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Secondary and early tertiary students' understanding of graphs of motion
Thesis (PhD) -- University of Stellenbosch, 1998.
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
2012
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| _version_ | 1867613736227831808 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Frauenknecht, Reinhard |
| author2 | Jordaan, A. S. |
| author_browse | Frauenknecht, Reinhard Jordaan, A. S. |
| author_facet | Jordaan, A. S. Frauenknecht, Reinhard |
| author_sort | Frauenknecht, Reinhard |
| collection | Thesis |
| dc_rights_str_mv | Stellenbosch University |
| description | Thesis (PhD) -- University of Stellenbosch, 1998. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/55967 |
| institution | Stellenbosch University (South Africa) |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:40:53.123Z |
| license_str | Other — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository |
| publishDate | 2012 |
| publishDateRange | 2012 |
| publishDateSort | 2012 |
| publisher | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| publisherStr | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository |
| spelling | oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/55967 Secondary and early tertiary students' understanding of graphs of motion Frauenknecht, Reinhard Jordaan, A. S. Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Educational Psychology. Graphic methods -- Study and teaching Kinematics Dissertations -- Education Thesis (PhD) -- University of Stellenbosch, 1998. This dissertation deals with typical, widespread student errors with respect to kinematic graphs as revealed by a literature survey, as well as an own empirical investigation into the nature and extent of these misconceptions. The fact that certain misconceptions turned out to be more widespread than initially believed, has serious consequences for educators' assumptions about students' understanding of graphs in general, as well as their ideas on how to minimise some generally occurring "alternative views on graphs". Students' graphing skills are analysed and described in terms of a number of translations between various representations of physical events involving motion. A special focus is placed on graph transformations, which are translations from one graphical representation to another. It is turned out that this provides valuable information about a learner's graphing skills, as well as his understanding of the relevant kinematic quantities and conventions required to make successful transformations. The main empirical investigation took the form of an open response type questionnaire, which was answered by 278 students from different cultural backgrounds and academic levels. A number of audio-taped clinical interviews provided additional information about students' preconceptions in specific areas. The study reveals that learners have a poor perception of the meaning of gradient in terms of rate of change. They experience difficulties with graphs of negative kinematic quantities, being generally reluctant to make use of a proper sign convention. Confusion between the meaning of velocity and acceleration often leads to incorrect v-t and a-t graphs, and when transforming one graph into another related one, they tend to conserve the physical properties of the given graph. A number of causes of these preconceptions were identified, with the main ones being the fact that basic graphing skills and graphing terminology are seldom explicitly taught in the science class, a lack of integration between the science and mathematics curriculum and the fact that students are often not intellectually ready for the abstract approach that is required. Finally, certain recommendations are proposed in order to improve the prevailing situation with respect to the understanding of kinematic graphs by high school and early tertiary students. The importance of students controlling their own motion experiments as well as the subsequent translations between the various representations of the motion is stressed. The need for instructors to integrate the contents of kinematic graphs with mathematics graphs, as well as the need for instruction in those areas where student preconceptions play a dominant role, is emphasised. Doctoral 2012-08-27T11:37:19Z 2012-08-27T11:37:19Z 1998 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/55967 en Stellenbosch University 490 pages : ill. application/pdf Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| spellingShingle | Graphic methods -- Study and teaching Kinematics Dissertations -- Education Frauenknecht, Reinhard Secondary and early tertiary students' understanding of graphs of motion |
| title | Secondary and early tertiary students' understanding of graphs of motion |
| title_full | Secondary and early tertiary students' understanding of graphs of motion |
| title_fullStr | Secondary and early tertiary students' understanding of graphs of motion |
| title_full_unstemmed | Secondary and early tertiary students' understanding of graphs of motion |
| title_short | Secondary and early tertiary students' understanding of graphs of motion |
| title_sort | secondary and early tertiary students understanding of graphs of motion |
| topic | Graphic methods -- Study and teaching Kinematics Dissertations -- Education |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/55967 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT frauenknechtreinhard secondaryandearlytertiarystudentsunderstandingofgraphsofmotion |