Using the theory of successful intelligence as a framework for developing assessments in AP physics

Each year, millions of students across the country take high-stakes achievement tests that will have an important influence on their academic and professional futures (Heubert & Hauser, 1999); yet, many of these tests are not aligned with modern theories of student learning and cognitive processing. As a result, students with strengths in cognitive skills not assessed by these tests may have their future opportunities curtailed (Sternberg, 1997). Indeed, many tests that serve as gatekeepers tend to emphasize only a limited range of skills (e.g., analytical and memory skills). Yet analytical and memory skills alone are not sufficient to succeed in the professional world. For example, although analytical skills are important to the physicist, who must compare and contrast competing explanations for phenomena and critically analyze data, other skills are important as well. It takes creative skills for the physicist to synthesize disparate findings and generate new theories, and practical skills to understand how theoretical findings may be used in the real world (e.g., to improve communication technology) as well as to persuade others of the value of the findings. To the extent that selection tests are weighted more heavily in favor of one particular type of skill, an entire professional field may suffer because it potentially will be dominated by individuals with a single profile of strengths and weaknesses, thereby inhibiting the capacity of the field to develop to its full potential. A balance of cognitive skills is important, regardless of one’s professional domain. Thus, measurements should assess a broad profile of skills in students.

The aim of the current research was to examine the impact on student achievement of creating a set of modified, theory-driven examinations that expanded the range of cognitive skills assessed. The College Board’s Advanced Placement (AP) program in Physics was used as a testing ground for the project.
The College Board’s Advanced Placement (AP) Program, initiated in 1955, was originally designed as a mechanism for granting exceptional high school students an opportunity for advanced study that would be equivalent to college-level programming. When this program began, it served only top students from a limited number of high schools, but in 2006, 666,067 graduating seniors (24% of all graduating seniors) at 16,000 secondary schools reported having taken at least one exam in one of the 37 courses across 22 subject areas offered by the AP program (College Board, 2007).1