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Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons™
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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Name The Experiment! Interpreting Thermodynamic Derivatives As Thought Experiments, David Roundy, Mary Bridget Kustusch, Corrine Manogue
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 …
Partial Derivative Games In Thermodynamics: A Cognitive Task Analysis, Mary Bridget Kustusch, David Roundy, Corrine Manogue, Tevian Dray
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 …