A persons mind is unique. Every person has his or her own way of thinking and learning. Not to mention, people come from different origins, which leads to some people having a higher vocabulary. Why is all this important in physics? In the article, “Talking to Learn Physics and Learning to Talk Physics” it states, “the development of physics discourse and conceptual understanding are different processes that depend upon one another for successful physics learning (Harlow, Otero 1).” This article gives evidence as to how discourse and conceptual development of force can affect two students learning in a physics course.
Amy and Deb are two students that were video taped during discussions and activities. There is plenty of evidence of misconceptions …show more content…
The way they are constructed is up to the individual. In the article “Investigating students’ mental models and knowledge construction of microscopic friction” it explains the different research done on students to see how their mental model of microscopic friction varies. For the first task, when students were asked what a specific surface would look like at different scales, mostly all of the students knew that it would zoom in to the atomic level. Even though they knew this, they didn’t know at what length scale that would occur (Corpuz, Rebello 4). Later in the studies, student’s knowledge of friction was tested. They were asked to pull a wooden block across another wooden surface and then across a sandpaper surface (Corpuz, Rebello 4). By doing this experiment they were able to come to the conclusion that they need a greater amount of force to move the object across the sandpaper than in the wooden surface (Corpuz, Rebello 4). Referring to Table II it is observed that the rubbing- hitting-sliding, and the interlocking model were the most popular models in describing this experiment. What exactly is the interlocking model? Microscopic friction is the force needed to pull an atom over the bumps due to intertwining or interlocking of atoms as shown in Figure 5 of the article “Investigating students’ mental models and knowledge construction of microscopic friction” (5). Students that believe that the intertwining or interlocking model is the correct model are not completely sure about it. We know this because of the language they used to explain the situation. In fact, these subjects believe that there is friction between the wooden block and the other surface, which caused the block to be dragged because of the interlocking or intertwining of the atoms. On the other hand, the students who believed the correct model is rubbing-hitting-sliding believe that the rubbing or sliding of atoms past another. One of the
Amy and Deb are two students that were video taped during discussions and activities. There is plenty of evidence of misconceptions …show more content…
The way they are constructed is up to the individual. In the article “Investigating students’ mental models and knowledge construction of microscopic friction” it explains the different research done on students to see how their mental model of microscopic friction varies. For the first task, when students were asked what a specific surface would look like at different scales, mostly all of the students knew that it would zoom in to the atomic level. Even though they knew this, they didn’t know at what length scale that would occur (Corpuz, Rebello 4). Later in the studies, student’s knowledge of friction was tested. They were asked to pull a wooden block across another wooden surface and then across a sandpaper surface (Corpuz, Rebello 4). By doing this experiment they were able to come to the conclusion that they need a greater amount of force to move the object across the sandpaper than in the wooden surface (Corpuz, Rebello 4). Referring to Table II it is observed that the rubbing- hitting-sliding, and the interlocking model were the most popular models in describing this experiment. What exactly is the interlocking model? Microscopic friction is the force needed to pull an atom over the bumps due to intertwining or interlocking of atoms as shown in Figure 5 of the article “Investigating students’ mental models and knowledge construction of microscopic friction” (5). Students that believe that the intertwining or interlocking model is the correct model are not completely sure about it. We know this because of the language they used to explain the situation. In fact, these subjects believe that there is friction between the wooden block and the other surface, which caused the block to be dragged because of the interlocking or intertwining of the atoms. On the other hand, the students who believed the correct model is rubbing-hitting-sliding believe that the rubbing or sliding of atoms past another. One of the