Teacher and Curriculum Factors that Influence Middle School Students' Sense-Making Discussions of Force/Motion

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written by Cody Sandifer

This study investigated small-group discussions in an inquiry-based middle school science classroom. The purpose of the study was to determine the teacher and curriculum factors that provide support (or not) for students' sense-making discussions. To do this, two student groups were videotaped as they participated in force/motion activities. Analysis revealed that focused "sense-making activities", free-body diagrams, energy diagrams, and related real-world activities produced deeper student understanding.

This item is available cost-free as a pdf file.

Physics Education Research Conference 2004
Part of the PER Conference series
Sacramento, California: August 4-5, 2004
Volume 790, Pages 141-144

download 119kb .pdf
Published: August 4, 2004

Subjects	Levels	Resource Types
Classical Mechanics - Motion in One Dimension - Motion in Two Dimensions Education Foundations - Teacher Characteristics Education Practices - Active Learning = Inquiry Learning	- Middle School - High School - Graduate/Professional	- Reference Material = Research study

Appropriate Courses	Categories	Ratings
- Physical Science - Physics First - Conceptual Physics	- Assessment - New teachers	Currently 0.0/5 Want to rate this material? Login here!

Intended Users:: Educator
Researcher
Professional/Practitioner
Administrator
Formats:: application/pdf
non-digital
Mirror:: https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2084721
Access Rights:: Free access and
Available by subscription and
Available for purchase
Restriction:: © 2004 American Institute of Physics
DOI:: 10.1063/1.2084721
PACSs:: 01.40.Fk; 01.40.Gm; 01.40.Jp; 01.40.Ej
Keywords:: PERC 2004, education, force, inquiry-based learning, pedagogy, small-group discussions, teacher training, teaching
Record Cloner:: Metadata instance created October 19, 2009 by Alea Smith
Record Updated:: September 10, 2012 by Caroline Hall
Last Update when Cataloged:: August 4, 2004
Other Collections:: The PER-Central

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AAAS Benchmark Alignments (2008 Version)

4. The Physical Setting

4F. Motion

6-8: 4F/M3a. An unbalanced force acting on an object changes its speed or direction of motion, or both.
9-12: 4F/H8. Any object maintains a constant speed and direction of motion unless an unbalanced outside force acts on it.

9. The Mathematical World

9B. Symbolic Relationships

9-12: 9B/H4. Tables, graphs, and symbols are alternative ways of representing data and relationships that can be translated from one to another.

Common Core State Standards for Mathematics Alignments

Expressions and Equations (6-8)

Understand the connections between proportional relationships, lines, and linear equations. (8)

8.EE.5 Graph proportional relationships, interpreting the unit rate as the slope of the graph. Compare two different proportional relationships represented in different ways.

Functions (8)

Use functions to model relationships between quantities. (8)

8.F.5 Describe qualitatively the functional relationship between two quantities by analyzing a graph (e.g., where the function is increasing or decreasing, linear or nonlinear). Sketch a graph that exhibits the qualitative features of a function that has been described verbally.

High School — Functions (9-12)

Linear, Quadratic, and Exponential Models^? (9-12)

F-LE.1.b Recognize situations in which one quantity changes at a constant rate per unit interval relative to another.
F-LE.1.c Recognize situations in which a quantity grows or decays by a constant percent rate per unit interval relative to another.

This resource is part of a Physics Front Topical Unit.

Topic: Kinematics: The Physics of Motion
Unit Title: Velocity and Acceleration

In this study, students in an inquiry-based classroom were videotaped to detect how they made sense of concepts relating to force and motion. The analysis revealed that focused "sense-making activities", free-body diagrams, energy diagrams, and related real-world activities produced deeper student understanding. Free download

Link to Unit:

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Record Link

<a href="https://www.compadre.org/precollege/items/detail.cfm?ID=9553">Sandifer, Cody. "Teacher and Curriculum Factors that Influence Middle School Students' Sense-Making Discussions of Force/Motion." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2004, Sacramento, California, August 4-5, 2004.</a>

AIP Format

C. Sandifer, , presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2004, Sacramento, California, 2004, WWW Document, (https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=9553&DocID=2774).

AJP/PRST-PER

C. Sandifer, Teacher and Curriculum Factors that Influence Middle School Students' Sense-Making Discussions of Force/Motion, presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2004, Sacramento, California, 2004, <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=9553&DocID=2774>.

APA Format

Sandifer, C. (2004, August 4-5). Teacher and Curriculum Factors that Influence Middle School Students' Sense-Making Discussions of Force/Motion. Paper presented at Physics Education Research Conference 2004, Sacramento, California. Retrieved December 12, 2024, from https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=9553&DocID=2774

Chicago Format

Sandifer, Cody. "Teacher and Curriculum Factors that Influence Middle School Students' Sense-Making Discussions of Force/Motion." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2004, Sacramento, California, August 4-5, 2004. https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=9553&DocID=2774 (accessed 12 December 2024).

MLA Format

Sandifer, Cody. "Teacher and Curriculum Factors that Influence Middle School Students' Sense-Making Discussions of Force/Motion." Physics Education Research Conference 2004. Sacramento, California: 2004. 141-144 Vol. 790 of PER Conference. 12 Dec. 2024 <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=9553&DocID=2774>.

BibTeX Export Format

@inproceedings{ Author = "Cody Sandifer", Title = {Teacher and Curriculum Factors that Influence Middle School Students' Sense-Making Discussions of Force/Motion}, BookTitle = {Physics Education Research Conference 2004}, Pages = {141-144}, Address = {Sacramento, California}, Series = {PER Conference}, Volume = {790}, Month = {August 4-5}, Year = {2004} }

Refer Export Format

%A Cody Sandifer %T Teacher and Curriculum Factors that Influence Middle School Students' Sense-Making Discussions of Force/Motion %S PER Conference %V 790 %D August 4-5 2004 %P 141-144 %C Sacramento, California %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=9553&DocID=2774 %O Physics Education Research Conference 2004 %O August 4-5 %O application/pdf

EndNote Export Format

%0 Conference Proceedings %A Sandifer, Cody %D August 4-5 2004 %T Teacher and Curriculum Factors that Influence Middle School Students' Sense-Making Discussions of Force/Motion %B Physics Education Research Conference 2004 %C Sacramento, California %V 790 %P 141-144 %S PER Conference %8 August 4-5 %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=9553&DocID=2774

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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.

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