An Overview of Recent Research on Multiple Representations

Rosengrant, David; Etkina, Eugenia; Heuvelen, Alan Van

doi:10.1063/1.2508714

Cited by 86 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…As we have seen before, 14,21 PER-informed courses can be successful at getting students to use a variety of canonical representations while solving physics problems. However, students may not be learning why they are using these representations or how to use them to maximum effect.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Patterns of multiple representation use by experts and novices during physics problem solving

Kohl

Finkelstein

2008

Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res.

130

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It is generally believed that students should use multiple representations in solving certain physics problems, and earlier work in PER has begun to outline how experts and novices differ in their use of multiple representations. In this study, we build on this foundation by interviewing expert and novice physicists as they solve two types of multiple representation problems: those in which multiple representations are provided for them and those in which the students must construct their own representations. We analyze in detail the types of representations subjects use and the order and manner in which they are used. Expert and novice representation use is surprisingly similar in some ways, especially in that both experts and novices make significant use of multiple representations. Some significant differences also emerge. Experts are more flexible in terms of starting point and move between the available representations more quickly, and novices tend to move between more representations in total. In addition, we find that an examination of how often and when multiple representations are used is inadequate to fully characterize a problem-solving episode; one must also consider the purpose behind the use of the available representations. This analysis of how experts and novices use representations sharpens the differences between the two groups, demonstrates analysis techniques that may be useful in future work, and suggests possible paths for instruction.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Patterns of multiple representation use by experts and novices during physics problem solving

Kohl

Finkelstein

2008

Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res.

130

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show abstract

“…This theoretical article is about the teaching and learning challenges that arise from students experiencing this partiality of representations, where important physics aspects are not initially discernible. These issues are educationally important because what creates a powerful communicative system for physics at the same time manifests in the difficulties students experience in terms of becoming "fluent" [2] (p. 28) in the disciplinary-specific representations [2,[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]. Theoretical details from the literature, together with the concept of disciplinary affordance [11,12], are used to underpin a case that physics representations need to be "unpacked" for students.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unpacking physics representations: Towards an appreciation of disciplinary affordance

Fredlund

Linder

Airey

et al. 2014

Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res.

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This theoretical article problematizes the access to disciplinary knowledge that different physics representations have the possibility to provide; that is, their disciplinary affordances. It is argued that historically such access has become increasingly constrained for students as physics representations have been rationalized over time. Thus, the case is made that such rationalized representations, while powerful for communication from a disciplinary point of view, manifest as learning challenges for students. The proposal is illustrated using a vignette from a student discussion in the physics laboratory about circuit connections for an experimental investigation of the charging and discharging of a capacitor. It is concluded that in order for students to come to appreciate the disciplinary affordances of representations, more attention needs to be paid to their "unpacking." Building on this conclusion, two questions are proposed that teachers can ask themselves in order to begin to unpack the representations that they use in their teaching. The paper ends by proposing directions for future research in this area.

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“…The goal of this study is not to compare different teaching styles or approaches in lecture, but rather to gain preliminary data on students gaze patterns in a lecture that has a high degree of strategies from physics education research such as the use of multiple representations [10] and talk to your neighbor tasks which can include physics jeopardy tasks [11].…”

Section: Theoretical Foundationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The subjects did not receive any benefits for participating in the study. The professor for the lectures is well versed in Physics Education Research and utilizes many strategies in the classroom such as talk to your neighbor tasks, a plethora of forms of assessment, simulations and finally multiple representations [10]. The professor consistently receives high evaluations.…”

Section: Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Following student gaze patterns in physical science lectures

Rosengrant¹,

Hearrington²,

Alvarado³

et al. 2012

AIP Conference Proceedings

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Abstract. This study investigates the gaze patterns of undergraduate college students attending a lecture-based physical science class to better understand the relationships between gaze and focus patterns and student attention during class. The investigators used a new eye-tracking product; Tobii Glasses. The glasses eliminate the need for subjects to focus on a computer screen or carry around a backpack-sized recording device, thus giving an investigator the ability to study a broader range of research questions. This investigation includes what students focus on in the classroom (i.e. demonstrations, instructor, notes, board work, and presentations) during a normal lecture, what diverts attention away from being on task as well as what keeps a subject on task. We report on the findings from 8 subjects during physical science lectures designed for future elementary school teachers. We found that students tended not to focus on the instructor for most parts of the lecture but rather the information, particularly new information presented on PowerPoint slides. Finally, we found that location in the classroom also impacted students' attention spans due to more distractors.

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An Overview of Recent Research on Multiple Representations

Cited by 86 publications

References 9 publications

Patterns of multiple representation use by experts and novices during physics problem solving

Patterns of multiple representation use by experts and novices during physics problem solving

Unpacking physics representations: Towards an appreciation of disciplinary affordance

Following student gaze patterns in physical science lectures

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