PERC 2013 Abstract Detail Page
Previous Page | New Search | Browse All
| Abstract Title: | Multiple Perspectives on Student Syntheses of Concepts in Thermal Physics |
|---|---|
| Abstract: | We have previously reported examples of student failures to conceptually combine Boltzmann factors with the density of states appropriately in thermal physics. Our earlier analyses focused on specific student difficulties observed directly from the data; e.g., students successfully describe ideas related to either the Boltzmann factor or the density of states, but do not often articulate the simultaneous effects of both, as required by the physical context. We now extend our findings by analyzing student data through multiple theoretical lenses, such as a resources perspective and the framework of conceptual blending, among others. Employing these perspectives illuminates valuable features of the data previously unavailable to us. |
| Abstract Type: | Contributed Poster Presentation |
Author/Organizer Information | |
| Primary Contact: |
Trevor I. Smith Dickinson College Physics and Astronomy P.O. Box 1773 Carlisle, PA 17013 Phone: 7172451443 |
| Co-Author(s) and Co-Presenter(s) |
John R. Thompson, University of Maine Donald B. Mountcastle, University of Maine |
