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Student difficulties measuring distances in terms of wavelength: Lack of basic skills or failure to transfer?

Mila Kryjevskaia, MacKenzie R. Stetzer, and Paula R. L. Heron
Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 9, 010106 – Published 15 February 2013

Abstract

In a previous paper that focused on the transmission of periodic waves at the boundary between two media, we documented difficulties with the basic concepts of wavelength, frequency, and propagation speed, and with the relationship v=fλ. In this paper, we report on student attempts to apply this relationship in problems involving two-source and thin-film interference. In both cases, interference arises from differences in the path lengths traveled by two waves. We found that some students (up to 40% on certain questions) had difficulty with a task that is fundamental to understanding these phenomena: expressing a physical distance, such as the separation between two sources, in terms of the wavelength of a periodic wave. We administered a series of questions to try to identify factors that influence student performance. We concluded that most incorrect responses stemmed from erroneous judgment about the type of reasoning required, not an inability to do said reasoning. A number of students do not seem to treat the spacing of moving wave fronts as analogous to immutable measurement tools (e.g., rulers).

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  • Received 27 October 2012

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.9.010106

This article is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.

Published by the American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Mila Kryjevskaia*

  • Department of Physics, North Dakota State University, Fargo, North Dakota 58105, USA

MacKenzie R. Stetzer

  • Department of Physics and Astronomy & Maine Center for Research in STEM Education, University of Maine, Orono, Maine 04469, USA

Paula R. L. Heron

  • Department of Physics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195-1560, USA

  • *mila.kryjevskaia@ndsu.edu
  • mackenzie.stetzer@maine.edu
  • pheron@phys.washington.edu

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Vol. 9, Iss. 1 — January - June 2013

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