<i>Thinking Physics is Gedanken Physics</i>

Epstein, Lewis; Edge, Ron

doi:10.1119/1.14118

Cited by 5 publications

(7 citation statements)

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“…Can a (small) battleship in a (large) bathtub float, even if the water in the tub weighs much less than the boat, so that insufficient quantities of water are 'displaced'? An illustration of this question features on the cover of the book 'Thinking Physics is Gedanken Physics' [5], which includes a number of challenging conceptual questions, that can lead to inspiring classroom discussions. These discussions are important in that they complement traditional end-of-chapter problems, typically asking about numerical values for buoyancy forces in different situations.…”

Section: Conceptual Understanding or Teaching Ritualsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is the Archimedes principle a law of nature? Discussions in an ‘extended teacher room’

Dahl¹,

Eklund

Pendrill

2020

Phys. Educ.

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Is a suction cup at the bottom of a bathtub subject to an upward force from the surrounding water, even if there is no water under it? A student question, posted in a teacher facebook group on a Monday morning, led to a discussion involving 21 comments with 225 replies offered by 16 teachers during the next few days, including several simple experiments, as well as modeling, to evaluate different arguments. The discussions, summarized in this paper, provide an example of how social media can provide an ‘extended teacher room’ where teachers can explore and refine their understanding in a safe and mostly supportive environment, and also find ways to give more elaborate answers to challenging student questions.

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Section: Conceptual Understanding or Teaching Ritualsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is the Archimedes principle a law of nature? Discussions in an ‘extended teacher room’

Dahl¹,

Eklund

Pendrill

2020

Phys. Educ.

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“…Therefore, we used physics problem-solving activities to see how students deal with the problems by using TEs. Those physics problems were adapted from a book entitled Thinking Physics Is Gedanken Physics, written by Epstein (1995). The term "Gedankenexperimente" was used in the book as a synonym for TE.…”

Section: Instrument and Proceduresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating the Purposes of Thought Experiments: Based on the Students’ Performance

Bancong

Song

2020

JPII

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The objective of this study is to examine the students’ purposes in conducting thought experiments while solving physics problems. There were 12 pre- and in-service physics teachers as the participants in this study and divided into three groups with four students in each. Physics problem-solving activities were used as a context for observing students’ processes in doing TEs. The results of the data analysis showed that there were three types of purposes of the students in doing the TEs during physics problem-solving activities: prediction, verification, and explanation. Therefore, it can be concluded that in the context of problem-solving, students design and run thought experiments as a creative ability tool to (1) predict solutions to the problem, (2) verify whether their hypothesis is correct or incorrect, (3) provide a detailed explanation to their hypothesis. Based on this study, we discuss the differences and similarities in the purposes of scientists and students in doing thought experiments. The importance and implications of thought experiments for current and future physics teachers are also discussed in the last part of this study

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“…"A scientist is completely isolated inside a smoothly moving box that travels in a straightline path through space and another scientist is completely isolated in another box that is spinning in space" [2]. Can either or both of the scientists detect their motion?…”

Section: How Do We Know?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Can either or both of the scientists detect their motion? The students may have learnt that it is impossible to detect uniform rectilinear motion, but the question still creates considerable discussion in a class of new students, especially with the added that "Each scientist may have all the scientific goodies she likes in her box for the purpose of detecting her motion in space" [2]. A common reaction is that it must somehow be possible.…”

Section: How Do We Know?mentioning

confidence: 99%