I will present results of an investigation into students'
reasoning regarding heat, work, and the first law of
thermodynamics in an introductory calculus-based physics
course. Responses to written questions by 653 students in
three separate courses were very consistent with results of
detailed individual interviews carried out with 32 students
in a fourth course. Although most students seemed to acquire
a reasonable grasp of the state-function concept, there was
a widespread and persistent tendency to improperly
over-generalize this concept to both work and heat. A large
majority thought that net work done and/or net heat absorbed
by a system during a cyclic process must be zero, while only
20% or fewer were able to make effective use of the first
law of thermodynamics even after instruction was completed.
Students' difficulties seemed to stem in part from the fact
that heat, work, and internal energy all share the same
units.
[B14.002] Student understanding of heat, temperature, and the second law of thermodynamics
Paula R.L. Heron, Matthew J. Cochran, Lillian C. McDermott (University of Washington)
The Physics Education Group at the University of Washington
has been conducting research on student understanding of the
second law of thermodynamics. Results indicate that many
students emerge from introductory physics courses with an
incomplete or incorrect understanding of fundamental
concepts that are necessary for understanding the second law
(e.g., heat transfer, temperature, and thermal equilibrium).
Findings will be illustrated with results from pretests,
post-tests, and exam questions administered at the
University of Washington and elsewhere.
[B14.003] Investigating student learning in an introductory electric circuits laboratory
MacKenzie R. Stetzer, Peter S. Shaffer, Mark N. McDermott (University of Washington, Seattle)
As part of an ongoing investigation of student understanding
of electric circuits, the Physics Education Group at the
University of Washington is examining student learning in
the laboratory component of the introductory physics course.
The context is a laboratory in which students investigate
current versus voltage characteristics for various devices.
Initial post-test results indicated that many students were
unable to answer questions involving tasks that are almost
identical to those in experiments they had performed. The
findings have guided subsequent modifications to the
experiments as well as the design of additional questions to
probe student understanding in greater detail. Specific
examples will be presented.
[B14.004] Light bulbs and complete circuits: what ones says about the other
Paula V. Engelhardt, Kara Gray, N. Sanjay Rebello (Kansas State University)
Students’ conceptual difficulties of dc circuits have been
well documented. Research [1] suggests that students who
have difficulty lighting a flashlight bulb with a 1.5 V
battery and a single wire are having difficulty
understanding the concept of a complete circuit. Although
this may be part of the story, our research indicates that
many students do not understand how a light bulb is wired
internally. This talk will present evidence of how students
believe a light bulb is internally wired and a key
experiment that helps them alter their incorrect image. An
additional experiment will be presented that helps students
develop a more comprehensive definition of complete
circuits.
[1] Lillian C. McDermott and Peter S. Shaffer, Research as
a guide for curriculum development: An example from
introductory electricity. Part 1: Investigation of student
understanding, Am. J. Phys. 60, 996 (Nov. 1992).
[B14.005] Method Dynamics: An Analysis of the Effect of Activity-Based Instruction on the Persistent Misconceptions of Physics Students
Mark Markes, Emily Reiser (University of Nebraska-Kearney)
Studies have indicated that student misconceptions
negatively impact the effectiveness of physics education.
Research has also shown that activity based instruction
(ABI) has greater effectiveness than lecture based
instruction (LBI) in many applications. This paper examines
the effect of ABI on the persistent misconceptions of
physics students. A persistent misconception is defined for
an LBI student as identical wrong answers on pre and
posttests, using the Force and Motion Concept Evaluation. To
evaluate the effect of ABI on persistent misconceptions,
pretest and posttest responses were divided into wrong to
same wrong (ww), wrong to different wrong (ww'), and wrong
to right (wr). The effect of ABI was modeled as a transfer
of probability among these three response groups. Results
indicate that ABI obtains about equal gains from the ww' and
ww groups with the transfer from ww to ww' small in
comparison. This indicates that ABI is about equally
effective with students who have persistent misconceptions
and students who do not have persistent misconceptions.
[B14.006] Student Models of Motion and Force in Activity-Based Physics
C. Trecia Markes (University of Nebraska-Kearney)
With a three-year FIPSE grant, it has been possible at the
University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK) to develop and
implement activity-based introductory physics at the algebra
level. It has generally been recognized that students enter
physics classes with misconceptions about motion and force.
Many of these misconceptions persist after instruction.
Pretest and posttest responses on the "Motion and Force
Conceptual Evaluation" (FMCE) have been analyzed to
determine the models that students use. Responses were
divided into expert model (correct answer), student model
(common incorrect answer), and null model (all other
answers) categories. Changes in the use of these models were
used to identify persistent and non-persistent
misconceptions.
[B14.007] Recent results from an investigation of student understanding of basic topics in quantum mechanics
Andrew D. Crouse, Peter S. Shaffer, Lillian C. McDermott (University of Washington, Seattle)
As part of an ongoing research and curriculum development
effort, the Physics Education Group at the University of
Washington is examining student understanding of quantum
mechanics. Recent studies have included the topics of
probability, stationary states, spin, and angular momentum.
Examples from pretests, post-tests, and interviews will be
used to illustrate some common problems students have in
applying and interpreting basic quantum mechanical
principles.
[B14.008] Problem-solving Skills in Introductory Physics Courses
Craig Ogilvie (Iowa State University)
To increase problem-solving skills in physics and
engineering students we have implemented the work of
University of Minnesota where students work in small groups
on complex, context-rich problems. These tasks involve the
fusion of multiple concepts, so the students cannot apply
plug-and-chug strategies, instead they identify the general
principles in the problem and build a solution. To evaluate
whether this approach improves student problem-skills, we
have measured student performance on complex problems near
the start and towards the end of the course. Changes in
student performance will be discussed in this talk as well
as the ramifications the data have for the design of
problem-solving instruction.
[B14.009] Dynamic Transfer of Learning in Physics Education Research
N. Sanjay Rebello (Kansas State University)
We focus on contemporary models of transfer of learning and contrast them with previous models in this area. Paradigm shifts in transfer research are similar to changing perspectives in physics education research. Therefore, research efforts in these two fields can productively complement each other. Based on contemporary views of transfer of learning, we have adapted our previously developed analytical framework to characterize transfer as it occurs dynamically in an interview. Our analytical framework is also consistent with a theoretical framework proposed by Redish that addresses several cognitive and epistemological issues. In light of Redish’s framework and contemporary transfer models, we have demonstrated how our analytical framework can help identify and characterize transfer as it occurs in an interview. We describe instances in which students transfer their learning spontaneously in an interview as well as those in which transfer is promoted by scaffolding provided by the interviewer. In connection with the latter, we propose a relatively unused methodology – the teaching experiment (or interview) that can be a useful research tool in helping researchers learn more about how students dynamically transfer their learning from one context to another.