home - login - register

Conference Proceedings Detail Page

Student views of macroscopic and microscopic energy in physics and biology
written by Benjamin W. Dreyfus, Edward F. Redish, and Jessica Watkins
Energy concepts are fundamental across the sciences, yet these concepts can be fragmented along disciplinary boundaries, rather than integrated into a coherent whole. To teach physics effectively to biology students, we need to understand students' disciplinary perspectives. We present interview data from an undergraduate student who displays multiple stances towards the concept of energy. At times he views energy in macroscopic contexts as a separate entity from energy in microscopic (particularly biological) contexts, while at other times he uses macroscopic physics phenomena as productive analogies for understanding energy in the microscopic biological context, and he reasons about energy transformations between the microscopic and macroscopic scales. This case study displays preliminary evidence for the context dependence of students' ability to translate energy concepts across scientific disciplines. This points to challenges that must be taken into account in developing curricula for biology students that integrate physics and biology concepts.
Physics Education Research Conference 2011
Part of the PER Conference series
Omaha, Nebraska: August 3-4, 2011
Volume 1413, Pages 179-182
Subjects Levels Resource Types
Classical Mechanics
- Work and Energy
Education - Basic Research
- Alternative Conceptions
Other Sciences
- Life Sciences
- Graduate/Professional
- Lower Undergraduate
- Reference Material
= Research study
PER-Central Type Intended Users Ratings
- PER Literature
- Researchers
  • Currently 0.0/5

Want to rate this material?
Login here!


Formats:
application/pdf
non-digital
Mirror:
https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3680024
Access Rights:
Free access and
Available for purchase
A preprint of the work is available. A hard copy of the PERC 2011 proceedings is available for purchase from the AIP.
Restriction:
© 2011 American Institute of Physics
DOI:
10.1063/1.3680024
NSF Numbers:
0919816
0750616
PACSs:
01.40.-d
01.40.Fk
01.30.Cc
Keywords:
PERC 2011, biology in physics, energy
Record Cloner:
Metadata instance created April 24, 2012 by Lyle Barbato
Record Updated:
May 15, 2012 by Vince Kuo
Last Update
when Cataloged:
February 6, 2012
ComPADRE is beta testing Citation Styles!

Record Link
AIP Format
B. Dreyfus, E. Redish, and J. Watkins, , presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2011, Omaha, Nebraska, 2011, WWW Document, (https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=11841&DocID=2692).
AJP/PRST-PER
B. Dreyfus, E. Redish, and J. Watkins, Student views of macroscopic and microscopic energy in physics and biology, presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2011, Omaha, Nebraska, 2011, <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=11841&DocID=2692>.
APA Format
Dreyfus, B., Redish, E., & Watkins, J. (2011, August 3-4). Student views of macroscopic and microscopic energy in physics and biology. Paper presented at Physics Education Research Conference 2011, Omaha, Nebraska. Retrieved November 4, 2024, from https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=11841&DocID=2692
Chicago Format
Dreyfus, B, E. Redish, and J. Watkins. "Student views of macroscopic and microscopic energy in physics and biology." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2011, Omaha, Nebraska, August 3-4, 2011. https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=11841&DocID=2692 (accessed 4 November 2024).
MLA Format
Dreyfus, Benjamin, Edward F. Redish, and Jessica Watkins. "Student views of macroscopic and microscopic energy in physics and biology." Physics Education Research Conference 2011. Omaha, Nebraska: 2011. 179-182 Vol. 1413 of PER Conference. 4 Nov. 2024 <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=11841&DocID=2692>.
BibTeX Export Format
@inproceedings{ Author = "Benjamin Dreyfus and Edward F. Redish and Jessica Watkins", Title = {Student views of macroscopic and microscopic energy in physics and biology}, BookTitle = {Physics Education Research Conference 2011}, Pages = {179-182}, Address = {Omaha, Nebraska}, Series = {PER Conference}, Volume = {1413}, Month = {August 3-4}, Year = {2011} }
Refer Export Format

%A Benjamin Dreyfus %A Edward F. Redish %A Jessica Watkins %T Student views of macroscopic and microscopic energy in physics and biology %S PER Conference %V 1413 %D August 3-4 2011 %P 179-182 %C Omaha, Nebraska %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=11841&DocID=2692 %O Physics Education Research Conference 2011 %O August 3-4 %O application/pdf

EndNote Export Format

%0 Conference Proceedings %A Dreyfus, Benjamin %A Redish, Edward F. %A Watkins, Jessica %D August 3-4 2011 %T Student views of macroscopic and microscopic energy in physics and biology %B Physics Education Research Conference 2011 %C Omaha, Nebraska %V 1413 %P 179-182 %S PER Conference %8 August 3-4 %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=11841&DocID=2692


Disclaimer: ComPADRE offers citation styles as a guide only. We cannot offer interpretations about citations as this is an automated procedure. Please refer to the style manuals in the Citation Source Information area for clarifications.

Citation Source Information

The AIP Style presented is based on information from the AIP Style Manual.

The AJP/PRST-PER presented is based on the AIP Style with the addition of journal article titles and conference proceeding article titles.

The APA Style presented is based on information from APA Style.org: Electronic References.

The Chicago Style presented is based on information from Examples of Chicago-Style Documentation.

The MLA Style presented is based on information from the MLA FAQ.

Student views of macroscopic and microscopic energy in physics and biology:


Know of another related resource? Login to relate this resource to it.
Save to my folders

Contribute

Related Materials

Similar Materials