Abstract
A partially unusual behaviour was found among 14 sophomore students of civil
engineering who took a pre test for a free fall laboratory session, in the
context of a general mechanics course. An analysis contemplating mathematics
models and physics models consistency was made. In all cases, the students
presented evidence favoring a correct free fall acceleration model, whilst
their position component versus time, and velocity component versus time graphs
revealed complex misconceptions both on the physical phenomenon and it's
implicit mathematics consistency. The last suggests an inability to make
satisfactory connections through definitions between graphed variables. In
other words, evidence strongly suggests that students are perfectly able to
memorize the free fall acceleration model, whilst not understanding it's
significance at any level. This small study originated the develope and
validation of a tutorial on free fall graphs for position, velocity and
acceleration models, as part of a following cross universities major project.
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