Just How Deterring Are Formulas?

Just How Deterring Are Formulas?

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Formulas are an effective means for communication in physics. Most teachers would agree, however, that novices tend to be deterred by formulas. Up to now, this common belief has never been substantiated by quantitative research. Here we report on an attempt to identify and quantify the variables tha...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Alexander Strahl, Rainer Müller, Susan Hagendorf, Julian Grobe
Format: Article
Language:ces
Published: Karolinum Press 2017-04-01
Series:Scientia in Educatione
Online Access:http://www.scied.cz/index.php/scied/article/view/750
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spelling doaj-d8e2a32020ce4fba9ffeb116ce5824dd2021-02-02T06:25:08ZcesKarolinum PressScientia in Educatione1804-71062017-04-0180473Just How Deterring Are Formulas?Alexander Strahl0Rainer Müller1Susan Hagendorf2Julian Grobe3TU BraunschweigTU BraunschweigTU BraunschweigTU BraunschweigFormulas are an effective means for communication in physics. Most teachers would agree, however, that novices tend to be deterred by formulas. Up to now, this common belief has never been substantiated by quantitative research. Here we report on an attempt to identify and quantify the variables that govern the appraisal of physical formulas. In an empirical study, 684 secondary school and university students were asked to indicate for 38 formulas to which extent they perceive the formula as deterring. The result is surprisingly simple. We are able to model the responses with only a single variable: the length of the formula. An explicit model equation (saturating exponential) to fit the data can be given.http://www.scied.cz/index.php/scied/article/view/750
collection DOAJ
language ces
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Alexander Strahl
Rainer Müller
Susan Hagendorf
Julian Grobe
spellingShingle Alexander Strahl
Rainer Müller
Susan Hagendorf
Julian Grobe
Just How Deterring Are Formulas?
Scientia in Educatione
author_facet Alexander Strahl
Rainer Müller
Susan Hagendorf
Julian Grobe
author_sort Alexander Strahl
title Just How Deterring Are Formulas?
title_short Just How Deterring Are Formulas?
title_full Just How Deterring Are Formulas?
title_fullStr Just How Deterring Are Formulas?
title_full_unstemmed Just How Deterring Are Formulas?
title_sort just how deterring are formulas?
publisher Karolinum Press
series Scientia in Educatione
issn 1804-7106
publishDate 2017-04-01
description Formulas are an effective means for communication in physics. Most teachers would agree, however, that novices tend to be deterred by formulas. Up to now, this common belief has never been substantiated by quantitative research. Here we report on an attempt to identify and quantify the variables that govern the appraisal of physical formulas. In an empirical study, 684 secondary school and university students were asked to indicate for 38 formulas to which extent they perceive the formula as deterring. The result is surprisingly simple. We are able to model the responses with only a single variable: the length of the formula. An explicit model equation (saturating exponential) to fit the data can be given.
url http://www.scied.cz/index.php/scied/article/view/750
work_keys_str_mv AT alexanderstrahl justhowdeterringareformulas
AT rainermuller justhowdeterringareformulas
AT susanhagendorf justhowdeterringareformulas
AT juliangrobe justhowdeterringareformulas
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