written by
Michael C. Wittmann, Jeffrey Morgan, and Roger Feeley
We report on the development of students' ideas of probability and probability density in a University of Maine laboratory-based general education physics course called Intuitive Quantum Physics. Students in the course are generally math phobic with unfavorable expectations about the nature of physics and their ability to do it. We describe a set of activities used to teach concepts of probability and probability density. Rudimentary knowledge of mechanics is needed for one activity, but otherwise the material requires no additional preparation. Extensions of the activities include relating probability density to potential energy graphs for certain "touchstone" examples. Students have difficulties learning the target concepts, such as comparing the ratio of time in a region to total time in all regions. Instead, they often focus on edge effects, pattern match to previously studied situations, reason about necessary but incomplete macroscopic elements of the system, use the gambler's fallacy, and use expectations about ensemble results rather than expectation values to predict future events. We map the development of their thinking to provide examples of problems rather than evidence of a curriculum's success.
Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research: Volume 2, Issue 2
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Record Link
<a href="https://www.compadre.org/portal/items/detail.cfm?ID=4846">Wittmann, M, J. Morgan, and R. Feeley. "Laboratory-tutorial activities for teaching probability." Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 2, no. 2, (August 2, 2006).</a>
AIP Format
M. Wittmann, J. Morgan, and R. Feeley, , Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 2 (2), (2006), WWW Document, (https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.2.020104).
AJP/PRST-PER
M. Wittmann, J. Morgan, and R. Feeley, Laboratory-tutorial activities for teaching probability, Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 2 (2), (2006), <https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.2.020104>.
APA Format
Wittmann, M., Morgan, J., & Feeley, R. (2006, August 2). Laboratory-tutorial activities for teaching probability. Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res., 2(2). Retrieved October 31, 2024, from https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.2.020104
Chicago Format
Wittmann, M, J. Morgan, and R. Feeley. "Laboratory-tutorial activities for teaching probability." Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 2, no. 2, (August 2, 2006), https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.2.020104 (accessed 31 October 2024).
MLA Format
Wittmann, Michael, Jeffrey Morgan, and Roger Feeley. "Laboratory-tutorial activities for teaching probability." Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 2.2 (2006). 31 Oct. 2024 <https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.2.020104>.
BibTeX Export Format
@article{
Author = "Michael Wittmann and Jeffrey Morgan and Roger Feeley",
Title = {Laboratory-tutorial activities for teaching probability},
Journal = {Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res.},
Volume = {2},
Number = {2},
Month = {August},
Year = {2006}
}
Refer Export Format
%A Michael Wittmann %A Jeffrey Morgan %A Roger Feeley %T Laboratory-tutorial activities for teaching probability %J Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. %V 2 %N 2 %D August 2, 2006 %U https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.2.020104 %O application/pdf
EndNote Export Format
%0 Journal Article %A Wittmann, Michael %A Morgan, Jeffrey %A Feeley, Roger %D August 2, 2006 %T Laboratory-tutorial activities for teaching probability %J Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. %V 2 %N 2 %8 August 2, 2006 %U https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.2.020104 Disclaimer: ComPADRE offers citation styles as a guide only. We cannot offer interpretations about citations as this is an automated procedure. Please refer to the style manuals in the Citation Source Information area for clarifications.
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The AIP Style presented is based on information from the AIP Style Manual. The APA Style presented is based on information from APA Style.org: Electronic References. The Chicago Style presented is based on information from Examples of Chicago-Style Documentation. The MLA Style presented is based on information from the MLA FAQ. |