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Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons™

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Physics

Selected Works

Mary Bridget Kustusch

Articles 1 - 9 of 9

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Assessing The Impact Of Representational And Contextual Problem Features On Student Use Of Right-Hand Rules, Mary Bridget Kustusch Dec 2015

Assessing The Impact Of Representational And Contextual Problem Features On Student Use Of Right-Hand Rules, Mary Bridget Kustusch

Mary Bridget Kustusch

Students in introductory physics struggle with vector algebra and these challenges are often associated
with contextual and representational features of the problems. Performance on problems about cross product
direction is particularly poor and some research suggests that this may be primarily due to misapplied right-
hand rules. However, few studies have had the resolution to explore student use of right-hand rules in detail.
This study reviews literature in several disciplines, including spatial cognition, to identify ten contextual and
representational problem features that are most likely to influence performance on problems requiring a
right-hand rule. Two quantitative measures of performance (correctness …

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Exploring Student Difficulties With Observation Location, Jamie Bryant, Rita Dawod, Susan M. Fischer, Mary Bridget Kustusch Dec 2014

Exploring Student Difficulties With Observation Location, Jamie Bryant, Rita Dawod, Susan M. Fischer, Mary Bridget Kustusch

Mary Bridget Kustusch

Throughout introductory physics, students create and interpret free body diagrams in which multiple
forces act on an object, typically at a single location (the object’s center of mass). The situation increases in
difficulty when multiple objects are involved, and further when electric and magnetic fields are present. In
the latter, sources of the fields are often identified as a set of electric charges or current-carrying wires, and
students are asked to determine the electric or magnetic field at a separate location defined as the observation
location. Previous research suggests students do not always appropriately account for how a measurement or …

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Name The Experiment! Interpreting Thermodynamic Derivatives As Thought Experiments, David Roundy, Mary Bridget Kustusch, Corrine Manogue Dec 2013

Name The Experiment! Interpreting Thermodynamic Derivatives As Thought Experiments, David Roundy, Mary Bridget Kustusch, Corrine Manogue

Mary Bridget Kustusch

We introduce a series of activities to help students understand the partial derivatives that arise in thermodynamics. Students construct thought experiments that would allow them to measure given partial derivatives. These activities are constructed with a number of learning goals in mind, beginning with helping students to learn to think of thermodynamic quantities in terms of how one can measure or change them. A second learning goal is for students to understand the importance of the quantities held fixed in either a partial derivative or an experiment. Students additionally are given an experimental perspective—particularly when this activity is combined with real laboratory experiments—on the meaning of either fixing …

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Partial Derivative Games In Thermodynamics: A Cognitive Task Analysis, Mary Bridget Kustusch, David Roundy, Corrine Manogue, Tevian Dray Dec 2013

Partial Derivative Games In Thermodynamics: A Cognitive Task Analysis, Mary Bridget Kustusch, David Roundy, Corrine Manogue, Tevian Dray

Mary Bridget Kustusch

Several studies in recent years have demonstrated that upper-division students struggle with the
mathematics of thermodynamics. This paper presents a task analysis based on several expert attempts
to solve a challenging mathematics problem in thermodynamics. The purpose of this paper is twofold.
First, we highlight the importance of cognitive task analysis for understanding expert performance and
show how the epistemic games framework can be used as a tool for this type of analysis, with
thermodynamics as an example. Second, through this analysis, we identify several issues related to
thermodynamics that are relevant to future research into student understanding and learning …

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From Fear To Fun In Thermodynamics, David J. Roundy, Ayush Gupta, Joseph F. Wagner, Tevian Dray, Mary Bridget Kustusch, Corinne A. Manogue Jun 2013

From Fear To Fun In Thermodynamics, David J. Roundy, Ayush Gupta, Joseph F. Wagner, Tevian Dray, Mary Bridget Kustusch, Corinne A. Manogue

Mary Bridget Kustusch

No abstract provided.

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The Partial Derivative Machine, Grant Sherer, Mary Bridget Kustusch, Corinne A. Manogue, David J. Roundy Jun 2013

The Partial Derivative Machine, Grant Sherer, Mary Bridget Kustusch, Corinne A. Manogue, David J. Roundy

Mary Bridget Kustusch

No abstract provided.

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Re-Thinking The Rubric For Grading The Cue: The Superposition Principle, Justyna P. Zwolak, Mary Bridget Kustusch, Corinne A. Manogue Jun 2013

Re-Thinking The Rubric For Grading The Cue: The Superposition Principle, Justyna P. Zwolak, Mary Bridget Kustusch, Corinne A. Manogue

Mary Bridget Kustusch

No abstract provided.

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Supporting And Sustaining The Holistic Development Of Students Into Practicing Physicists., E. Gire, Mary Bridget Kustusch, Corinne A. Manogue Dec 2012

Supporting And Sustaining The Holistic Development Of Students Into Practicing Physicists., E. Gire, Mary Bridget Kustusch, Corinne A. Manogue

Mary Bridget Kustusch

No abstract provided.

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An Expert Path Through A Thermo Maze, Mary Bridget Kustusch, D. Roundy, T. Dray, Corinne A. Manogue Dec 2011

An Expert Path Through A Thermo Maze, Mary Bridget Kustusch, D. Roundy, T. Dray, Corinne A. Manogue

Mary Bridget Kustusch

No abstract provided.

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