing group (FT group), ten teachers had no training on formative assessment but implemented the same concept questions as those used in the FA group. Nine teachers taught kinematics in their traditional way (TT group). The results revealed that students in the FA group outperformed students in the other two groups in a test on conceptual understanding immediately after the intervention as well as 3 months later, whereas students from the FT group and the TT group did not differ. Importantly, a better conceptual understanding in the FA group was not at the expense of performance in quantitative problem solving, as students of this group better integrated both kinds of knowledge. Our study has shown that a short but well-structured formative assessment teacher training could unfold its potential in terms of students’ learning of challenging content.
Detection of femtosecond spin voltage pulses in a thin iron film
Bühlmann, Kevin; Saerens, Grégoire; Vaterlaus, Andreas; et al. (2020)
Structural Dynamics
We present experimental evidence of a spin voltage-a difference between the chemical potentials of the two spin directions-in a thin iron film based on spin-and time-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. This voltage is the driving force for a spin current during the ultrafast demagnetization of the sample. The observed magnitude is on the order of 50 mV, a value that is quite consistent with predictions based on particle conservation and persists for approximately 100 fs.
Inventory for the assessment of representational competence of vector fields
Küchemann, Stefan; Malone, Sarah; Edelsbrunner, Peter; et al. (2021)
Physical Review Physics Education Research
Representational competence is essential for the acquisition of conceptual understanding in physics. It enables the interpretation of diagrams, graphs, and mathematical equations, and relating these to one another as well as to observations and experimental outcomes. In this study, we present the initial validation of a newly developed cross-contextual assessment of students’ competence in representing vector-field plots and field lines, the most common visualization of the concept of vector fields. The Representational Competence of Fields Inventory (RCFI) consists of ten single choice items and two items that each contain three true or false questions. The tool can be easily implemented within an online assessment. It assesses the understanding of the conventions of interpreting field lines and vector-field plots, as well as the translation between these. The intended use of the tool is both to scale students’ representational competences in respect to representations of vector fields and to reveal related misconceptions (areas of difficulty). The tool was administered at three German-speaking universities in Switzerland and Germany to a total of 515 first- and third-semester students from science, technology, engineering, and mathematics subjects. In these first steps of the validation of the RCFI, we evaluated its psychometric quality via classical test theory in combination with Rasch scaling and examined its construct validity by conducting student interviews. The RCFI exhibits a good internal consistency of ω=0.86, and the results of the Rasch analysis revealed that the items discriminate well among students from lower to medium-high competence levels. The RCFI revealed several misunderstandings and shortcomings, such as the confusion of the conventions for representing field lines and vector-field plots. Moreover, it showed that many students believed that field lines must not exhibit a curvature, that the lengths of field lines matter, and that field lines may have sharp corners. In its current version, the RCFI allows assessing students’ competence to interpret field representations, a necessary prerequisite for learning the widespread concept of vector fields. We report on planned future adaptations of the tool, such as optimizing some of the current distractors.
Ratingkonferenzen als Evaluationsverfahren in der Curriculumsentwicklung
Tomforde, Elke; Volk, Benno; Barth, Philip; et al. (2022)
Blickpunkt Hochschuldidaktik ~ Hochschullehre als Gemeinschaftsaufgabe: Akteur:innen und Fachkulturen in der lernenden Organisation
Wie kann eine Hochschule überprüfen, ob die vielfältigen Ziele von Curriculumentwicklungsprozessen erreicht werden? In diesem Kontext stellten sich die Verantwortlichen der Curriculumsentwicklung an der ETH Zürich (ETHZ) die Frage, wie neue oder revidierte Curricula von Studiengängen partizipativ evaluiert werden können. Zu diesem Zweck werden seit drei Jahren vermehrt Ratingkonferenzen eingesetzt - ein Mixed Methods-Ansatz. Die Kombination aus standardisierten und diskursiven Verfahren liefert sehr aufschlussreiche Ergebnisse, die sich mit standardisierten Methoden allein nur schwer erschließen lassen. Anhand von zwei Praxisbeispielen wird aufgezeigt, inwieweit Evaluationsziele erfüllt wurden und wie die Studienprogramme die Evaluationsergebnisse nutzen. Abschließend wird diskutiert, wie Ratingkonferenzen systematisch als Element des Qualitätsmanagements in der Universität eingesetzt werden können.
Observation of spin voltage and accumulation by spin-resolved femtosecond photoelectron spectroscopy
Bühlmann, Kevin; Carrión, Francisco; Saerens, Grégoire; et al. (2022)
Proceedings of SPIE ~ Advances in Ultrafast Condensed Phase Physics III
The generation of spin current pulses by laser-driven demagnetization links the field of ultrafast magnetism to spintronics. So far, this spin transport and its cause could only be observed indirectly. We demonstrate that femtosecond spin injection can be observed on the femtosecond time scale by spin and time resolved photoemission experiments. We study thin, epitaxial iron films which are excited by a 800 nm pump laser beam. Photoemission by a higher harmonic generation source (photon energy: 21 eV) in combination with an electron spin polarimeter is used to measure the chemical potentials of the minority- and majority electrons. This way, we observe the spin voltage, which acts as the driving force for the spin current. If we deposit a thin gold film onto the iron sample and excite the iron film through the transparent substrate, we can study spin injection and accumulation. The spin polarization in Au rises on the femtosecond time scale and decays within < 1 ps. The decay time depends on the Au film thickness. This thickness dependence can be described by a "spin capacitance", which is similar to the capacitance in charge-based electronics.
Inventory of Galilean Transformation of uniform linear motion in position-time graphs
Merki, Eliane; Hofer, Sarah; Vaterlaus, Andreas; et al. (2025)
Physical Review Physics Education Research
When describing motion in physics, the selection of a frame of reference is crucial. The graph of a moving object can look quite different based on the frame of reference. In recent years, various tests have been developed to assess the interpretation of kinematic graphs, but none of these tests have specifically addressed differences in reference frames. Moreover, existing tests that explore differences in reference frame typically focus on the equivalence principle through written answers, interviews, or simple calculations and vector addition; however, none of these tests evaluate position-time graphs. To address this gap in the research, we developed and evaluated the Inventory of Galilean Transformation of uniform linear motion in position-time graphs (IGT). The IGT consists of 15 multiple-choice items that systematically use position-time graphs of linear uniform motion to assess the understanding of 3 types of Galilean transformations: the identity transformation, the transformation between two (opposing) stationary displaced frames of reference, and the transformation from a stationary into a uniformly moving frame of reference. Herein, we presented the development and validation of the IGT. A total of 532 upper secondary school students in the advanced track participated in the multistage development process. We evaluated the psychometric properties via classical test theory and item response theory. The degree of item discrimination and reliability were within the desired range. The IGT demonstrated good internal consistency (ω = 0.88), and confirmatory factor analysis supported the intended structure of the test. Rasch analysis revealed that the item difficulties were consistent with the increasing complexity of the three different transformations. The IGT also revealed several alternative student conceptions about frames of references, such as confusion between two scenarios of cars crossing versus overtaking, as well as misunderstandings regarding the changing shape of a graph when a uniformly moving object is transformed into a moving frame of reference. In its current form, the IGT serves as a new instrument for assessing students' ability to interpret position-time graphs under the influence of the Galilean transformation, making it suitable for formative or summative assessment in advanced upper secondary education.

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