Fourth Graders’ Framing of an Electric Circuits Task

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written by Victoria Winters and David Hammer

Previous work shows that college students have more difficulty lighting a bulb with a single wire and a battery than with two wires, results that have informed the design of activities. We present some unexpected findings from two 4th grade classes engaged in a 15-hour inquiry module on electric circuits. Students successfully lit the bulb with a single wire in a variety of ways, but students from both classes showed and expressed the view that the bulb must be in direct contact with a battery in order for it to light. We suggest this arose from students framing the task as a building activity, and we analyze two classroom episodes in support of this interpretation.

Physics Education Research Conference 2009
Part of the PER Conference series
Ann Arbor, Michigan: July 29-30, 2009
Volume 1179, Pages 297-300

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Published: November 11, 2009

Subjects	Levels	Resource Types
Education Foundations - Cognition - Learning Theory - Sample Population = Age Education Practices - Active Learning = Inquiry Learning Electricity & Magnetism - DC Circuits	- Elementary School	- Reference Material = Research study

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Mirror:: https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3266741
Access Rights:: Free access and
Available for purchase; A preprint of the work is available. A hard copy of the PERC 2009 proceedings is also available.
Restriction:: © 2009 American Institute of Physics
DOI:: 10.1063/1.3266741
NSF Number:: 0732233
PACSs:: 01.40.-d; 01.40.eg; 01.40.Fk; 84.30.-r
Keywords:: PERC 2009, electric circuit, electric circuits, elementary school science, inquiry learning, physics education research, resources perspective, task framing
Record Cloner:: Metadata instance created October 14, 2009 by Alea Smith
Record Updated:: July 14, 2010 by Lyle Barbato
Last Update when Cataloged:: November 11, 2009
Other Collections:: The PER-Central

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<a href="https://www.compadre.org/portal/items/detail.cfm?ID=9509">Winters, Victoria, and David Hammer. "Fourth Graders’ Framing of an Electric Circuits Task ." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2009, Ann Arbor, Michigan, July 29-30, 2009.</a>

AIP Format

V. Winters and D. Hammer, , presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2009, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 2009, WWW Document, (https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=9509&DocID=1384).

AJP/PRST-PER

V. Winters and D. Hammer, Fourth Graders’ Framing of an Electric Circuits Task , presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2009, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 2009, <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=9509&DocID=1384>.

APA Format

Winters, V., & Hammer, D. (2009, July 29-30). Fourth Graders’ Framing of an Electric Circuits Task . Paper presented at Physics Education Research Conference 2009, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Retrieved April 26, 2024, from https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=9509&DocID=1384

Chicago Format

Winters, Victoria, and David Hammer. "Fourth Graders’ Framing of an Electric Circuits Task ." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2009, Ann Arbor, Michigan, July 29-30, 2009. https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=9509&DocID=1384 (accessed 26 April 2024).

MLA Format

Winters, Victoria, and David Hammer. "Fourth Graders’ Framing of an Electric Circuits Task ." Physics Education Research Conference 2009. Ann Arbor, Michigan: 2009. 297-300 Vol. 1179 of PER Conference. 26 Apr. 2024 <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=9509&DocID=1384>.

BibTeX Export Format

@inproceedings{ Author = "Victoria Winters and David Hammer", Title = {Fourth Graders’ Framing of an Electric Circuits Task }, BookTitle = {Physics Education Research Conference 2009}, Pages = {297-300}, Address = {Ann Arbor, Michigan}, Series = {PER Conference}, Volume = {1179}, Month = {July 29-30}, Year = {2009} }

Refer Export Format

%A Victoria Winters %A David Hammer %T Fourth Graders' Framing of an Electric Circuits Task %S PER Conference %V 1179 %D July 29-30 2009 %P 297-300 %C Ann Arbor, Michigan %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=9509&DocID=1384 %O Physics Education Research Conference 2009 %O July 29-30 %O application/pdf

EndNote Export Format

%0 Conference Proceedings %A Winters, Victoria %A Hammer, David %D July 29-30 2009 %T Fourth Graders' Framing of an Electric Circuits Task %B Physics Education Research Conference 2009 %C Ann Arbor, Michigan %V 1179 %P 297-300 %S PER Conference %8 July 29-30 %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=9509&DocID=1384

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