Presentation of integrals in introductory physics textbooks

Pina, Anthony; Loverude, Michael E.

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Presentation of integrals in introductory physics textbooks

written by Anthony Pina and Michael E. Loverude

Setting up an integral based on a given physical system can be a significant barrier to success for students (Cui et. al. 2006). Prior research has shown that the way students think about integration (e.g. area under the curve, the antiderivative, or adding up pieces) before they start a problem has an effect on their success when they're constructing the necessary integrals (Jones 2015a). We examined five introductory physics textbooks, documented each example of an integral, and coded them into four categories. Area under the curve is the understanding fostered by calculus courses, but it is the least productive and one of the least utilized by physics textbooks.

Physics Education Research Conference 2019
Part of the PER Conference series
Provo, UT: July 24-25, 2019
Pages 446-451

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Last Modified: January 9, 2020

Subjects	Levels	Resource Types
Education - Applied Research - Pedagogy = Advance Organizers = Instructional Issues Education - Basic Research - Problem Solving = Representational Use - Student Characteristics = Skills Mathematical Tools - Calculus = Integral	- Lower Undergraduate - Upper Undergraduate	- Reference Material = Research study

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Format:: application/pdf
Mirror:: https://doi.org/10.1119/perc.2019…
Access Rights:: Free access
License:: This material is released under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the published article's author(s), title, proceedings citation, and DOI.
Rights Holder:: American Association of Physics Teachers
DOI:: 10.1119/perc.2019.pr.Pina
NSF Number:: 1405616
Keyword:: PERC 2019
Record Creator:: Metadata instance created January 9, 2020 by Lyle Barbato
Record Updated:: January 11, 2020 by Bruce Mason
Last Update when Cataloged:: January 9, 2020

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<a href="https://www.per-central.org/items/detail.cfm?ID=15316">Pina, Anthony, and Michael Loverude. "Presentation of integrals in introductory physics textbooks." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2019, Provo, UT, July 24-25, 2019.</a>

AIP Format

A. Pina and M. Loverude, , presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2019, Provo, UT, 2019, WWW Document, (https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=15316&DocID=5228).

AJP/PRST-PER

A. Pina and M. Loverude, Presentation of integrals in introductory physics textbooks, presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2019, Provo, UT, 2019, <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=15316&DocID=5228>.

APA Format

Pina, A., & Loverude, M. (2019, July 24-25). Presentation of integrals in introductory physics textbooks. Paper presented at Physics Education Research Conference 2019, Provo, UT. Retrieved March 24, 2025, from https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=15316&DocID=5228

Chicago Format

Pina, Anthony, and Michael Loverude. "Presentation of integrals in introductory physics textbooks." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2019, Provo, UT, July 24-25, 2019. https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=15316&DocID=5228 (accessed 24 March 2025).

MLA Format

Pina, Anthony, and Michael Loverude. "Presentation of integrals in introductory physics textbooks." Physics Education Research Conference 2019. Provo, UT: 2019. 446-451 of PER Conference. 24 Mar. 2025 <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=15316&DocID=5228>.

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@inproceedings{ Author = "Anthony Pina and Michael Loverude", Title = {Presentation of integrals in introductory physics textbooks}, BookTitle = {Physics Education Research Conference 2019}, Pages = {446-451}, Address = {Provo, UT}, Series = {PER Conference}, Month = {July 24-25}, Year = {2019} }

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%A Anthony Pina %A Michael Loverude %T Presentation of integrals in introductory physics textbooks %S PER Conference %D July 24-25 2019 %P 446-451 %C Provo, UT %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=15316&DocID=5228 %O Physics Education Research Conference 2019 %O July 24-25 %O application/pdf

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%0 Conference Proceedings %A Pina, Anthony %A Loverude, Michael %D July 24-25 2019 %T Presentation of integrals in introductory physics textbooks %B Physics Education Research Conference 2019 %C Provo, UT %P 446-451 %S PER Conference %8 July 24-25 %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=15316&DocID=5228

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