How students use mathematical resources in an electrostatics context
Abstract
We present evidence that although students' mathematical skills in introductory calculus-based physics classes may not be readily applied in physics contexts, these students have strong mathematical resources on which to build effective instruction. Our evidence is based on clinical interviews of problem solving in electrostatics, which are analyzed using the framework of Sherin's symbolic forms. We find that students use notions of "dependence" and "parts-of-a-whole" to successfully guide their work, even in novel situations. We also present evidence that students' naive conceptions of the limit may prevent them from viewing integrals as sums. (C) 2008 American Association of Physics Teachers.
Department
Physics
Publication Date
6-1-2008
Journal Title
American Journal of Physics
Publisher
AMER ASSOC PHYSICS TEACHERS AMER INST PHYSICS
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
10.1119/1.2839558
Document Type
Article
Recommended Citation
Meredith, Dawn C. and Marrongelle, Karen A., "How students use mathematical resources in an electrostatics context" (2008). American Journal of Physics. 7.
https://scholars.unh.edu/physics_facpub/7
Rights
© 2008 American Association of Physics Teachers