STUDENT DIFFICILTIES ABOUT CALCULATING ACCELARATION OF MULTIPLE COMPONENT SYSTEMS

19213

This study aims to investigate students’ difficulties related to calculating acceleration for multi-object systems. Dynamic Question Set (DQS) was developed by authors and used as a data collection tool. DQS was administered to 377 high school students in 6 different high schools in Nigde province. DQS solutions were analysed according to the praxeological organization. The distributions of solution were analysed according to variables such as gender, type of high school and class. The findings indicate that most students used an erroneous technique for calculating acceleration in multi-object mechanic systems regardless of gender, class and type of school. This technique called as focused technique is to focus on the object we ask to calculate its acceleration and to ignore the rest of the mechanical system. The findings also show that this technique did not appear under special circumstances and was not specific to a group of students.

1

Newton’s second law , Problem solving , Praxeological analysis , Focused technique , Physics education

Gazi University Journal Of Gazi Educational Faculty

22

Gazi University Journal Of Gazi Educational Faculty