Think! Evidence

“Force,” ontology, and language

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dc.creator David T. Brookes
dc.creator Eugenia Etkina
dc.date 2009-06-01T00:00:00Z
dc.date.accessioned 2015-08-12T11:17:12Z
dc.date.available 2015-08-12T11:17:12Z
dc.identifier 1554-9178
dc.identifier https://doaj.org/article/a0c34cc9e30246b5bdf4f68b136ec3d6
dc.identifier.uri http://evidence.thinkportal.org/handle/123456789/26170
dc.description We introduce a linguistic framework through which one can interpret systematically students’ understanding of and reasoning about force and motion. Some researchers have suggested that students have robust misconceptions or alternative frameworks grounded in everyday experience. Others have pointed out the inconsistency of students’ responses and presented a phenomenological explanation for what is observed, namely, knowledge in pieces. We wish to present a view that builds on and unifies aspects of this prior research. Our argument is that many students’ difficulties with force and motion are primarily due to a combination of linguistic and ontological difficulties. It is possible that students are primarily engaged in trying to define and categorize the meaning of the term “force” as spoken about by physicists. We found that this process of negotiation of meaning is remarkably similar to that engaged in by physicists in history. In this paper we will describe a study of the historical record that reveals an analogous process of meaning negotiation, spanning multiple centuries. Using methods from cognitive linguistics and systemic functional grammar, we will present an analysis of the force and motion literature, focusing on prior studies with interview data. We will then discuss the implications of our findings for physics instruction.
dc.language English
dc.publisher American Physical Society, APS
dc.relation http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.5.010110
dc.relation https://doaj.org/toc/1554-9178
dc.source Physical Review Special Topics. Physics Education Research, Vol 5, Iss 1 (2009)
dc.subject Education (General)
dc.subject L7-991
dc.subject Education
dc.subject L
dc.subject DOAJ:Education
dc.subject DOAJ:Social Sciences
dc.subject Education (General)
dc.subject L7-991
dc.subject Education
dc.subject L
dc.subject DOAJ:Education
dc.subject DOAJ:Social Sciences
dc.subject Education (General)
dc.subject L7-991
dc.subject Education
dc.subject L
dc.subject Education (General)
dc.subject L7-991
dc.subject Education
dc.subject L
dc.subject Education (General)
dc.subject L7-991
dc.subject Education
dc.subject L
dc.title “Force,” ontology, and language
dc.type article


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