TY - GEN
T1 - Students’ epistemological beliefs from two studies of calculus and physics
AU - Phillips, Anna McLean
AU - Merighi, Caroline
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - Students often take introductory physics concurrently with calculus, and the two disciplines are deeply intertwined. While students' epistemological beliefs in physics have been studied extensively, less work has examined their beliefs in calculus. Even less is known about how students' epistemological beliefs in physics and calculus may relate, interact, and shift together or separately. We report on results of two independent studies: one including interviews of calculus students and one of introductory physics students. Across both studies, we found that students made statements consistent with an algorithmic view of calculus while also expressing a view of physics as about sense-making. Through close analysis of one physics student, we also show that it is possible for a student to shift from a novice-like view of physics to an expert-like one while maintaining a algorithmic view of calculus.
AB - Students often take introductory physics concurrently with calculus, and the two disciplines are deeply intertwined. While students' epistemological beliefs in physics have been studied extensively, less work has examined their beliefs in calculus. Even less is known about how students' epistemological beliefs in physics and calculus may relate, interact, and shift together or separately. We report on results of two independent studies: one including interviews of calculus students and one of introductory physics students. Across both studies, we found that students made statements consistent with an algorithmic view of calculus while also expressing a view of physics as about sense-making. Through close analysis of one physics student, we also show that it is possible for a student to shift from a novice-like view of physics to an expert-like one while maintaining a algorithmic view of calculus.
U2 - 10.1119/perc.2017.pr.070
DO - 10.1119/perc.2017.pr.070
M3 - Conference Paper
T3 - PER Conference series
SP - 300
EP - 303
BT - Proceedings of the Physics Education Research Conference, 2017
PB - American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT)
ER -