written by Paul W. Irving and Eleanor C. Sayre

As part of a larger study into upper-level physics student identity development that is currently underway students were questioned about their conception of understanding. Contained with this paper are the results for students' conceptions of understanding which correlate significantly to those found by Waterhouse and Prosser. However, having carried out pilot interviews of the interview protocol used to examine identity and cognitive development, the researchers noticed a large frequency in the amount of students that indicated their conception of understanding to be "when you can explain it to others or yourself." This prompted a further examination of this conception of understanding via phenomenographic interview and analysis.

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Published January 24, 2013
Last Modified June 26, 2013