Teachers’ beliefs systems about improving transfer of algebraic skills from mathematics into physics in senior pre-university education

Turşucu, Süleyman; Spandaw, Jeroen; Flipse, Steven M.; Jongbloed, Geurt; Vries, Marc J. de

doi:10.1080/09500693.2018.1486520

Cited by 11 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Earlier studies on algebraic problem-solving in physics have shown (e.g., Turşucu et al, 2017Turşucu et al, , 2018b) that among students in senior pre-university education grade-10 students encounter the biggest transfer problems. Hence, we selected grade-10 physics students to gain deeper understanding in their algebraic problem-solving skills, especially their basic algebraic skills and symbol sense behavior, and whether and to which extent we could improve their problem-solving skills.…”

Section: / 24mentioning

confidence: 98%

“…The method to operationalize symbol sense behavior is adopted from (Turşucu et al, 2017). This means that we measured both the extent to which students demonstrated symbol sense behavior and the degree to which they applied basic algebraic skills properly during interviews.…”

Section: / 24mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…• 2 4• 2 in the experts' scheme. A different solution is regarded false and implies the absence of transfer (Turşucu et al, 2017). Regarding this study, we elaborate on this matter in the methodology section.…”

Section: Cmse and Transfer In The Classroommentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In many countries, CMSE in teaching practice depends on various players such as the curriculum and science teacher educators above (Schmidt, Wang, & McNight, 2005;Turşucu et al, 2018a). The curricula (intended curriculum) describe the general core goals of education and the specific standards which are tested in national final examinations.…”

Section: Cmse and Transfer In The Classroommentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This changes slightly in the next year, but the number of formulas is still very limited and the required level of algebraic skills is low. After the transition to senior pre-university education in grade 10, the level of algebraic skills changes significantly (Turşucu et al, 2017).…”

Section: Algebra In Senior Pre-university Physics Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Effectiveness of Activation of Prior Mathematical Knowledge During Problem-solving in Physics

Turşucu

Spandaw

Vries

2020

EURASIA J MATH SCI T

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Mathematics is of major importance in science subjects. Unfortunately, students struggle with applying mathematics in science subjects, especially physics. In this qualitative study we demonstrate that transfer of algebraic skills from mathematics in physics class can be improved by using pre-knowledge effectively. We designed shiftproblems involving instructional models to carry out small interventions in textbook problems. Shift-problems are feasible for teachers to adopt in teaching practice. To gain insight in the extent to which students improved their application of algebraic skills including basic skills and symbol sense behaviour, we selected three grade-10 physics students. In round one, the students solved algebraic physics problems as they appear in physics textbooks. Two weeks later in round two, the same problems were presented as shift problems to them where we activated prior mathematical knowledge by providing systematic rule-based algebraic hints at the start of these tasks. Algebraic skills were presented in a similar way to how these were learned in mathematics textbooks. We observed that students' problem-solving abilities increased from 48.5 % in the first to 81.8 % in the second round, indicating the effectiveness of how we implemented shift-problems. Furthermore, we discussed the implications of our results for the international science audience.

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Section: / 24mentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: / 24mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Cmse and Transfer In The Classroommentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Cmse and Transfer In The Classroommentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Algebra In Senior Pre-university Physics Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Effectiveness of Activation of Prior Mathematical Knowledge During Problem-solving in Physics

Turşucu

Spandaw

Vries

2020

EURASIA J MATH SCI T

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Curriculum Emphases, Mathematics and Teaching Practices: Swedish Upper-Secondary Physics Teachers’ Views

Hansson

Juter

et al. 2020

Int J of Sci and Math Educ

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This article addresses physics teachers' views about physics teaching in uppersecondary school. Their views have been investigated nationwide through a webbased questionnaire. The questionnaire has been developed based on several published instruments and is part of an ongoing project on the role of mathematics in physics teaching at upper-secondary school. The selected part of the results from the analysis of the questionnaire reported on here cross-correlate physics teachers' views about aims of physics teaching with their view of physics classroom activities, and perceived hindrances in the teaching of physics. Three hundred seventy-nine teachers responded to the questionnaire (45% response rate). The result indicates that teachers with a high agreement with a Fundamental Physics curriculum emphasis regarded mathematics as a problem for physics teaching, whereas teachers with high agreement with the curriculum emphases Physics, Technology and Society or Knowledge Development in Physics did not do so. This means that teachers with a main focus on fundamental theories and concepts believe that mathematics is a problem to a higher extent than teachers with main focus on the role of physics in society and applied aspects or physics knowledge development do. Consequences for teaching and further research are discussed.

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Search for Symbol Sense Behavior: Students in Upper Secondary Education Solving Algebraic Physics Problems

2018

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Students in upper secondary education encounter difficulties in applying mathematics in physics. To improve our understanding of these difficulties, we examined symbol sense behavior of six grade 10 physics students solving algebraic physic problems. Our data confirmed that students did indeed struggle to apply algebra to physics, mainly because they lacked both sufficient symbol sense behavior and basic algebraic skills. They used ad hoc strategies instead of correct, systematic rule-based procedures involving insight. These ad hoc strategies included the cross-multiplication, the numbering, and the permutation strategy. They worked only for basic formulas containing few variables. In problems with more variables, students got stuck. The latter two strategies substitute numbers for variables. The permutation strategy randomly checks several permutations to guess which one is correct. The numbering strategy substitutes numbers to check algebraic manipulations. Our results indicate insufficient focus on conceptual understanding of algebra in some mathematics textbooks, leading to reliance on poorly understood ad hoc strategies. Effective teaching of algebraic skills should not focus on either basic algebraic skills or on symbol sense behavior. Instead, both aspects should be taught in an integrated manner. Our operationalization of symbol sense behavior turned out to be very useful for analysis. In contrast to earlier qualitative studies, it provided us the opportunity to measure symbol sense behavior quantitatively. This operationalization should also be applicable to other science subjects. Furthermore, we discussed some implications of our results for curricula, teachers, science teacher educators, and textbook publishers aiming at successful application of mathematics in physics.

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Teachers’ beliefs systems about improving transfer of algebraic skills from mathematics into physics in senior pre-university education

Cited by 11 publications

References 29 publications

The Effectiveness of Activation of Prior Mathematical Knowledge During Problem-solving in Physics

The Effectiveness of Activation of Prior Mathematical Knowledge During Problem-solving in Physics

Curriculum Emphases, Mathematics and Teaching Practices: Swedish Upper-Secondary Physics Teachers’ Views

Search for Symbol Sense Behavior: Students in Upper Secondary Education Solving Algebraic Physics Problems

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