Detail Page

Negative Energy: Why Interdisciplinary Physics Requires Multiple Ontologies
written by Benjamin W. Dreyfus, Benjamin D. Geller, Julia Svoboda Gouvea, Vashti Sawtelle, Chandra Turpen, and Edward F. Redish
Much recent work in physics education research has focused on ontological metaphors for energy, particularly the substance ontology and its pedagogical affordances. The concept of negative energy problematizes the substance ontology for energy, but in many instructional settings, the specific difficulties around negative energy are outweighed by the general advantages of the substance ontology. However, we claim that our interdisciplinary setting (a physics class that builds deep connections to biology and chemistry) leads to a different set of considerations and conclusions. In a course designed to draw interdisciplinary connections, the centrality of chemical bond energy in biology necessitates foregrounding negative energy from the beginning. We argue that the emphasis on negative energy requires a combination of substance and location ontologies. The location ontology enables energies both "above" and "below" zero. We present preliminary student data that illustrate difficulties in reasoning about negative energy, and the affordances of the location metaphor.
Physics Education Research Conference 2013
Part of the PER Conference series
Portland, OR: July 17-18, 2013
Pages 129-132
Subjects Levels Resource Types
Classical Mechanics
- Work and Energy
Education Foundations
- Cognition
- Communication
= Representations
- Learning Theory
Education Practices
- Pedagogy
= Instructional Issues
= Multidisciplinary
Other Sciences
- Chemistry
- Life Sciences
- Lower Undergraduate
- Graduate/Professional
- Reference Material
= Research study
Intended Users Formats Ratings
- Researchers
- application/pdf
  • Currently 0.0/5

Want to rate this material?
Login here!


Mirror:
https://doi.org/10.1119/perc.2013…
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.2013.pr.020
NSF Numbers:
0750616
1122818
PACSs:
01.40.-d
01.40.Fk
01.30.Cc
Keywords:
PERC 2013, biology education, energy, interdisciplinary, metaphor, ontology
Record Cloner:
Metadata instance created January 31, 2014 by Lyle Barbato
Record Updated:
January 31, 2014 by Lyle Barbato
Last Update
when Cataloged:
December 16, 2013
Other Collections:

ComPADRE is beta testing Citation Styles!

Record Link
AIP Format
B. Dreyfus, B. Geller, J. Gouvea, V. Sawtelle, C. Turpen, and E. Redish, , presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2013, Portland, OR, 2013, WWW Document, (https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=13143&DocID=3690).
AJP/PRST-PER
B. Dreyfus, B. Geller, J. Gouvea, V. Sawtelle, C. Turpen, and E. Redish, Negative Energy: Why Interdisciplinary Physics Requires Multiple Ontologies, presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2013, Portland, OR, 2013, <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=13143&DocID=3690>.
APA Format
Dreyfus, B., Geller, B., Gouvea, J., Sawtelle, V., Turpen, C., & Redish, E. (2013, July 17-18). Negative Energy: Why Interdisciplinary Physics Requires Multiple Ontologies. Paper presented at Physics Education Research Conference 2013, Portland, OR. Retrieved December 5, 2024, from https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=13143&DocID=3690
Chicago Format
Dreyfus, B, B. Geller, J. Gouvea, V. Sawtelle, C. Turpen, and E. Redish. "Negative Energy: Why Interdisciplinary Physics Requires Multiple Ontologies." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2013, Portland, OR, July 17-18, 2013. https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=13143&DocID=3690 (accessed 5 December 2024).
MLA Format
Dreyfus, Benjamin, Benjamin Geller, Julia Svoboda Gouvea, Vashti Sawtelle, Chandra Turpen, and Edward F. Redish. "Negative Energy: Why Interdisciplinary Physics Requires Multiple Ontologies." Physics Education Research Conference 2013. Portland, OR: 2013. 129-132 of PER Conference. 5 Dec. 2024 <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=13143&DocID=3690>.
BibTeX Export Format
@inproceedings{ Author = "Benjamin Dreyfus and Benjamin Geller and Julia Svoboda Gouvea and Vashti Sawtelle and Chandra Turpen and Edward F. Redish", Title = {Negative Energy: Why Interdisciplinary Physics Requires Multiple Ontologies}, BookTitle = {Physics Education Research Conference 2013}, Pages = {129-132}, Address = {Portland, OR}, Series = {PER Conference}, Month = {July 17-18}, Year = {2013} }
Refer Export Format

%A Benjamin Dreyfus %A Benjamin Geller %A Julia Svoboda Gouvea %A Vashti Sawtelle %A Chandra Turpen %A Edward F. Redish %T Negative Energy: Why Interdisciplinary Physics Requires Multiple Ontologies %S PER Conference %D July 17-18 2013 %P 129-132 %C Portland, OR %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=13143&DocID=3690 %O Physics Education Research Conference 2013 %O July 17-18 %O application/pdf

EndNote Export Format

%0 Conference Proceedings %A Dreyfus, Benjamin %A Geller, Benjamin %A Gouvea, Julia Svoboda %A Sawtelle, Vashti %A Turpen, Chandra %A Redish, Edward F. %D July 17-18 2013 %T Negative Energy: Why Interdisciplinary Physics Requires Multiple Ontologies %B Physics Education Research Conference 2013 %C Portland, OR %P 129-132 %S PER Conference %8 July 17-18 %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=13143&DocID=3690


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.

Citation Source Information

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.

This resource is stored in a shared folder.

You must login to access shared folders.

Negative Energy: Why Interdisciplinary Physics Requires Multiple Ontologies:


Know of another related resource? Login to relate this resource to it.
Save to my folders

Supplements

Contribute

Related Materials

Similar Materials