• Open Access

Arrows as anchors: An analysis of the material features of electric field vector arrows

Elizabeth Gire and Edward Price
Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 10, 020112 – Published 13 August 2014

Abstract

Representations in physics possess both physical and conceptual aspects that are fundamentally intertwined and can interact to support or hinder sense making and computation. We use distributed cognition and the theory of conceptual blending with material anchors to interpret the roles of conceptual and material features of representations in students’ use of representations for computation. We focus on the vector-arrows representation of electric fields and describe this representation as a conceptual blend of electric field concepts, physical space, and the material features of the representation (i.e., the physical writing and the surface upon which it is drawn). In this representation, spatial extent (e.g., distance on paper) is used to represent both distances in coordinate space and magnitudes of electric field vectors. In conceptual blending theory, this conflation is described as a clash between the input spaces in the blend. We explore the benefits and drawbacks of this clash, as well as other features of this representation. This analysis is illustrated with examples from clinical problem-solving interviews with upper-division physics majors. We see that while these intermediate physics students make a variety of errors using this representation, they also use the geometric features of the representation to add electric field contributions and to organize the problem situation productively.

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  • Received 22 June 2013

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.10.020112

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

Elizabeth Gire*

  • Department of Physics, University of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee 38152, USA

Edward Price

  • Department of Physics, California State University, San Marcos, California 92096, USA

  • *egire@memphis.edu

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Vol. 10, Iss. 2 — July - December 2014

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