30 June 2025 to 4 July 2025
Leiden University, Gorlaeus building
Europe/Amsterdam timezone
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Comparison of Student Reasoning of Partial Derivatives Before and After the Instruction

1 Jul 2025, 15:30
20m
BW0.05 (Gorlaeus building)

BW0.05

Gorlaeus building

Einsteinweg 55 2333 CC Leiden
Oral presentation Interplay of mathematics and physics (MATH) Parallel oral presentations MATH

Speakers

Zeynep TopdemirDr Zeynep Topdemir (Johannes Kepler University Linz)

Description

As a part of a broader project that aims to investigate students’ mathematical understanding in physics, this study explores how students understand the partial derivatives of divergence and curl of vector field diagrams. Students are asked to draw vector field diagrams for the given partial derivative before the instruction. After the instruction they have asked to find the sign of the partial derivative of a certain vector field plot. Student difficulties finding partial derivatives of divergence and curl of vector field diagrams before the instruction and after the instruction will be compared.

Education level Age over 18 (excluding teacher education)
Physics topic Other
Research focus Student conceptions / Preconceptions / Misconceptions
Research method Educational design research (Qualitative research)
Organizing preference criteria Research focus

Authors

Zeynep Topdemir Dr Zeynep Topdemir (Johannes Kepler University Linz)

Co-authors

Prof. John Thompson (University of Maine) Prof. Michael Loverude (California State University Fullerton)

Presentation materials