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"Concept" and "Context": Toward modelling understanding in Physics Education research
"Context sensitivity" is a core issue in physics education research (PER). Why does student understanding of a concept depend so crucially on the context in which it is embedded? This dissertation attempts to answer this question by using a variety of theoretical tools to model understanding. We con...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Department of Physics
2018
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| _version_ | 1867613757560061952 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Southey, Philip |
| author2 | Allie, Saalih |
| author_browse | Allie, Saalih Southey, Philip |
| author_facet | Allie, Saalih Southey, Philip |
| author_sort | Southey, Philip |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | "Context sensitivity" is a core issue in physics education research (PER). Why does student understanding of a concept depend so crucially on the context in which it is embedded? This dissertation attempts to answer this question by using a variety of theoretical tools to model understanding. We conducted three empirical studies which probed context sensitivity of student understanding of (i) Vector Addition; (ii) The FCI (Force Concept Inventory); and (iii) the learning of the concept of a Mathematical Group. (i) Regarding vector addition, we discovered context sensitivities involving the type of physical quantity added (e.g. force or momentum); the textual prompts "total", "net" and "resultant"; and the object on which a force acts. (ii) In the FCI, we discovered a moderate context sensitivity to unfamiliar words (i.e. when familiar words like "box" were substituted for unfamiliar words like "kist".) This sensitivity was moderately correlated with the difficulty of the question. (iii) Previous studies have shown that learners exhibit a sensitivity to the concreteness of the learning condition of a Mathematical Group; our study shows that students are engaged in different types of activity in these conditions. A variety of theoretical tools from PER, Cognitive Linguistics, Cognitive Psychology and other areas of Education Research are used to model student understanding in these various studies. Three key insights emerged. (a) The importance of one's model of "concept" - how it relates to the notion of "context", and how one chooses an appropriate grain size. (b) The difference between "expert" and "novice" - how this difference influences one's model of "concept", and how it influences one's notion of "sameness" and "difference". (c) Student reasoning - how a framing of a situation might result in fast, associative, linguistic reasoning on the one hand, or slow, deliberate simulative reasoning on the other. Finally, this thesis is grounded in Wittgensteinian ordinary language philosophy which maintains that notions of "concept", "context" and "understanding" obtain meaning not be referring to some transcendental "thing", but by being embedded in our messy form of life. In other words, by modelling understanding we are not approaching the "true meaning" of the term. Instead we are demonstrating how our various models are constitutive of what we mean when we say: "My students understand this concept". |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/27857 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:41:13.552Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publishDateRange | 2018 |
| publishDateSort | 2018 |
| publisher | Department of Physics |
| publisherStr | Department of Physics |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/27857 "Concept" and "Context": Toward modelling understanding in Physics Education research Southey, Philip Allie, Saalih Tertiary Physics Education "Context sensitivity" is a core issue in physics education research (PER). Why does student understanding of a concept depend so crucially on the context in which it is embedded? This dissertation attempts to answer this question by using a variety of theoretical tools to model understanding. We conducted three empirical studies which probed context sensitivity of student understanding of (i) Vector Addition; (ii) The FCI (Force Concept Inventory); and (iii) the learning of the concept of a Mathematical Group. (i) Regarding vector addition, we discovered context sensitivities involving the type of physical quantity added (e.g. force or momentum); the textual prompts "total", "net" and "resultant"; and the object on which a force acts. (ii) In the FCI, we discovered a moderate context sensitivity to unfamiliar words (i.e. when familiar words like "box" were substituted for unfamiliar words like "kist".) This sensitivity was moderately correlated with the difficulty of the question. (iii) Previous studies have shown that learners exhibit a sensitivity to the concreteness of the learning condition of a Mathematical Group; our study shows that students are engaged in different types of activity in these conditions. A variety of theoretical tools from PER, Cognitive Linguistics, Cognitive Psychology and other areas of Education Research are used to model student understanding in these various studies. Three key insights emerged. (a) The importance of one's model of "concept" - how it relates to the notion of "context", and how one chooses an appropriate grain size. (b) The difference between "expert" and "novice" - how this difference influences one's model of "concept", and how it influences one's notion of "sameness" and "difference". (c) Student reasoning - how a framing of a situation might result in fast, associative, linguistic reasoning on the one hand, or slow, deliberate simulative reasoning on the other. Finally, this thesis is grounded in Wittgensteinian ordinary language philosophy which maintains that notions of "concept", "context" and "understanding" obtain meaning not be referring to some transcendental "thing", but by being embedded in our messy form of life. In other words, by modelling understanding we are not approaching the "true meaning" of the term. Instead we are demonstrating how our various models are constitutive of what we mean when we say: "My students understand this concept". 2018-04-24T14:02:37Z 2018-04-24T14:02:37Z 2018 Doctoral Thesis Doctoral PhD http://hdl.handle.net/11427/27857 eng application/pdf Department of Physics Faculty of Science University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | Tertiary Physics Education Southey, Philip "Concept" and "Context": Toward modelling understanding in Physics Education research |
| thesis_degree_str | Doctoral |
| title | "Concept" and "Context": Toward modelling understanding in Physics Education research |
| title_full | "Concept" and "Context": Toward modelling understanding in Physics Education research |
| title_fullStr | "Concept" and "Context": Toward modelling understanding in Physics Education research |
| title_full_unstemmed | "Concept" and "Context": Toward modelling understanding in Physics Education research |
| title_short | "Concept" and "Context": Toward modelling understanding in Physics Education research |
| title_sort | concept and context toward modelling understanding in physics education research |
| topic | Tertiary Physics Education |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/27857 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT southeyphilip conceptandcontexttowardmodellingunderstandinginphysicseducationresearch |