TY - JOUR

T1 - Framing the structural role of mathematics in physics lectures

T2 - A case study on electromagnetism

AU - Avelar Sotomaior Karam, Ricardo

PY - 2014

Y1 - 2014

N2 - Physics education research has shown that students tend to struggle when trying to use mathematics in a meaningful way in physics (e.g., mathematizing a physical situation or making sense of equations). Concerning the possible reasons for these difficulties, little attention has been paid to the way mathematics is treated in physics instruction. Starting from an overall distinction between a technical approach, which involves an instrumental (tool-like) use of mathematics, and a structural one, focused on reasoning about the physical world mathematically, the goal of this study is to characterize the development of the latter in didactic contexts. For this purpose, a case study was conducted on the electromagnetism course given by a distinguished physics professor. The analysis of selected teaching episodes with the software Videograph led to the identification of a set of categories that describe different strategies used by the professor to emphasize the structural role of mathematics in his lectures. As a consequence of this research, an analytic tool to enable future comparative studies between didactic approaches regarding the way mathematics is treated in physics teaching is provided.

AB - Physics education research has shown that students tend to struggle when trying to use mathematics in a meaningful way in physics (e.g., mathematizing a physical situation or making sense of equations). Concerning the possible reasons for these difficulties, little attention has been paid to the way mathematics is treated in physics instruction. Starting from an overall distinction between a technical approach, which involves an instrumental (tool-like) use of mathematics, and a structural one, focused on reasoning about the physical world mathematically, the goal of this study is to characterize the development of the latter in didactic contexts. For this purpose, a case study was conducted on the electromagnetism course given by a distinguished physics professor. The analysis of selected teaching episodes with the software Videograph led to the identification of a set of categories that describe different strategies used by the professor to emphasize the structural role of mathematics in his lectures. As a consequence of this research, an analytic tool to enable future comparative studies between didactic approaches regarding the way mathematics is treated in physics teaching is provided.

U2 - 10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.10.010119

DO - 10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.10.010119

M3 - Journal article

VL - 10

JO - Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research

JF - Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research

SN - 1554-9178

IS - 1

M1 - 010119

ER -