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Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research
Method for analyzing students' utilization of prior physics learning in new contexts
written by Dyan L. McBride, Dean A. Zollman, and N. Sanjay Rebello
In prior research, the classification of concepts into three types--descriptive, hypothetical and theoretical--has allowed for the association of students' use of different concept types with their level of understanding. Previous studies have also examined the ways in which students link concepts to determine whether students have a meaningful understanding of principles of evolution. In this study, we build on our previous work that seeks to examine how students use prior knowledge in new situations and context, as well as present an adaptation of concept and concept-link categorization previously used in biology education research. In this adaptation, concepts are categorized on the basis of the observability of the concept exemplars and are shown to be dependent upon the knowledge level of the student. We use this categorization method to examine how students use prior knowledge when presented with an opportunity to apply physics in a new context, namely, wavefront aberrometry. Results indicate that students primarily utilize lower-level concepts, which is in agreement with previous research findings. We also found that students are able to create links between different levels of concepts, and that the type of links created can give insight to how deeply they understood the physics of the new context.
Subjects Levels Resource Types
Education - Basic Research
- Cognition
= Cognition Development
- Learning Theory
Optics
- Modern Optics
- The Eye
- Lower Undergraduate
- Graduate/Professional
- Reference Material
= Research study
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Formats:
application/pdf
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Mirror:
https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevST…
Access Rights:
Free access
License:
This material is released under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license.
Rights Holder:
American Physical Society
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.6.020101
PACS:
01.40.-d
Keywords:
Descriptive Concepts, Hypothetical Concepts, Theoretical Concepts
Record Cloner:
Metadata instance created March 13, 2011 by Lyle Barbato
Record Updated:
January 20, 2012 by Vince Kuo
Last Update
when Cataloged:
July 8, 2010
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AIP Format
D. McBride, D. Zollman, and N. Rebello, , Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 6 (2), 020101 (2010), WWW Document, (https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=10863&DocID=2215).
AJP/PRST-PER
D. McBride, D. Zollman, and N. Rebello, Method for analyzing students' utilization of prior physics learning in new contexts, Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 6 (2), 020101 (2010), <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=10863&DocID=2215>.
APA Format
McBride, D., Zollman, D., & Rebello, N. (2010, July 8). Method for analyzing students' utilization of prior physics learning in new contexts. Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res., 6(2), 020101. Retrieved December 14, 2024, from https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=10863&DocID=2215
Chicago Format
McBride, D, D. Zollman, and N. Rebello. "Method for analyzing students' utilization of prior physics learning in new contexts." Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 6, no. 2, (July 8, 2010): 020101, https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=10863&DocID=2215 (accessed 14 December 2024).
MLA Format
McBride, Dyan, Dean Zollman, and N. Sanjay Rebello. "Method for analyzing students' utilization of prior physics learning in new contexts." Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 6.2 (2010): 020101. 14 Dec. 2024 <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=10863&DocID=2215>.
BibTeX Export Format
@article{ Author = "Dyan McBride and Dean Zollman and N. Sanjay Rebello", Title = {Method for analyzing students' utilization of prior physics learning in new contexts}, Journal = {Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res.}, Volume = {6}, Number = {2}, Pages = {020101}, Month = {July}, Year = {2010} }
Refer Export Format

%A Dyan McBride %A Dean Zollman %A N. Sanjay Rebello %T Method for analyzing students' utilization of prior physics learning in new contexts %J Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. %V 6 %N 2 %D July 8, 2010 %P 020101 %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=10863&DocID=2215 %O application/pdf

EndNote Export Format

%0 Journal Article %A McBride, Dyan %A Zollman, Dean %A Rebello, N. Sanjay %D July 8, 2010 %T Method for analyzing students' utilization of prior physics learning in new contexts %J Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. %V 6 %N 2 %P 020101 %8 July 8, 2010 %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=10863&DocID=2215


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