• Open Access

Do students use and understand free-body diagrams?

David Rosengrant, Alan Van Heuvelen, and Eugenia Etkina
Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 5, 010108 – Published 1 June 2009

Abstract

Physics education literature recommends using multiple representations to help students understand concepts and solve problems. However, there is little research concerning why students use the representations and whether those who use them are more successful. This study addresses these questions using free-body diagrams (diagrammatic representations used in problems involving forces) as a type of representation. We conducted a two-year quantitative and qualitative study of students’ use of free-body diagrams while solving physics problems. We found that when students are in a course that consistently emphasizes the use of free-body diagrams, the majority of them do use diagrams on their own to help solve exam problems even when they receive no credit for drawing the diagrams. We also found that students who draw diagrams correctly are significantly more successful in obtaining the right answer for the problem. Lastly, we interviewed students to uncover their reasons for using free-body diagrams. We found that high achieving students used the diagrams to help solve the problems and as a tool to evaluate their work while low achieving students only used representations as aids in the problem-solving process.

  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Received 5 June 2008

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.5.010108

This article is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.

Authors & Affiliations

David Rosengrant1, Alan Van Heuvelen2, and Eugenia Etkina3

  • 1Department of Biology and Physics, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, Georgia 30062, USA
  • 2Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, USA
  • 3Graduate School of Education, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901, USA

Article Text

Click to Expand

References

Click to Expand
Issue

Vol. 5, Iss. 1 — January - June 2009

Reuse & Permissions

Authorization Required


×
×

Images

×

Sign up to receive regular email alerts from Physical Review Physics Education Research

Reuse & Permissions

It is not necessary to obtain permission to reuse this article or its components as it is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI are maintained. Please note that some figures may have been included with permission from other third parties. It is your responsibility to obtain the proper permission from the rights holder directly for these figures.

×

Log In

Cancel
×

Search


Article Lookup

Paste a citation or DOI

Enter a citation
×