Criteria for Creating and Categorizing Forms of Energy

McKagan, Sarah B.; Scherr, Rachel E.; Close, Eleanor W.; Close, Hunter G.

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Criteria for Creating and Categorizing Forms of Energy

written by Sarah B. McKagan, Rachel E. Scherr, Eleanor W. Close, and Hunter G. Close

Traditional instruction on energy often presents forms of energy as a seemingly arbitrary list to be memorized, with little discussion of the meaning or purpose of these forms. Learners often struggle to make sense of these forms, and neither physicists nor physics educators are explicit about the criteria used to create these lists. This article presents our understanding of the meaning and purpose of forms, based on (1) our understanding of how physicists have used forms and (2) our observations of how elementary teachers create new forms and categorize existing forms in order to understand real-world problems. We propose that explicitly articulating the criteria used to identify forms of energy can empower teachers and students and help them to understand both the concept of energy and the nature of science.

Physics Education Research Conference 2011
Part of the PER Conference series
Omaha, Nebraska: August 3-4, 2011
Volume 1413, Pages 279-282

download 158kb .pdf
Published: February 6, 2012

Subjects	Levels	Resource Types
Classical Mechanics - Work and Energy Education Foundations - Cognition - Communication = Representations - Teacher Characteristics = Content Knowledge	- Professional Development - Graduate/Professional	- Reference Material = Research study

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Mirror:: https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3680049
Access Rights:: Free access and
Available for purchase; A preprint of the work is available. A hard copy of the PERC 2011 proceedings is available for purchase from the AIP.
Restriction:: © 2011 American Institute of Physics
DOI:: 10.1063/1.3680049
NSF Number:: 0822342
PACSs:: 01.40.eg; 01.40.Fk; 01.40.jc
Keywords:: Elementary Education, Nature of Science, PERC 2011, Teacher Preparation, teacher professional development
Record Cloner:: Metadata instance created April 25, 2012 by Lyle Barbato
Record Updated:: May 15, 2012 by Vince Kuo
Last Update when Cataloged:: February 6, 2012
Other Collections:: The PER-Central

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Record Link

<a href="https://www.compadre.org/portal/items/detail.cfm?ID=11867">McKagan, S, R. Scherr, E. Close, and H. Close. "Criteria for Creating and Categorizing Forms of Energy." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2011, Omaha, Nebraska, August 3-4, 2011.</a>

AIP Format

S. McKagan, R. Scherr, E. Close, and H. Close, , presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2011, Omaha, Nebraska, 2011, WWW Document, (https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=11867&DocID=2715).

AJP/PRST-PER

S. McKagan, R. Scherr, E. Close, and H. Close, Criteria for Creating and Categorizing Forms of Energy, presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2011, Omaha, Nebraska, 2011, <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=11867&DocID=2715>.

APA Format

McKagan, S., Scherr, R., Close, E., & Close, H. (2011, August 3-4). Criteria for Creating and Categorizing Forms of Energy. Paper presented at Physics Education Research Conference 2011, Omaha, Nebraska. Retrieved May 3, 2024, from https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=11867&DocID=2715

Chicago Format

McKagan, S, R. Scherr, E. Close, and H. Close. "Criteria for Creating and Categorizing Forms of Energy." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2011, Omaha, Nebraska, August 3-4, 2011. https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=11867&DocID=2715 (accessed 3 May 2024).

MLA Format

McKagan, Sarah B., Rachel Scherr, Eleanor Close, and Hunter Close. "Criteria for Creating and Categorizing Forms of Energy." Physics Education Research Conference 2011. Omaha, Nebraska: 2011. 279-282 Vol. 1413 of PER Conference. 3 May 2024 <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=11867&DocID=2715>.

BibTeX Export Format

@inproceedings{ Author = "Sarah B. McKagan and Rachel Scherr and Eleanor Close and Hunter Close", Title = {Criteria for Creating and Categorizing Forms of Energy}, BookTitle = {Physics Education Research Conference 2011}, Pages = {279-282}, Address = {Omaha, Nebraska}, Series = {PER Conference}, Volume = {1413}, Month = {August 3-4}, Year = {2011} }

Refer Export Format

%A Sarah B. McKagan %A Rachel Scherr %A Eleanor Close %A Hunter Close %T Criteria for Creating and Categorizing Forms of Energy %S PER Conference %V 1413 %D August 3-4 2011 %P 279-282 %C Omaha, Nebraska %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=11867&DocID=2715 %O Physics Education Research Conference 2011 %O August 3-4 %O application/pdf

EndNote Export Format

%0 Conference Proceedings %A McKagan, Sarah B. %A Scherr, Rachel %A Close, Eleanor %A Close, Hunter %D August 3-4 2011 %T Criteria for Creating and Categorizing Forms of Energy %B Physics Education Research Conference 2011 %C Omaha, Nebraska %V 1413 %P 279-282 %S PER Conference %8 August 3-4 %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=11867&DocID=2715

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