The Ratio Table: a tool for understanding ratios

Southey, Philip

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The Ratio Table: a tool for understanding ratios

written by Philip Southey

Arnold Arons described an inadequate understanding of ratios as "one of the most serious impediments to the study of science" [1]. Yet ample math and physics education research demonstrates that STEM university students struggle with ratios. For example, students are familiar with the notion of "meters per second", but many do not attribute meaning to the notion of "seconds per meter" [2]. This manuscript presents a simple technique dubbed "The Ratio Table" for helping students work algebraically with ratios, and make physical sense of units involving "per". The technique was implemented and assessed through repeated pre- and post administration of a set of written questions. Results suggest that this relatively small intervention can boost student performance

Physics Education Research Conference 2019
Part of the PER Conference series
Provo, UT: July 24-25, 2019
Pages 567-572

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Last Modified: January 7, 2020

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Education Foundations - Student Characteristics = Skills Education Practices - Instructional Material Design = Activity - Pedagogy = Heuristics Mathematical Tools - Algebra - Problem-Solving Techniques	- Lower Undergraduate	- Reference Material = Research study

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Mirror:: https://doi.org/10.1119/perc.2019…
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.2019.pr.Southey
Keyword:: PERC 2019
Record Creator:: Metadata instance created January 7, 2020 by Lyle Barbato
Record Updated:: January 11, 2020 by Bruce Mason
Last Update when Cataloged:: January 8, 2020
Other Collections:: The PER-Central

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<a href="https://www.compadre.org/portal/items/detail.cfm?ID=15306">Southey, Philip. "The Ratio Table: a tool for understanding ratios." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2019, Provo, UT, July 24-25, 2019.</a>

AIP Format

P. Southey, , presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2019, Provo, UT, 2019, WWW Document, (https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=15306&DocID=5218).

AJP/PRST-PER

P. Southey, The Ratio Table: a tool for understanding ratios, presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2019, Provo, UT, 2019, <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=15306&DocID=5218>.

APA Format

Southey, P. (2019, July 24-25). The Ratio Table: a tool for understanding ratios. Paper presented at Physics Education Research Conference 2019, Provo, UT. Retrieved April 29, 2024, from https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=15306&DocID=5218

Chicago Format

Southey, Philip. "The Ratio Table: a tool for understanding ratios." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2019, Provo, UT, July 24-25, 2019. https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=15306&DocID=5218 (accessed 29 April 2024).

MLA Format

Southey, Philip. "The Ratio Table: a tool for understanding ratios." Physics Education Research Conference 2019. Provo, UT: 2019. 567-572 of PER Conference. 29 Apr. 2024 <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=15306&DocID=5218>.

BibTeX Export Format

@inproceedings{ Author = "Philip Southey", Title = {The Ratio Table: a tool for understanding ratios}, BookTitle = {Physics Education Research Conference 2019}, Pages = {567-572}, Address = {Provo, UT}, Series = {PER Conference}, Month = {July 24-25}, Year = {2019} }

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%A Philip Southey %T The Ratio Table: a tool for understanding ratios %S PER Conference %D July 24-25 2019 %P 567-572 %C Provo, UT %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=15306&DocID=5218 %O Physics Education Research Conference 2019 %O July 24-25 %O application/pdf

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%0 Conference Proceedings %A Southey, Philip %D July 24-25 2019 %T The Ratio Table: a tool for understanding ratios %B Physics Education Research Conference 2019 %C Provo, UT %P 567-572 %S PER Conference %8 July 24-25 %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=15306&DocID=5218

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