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Student difficulties with vectors in kinematic problems |
Abstract
Maintained by
University of Maryland PERG
E.F. Redish and G. Shama,
AAPT meeting, Denver, August, 1997.
Students in introductory physics often have difficulties
with the concept of vectors. We have observed and analyzed student performance
in a small class of first-semester algebra-based physics at the University
of Maryland. Students were observed in tutorials and during in-lecture
discussions, and their homeworks and examinations were analyzed. All of
the students made errors in the meaning and use of vectors in kinematic
problems. We conjecture that their difficulties result from a mental model
of motion that retains the full path as the description of the motion,
and that contains inappropriate rules for extracting average or overall
features from this full description. We refer to this mental model as path
dominated. An exam question designed to test this hypothesis was delivered
to 135 students. In this problem, approximately ½ of the students
made errors that may be explained as a result of path-dominated misconceptions.
Comments and questions may be directed to
E. F. Redish
Last modified 24 August 2001