What do students learn about work in physical and virtual experiments with inclined planes?
written by
Jacquelyn J. Chini, Adrian M. Madsen, N. Sanjay Rebello, and Sadhana Puntambekar
In previous studies, we have reported a difference in how physical and virtual manipulatives support students' understanding of the physics definition of work in the context of simple machines. We have shown that students who use the virtual manipulative (a computer simulation) before performing a physical experiment provided the correct response to multiple-choice questions about work more frequently than students who first use the physical manipulative. In this paper, we further analyze students' responses to a series of questions about work in the context of inclined planes to explore the models students used to answer the questions. While we had anticipated that students who performed the physical experiment would incorrectly respond to the multiple-choice questions in accordance with their observations (i.e. a longer ramp requires more work due to frictional effects), we actually observed these students more frequently using an alternate model that a longer ramp requires less work.
Physics Education Research Conference 2011
Part of the PER Conference series
Omaha, Nebraska: August 3-4, 2011
Volume 1413, Pages 147-150
<a href="https://www.compadre.org/portal/items/detail.cfm?ID=11832">Chini, J, A. Madsen, N. Rebello, and S. Puntambekar. "What do students learn about work in physical and virtual experiments with inclined planes?." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2011, Omaha, Nebraska, August 3-4, 2011.</a>
J. Chini, A. Madsen, N. Rebello, and S. Puntambekar, , presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2011, Omaha, Nebraska, 2011, WWW Document, (https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=11832&DocID=2682).
J. Chini, A. Madsen, N. Rebello, and S. Puntambekar, What do students learn about work in physical and virtual experiments with inclined planes?, presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2011, Omaha, Nebraska, 2011, <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=11832&DocID=2682>.
Chini, J., Madsen, A., Rebello, N., & Puntambekar, S. (2011, August 3-4). What do students learn about work in physical and virtual experiments with inclined planes?. Paper presented at Physics Education Research Conference 2011, Omaha, Nebraska. Retrieved May 2, 2025, from https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=11832&DocID=2682
Chini, J, A. Madsen, N. Rebello, and S. Puntambekar. "What do students learn about work in physical and virtual experiments with inclined planes?." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2011, Omaha, Nebraska, August 3-4, 2011. https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=11832&DocID=2682 (accessed 2 May 2025).
Chini, Jacquelyn, Adrian Madsen, N. Sanjay Rebello, and Sadhana Puntambekar. "What do students learn about work in physical and virtual experiments with inclined planes?." Physics Education Research Conference 2011. Omaha, Nebraska: 2011. 147-150 Vol. 1413 of PER Conference. 2 May 2025 <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=11832&DocID=2682>.
@inproceedings{
Author = "Jacquelyn Chini and Adrian Madsen and N. Sanjay Rebello and Sadhana Puntambekar",
Title = {What do students learn about work in physical and virtual experiments with inclined planes?},
BookTitle = {Physics Education Research Conference 2011},
Pages = {147-150},
Address = {Omaha, Nebraska},
Series = {PER Conference},
Volume = {1413},
Month = {August 3-4},
Year = {2011}
}
%A Jacquelyn Chini %A Adrian Madsen %A N. Sanjay Rebello %A Sadhana Puntambekar %T What do students learn about work in physical and virtual experiments with inclined planes? %S PER Conference %V 1413 %D August 3-4 2011 %P 147-150 %C Omaha, Nebraska %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=11832&DocID=2682 %O Physics Education Research Conference 2011 %O August 3-4 %O application/pdf
%0 Conference Proceedings %A Chini, Jacquelyn %A Madsen, Adrian %A Rebello, N. Sanjay %A Puntambekar, Sadhana %D August 3-4 2011 %T What do students learn about work in physical and virtual experiments with inclined planes? %B Physics Education Research Conference 2011 %C Omaha, Nebraska %V 1413 %P 147-150 %S PER Conference %8 August 3-4 %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=11832&DocID=2682
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