Abstract:The acquisition metaphor of learning is often used by teachers of physics: Students are thought to acquire a particular concept and then transfer this concept to new contexts. For example, one might argue that students acquire the mathematical concept of "vector addition" and then apply it in different physical contexts. In this study, 200 freshmen taking an introductory physics course were asked to calculate total force, total displacement and total momentum in simple contexts involving vector addition at right angles. Another similar group of students were asked to calculate net force, net displacement, and net momentum. When asked to calculate the "net" quantity, students did significantly better than when asked to calculate the "total" quantity. Students did significantly worse when adding momenta as opposed to adding forces or displacements. These results are inconsistent with a basic "acquisition-transfer" perspective of learning. An analysis of subsequent interviews and questionnaires was also conducted.

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Articles you may be interested inStudent interactions leading to learning and transfer: A participationist perspective AIP Conf. Proc. 1513, 86 (2013); 10.1063/1.4789658 Student understanding of the direction of the magnetic force on a charged particle Am. J. Phys. 78, 869 (2010); 10.1119/1.3386587 Students' understanding and perceptions of the content of a lecture AIP Conf.Abstract. Density is an important, multifaceted concept that occurs at many levels of physics education. Previous research has shown that a primary instantiation of the concept, mass density, is not well understood by high school or university students. This study seeks to determine how students understand the broad concept of density, and whether particular aspects of their understanding are helpful in structuring the concept of charge density. Qualitative data were gathered in the form of questionnaires distributed to 172 freshmen comprising three different academic groups. Broad, open ended questions prompted for responses involving free writing and drawn diagrams. The data were analysed by an approach suggested by Grounded Theory. Using the theoretical lens of Conceptual Metaphor Theory, six underlying (foothold) concepts were identified in terms of which density was conceptualised: 'filled container'; 'packing'; 'weight/heaviness'; 'intensive property'; 'floating/sinking'; 'impenetrability/solidity'. The foothold concept of 'packing' proved to be the most productive for conceptualising 'charge density'.

Arnold Arons described an inadequate understanding of ratios as "one of the most serious impediments to the study of science" [1]. Yet ample math and physics education research demonstrates that STEM university students struggle with ratios. For example, students are familiar with the notion of "meters per second", but many do not attribute meaning to the notion of "seconds per meter" [2]. This manuscript presents a simple technique dubbed "The Ratio Table" for helping students work algebraically with ratios, and make physical sense of units involving "per". The technique was implemented and assessed through repeated pre-and post administration of a set of written questions. Results suggest that this relatively small intervention can boost student performance.