Graduate Student Difficulties on Electrostatics Topics -- Conductors and Insulators

A lack of conceptual understanding of electrostatics principles, especially in the context of conductors and insulators, has been observed among a large number of introductory physics students as well as upper-level physics students. This work aims to explore graduate students’ misconceptions on these topics, particularly on how charges are distributed on conductors and insulators in various scenarios. Four first-year physics graduate students were selected to participate in think aloud interviews, where they were given a set of questions related to basic concepts of conductors and insulators, and asked to explain their thought processes as detailed as possible. The result of the four interviews are categorized by the test questions, which discusses the misconceptions that were demonstrated throughout the interviews, along with the interviewees’ reasoning behind these misconceptions. Despite that the interviewees have taken the introductory and advanced electricity and magnetism courses, a number of misconceptions still prevail in their conceptual understanding related to conductors and insulators. One possible explanation is the discontinuity between their knowledge of mathematical formulation and physical understanding of the concept, thus it is recommended that instructors should enforce students to review the advanced theory in the context of physical situations.

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Introductory Physics Students Retention of Conceptual Understanding of Forces

10.1119/perc.2017.pr.092 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Brian D. Thoms ◽

Paul W. Beaty

Keyword(s):

Conceptual Understanding ◽

Introductory Physics ◽

Physics Students

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Foundation phase teachers’ (limited) knowledge of geometry

South African Journal of Childhood Education ◽

10.4102/sajce.v4i3.228 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 4 (3) ◽

pp. 16 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Kakoma Luneta

Keyword(s):

High School ◽

Student Teachers ◽

Conceptual Understanding ◽

National Curriculum ◽

First Year ◽

First Year Students ◽

Van Hiele ◽

Limited Knowledge ◽

Basic Concepts ◽

Level 1

This study is about student teachers’ conceptual understanding of shapes. While the National Curriculum Statement stipulates that by the time learners exit high school they should have grounded knowledge of basic geometry and know shapes such as polygons and polyhedrons and their properties, this study finds that the majority of student teachers have limited knowledge of basic geometry and require not remedial, but re-learning of these basic concepts. The Van Hiele levels of geometric thought model is used as a lens to gauge and understand students’ knowledge of geometry. A cohort of 128 first-year students registered for a foundation phase programme took part in the study. It was found that while Grade 12 learners are expected to operate at levels 3 and 4 of the Van Hiele’s levels, the majority of the participants in the study were operating at level 1, the level of the learners they will be teaching when they complete the course. Suggestions are made for how to address this problem.

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In Brief: Facts and Figures: Investigating and choosing: the decision-making process among first-year psychology graduate students

PsycEXTRA Dataset ◽

10.1037/e380192004-013 ◽

2000 ◽

Author(s):

Tonja Kyle

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Graduate Students ◽

First Year ◽

Decision Making Process ◽

Psychology Graduate Students

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Cognitive dominants of the conceptual sphere in the novel “of human bondage” by W. S. Maugham

Tyumen State University Herald Humanities Research Humanitates ◽

10.21684/2411-197x-2020-6-1-48-61 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

pp. 48-61

Author(s):

Olga B. Ponomareva ◽

Valeriya I. Orlova

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Linguistics ◽

Meaning Of Life ◽

The Novel ◽

Thought Processes ◽

New Paradigm ◽

Comprehensive Description ◽

Semantic Fields ◽

Linguistic Representations ◽

Basic Concepts ◽

Linguistic Methods

This article presents a comprehensive analysis of the basic concepts that make up the conceptual sphere of the novel “Of Human Bondage” by W. S. Maugham. These concepts act as cognitive dominants of the linguistic consciousness of the protagonist’s linguistic personality in the work under study. The novelty of this research lies in the fact that it is performed within the framework of a new paradigm of linguistics — the cognitive linguistics, which involves the study of mental and linguistic representations of thought processes that occur during the perception of information. Moreover, the novel “Of Human Bondage” by W. S. Maugham has not attracted the attention of linguists-cognitologists previously, which adds to the novelty of this article. In addition, the present study provides a comprehensive description of the basic concepts making up the conceptual sphere of the novel. The linguistic methods of representing various concepts in the analyzed work are determined by the national, personal, cultural, and psychological aspects of Maugham’s thinking. The authors employ a communicative-cognitive methodological analysis proposed by N. S. Bolotnova involving the modeling of textual and intertextual semantic fields of artistic concepts and the analysis of the conceptual sphere of a literary text. The universal concepts RELIGION, LOVE, PASSION, THE MEANING OF LIFE, which constitute the conceptual sphere of the novel by W. S. Maugham “Of Human Bondage”, are analyzed. The main result of the study is that THE MEANING OF LIFE concept is universal, not individual, and it includes other universal concepts, such as RELIGION, LOVE, PASSION, THE MEANING OF LIFE, conceptual metaphors and metonyms, symbols, and other words-associates, which constitute the broad figurative and evaluative periphery of the conceptual sphere of the novel.

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Differences in echocardiography interpretation techniques among trainees and expert readers

Journal of Echocardiography ◽

10.1007/s12574-021-00531-y ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

David Roy Anderson ◽

Sarah Blissett ◽

Patricia O’Sullivan ◽

Atif Qasim

Keyword(s):

Diagnostic Accuracy ◽

Systematic Approach ◽

Qualitative Case Study ◽

First Year ◽

Educational Tool ◽

Thought Processes ◽

Advanced Imaging ◽

Multiple Images ◽

Novice Readers

Abstract Background Trainees learn transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE) interpretation through independently completing and reviewing selected portions of the study with experts. The diagnostic accuracy of novice TTE interpretation is known to be low and schema for reading TTEs systematically are lacking. The purpose of our study is to identify techniques experts use while reading TTEs which could be used to more effectively teach novice readers. Methods We performed a prospective qualitative case study to observe how experts and trainees interpret TTEs in an academic institution using a concurrent think aloud (CTA) method. Three TTEs of intermediate complexity were given to 3 advanced imaging fellows, 3 first year fellows and 3 expert TTE readers Participants filled out a report while reading and described aloud their thought processes. Sessions were video and audiotaped for analysis. Results Experts and advanced fellows used specific techniques that novices did not including: previewing studies, reviewing multiple images simultaneously, having flexibility in image review order and disease coding, and saving hardest elements to code for the end. Direct observation of TTE reading informed trainee inefficiencies and was a well-received educational tool. Conclusions In this single centered study we identified several unique approaches experts use to interpret TTEs which may be teachable to novices. Although limited in generalizability the findings of this study suggests that a more systematic approach to TTE interpretation, using techniques found in experts, might be of significant value for trainees. Further study is needed to evaluate teaching practices at other institutions and to assess whether implementation of these techniques by novices improves can improve their diagnostic accuracy and efficiency of reading at an earlier stage in their training.

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Formatively assessing prospective teachers’ skills in leading mathematics discussions

Educational Studies in Mathematics ◽

10.1007/s10649-021-10070-z ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Meghan Shaughnessy ◽

Nicole M. Garcia ◽

Michaela Krug O’Neill ◽

Sarah Kate Selling ◽

Amber T. Willis ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Elementary Teachers ◽

Formative Assessment ◽

Conceptual Understanding ◽

Prospective Teachers ◽

First Year ◽

Teacher Education Programs ◽

First Year Teachers ◽

Education Programs ◽

Prospective Elementary Teachers ◽

Making Sense

AbstractMathematics discussions are important for helping students to develop conceptual understanding and to learn disciplinary norms and practices. In recent years, there has been increased attention to teaching prospective teachers to lead discussions with students. This paper examines the possibilities of designing a formative assessment that gathers information about prospective elementary teachers’ skills with leading problem-based mathematics discussions and makes sense of such information. A decomposition of the practice of leading discussions was developed and used to design the assessment. Nine first-year teachers who graduated from a range of different teacher education programs participated in the study. The findings reveal that our formative assessment works to gather information about teachers’ capabilities with leading discussions and that the associated tools support making sense of the information gathered. This suggests that such tools could be useful to support the formative assessment of the developing capabilities of prospective teachers.

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What Can Students’ Bibliographies Tell Us?- Evidence Based Information Skills Teaching for Engineering Students

Evidence Based Library and Information Practice ◽

10.18438/b85p4q ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 1 (2) ◽

pp. 12 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Fei Yu ◽

Jan Sullivan ◽

Leith Woodall

Keyword(s):

Web Sites ◽

Engineering Students ◽

Chemical Engineering ◽

First Year ◽

Journal Articles ◽

First Year Students ◽

Internet Resources ◽

Information Skills ◽

Upper Level ◽

Department Faculty

Objective - This project sought to identify students’ strengths and weaknesses in locating, retrieving, and citing information in order to deliver information skills workshops more effectively. Methods - Bibliographies submitted from first-year engineering and second- and fourth-year chemical engineering students’ project reports were analysed for the number of items cited, the variety of items cited, and the correct use of citation style. The topics of the project reports were also reviewed to see the relationships between the topics and the items cited. Results - The results show that upper level students cited more items in total than did lower level students in their bibliographies. Second- and fourth-year engineering students cited more books and journal articles than first-year students cited. Web sites were used extensively by all three groups of students, and for some first-year students these were the most frequently used sources. Students from all three groups had difficulties with citation style. Conclusion - There was a clear difference in citation frequency between upper and lower level engineering students. Different strategies of information skills instruction are needed for different levels of students. Librarians and department faculty members need to include good quality Internet resources in their teaching and to change the emphasis from finding information to finding, interpreting, and citing accurately.

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