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Reading Time as Evidence for Mental Models in Understanding Physics
written by
David T. Brookes, Jose P. Mestre, and Elizabeth Stine-Morrow
We present results of a reading study that show the usefulness of probing physics students' cognitive processing by measuring reading time. According to contemporary discourse theory, when people read a text, a network of associated inferences is activated to create a mental model. If the reader encounters an idea in the text that conflicts with existing knowledge, the construction of a coherent mental model is disrupted and reading times are prolonged, as measured using a simple self-paced reading paradigm. We used this effect to study how "non-Newtonian" and "Newtonian" students create mental models of conceptual systems in physics as they read texts related to the ideas of Newton's third law, energy, and momentum. We found significant effects of prior knowledge state on patterns of reading time, suggesting that students attempt to actively integrate physics texts with their existing knowledge.
Physics Education Research Conference 2007
Part of the PER Conference series Greensboro, NC: August 1-2, 2007 Volume 951, Pages 65-68
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![]() <a href="https://www.per-central.org/items/detail.cfm?ID=9049">Brookes, D, J. Mestre, and E. Stine-Morrow. "Reading Time as Evidence for Mental Models in Understanding Physics." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2007, Greensboro, NC, August 1-2, 2007.</a>
![]() D. Brookes, J. Mestre, and E. Stine-Morrow, , presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2007, Greensboro, NC, 2007, WWW Document, (https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=9049&DocID=1980).
![]() D. Brookes, J. Mestre, and E. Stine-Morrow, Reading Time as Evidence for Mental Models in Understanding Physics, presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2007, Greensboro, NC, 2007, <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=9049&DocID=1980>.
![]() Brookes, D., Mestre, J., & Stine-Morrow, E. (2007, August 1-2). Reading Time as Evidence for Mental Models in Understanding Physics. Paper presented at Physics Education Research Conference 2007, Greensboro, NC. Retrieved February 12, 2025, from https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=9049&DocID=1980
![]() Brookes, D, J. Mestre, and E. Stine-Morrow. "Reading Time as Evidence for Mental Models in Understanding Physics." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2007, Greensboro, NC, August 1-2, 2007. https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=9049&DocID=1980 (accessed 12 February 2025).
![]() Brookes, David T., Jose P. Mestre, and Elizabeth Stine-Morrow. "Reading Time as Evidence for Mental Models in Understanding Physics." Physics Education Research Conference 2007. Greensboro, NC: 2007. 65-68 Vol. 951 of PER Conference. 12 Feb. 2025 <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=9049&DocID=1980>.
![]() @inproceedings{
Author = "David T. Brookes and Jose P. Mestre and Elizabeth Stine-Morrow",
Title = {Reading Time as Evidence for Mental Models in Understanding Physics},
BookTitle = {Physics Education Research Conference 2007},
Pages = {65-68},
Address = {Greensboro, NC},
Series = {PER Conference},
Volume = {951},
Month = {August 1-2},
Year = {2007}
}
![]() %A David T. Brookes %A Jose P. Mestre %A Elizabeth Stine-Morrow %T Reading Time as Evidence for Mental Models in Understanding Physics %S PER Conference %V 951 %D August 1-2 2007 %P 65-68 %C Greensboro, NC %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=9049&DocID=1980 %O Physics Education Research Conference 2007 %O August 1-2 %O application/pdf ![]() %0 Conference Proceedings %A Brookes, David T. %A Mestre, Jose P. %A Stine-Morrow, Elizabeth %D August 1-2 2007 %T Reading Time as Evidence for Mental Models in Understanding Physics %B Physics Education Research Conference 2007 %C Greensboro, NC %V 951 %P 65-68 %S PER Conference %8 August 1-2 %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=9049&DocID=1980 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.
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