PERC 2024 Abstract Detail Page
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| Abstract Title: | Digging in: Attending to students’ epistemic emotions while computationally modeling in physics |
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| Abstract Type: | Contributed Poster Presentation |
| Abstract: | When physics students experiment with computational models, they encounter new sources of uncertainty: is this surprising behavior of the model a feature or a bug? This added uncertainty comes with the risk of shutting down inquiry. Alternatively, it could be what inspires and facilitates sustained scientific investigation with the model. The outcome hinges on how students respond to epistemic emotions such as uncertainty and confusion. Do they avoid these emotions, or do they dig in? In this paper, we analyze video data of a pair of high school students working with a computational model of global warming. The analysis highlights the epistemic emotions that arise for them. We find this pair responds to surprise and uncertainty by "digging in" with spontaneous scientific experimentation, which in turn leads to conceptual learning, joy, and self-confidence. We discuss the importance of attending to how physics students respond to uncertainty while computationally modeling phenomena. |
| Session Time: | Poster Session 2 |
| Poster Number: | B45 |
| Contributed Paper Record: | Contributed Paper Information |
| Contributed Paper Download: | Download Contributed Paper |
Author/Organizer Information | |
| Primary Contact: |
Luke D. Conlin Salem State University |
| Co-Author(s) and Co-Presenter(s) |
Aditi Wagh, MIT Jennifer Elisabeth Mesiner, University of Maryland College Park Aaron Dwyer, Salem State University Bridget Knight, Salem State University Emi Pilla, Salem State University |
