PERC 2015 Abstract Detail Page
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| Abstract Title: | How an educator characterizes scientific domains and disciplinary relationships: A case of change |
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| Abstract: | In this project, we seek to understand how instructors scaffold and support students' interdisciplinary engagement in an Introductory Physics for the Life Sciences course (IPLS) developed at the University of Maryland, College Park. The development of this course was embedded in a broader design research project. Here we analyze how one educator positioned the scientific disciplines in relation to one another over a two year time span. During this time, the design research team gave formative feedback to the instructor regarding how students were interpreting these comments about the disciplines and their relationships. Our analysis of the educator's classroom discourse demonstrates shifts in the messages the instructors sends about the domains of physics and biology. In year one, physics and biology were largely described as distinct and different, but in year 2 they were more frequently described as complementary and overlapping. |
| Abstract Type: | Contributed Poster Presentation |
Author/Organizer Information | |
| Primary Contact: |
Deborah Hemingway Department of Physics, University of Maryland, College Park 1322 Toll Physics Building, Department of Physics University of Maryland College Park, MD 20742 |
| Co-Author(s) and Co-Presenter(s) |
Chandra Turpen, Department of Physics, University of Maryland, College Park Vashti Sawtelle, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University |
