Research Mentor(s)
Borda, Emily; Boudreaux, Andrew
Description
In most undergraduate curricula, students are expected to have the ability to apply, or transfer, a learned concept to new coursework. In the sciences, students are often introduced to energy ideas with discipline-specific vocabulary and tasks which encourage compartmentalized, surface-level understandings of energy concepts. Our research investigates student transfer of energy ideas within a coherent science course series, where physics is the foundational course. Similar modeling tools and vocabulary are used in the classes to help students see energy as a unifying framework. We seek to identify and describe what transfer “looks like” in this idealized context by interviewing students enrolled in the next three science courses in the series. They are asked to describe and explain scientific phenomena they have not yet encountered, but to which it is possible to apply energy concepts from the prerequisite physics course. Our qualitative analysis focuses on the identification of the energy concepts students utilize during their reasoning process. We aim to better understand the resources students activate and the obstacles they encounter when attempting this transfer.
Document Type
Event
Start Date
15-5-2019 9:00 AM
End Date
15-5-2019 5:00 PM
Location
Carver Gym (Bellingham, Wash.)
Department
SMATE (Science, Math and Technology Education)
Genre/Form
student projects, posters
Subjects – Topical (LCSH)
Power (Mechanics)--Study and teaching; Science--Study and teaching; Interdisciplinary approach in education
Type
Image
Keywords
Science Education, Interdisciplinary Transfer, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Geology, Energy
Rights
Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author’s written permission.
Language
English
Format
application/pdf
Included in
Resources for Interdisciplinary Understanding of Energy
Carver Gym (Bellingham, Wash.)
In most undergraduate curricula, students are expected to have the ability to apply, or transfer, a learned concept to new coursework. In the sciences, students are often introduced to energy ideas with discipline-specific vocabulary and tasks which encourage compartmentalized, surface-level understandings of energy concepts. Our research investigates student transfer of energy ideas within a coherent science course series, where physics is the foundational course. Similar modeling tools and vocabulary are used in the classes to help students see energy as a unifying framework. We seek to identify and describe what transfer “looks like” in this idealized context by interviewing students enrolled in the next three science courses in the series. They are asked to describe and explain scientific phenomena they have not yet encountered, but to which it is possible to apply energy concepts from the prerequisite physics course. Our qualitative analysis focuses on the identification of the energy concepts students utilize during their reasoning process. We aim to better understand the resources students activate and the obstacles they encounter when attempting this transfer.