Physics Education Research Conference
Cognitive Science and Physics Education Research

Targeted Poster Session: TP-B

A Conversation About Models, Modeling, Representations and Cognitive Science

Organizers:

Brant Hinrichs: Drury University, Springfield, MO (bhinrichs@drury.edu)

Eric Brewe, Florida International University, Miami, FL (eric.brewe@gmail.com)

When/Where: 

Thursday, August 2 from 1:45 - 3:15 a.m. in Sheraton Hotel, Tangle Wood

Thursday, August 2 from 3:45 - 5:15 p.m. in Sheraton Hotel, Tangle Wood

Theme:  This session features four presentations that explore the relationship between models, modeling, and cognitive science.  We want to open up an explicit conversation on models and modeling in order to enhance community discourse on the topic and develop a deeper understanding of what we all mean by those words.  Since the theme of this PERC will be cognitive science, we are especially interested in the direct links between models, modeling and the cognitive science aspects of teaching physics.  In our invitation to each presenter, we asked them to discuss (i) what you mean by models and modeling, (ii) the role of representations in models and modeling, and (iii) the connections you see between models and modeling and ideas in cognitive science relevant to the teaching of physics.  This session will follow a familiar format.  There would be four posters by different and diverse people addressing this topic.  The session would have two parts.  During the first 80 minutes, participants would have 20 minutes to explore each poster on their own.  During the last 40 minutes, participants would engage in a large group discussion of the issues raised by the posters.

Goals: 

• To learn what different members of the PER community mean by the terms model, modeling, and representation.

• To see if there is any consensus on what those terms mean and how they are implemented in the classroom.

• To discuss some of the concepts from cognitive science that underlie the use and understanding of models, modeling and representation in teaching physics.

• To see if there is any consensus on the intersections between cognitive science and models in teaching physics.

Individual Poster Abstracts

TP-B1
Modeling, the Genesis of Models and the Relationship with Cognitive Science

Eric Brewe, Hawaii Pacific University

Abstract: David Hestenes and the Arizona State University Modeling Research Group has established a rich tradition of modeling research, curriculum development and instruction.  As part of this effort, the terms, ‘model’ and ‘modeling’ have grown into the vernacular of physics education research.  Models as mental constructs are the targets of successful physics teaching. Modeling is a constructive process involving representation, adaptation, deployment and interpretation, with ends of creation and use of models.  The structure of models and the process of modeling have been developed in light of research in cognitive science especially knowledge organization, representational competence, and knowledge mediation.  In this poster, I will provide an example from my physics class of the genesis of a general model as a way of connecting modeling theory, the structure of models, modeling curriculum development, and cognitive science. 

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TP-B2
Physical Modeling
Ruth Chabay and Bruce Sherwood, Dept. of Physics, North Carolina State University

Abstract: Physicists apply known physics principles to explain and predict new phenomena by constructing physical models. Starting from a messy real-world situation, a physical model is created through idealization (ignoring effects thought to be negligible), approximation (of effects known to be significant but not known exactly), and estimation (of quantities known imperfectly). This physical model is then examined with analytical or numerical techniques, and results are compared with experimental observations of the real-world phenomenon, which may lead to refinement of the model to attempt to explain discrepancies. Typical end-of-chapter homework problems have none of this flavor. All of the physical modeling has been silently done for the student, whose remaining task is merely to do some algebraic manipulation. It is not surprising that students come to believe that physics is a purely academic exercise that has little to do with the real world. Authentic physics courses should engage students in the process of making and applying physical models.

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TP-B3
The Centrality of Models in Making Sense of the Physical World
Dewey Dykstra, Physics Department, Boise State University, Boise, ID 83725 (ddykstra@boisestate.edu)
 

Abstract: “As a result of modern research in physics, the ambition and hope, still cherished by most authorities of the last century [19^th], that physical science could offer a photographic picture and true image of reality had to be abandoned.”^A  Instead, we must mentally construct our models to fit our experiences.  We cannot receive them.  Because these models are “free creations of the human mind” and not uniquely specified by experience,^B if we wish students to know science, then we must engage them in the give-and-take of model construction with experience necessary to fit experience.  To accomplish this, a teacher must contrive for the students to disturb their cognitive equilibria by directing their attention to experiences which do not fit their existing explanatory models of the phenomena.^C

^A Jammer, M. (1957) Concepts of Force, Harvard University Press: Cambridge, MA

^B Einstein, A. & Infeld, L. (1938) The Evolution of Physics, Cambridge University Press: Cambridge

^C Piaget, J. (1985) The Equilibration of Cognitive Structure, University of Chicago Press: Chicago

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TP-B4
Exploring Modeling as a Process of Simplifying Real Objects, Interactions, Systems, and Processes*
Eugenia Etkina, Anna Karelina &Arron Warren, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Graduate School of Education

Abstract: The word "modeling" is common in physics, chemistry, and general science instruction. However, upon a closer examination one finds that many science students and teachers do not have a clear understanding of the meaning of the word "model". There are almost no tasks in traditional or reformed physics curricula  that engage students in the exploration and evaluation of different models of the same phenomenon.  This poster examines the process of modeling from science and cognitive perspectives, offers a classification of models used in physics, suggests specific tasks for the students to explicitly master different aspects of modeling, provides self-assessment rubrics, and presents data on student work with such modeling tasks.

 *The project is supported in part by the National Science Foundation

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