Undergraduate student construction and interpretation of graphs in physics lab activities

Nixon, Ryan S.; Godfrey, T.J.; Mayhew, Nicholas T.; Wiegert, Craig

doi:10.1103/physrevphyseducres.12.010104

Cited by 34 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 23 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…The difficulties revealed in these questions accord with the results of numerous studies of kinematic graph representation in physics (e.g. Beichner, 1994;Forster, 2004) and in the physics lab in particular (Ivanjek, Susac, Planinic, Andrasevic & Milin-Sipus, 2016;Nixon, Godfrey, Mayhew & Wiegert, 2016). Another example demonstrating the need, and therefore the difficulty, of dealing simultaneously with three different visual representations was a graph which included a scatter diagram describing the results of the experiment's measurements, the regression line which was calculated and drawn between the points, and the error bar which was calculated and marked around each of the points.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 77%

Characterization of Data Analysis in the Physics Laboratory Among Pre-service Physics Teachers

Kukliansky¹

2019

AES

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Establishing the connection between the scientific experiment and theory may pose quite a challenge for learners. Analyzing and interpreting data, they collect in the experiments, helps to bridge the gap between the experiment's results and the theoretical world. The present research examines the barriers pre-service physics teachers confront with when dealing with data analysis tasks in the introductory physics laboratory. Identifying pre-service physics teachers' misconceptions is very important because the future teachers can transfer them to their students. The novelty of this research is not only in identifying the physics teacher's trainee's misconceptions analyzing data in the introductory physics laboratory, but also in explaining the reasons for them. 25 pre-service physics teachers who had undergone several laboratory courses participated in this study. For examining their knowledge level and identifying their difficulties in data analysis, the Laboratory Data Analysis Instrument (LDAI) was used. The results revealed that the participants evidenced a sixty-nine percent overall average of correct answers. The various misconceptions the pre-service physics teachers encountered in each of the instrument objectives are identified and discussed. Dealing with multiple representations and the use of intuitive rules can explain some of the difficulties. The identification of the data analysis difficulties can be employed by educators attempting to construct more efficient learning environments.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 77%

Characterization of Data Analysis in the Physics Laboratory Among Pre-service Physics Teachers

Kukliansky¹

2019

AES

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Therefore, the students chose to display only what was in their minds without questioning the mathematical relationship or thinking about it. In their lab work with undergraduate physics students, Nixon, Godfrey, Mayhew and Wiegert (2016) concluded that the students could be successful in drawing graphics, but generally did not take the underlying physics in the graphics into account.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Determining science teacher candidates’ comprehension level of equations

Çalış

Ergül

2019

J. Technol. Sci. Educ.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

It is commonly known that mathematics is used in many subjects in physics and chemistry courses and the relations between mathematics and variables are more easily understood. These courses also comprise a number of equations that correspond to a mathematical correlation and are also called formulas. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to determine the level of science teachers to verbally express the meaning of the equations given and comprehension of the mathematical structure of equations.The data obtained with the help of open-ended questions were analyzed by the content analysis method, one of the qualitative research methods. According to the data obtained, code, category and themes were created.The study was carried out with science teacher candidates studying at the Faculty of Education of Uludag University in the 2017 and 2018 academic year. When the obtained data were evaluated, it was found that majority of the teacher candidates had difficulty in expressing fully the concept of equation, and in perceiving the mathematical structure of the equations and in drawing the graphs of the equations.

show abstract

“…One of the results reached by Nixon at al. [16] in a laboratory study which they made with physics undergraduate students was that the students were successful in drawing graphs, but they did not generally take into account the physics underlying the graphs. The results of the study made by Alacacı at al.…”

Section: Interpretation and Conclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pre-service Science Teachers' Construction and Interpretation of Graphs

Ergül¹

2018

ujer

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Data and graphic analysis and interpretation are important parts of science process skills and science curriculum. So it refers to visual display of data using relevant graphical representations. One of the tools used in science courses is graphics for explain the relationship among each of the concepts and therefore it is important to know data analysis, graph construction and interpretation. This study investigates pre-service science teachers' construction and interpretations of graphs in two different domains: mathematics and physics. Qualitative research methods were used and therefore a purposive sample of 11 pre-service science teachers is engaged in think-aloud interviews while completing the questionnaire that includes eleven open-ended questions, designed by researcher at four different categories. These categories are: recognition as a mathematical graph, Interpretation of the graph, to draw graphs for a given problem and to create a problem on a given graphic. In addition, the pre-service science teachers were asked in which questions they experienced difficulties. Content analysis method was used for data analysis. Results showed that pre-service science teachers do not have enough success in interpreting given graph, drawing graph for a given problem and identifying variables in a given scientific problem.

show abstract

Undergraduate student construction and interpretation of graphs in physics lab activities

Cited by 34 publications

References 23 publications

Characterization of Data Analysis in the Physics Laboratory Among Pre-service Physics Teachers

Characterization of Data Analysis in the Physics Laboratory Among Pre-service Physics Teachers

Determining science teacher candidates’ comprehension level of equations

Pre-service Science Teachers' Construction and Interpretation of Graphs

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About