The Importance of Language in Students' Reasoning about Heat in Thermodynamic Processes

Autor/inn/en	Brookes, David T.; Etkina, Eugenia
Titel	The Importance of Language in Students' Reasoning about Heat in Thermodynamic Processes
Quelle	In: International Journal of Science Education, 37 (2015) 5-6, S.759-779 (21 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0950-0693
DOI	10.1080/09500693.2015.1025246
Schlagwörter	Physics; Science Instruction; Thermodynamics; Language Usage; Thinking Skills; Language Role; Problem Solving; Teaching Methods; Interviews; Student Attitudes; Undergraduate Students; Energy; Figurative Language; Concept Formation; Scientific Concepts; Coding; Definitions; Discourse Analysis + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Physik; Teaching of science; Science education; Natural sciences Lessons; Naturwissenschaftlicher Unterricht; Thermodynamik; Sprachgebrauch; Denkfähigkeit; Problemlösen; Teaching method; Lehrmethode; Unterrichtsmethode; Interviewing; Interviewtechnik; Schülerverhalten; Energie; Concept learning; Begriffsbildung; Codierung; Programmierung; Begriffsbestimmung; Diskursanalyse
Abstract	Researchers believe that the way that students talk, specifically the language that they use, can offer a window into their reasoning processes. Yet the connection between what students are saying and what they are actually thinking can be ambiguous. We present the results of an exploratory interview study with 10 participants, designed to investigate the role of language in university physics students' reasoning about heat in thermodynamic processes. The study revealed two key findings: (1) students' approaches to solving certain heat-related problems are related to the way in which they explicitly define the word "heat" and (2) students' tendency to reason with heat as a state function in inappropriate contexts appears to be connected to a model of heat implicitly encoded in language. This model represents heat or heat energy/thermal energy as a substance that moves from one location to another. In this model, students talk about thermodynamic systems as "containers" of heat, and temperature is a measure of the amount of heat "in" an object. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01