Student Ideas around Vector Decomposition in the Upper Division
written by
Anna Turnbull, Leanne Doughty, Vashti Sawtelle, and Marcos D. Caballero
Vector decomposition is a skill required across physics contexts and levels. In this paper, we present our analysis of 463 student responses to an item on the Colorado Classical Mechanics/Math Methods Instrument that assesses student proficiency with vector decomposition in multiple coordinate systems. We offer separate categorizations for students' final expressions and their approaches to determining those expressions. The intersection between approaches and final expressions suggests that certain approaches are more productive. We discuss these intersections and the differences between students' responses in Cartesian and polar coordinate systems.
Physics Education Research Conference 2015
Part of the PER Conference series College Park, MD: July 29-30, 2015 Pages 335-338
ComPADRE is beta testing Citation Styles!
![]() <a href="https://www.compadre.org/portal/items/detail.cfm?ID=13902">Turnbull, A, L. Doughty, V. Sawtelle, and M. Caballero. "Student Ideas around Vector Decomposition in the Upper Division." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2015, College Park, MD, July 29-30, 2015.</a>
![]() A. Turnbull, L. Doughty, V. Sawtelle, and M. Caballero, , presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2015, College Park, MD, 2015, WWW Document, (https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=13902&DocID=4320).
![]() A. Turnbull, L. Doughty, V. Sawtelle, and M. Caballero, Student Ideas around Vector Decomposition in the Upper Division, presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2015, College Park, MD, 2015, <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=13902&DocID=4320>.
![]() Turnbull, A., Doughty, L., Sawtelle, V., & Caballero, M. (2015, July 29-30). Student Ideas around Vector Decomposition in the Upper Division. Paper presented at Physics Education Research Conference 2015, College Park, MD. Retrieved February 7, 2025, from https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=13902&DocID=4320
![]() Turnbull, A, L. Doughty, V. Sawtelle, and M. Caballero. "Student Ideas around Vector Decomposition in the Upper Division." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2015, College Park, MD, July 29-30, 2015. https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=13902&DocID=4320 (accessed 7 February 2025).
![]() Turnbull, Anna, Leanne Doughty, Vashti Sawtelle, and Marcos D. Caballero. "Student Ideas around Vector Decomposition in the Upper Division." Physics Education Research Conference 2015. College Park, MD: 2015. 335-338 of PER Conference. 7 Feb. 2025 <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=13902&DocID=4320>.
![]() @inproceedings{
Author = "Anna Turnbull and Leanne Doughty and Vashti Sawtelle and Marcos D. Caballero",
Title = {Student Ideas around Vector Decomposition in the Upper Division},
BookTitle = {Physics Education Research Conference 2015},
Pages = {335-338},
Address = {College Park, MD},
Series = {PER Conference},
Month = {July 29-30},
Year = {2015}
}
![]() %A Anna Turnbull %A Leanne Doughty %A Vashti Sawtelle %A Marcos D. Caballero %T Student Ideas around Vector Decomposition in the Upper Division %S PER Conference %D July 29-30 2015 %P 335-338 %C College Park, MD %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=13902&DocID=4320 %O Physics Education Research Conference 2015 %O July 29-30 %O application/pdf ![]() %0 Conference Proceedings %A Turnbull, Anna %A Doughty, Leanne %A Sawtelle, Vashti %A Caballero, Marcos D. %D July 29-30 2015 %T Student Ideas around Vector Decomposition in the Upper Division %B Physics Education Research Conference 2015 %C College Park, MD %P 335-338 %S PER Conference %8 July 29-30 %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=13902&DocID=4320 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. Student Ideas around Vector Decomposition in the Upper Division:Know of another related resource? Login to relate this resource to it. |
ContributeRelated MaterialsSimilar Materials |