In problem-solving situations, the contextual features of the problems affect student reasoning. Using Newton’s third law as an example, we study the role of context in students’ uses of alternative conceptual models. We have identified four contextual features that are frequently used by students in their reasoning. Using these results, a multiple-choice survey was developed to probe the effects of the specific contextual features on student reasoning. Measurements with this instrument show that different contextual features can affect students’ conceptual learning in different ways. We compare student data from different populations and instructions and discuss the implications.
Topics
Education
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When dealing with the mixing of student models, we consider two different types of mixed states: explicit mixing and implicit mixing. Explicit mixing describes the situation where a single context setting activates a student to explicitly consider two different models at the same time. Implicit mixing describes the situation where a single context setting always activates a student to use one model, but different equivalent context settings will cue the same student to use different models. More details on how to study and assess the different types of mixing are discussed in Ref. 9 and in a manuscript in preparation.
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Here, although students consider the acceleration irrelevant, it doesn’t mean that these students have the correct expert model on this issue. It only reflects that most students don’t associate this issue in their reasoning.
27.
We are currently studying this issue.
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See Ref. 2 for more details on physical features.
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See Ref. 2.
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The numbering tradition of the common models is different from the one used in Ref. 2. The system used in this paper makes it more convenient to represent model space when the number of common models with different physical features may vary. The superscript is used to represent the dimension related to pushing.
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See Ref. 2, Chap. 5.
32.
Strictly speaking, the development of the survey and the interviews were done in the same time frame. The interviews were conducted over a period of two weeks and the results from the earlier ones were used to make slight modifications to the survey questions. Our initial design of the survey was largely based on the existing research in the literature as well as our own empirical experience. However, based on the interview results, this initial guess seems to have been quite successful, which saved much time in our research.
33.
See Ref. 9.
35.
See Ref. 2 for more details.
37.
See Ref. 2 for details on model plots and class model states.
38.
Quite interestingly, the results also indicate that more students in higher level classes change their ideas on this issue. Our preliminary results indicate that this can happen when students get into confusing/transitional stages (often with mixed model states). We are looking further into the mechanisms behind this phenomenon.
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© 2002 American Association of Physics Teachers.
2002
American Association of Physics Teachers
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