Accelerating a car from rest : friction, power and forces
(2023) In Physics Education 58(5).- Abstract
The directions of frictional forces for bodies in motion are conceptually challenging. Students may be able to provide a correct solution using only calculus without drawing free-body diagrams. This can make their misconceptions go unnoticed and put them at risk to become further reinforced. Here, we discuss first-year bachelor students’ responses to multiple-choice questions and an open-ended question regarding friction when they come fresh out of high school. We further look into student solutions submitted to a national competition in physics for high-school students involving a problem concerning the acceleration of an electric rear-wheel drive car. Finding that most students had avoided drawing figures, we discuss to what extent... (More)
The directions of frictional forces for bodies in motion are conceptually challenging. Students may be able to provide a correct solution using only calculus without drawing free-body diagrams. This can make their misconceptions go unnoticed and put them at risk to become further reinforced. Here, we discuss first-year bachelor students’ responses to multiple-choice questions and an open-ended question regarding friction when they come fresh out of high school. We further look into student solutions submitted to a national competition in physics for high-school students involving a problem concerning the acceleration of an electric rear-wheel drive car. Finding that most students had avoided drawing figures, we discuss to what extent teachers’ grading practices contribute to students’ development of problem-solving habits.
(Less)
- author
- Isacsson, Andreas ; Malmgren, Niklas and Pendrill, Ann Marie LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2023-09-01
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- acceleration, free-body diagram, friction, grading, graphs, power, pseudowork
- in
- Physics Education
- volume
- 58
- issue
- 5
- article number
- 055005
- publisher
- IOP Publishing
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85165655435
- ISSN
- 0031-9120
- DOI
- 10.1088/1361-6552/ace1c7
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- additional info
- Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd.
- id
- dfc77df4-270d-486c-8437-551a154252d2
- date added to LUP
- 2023-08-09 12:28:13
- date last changed
- 2023-08-26 03:00:48
@article{dfc77df4-270d-486c-8437-551a154252d2, abstract = {{<p>The directions of frictional forces for bodies in motion are conceptually challenging. Students may be able to provide a correct solution using only calculus without drawing free-body diagrams. This can make their misconceptions go unnoticed and put them at risk to become further reinforced. Here, we discuss first-year bachelor students’ responses to multiple-choice questions and an open-ended question regarding friction when they come fresh out of high school. We further look into student solutions submitted to a national competition in physics for high-school students involving a problem concerning the acceleration of an electric rear-wheel drive car. Finding that most students had avoided drawing figures, we discuss to what extent teachers’ grading practices contribute to students’ development of problem-solving habits.</p>}}, author = {{Isacsson, Andreas and Malmgren, Niklas and Pendrill, Ann Marie}}, issn = {{0031-9120}}, keywords = {{acceleration; free-body diagram; friction; grading; graphs; power; pseudowork}}, language = {{eng}}, month = {{09}}, number = {{5}}, publisher = {{IOP Publishing}}, series = {{Physics Education}}, title = {{Accelerating a car from rest : friction, power and forces}}, url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1361-6552/ace1c7}}, doi = {{10.1088/1361-6552/ace1c7}}, volume = {{58}}, year = {{2023}}, }