1,505 research outputs found
Conditions for building a community of practice in an advanced physics laboratory
In this paper we explore the theory of communities of practice in the context
of a physics college course and in particular the classroom environment of an
advanced laboratory. We introduce the idea of elements of a classroom community
being able to provide students with the opportunity to have an accelerated
trajectory towards being a more central participant of the community of
practice of physicists. This opportunity is a result of structural features of
the course and a primary instructional choice which result in the development
of a learning community with several elements that encourage students to engage
in more authentic practices of a physicist. A jump in accountable disciplinary
knowledge is also explored as a motivation for enculturation into the community
of practice of physicists. In the advanced laboratory what students are being
assessed on as counting as physics is significantly different and so they need
to assimilate in order to succeed.Comment: 14 pages, 1 figur
Fluctuations in Student Understanding of Newton's 3rd Law
We present data from a between-student study on student response to questions
on Newton's Third Law given throughout the academic year. The study, conducted
at Rochester Institute of Technology, involved students from the first and
third of a three-quarter sequence. Construction of a response curve reveals
subtle dynamics in student learning not captured by simple pre/post testing. We
find a a significant positive effect from direct instruction, peaking at the
end of instruction on forces, that diminishes by the end of the quarter. Two
quarters later, in physics III, a significant dip in correct response occurs
when instruction changes from the vector quantities of electric forces and
fields to the scalar quantity of electric potential. Student response rebounds
to its initial values, however, once instruction returns to the vector-based
topics involving magnetic fields.Comment: Proceedings of the 2010 Physics Education Research Conferenc
Learning about the Energy of a Hurricane System through an Estimation Epistemic Game
As part of a study into students' problem solving behaviors, we asked
upper-division physics students to solve estimation problems in clinical
interviews. We use the Resources Framework and epistemic games to describe
students' problem solving moves. We present a new epistemic game, the
"estimation epistemic game". In the estimation epistemic game, students break
the larger problem into a series of smaller, tractable problems. Within each
sub-problem, they try to remember a method for solving the problem, and use
estimation and reasoning abilities to justify their answers. We demonstrate how
a single case study student plays the game to estimate the total energy in a
hurricane. Finally, we discuss the implications of epistemic game analysis for
other estimation problems.Comment: 4 pages. Submitted to Physics Education Research Conference 201
Becoming a physicist: The roles of research, mindsets, and milestones in upper-division student perceptions
Citation: Irving, P. W., & Sayre, E. C. (2015). Becoming a physicist: The roles of research, mindsets, and milestones in upper-division student perceptions. Physical Review Special Topics-Physics Education Research, 11(2), 21. doi:10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.11.020120[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Upper Division Physics Courses.] As part of a longitudinal study into identity development in upper-level physics students, we used a phenomenographic research method to examine students' perceptions of what it means to be a physicist. Analysis revealed six different categories of perception of what it means to be a physicist. We found the following themes: research and its association with being a physicist, differences in mindset, and exclusivity of accomplishments. The paper highlights how these perceptions relate to two communities of practice that the students are members of, and also highlights the importance of undergraduate research for students to transition from the physics undergraduate community of practice to the community of practicing physicists
Fire protection and recompression systems for a hypobaric research chamber Final report, Jul. - Dec. 1967
Fire detection-extinguishment and automatic rapid recompression systems for hypobaric spacecraft cabin simulator
Brief, embedded, spontaneous metacognitive talk indicates thinking like a physicist
Citation: Sayre, E. C., & Irving, P. W. (2015). Brief, embedded, spontaneous metacognitive talk indicates thinking like a physicist. Physical Review Special Topics-Physics Education Research, 11(2), 17. doi:10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.11.020121[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Upper Division Physics Courses.] Instructors and researchers think "thinking like a physicist" is important for students' professional development. However, precise definitions and observational markers remain elusive. We reinterpret popular beliefs inventories in physics to indicate what physicists think thinking like a physicist entails. Through discourse analysis of upper-division students' speech in natural settings, we show that students may appropriate or resist these elements. We identify a new element in the physicist speech genre: brief, embedded, spontaneous metacognitive talk (BESM talk). BESM talk communicates students' in-the-moment enacted expectations about physics as a technical field and a cultural endeavor. Students use BESM talk to position themselves as physicists or nonphysicists. Students also use BESM talk to communicate their expectations in four ways: understanding, confusion, spotting inconsistencies, and generalized expectations
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