Student understanding of energy: Difficulties related to systems

Lindsey, Beth A.; Heron, Paula R. L.; Shaffer, Peter S.

doi:doi:10.1119/1.3660661

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American Journal of Physics -- February 2012 -- Volume 80, Issue 2, pp. 154

Student understanding of energy: Difficulties related to systems

Beth A. Lindsey¹, Paula R. L. Heron², and Peter S. Shaffer²

¹Department of Physics, Penn State Greater Allegheny, McKeesport, Pennsylvania 15132
²Department of Physics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195-1560

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Abstract

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Choosing a system of interest and identifying the interactions of the system with its environment are crucial steps in applying the relation between work and energy. Responses to problems that we administered in introductory calculus-based physics courses show that many students fail to recognize the implications of a particular choice of system. In some cases, students do not believe that particular groupings of objects can even be considered to be a system. Some errors are more prevalent in situations involving gravitational potential energy than elastic potential energy. The difficulties are manifested in both qualitative and quantitative reasoning.

ACKNOWLEGMENTS

The authors wish to thank the members of the Physics Education Group at the University of Washington, both past and present, who contributed to this research. Thanks are especially due to Lillian C. McDermott and MacKenzie R. Stetzer for their many contributions to this project. Beth Lindsey would also like to thank the Department of Physics at Georgetown University for providing her with support during portions of this project. The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the National Science Foundation through Grant Nos. DUE-0096511 and 0618185.

Article Outline

INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND
INVESTIGATION OF STUDENT UNDERSTANDING
1. Representative research problems: Elastic contexts
2. Summary of specific difficulties identified
  1. Failure to recognize that an energy analysis depends on the choice of system
  2. Tendency to associate potential energy with a single (point-like) object rather than with a collection of objects
  3. Assumption that the energy of any system is constant
  4. Tendency to double-count work and energy terms
3. Representative research problems: Gravitational contexts
4. Difficulties that arose in the gravitational context
  1. Difficulties that arose in both the gravitational and elastic contexts
  2. Additional difficulty that arose primarily in gravitational contexts: Failure to recognize that any group of objects can be treated as a system
RESPONSES OF PHYSICS TEACHING ASSISTANTS
THE EFFECT OF TARGETED INSTRUCTION
DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS FOR INSTRUCTION
CONCLUSIONS

KEYWORDS and PACS

Keywords

mechanics, physics education

PACS

01.40.Fk

Research in physics education

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History

Received Apr 2011
Accepted Oct 2011

PUBLICATION DATA

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0002-9505 (print)

1943-2909 (online)

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$abstract.society.value is a Member of CrossRef

American Association of Physics Teachers

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http://dx.doi.org/10.1119/1.3660661

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Student understanding of energy: Difficulties related to systems