PERC 2010 Abstract Detail Page
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| Abstract Title: | Students' Understanding of the Concepts of Vector Components and Vector Products |
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| Abstract: | In this work we investigate students´ understanding of: 1) vector components and, 2) vector products. We administered a test to 409 students completing introductory physics courses at a private Mexican university. In the first part, based on the work of Van Deventer [1], we analyze the understanding of components of a vector. We used multiple choice questions asking for students reasoning to elaborate on the misconceptions and difficulties of graphical representation of the x- and y-component of a vector. In the rest of this work, we analyze the understanding of the dot and cross products. We designed opened-ended questions to investigate the difficulties on the calculation and the misconceptions in the interpretation of these two products. [1] J. Van Deventer, "Comparing student performance on isomorphic math and physics vector representations," Masters Thesis, The University of Maine (2008). |
| Abstract Type: | Contributed Poster |
Contributed Poster | |
| Contributed Poster: | Download the Contributed Poster |
Author/Organizer Information | |
| Primary Contact: |
Genaro Zavala Tecnologico de Monterrey E. Garza Sada 2501 Monterrey, Mexico 64849 Phone: 5281835820000, ext. 4631 |
| Co-Author(s) and Co-Presenter(s) |
Pablo Barniol Tecnologico de Monterrey |
