Identifying student resources in reasoning about entropy and the approach to thermal equilibrium

Abstract

This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Upper Division Physics Courses.] As part of an ongoing project to examine student learning in upper-division courses in thermal and statistical physics, we have examined student reasoning about entropy and the second law of thermodynamics. We have examined reasoning in terms of heat transfer, entropy maximization, and statistical treatments of multiplicity and probability. In this paper, we describe student responses in interviews focused on the approach of macroscopic systems to thermal equilibrium. Our data suggest that students do not use a single simple model of entropy, but rather use a variety of conceptual resources. Individual students frequently shifted between resources, in some cases leading to contradictory predictions. Among the resources that students employed were some that have been previously described in the literature, including inappropriate use of conservation. However, our results suggest that student use of resources connected to disorder are neither simple nor monolithic. For example, many students used a previously unreported association between the equilibrium state of a system and an increase in order, rather than disorder.

Development of the kinetic molecular theory of gases concept inventory: Preliminary results on university students’ misconceptions

“…(v) Thermal internal energy is the same as heat, temperature, or mechanical energy [2][3][4]25,38]. (vi) Entropy is the result of random arrangement of gas molecules [20,22,57]. Note that the first four above mentioned misconceptions are related to ideal gases, (v) is related to both the ideal and real gases, and (vi) is related to the model of real gases.…”

Using the resources framework to design, assess, and refine interventions on pressure in fluids

“…We have seen in our own data that students have the resources to reason about pressure in fluids. In addition, student conceptual resources have been identified in several challenging topics within physics and mathematics: entropy [70], sound waves [12], energy [8,46,71], electric fields [72], gravity [73], differentials [74], and connecting meaning and mathematics [11].…”

Editorial: Focused Collection: PER in Upper-Division Physics Courses

“…Finally, the fourth article on thermodynamics by Loverude [39] provides new perspectives on student thinking about entropy and the second law in simple physical situations involving thermal equilibrium. Results from interviews reveal compelling evidence that student ideas about entropy and "(dis)order" are often fragmented and self-contradictory, suggesting the need for a resource approach [3b] to describe their thinking.…”