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Physical Review Physics Education Research
written by Muhammad Aswin Rangkuti and Ricardo Karam
Student difficulties with making sense of graphs in physics have been thoroughly reported. In the study of one-dimensional waves, the issue is even trickier since the amplitude is a function of two variables (position and time). In this work, we investigate students' reasoning and difficulties with interpreting the graphical representation of the propagation of a pulse in a string. A profile y(x) of the pulse was provided and students were asked to estimate the velocities of several points at the profile. This forced them to consider the time dimension, by focusing their attention on the motion of these points. This turned out to be extremely challenging to the students, who manifested several conceptual challenges which were categorized and analyzed in the first phase of the study. Based on these findings, three levels of scaffolding support were provided, where each level gradually guided the students to draw the wave profile after some time has elapsed. The scaffolding turned out to be effective, since many students managed to identify the new positions of the points successfully. The study reveals how static representations of intrinsically dynamic phenomena can be challenging for students to grasp.
Physical Review Physics Education Research: Volume 18, Issue 2, Pages 020119
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Free access
License:
This material is released under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license.
Rights Holder:
American Physical Society
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.18.020119
Keywords:
graphical reasoning, graphical representations, pulse propagation, scaffolding, wave on a string, wave pulse, wave simulation, wave velocity, waves graphs
Record Creator:
Metadata instance created September 28, 2022 by Lyle Barbato
Record Updated:
May 2, 2023 by Caroline Hall
Last Update
when Cataloged:
September 21, 2022
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AIP Format
M. Rangkuti and R. Karam, , Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 18 (2), 020119 (2022), WWW Document, (https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.18.020119).
AJP/PRST-PER
M. Rangkuti and R. Karam, Conceptual challenges with the graphical representation of the propagation of a pulse in a string, Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 18 (2), 020119 (2022), <https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.18.020119>.
APA Format
Rangkuti, M., & Karam, R. (2022, September 21). Conceptual challenges with the graphical representation of the propagation of a pulse in a string. Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res., 18(2), 020119. Retrieved December 1, 2023, from https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.18.020119
Chicago Format
Rangkuti, Muhammad Aswin, and Ricardo Karam. "Conceptual challenges with the graphical representation of the propagation of a pulse in a string." Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 18, no. 2, (September 21, 2022): 020119, https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.18.020119 (accessed 1 December 2023).
MLA Format
Rangkuti, Muhammad Aswin, and Ricardo Karam. "Conceptual challenges with the graphical representation of the propagation of a pulse in a string." Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 18.2 (2022): 020119. 1 Dec. 2023 <https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.18.020119>.
BibTeX Export Format
@article{ Author = "Muhammad Aswin Rangkuti and Ricardo Karam", Title = {Conceptual challenges with the graphical representation of the propagation of a pulse in a string}, Journal = {Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res.}, Volume = {18}, Number = {2}, Pages = {020119}, Month = {September}, Year = {2022} }
Refer Export Format

%A Muhammad Aswin Rangkuti %A Ricardo Karam %T Conceptual challenges with the graphical representation of the propagation of a pulse in a string %J Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. %V 18 %N 2 %D September 21, 2022 %P 020119 %U https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.18.020119 %O application/pdf

EndNote Export Format

%0 Journal Article %A Rangkuti, Muhammad Aswin %A Karam, Ricardo %D September 21, 2022 %T Conceptual challenges with the graphical representation of the propagation of a pulse in a string %J Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. %V 18 %N 2 %P 020119 %8 September 21, 2022 %U https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.18.020119


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