PERC 2013 Abstract Detail Page
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| Abstract Title: | Effects of Training Examples on Student Understanding of Force and Motion |
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| Abstract: | We examined the effects of simple training tasks on student responses to questions about the relationship between the directions of net force, velocity, and acceleration. Six training conditions were constructed, including in a 2x2 design (abstract vs. concrete contexts) x (acceleration-velocity training vs. force-velocity training), a force-acceleration training condition, and a control (no training) condition. We found that the acceleration-velocity and force-velocity training significantly improved scores on both of these question types but negatively affected scores on force-acceleration questions, which is inconsistent with hierarchies of student understanding of force and motion found in previous works. We also found that the force-acceleration training led to slightly lower scores than control, which also breaks the hierarchies and evolution of understanding previously observed. Overall, this implies that students are "gaming" the simple training tasks and not learning the multiple relations between the variables that is typically learned in the course of standard instruction. |
| Abstract Type: | Contributed Poster Presentation |
Author/Organizer Information | |
| Primary Contact: |
Daniel White The Ohio State University Department of Physics 191 West Woodruff Ave Columbus, OH 43210 |
| Co-Author(s) and Co-Presenter(s) |
Andrew Heckler |
Contributed Poster | |
| Contributed Poster: | Download the Contributed Poster |
