Mathematical vs. Conceptual Understanding: Where Do We Draw The Line?

Content Provider	Semantic Scholar
Author	Sadaghiani, Homeyra R. Aguilera, Nicholas
Copyright Year	2013
Abstract	This research involved high school physics students and how they learn to understand Newton’s laws as they relate to falling bodies and projectile motion. Students in introductory, algebra-based, high school physics classes were evaluated based on their prior knowledge through a pretest, designed to assess their initial comprehension of the motion of falling bodies and projectiles. Groups were divided and taught separately with an emphasis on either mathematical derivation of equations, followed by brief conceptual discussions, or on thorough conceptual analysis, followed by a brief mathematical verification. After a posttest was given, an evaluation of the responses and explanations of each group of students was used to determine which method of instruction was more effective. Results indicate that after the conceptual group and math groups achieved similar scores on the pretest, the conceptual group obtained a slightly higher normalized gain of 25% on the posttest, compared to the mathematical group’s n...
Starting Page	358
Ending Page	361
Page Count	4
File Format	PDF HTM / HTML
DOI	10.1063/1.4789726
Alternate Webpage(s)	https://www.compadre.org/per/items/3384.pdf
Alternate Webpage(s)	https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4789726
Volume Number	1513
Language	English
Access Restriction	Open
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article