Meanings of the equals sign in upper-level undergraduate problem solving

Zohrabi Alaee, Dina; Sayre, Eleanor C.; Franklin, Scott V.

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Meanings of the equals sign in upper-level undergraduate problem solving

written by Dina Zohrabi Alaee, Eleanor C. Sayre, and Scott V. Franklin

The conceptual meaning behind the equals sign depends on its use and can show the cultural significance of different practices in solving physics problems. We use Sherin's symbolic forms to investigate the conceptual and cultural meanings of the equals sign across physics contexts. In this study we build and validate a rubric to classify physics students' use of the equals sign in written homework as assignment, causality, definitional, balancing, calculate, or hybrid. We then analyze students' solutions in their written homework in an upper-division electrostatics course and compare them to textbook solutions.

Physics Education Research Conference 2018
Part of the PER Conference series
Washington, DC: August 1-2, 2018

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Last Modified: December 31, 2018

Subjects	Levels	Resource Types
Education Foundations - Problem Solving = Processes = Representational Use Mathematical Tools - Algebra	- Upper Undergraduate	- Reference Material = Research study

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Mirror:: https://doi.org/10.1119/perc.2018…
Access Rights:: Free access
License:: This material is released under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the published article's author(s), title, proceedings citation, and DOI.
Rights Holder:: American Association of Physics Teachers
DOI:: 10.1119/perc.2018.pr.Zohrabi_Alaee
NSF Number:: 1430967
Keyword:: PERC 2018
Record Creator:: Metadata instance created December 31, 2018 by Lyle Barbato
Record Updated:: December 31, 2018 by Bruce Mason
Last Update when Cataloged:: December 31, 2018
Other Collections:: The PER-Central

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<a href="https://www.compadre.org/portal/items/detail.cfm?ID=14870">Zohrabi Alaee, D, E. Sayre, and S. Franklin. "Meanings of the equals sign in upper-level undergraduate problem solving." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2018, Washington, DC, August 1-2, 2018.</a>

AIP Format

D. Zohrabi Alaee, E. Sayre, and S. Franklin, , presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2018, Washington, DC, 2018, WWW Document, (https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14870&DocID=5017).

AJP/PRST-PER

D. Zohrabi Alaee, E. Sayre, and S. Franklin, Meanings of the equals sign in upper-level undergraduate problem solving, presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2018, Washington, DC, 2018, <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14870&DocID=5017>.

APA Format

Zohrabi Alaee, D., Sayre, E., & Franklin, S. (2018, August 1-2). Meanings of the equals sign in upper-level undergraduate problem solving. Paper presented at Physics Education Research Conference 2018, Washington, DC. Retrieved April 25, 2024, from https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14870&DocID=5017

Chicago Format

Zohrabi Alaee, D, E. Sayre, and S. Franklin. "Meanings of the equals sign in upper-level undergraduate problem solving." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2018, Washington, DC, August 1-2, 2018. https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14870&DocID=5017 (accessed 25 April 2024).

MLA Format

Zohrabi Alaee, Dina, Eleanor Sayre, and Scott Franklin. "Meanings of the equals sign in upper-level undergraduate problem solving." Physics Education Research Conference 2018. Washington, DC: 2018. of PER Conference. 25 Apr. 2024 <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14870&DocID=5017>.

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@inproceedings{ Author = "Dina Zohrabi Alaee and Eleanor Sayre and Scott Franklin", Title = {Meanings of the equals sign in upper-level undergraduate problem solving}, BookTitle = {Physics Education Research Conference 2018}, Address = {Washington, DC}, Series = {PER Conference}, Month = {August 1-2}, Year = {2018} }

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%A Dina Zohrabi Alaee %A Eleanor Sayre %A Scott Franklin %T Meanings of the equals sign in upper-level undergraduate problem solving %S PER Conference %D August 1-2 2018 %C Washington, DC %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14870&DocID=5017 %O Physics Education Research Conference 2018 %O August 1-2 %O application/pdf

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%0 Conference Proceedings %A Zohrabi Alaee, Dina %A Sayre, Eleanor %A Franklin, Scott %D August 1-2 2018 %T Meanings of the equals sign in upper-level undergraduate problem solving %B Physics Education Research Conference 2018 %C Washington, DC %S PER Conference %8 August 1-2 %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14870&DocID=5017

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