Assessing Student Understanding of Partial Derivatives in Thermodynamics

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written by John R. Thompson, Brandon Bucy, and Donald B. Mountcastle

We are engaged in a research project to study teaching and learning in upper-level thermal physics courses. We have begun to explore student functional understanding of mathematical concepts when applied in thermal physics contexts. We report here preliminary findings associated with partial differentiation and the Maxwell relations, which equate mixed second partial derivatives of various state functions. Our results suggest that students are often unable to apply the appropriate mathematical concepts and operations to the physical situations encountered in the course, despite having taken the prerequisite mathematics courses.

Physics Education Research Conference 2005
Part of the PER Conference series
Salt Lake City, Utah: August 10-11, 2005
Volume 818, Pages 77-80

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Published: February 14, 2006

Subjects	Levels	Resource Types
Education Foundations - Alternative Conceptions - Cognition Mathematical Tools - Differential Equations Other Sciences - Mathematics	- Upper Undergraduate	- Reference Material = Research study

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Mirror:: https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2177027
Access Rights:: Limited free access and
Available for purchase; A preprint of the work is available. A hard copy of the PERC 2005 proceedings is also available.
Restriction:: © 2005 American Institute of Physics
DOI:: 10.1063/1.2177027
NSF Number:: 0406764
PACSs:: 01.40.Fk; 05.70.Ce; 65.40.Gr
Keywords:: PERC 2005, application of mathematical concepts, educational courses, thermodynamics
Record Cloner:: Metadata instance created May 14, 2009 by Jenny Rempel
Record Updated:: July 19, 2010 by Lyle Barbato
Last Update when Cataloged:: February 14, 2006
Other Collections:: The PER-Central

The Statistical and Thermal Physics

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<a href="https://www.compadre.org/portal/items/detail.cfm?ID=8925">Thompson, J, B. Bucy, and D. Mountcastle. "Assessing Student Understanding of Partial Derivatives in Thermodynamics." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2005, Salt Lake City, Utah, August 10-11, 2005.</a>

AIP Format

J. Thompson, B. Bucy, and D. Mountcastle, , presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2005, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2005, WWW Document, (https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=8925&DocID=1781).

AJP/PRST-PER

J. Thompson, B. Bucy, and D. Mountcastle, Assessing Student Understanding of Partial Derivatives in Thermodynamics, presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2005, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2005, <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=8925&DocID=1781>.

APA Format

Thompson, J., Bucy, B., & Mountcastle, D. (2005, August 10-11). Assessing Student Understanding of Partial Derivatives in Thermodynamics. Paper presented at Physics Education Research Conference 2005, Salt Lake City, Utah. Retrieved December 5, 2024, from https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=8925&DocID=1781

Chicago Format

Thompson, J, B. Bucy, and D. Mountcastle. "Assessing Student Understanding of Partial Derivatives in Thermodynamics." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2005, Salt Lake City, Utah, August 10-11, 2005. https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=8925&DocID=1781 (accessed 5 December 2024).

MLA Format

Thompson, John, Brandon Bucy, and Donald Mountcastle. "Assessing Student Understanding of Partial Derivatives in Thermodynamics." Physics Education Research Conference 2005. Salt Lake City, Utah: 2005. 77-80 Vol. 818 of PER Conference. 5 Dec. 2024 <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=8925&DocID=1781>.

BibTeX Export Format

@inproceedings{ Author = "John Thompson and Brandon Bucy and Donald Mountcastle", Title = {Assessing Student Understanding of Partial Derivatives in Thermodynamics}, BookTitle = {Physics Education Research Conference 2005}, Pages = {77-80}, Address = {Salt Lake City, Utah}, Series = {PER Conference}, Volume = {818}, Month = {August 10-11}, Year = {2005} }

Refer Export Format

%A John Thompson %A Brandon Bucy %A Donald Mountcastle %T Assessing Student Understanding of Partial Derivatives in Thermodynamics %S PER Conference %V 818 %D August 10-11 2005 %P 77-80 %C Salt Lake City, Utah %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=8925&DocID=1781 %O Physics Education Research Conference 2005 %O August 10-11 %O application/pdf

EndNote Export Format

%0 Conference Proceedings %A Thompson, John %A Bucy, Brandon %A Mountcastle, Donald %D August 10-11 2005 %T Assessing Student Understanding of Partial Derivatives in Thermodynamics %B Physics Education Research Conference 2005 %C Salt Lake City, Utah %V 818 %P 77-80 %S PER Conference %8 August 10-11 %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=8925&DocID=1781

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