Centering Student Ideas in Introductory Physics Instruction

Abstract

Using a constructivist framework for learning, which proposes that students actively build new understandings from their existing ideas and experiences, this dissertation examines multiple sites of intersection between student ideas and introductory physics instruction. First, this work begins by identifying potentially productive ideas students use when answering physics questions. This includes identifying conceptual ideas about physics that students use in their written answers to physics questions, such as the resources students have for thinking microscopically about heat and temperature. This also includes identifying ideas about the form and purpose of conceptual explanations in physics that students use when responding to the common prompt ‘explain your reasoning’. Next, this work continues with how student ideas are taken up in physics instruction. This includes a study of how students feel about their ideas in the context of instruction with materials that were either designed primarily to build on student ideas or to address student difficulties. This also includes identifying the pedagogical ideas that student learning assistants have that can be resources for understanding instruction as centering student ideas. Together, the pieces of this dissertation offer an expansive view of students’ ideas, experiences, and perspectives as potential assets for instruction.