Interpretation of an Energy Graph for a Mass-Spring System by Prospective Science and Mathematics Teachers: A Comparison

Year 2020, Volume: 5 Issue: 2, 52 - 59, 30.12.2020

Işık Saliha Karal Eyüboğlu

Abstract

This study aimed at the investigation of skills of prospective science and mathematics teachers’ reading of a graph related to simple harmonic motion. The participants were 31 mathematics and 20 prospective science teachers taking the General Physics II course in the second term of the teacher training program. The participants were expected to determine the type, potential or kinetic, of energy and explain the variation of these energies in a written exam. Although harmonic motion is a phenomenon in science, findings showed that prospective teachers of mathematics were performed in general better than prospective science teachers. The number of prospective science teachers’answers about the energy types represented by the curves are wrong but the energy changes of the curves are right, is higher than the number of corresponding prospective mathematics teachers, although the reverse was expected. It is concluded that a considerable number of prospective teachers’ ability to read graphs was not at the desired level and need to be improved. This study showed that graph interpretation in physics was not just related to mathematics and a successful graph usage sometimes requires domain specific knowledge. It can be said that the use of graph interpretation questions in an assessment tool will contribute to determining the level of understanding the related subject in addition to the development of graph related skills of learners.

Keywords

prospective teacher, graph, mass-spring system, kinetic energy, potential energy

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