Misunderstanding Modelling in Mechanics: A Review of the a-Level Textbook Literature

Rowlands, Stuart

doi:10.1080/14794800008520117

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 18 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…With the laws of motion (plus the law of restitution) it is possible to predict (consider first the small ball, not placed on the large ball, but dropped simultaneously above at a small distance). With the conservation laws you cannot predict, you can only explain what happened after the event in terms of those laws (Rowlands 2003). Force is the primary concept in mechanics and structures other domains in physics.…”

Section: The Axiomatic Nature Of Mechanics With Force As the Central mentioning

confidence: 99%

Mechanics as the Logical Point of Entry for the Enculturation into Scientific Thinking

Carson

Rowlands

2005

Sci Educ

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Force in modern classical mechanics is unique, both in terms of its logical character and the conceptual difficulties it causes. Force is well defined by a set of axioms that not only structures mechanics but science in general. Force is also the dominant theme in the 'misconceptions' literature and many philosophers and physicists alike have expressed puzzlement as to its nature. The central point of this article is that if we taught mechanics as the forum to discuss the nature of mechanics itself, then we would serve to better secure a learner's understanding and appreciation of both science and mathematics. We will attempt to show that mechanics can provide the opportunity for students to enter this meta-discourse by engaging in Socratic discussion, entertaining thought experiments, comparisons made between force as defined within mechanics as a modern axiomatic system with Newton's quantitative definition of force, how the concepts of force prior to Galileo and Newton can be used as a teaching aid with respect to student intuitive ideas and how mathematics was brought to bear on what is given empirically. Mechanics provides this opportunity and pedagogically may require it due to its axiomatic nature.

show abstract

Section: The Axiomatic Nature Of Mechanics With Force As the Central mentioning

confidence: 99%