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Understanding life science majors’ ideas about diffusion
written by Samuel Tunstall, Abhilash Nair, Kathleen A. Hinko, Paul W. Irving, and Vashti Sawtelle
Diffusion and osmosis are central concepts in biology that explain mechanisms of passive transport. While biology education research has documented significant student struggles with these concepts, there are very few studies from chemistry and physics education research that explore student understanding of these ideas. Diffusion is a concept that cuts across disciplines and has important underlying physics principles that contribute to students' understanding of the process (e.g., a series of collisions resulting in a random motion process). In an introductory physics for life science majors course we documented the initial ideas students have about the topic of diffusion. We then designed a unit that leverages computational simulations to develop student understanding of how elastic collisions underlie diffusive motion. We present findings from this preliminary study on student resources for understanding diffusion, and discuss the implications for revising the curricular materials as a result of our work.
Physics Education Research Conference 2017
Part of the PER Conference series
Cincinnati, OH: July 26-27, 2017
Pages 392-395
Subjects Levels Resource Types
Education Practices
- Instructional Material Design
= Simulation
- Technology
= Multimedia
Fluid Mechanics
- Dynamics of Fluids
Thermo & Stat Mech
- Kinetic and Diffusive Processes
= Diffusion
- Lower Undergraduate
- Reference Material
= Research study
Intended Users Formats Ratings
- Researchers
- Educators
- application/pdf
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Mirror:
https://doi.org/10.1119/perc.2017…
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.2017.pr.093
Keywords:
IPLS, PERC 2017, activtation, student resources
Record Creator:
Metadata instance created February 26, 2018 by Lyle Barbato
Record Updated:
March 1, 2018 by Bruce Mason
Last Update
when Cataloged:
March 1, 2018
Other Collections:

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Record Link
AIP Format
S. Tunstall, A. Nair, K. Hinko, P. Irving, and V. Sawtelle, , presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2017, Cincinnati, OH, 2017, WWW Document, (https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14653&DocID=4830).
AJP/PRST-PER
S. Tunstall, A. Nair, K. Hinko, P. Irving, and V. Sawtelle, Understanding life science majors’ ideas about diffusion, presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2017, Cincinnati, OH, 2017, <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14653&DocID=4830>.
APA Format
Tunstall, S., Nair, A., Hinko, K., Irving, P., & Sawtelle, V. (2017, July 26-27). Understanding life science majors’ ideas about diffusion. Paper presented at Physics Education Research Conference 2017, Cincinnati, OH. Retrieved December 3, 2024, from https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14653&DocID=4830
Chicago Format
Tunstall, S, A. Nair, K. Hinko, P. Irving, and V. Sawtelle. "Understanding life science majors’ ideas about diffusion." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2017, Cincinnati, OH, July 26-27, 2017. https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14653&DocID=4830 (accessed 3 December 2024).
MLA Format
Tunstall, Samuel, Abhilash Nair, Kathleen Hinko, Paul Irving, and Vashti Sawtelle. "Understanding life science majors’ ideas about diffusion." Physics Education Research Conference 2017. Cincinnati, OH: 2017. 392-395 of PER Conference. 3 Dec. 2024 <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14653&DocID=4830>.
BibTeX Export Format
@inproceedings{ Author = "Samuel Tunstall and Abhilash Nair and Kathleen Hinko and Paul Irving and Vashti Sawtelle", Title = {Understanding life science majors’ ideas about diffusion}, BookTitle = {Physics Education Research Conference 2017}, Pages = {392-395}, Address = {Cincinnati, OH}, Series = {PER Conference}, Month = {July 26-27}, Year = {2017} }
Refer Export Format

%A Samuel Tunstall %A Abhilash Nair %A Kathleen Hinko %A Paul Irving %A Vashti Sawtelle %T Understanding life science majors' ideas about diffusion %S PER Conference %D July 26-27 2017 %P 392-395 %C Cincinnati, OH %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14653&DocID=4830 %O Physics Education Research Conference 2017 %O July 26-27 %O application/pdf

EndNote Export Format

%0 Conference Proceedings %A Tunstall, Samuel %A Nair, Abhilash %A Hinko, Kathleen %A Irving, Paul %A Sawtelle, Vashti %D July 26-27 2017 %T Understanding life science majors' ideas about diffusion %B Physics Education Research Conference 2017 %C Cincinnati, OH %P 392-395 %S PER Conference %8 July 26-27 %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14653&DocID=4830


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