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Comparing Student Conceptual Understanding of Thermodynamics in Physics and Engineering
written by Jessica W. Clark, John R. Thompson, and Donald B. Mountcastle
Thermodynamics is a core part of curricula in physics and many engineering fields. Despite the apparent similarity in coverage, individual courses in each discipline have distinct emphases and applications. Physics education researchers have identified student difficulties with concepts such as heat, temperature, and entropy as well as with larger grain-sized ideas such as state variables, path-dependent processes, etc. Engineering education research has corroborated some of these findings and has identified additional difficulties unique to engineering contexts such as confusion between steady-state and equilibrium processes. We are beginning a project that provides an opportunity to expand the interdisciplinary research on conceptual understanding in thermodynamics. This project has two goals: first, determine the overlapping content and concepts across the disciplines; second, compare conceptual understanding between these groups using existing conceptual questions from PER and EER. We present a review of PER and EER literature in thermodynamics and highlight some concepts that we will investigate.
Physics Education Research Conference 2012
Part of the PER Conference series
Philadelphia, PA: August 1-2, 2012
Volume 1513, Pages 102-105
Subjects Levels Resource Types
Education Foundations
- Alternative Conceptions
- Assessment
= Methods
- Research Design & Methodology
Thermo & Stat Mech
- General
- Lower Undergraduate
- Upper Undergraduate
- Reference Material
= Article
Intended Users Formats Ratings
- Researchers
- Professional/Practitioners
- Educators
- application/pdf
- non-digital
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Mirror:
https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4789662
Access Rights:
Free access and
Available for purchase
A preprint of the work is available. A hard copy of the PERC 2012 proceedings is available for purchase from the AIP.
Restriction:
© 2012 American Institute of Physics
DOI:
10.1063/1.4789662
NSF Number:
0817282
PACSs:
01.40.Fk
05.70.-a
Keywords:
Epistemology, PERC 2012
Record Cloner:
Metadata instance created March 16, 2013 by Zachary Davis
Record Updated:
December 17, 2013 by Lyle Barbato
Last Update
when Cataloged:
January 24, 2013
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Record Link
AIP Format
J. Clark, J. Thompson, and D. Mountcastle, , presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2012, Philadelphia, PA, 2012, WWW Document, (https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=12671&DocID=3248).
AJP/PRST-PER
J. Clark, J. Thompson, and D. Mountcastle, Comparing Student Conceptual Understanding of Thermodynamics in Physics and Engineering, presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2012, Philadelphia, PA, 2012, <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=12671&DocID=3248>.
APA Format
Clark, J., Thompson, J., & Mountcastle, D. (2012, August 1-2). Comparing Student Conceptual Understanding of Thermodynamics in Physics and Engineering. Paper presented at Physics Education Research Conference 2012, Philadelphia, PA. Retrieved March 19, 2024, from https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=12671&DocID=3248
Chicago Format
Clark, J, J. Thompson, and D. Mountcastle. "Comparing Student Conceptual Understanding of Thermodynamics in Physics and Engineering." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2012, Philadelphia, PA, August 1-2, 2012. https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=12671&DocID=3248 (accessed 19 March 2024).
MLA Format
Clark, Jessica, John Thompson, and Donald Mountcastle. "Comparing Student Conceptual Understanding of Thermodynamics in Physics and Engineering." Physics Education Research Conference 2012. Philadelphia, PA: 2012. 102-105 Vol. 1513 of PER Conference. 19 Mar. 2024 <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=12671&DocID=3248>.
BibTeX Export Format
@inproceedings{ Author = "Jessica Clark and John Thompson and Donald Mountcastle", Title = {Comparing Student Conceptual Understanding of Thermodynamics in Physics and Engineering}, BookTitle = {Physics Education Research Conference 2012}, Pages = {102-105}, Address = {Philadelphia, PA}, Series = {PER Conference}, Volume = {1513}, Month = {August 1-2}, Year = {2012} }
Refer Export Format

%A Jessica Clark %A John Thompson %A Donald Mountcastle %T Comparing Student Conceptual Understanding of Thermodynamics in Physics and Engineering %S PER Conference %V 1513 %D August 1-2 2012 %P 102-105 %C Philadelphia, PA %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=12671&DocID=3248 %O Physics Education Research Conference 2012 %O August 1-2 %O application/pdf

EndNote Export Format

%0 Conference Proceedings %A Clark, Jessica %A Thompson, John %A Mountcastle, Donald %D August 1-2 2012 %T Comparing Student Conceptual Understanding of Thermodynamics in Physics and Engineering %B Physics Education Research Conference 2012 %C Philadelphia, PA %V 1513 %P 102-105 %S PER Conference %8 August 1-2 %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=12671&DocID=3248


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