Student use of vectors in the context of acceleration

Student use of vectors in the context of acceleration

A functional understanding of Newton's second law as a vector equation requires that students be able to reason about forces and acceleration as vectors. In this paper, we present data describing students' conceptual difficulties with vector quantities such as acceleration. These data suggest that after traditional instruction in introductory physics, some students do not recognize the vector nature of this quantity. Other students do not have the requisite procedural knowledge to determine acceleration, and are therefore unable to reason qualitatively about Newton's second law. We describe some specific procedural and reasoning difficulties we have observed in students' use of vectors quantities. In addition, we describe instructional difficulties in mechanics that we observed on the basis of our research into student understanding. Some modifications in the instruction were intended to improve students' understanding of the vector nature of acceleration, and to promote student use of vectors when solving mechanics problems. Finally, we describe initial measurements of the effectiveness of these modifications

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Main Authors: Flores-García,S, Terrazas,S.M, González-Quezada,M.D, Chávez Pierce,J.L, Escobedo Soto,S
Format: Digital revista
Language:English
Published: Sociedad Mexicana de Física 2008
Online Access:http://www.scielo.org.mx/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1870-35422008000200004
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spelling oai:scielo:S1870-354220080002000042010-05-24Student use of vectors in the context of accelerationFlores-García,STerrazas,S.MGonzález-Quezada,M.DChávez Pierce,J.LEscobedo Soto,S Newton's second law force and acceleration as vectors traditional and modified instruction A functional understanding of Newton's second law as a vector equation requires that students be able to reason about forces and acceleration as vectors. In this paper, we present data describing students' conceptual difficulties with vector quantities such as acceleration. These data suggest that after traditional instruction in introductory physics, some students do not recognize the vector nature of this quantity. Other students do not have the requisite procedural knowledge to determine acceleration, and are therefore unable to reason qualitatively about Newton's second law. We describe some specific procedural and reasoning difficulties we have observed in students' use of vectors quantities. In addition, we describe instructional difficulties in mechanics that we observed on the basis of our research into student understanding. Some modifications in the instruction were intended to improve students' understanding of the vector nature of acceleration, and to promote student use of vectors when solving mechanics problems. Finally, we describe initial measurements of the effectiveness of these modificationsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessSociedad Mexicana de FísicaRevista mexicana de física E v.54 n.2 20082008-12-01info:eu-repo/semantics/articletext/htmlhttp://www.scielo.org.mx/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1870-35422008000200004en
institution SCIELO
collection OJS
country México
countrycode MX
component Revista
access En linea
databasecode rev-scielo-mx
tag revista
region America del Norte
libraryname SciELO
language English
format Digital
author Flores-García,S
Terrazas,S.M
González-Quezada,M.D
Chávez Pierce,J.L
Escobedo Soto,S
spellingShingle Flores-García,S
Terrazas,S.M
González-Quezada,M.D
Chávez Pierce,J.L
Escobedo Soto,S
Student use of vectors in the context of acceleration
author_facet Flores-García,S
Terrazas,S.M
González-Quezada,M.D
Chávez Pierce,J.L
Escobedo Soto,S
author_sort Flores-García,S
title Student use of vectors in the context of acceleration
title_short Student use of vectors in the context of acceleration
title_full Student use of vectors in the context of acceleration
title_fullStr Student use of vectors in the context of acceleration
title_full_unstemmed Student use of vectors in the context of acceleration
title_sort student use of vectors in the context of acceleration
description A functional understanding of Newton's second law as a vector equation requires that students be able to reason about forces and acceleration as vectors. In this paper, we present data describing students' conceptual difficulties with vector quantities such as acceleration. These data suggest that after traditional instruction in introductory physics, some students do not recognize the vector nature of this quantity. Other students do not have the requisite procedural knowledge to determine acceleration, and are therefore unable to reason qualitatively about Newton's second law. We describe some specific procedural and reasoning difficulties we have observed in students' use of vectors quantities. In addition, we describe instructional difficulties in mechanics that we observed on the basis of our research into student understanding. Some modifications in the instruction were intended to improve students' understanding of the vector nature of acceleration, and to promote student use of vectors when solving mechanics problems. Finally, we describe initial measurements of the effectiveness of these modifications
publisher Sociedad Mexicana de Física
publishDate 2008
url http://www.scielo.org.mx/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1870-35422008000200004
work_keys_str_mv AT floresgarcias studentuseofvectorsinthecontextofacceleration
AT terrazassm studentuseofvectorsinthecontextofacceleration
AT gonzalezquezadamd studentuseofvectorsinthecontextofacceleration
AT chavezpiercejl studentuseofvectorsinthecontextofacceleration
AT escobedosotos studentuseofvectorsinthecontextofacceleration
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