The impacts of learning with multiple representations in a high school physics classroom

Abstract

Student learning in physics takes on many forms. Equations, diagrams, graphs and words all can be used to describe physical phenomena. Constructing descriptions of physical situations with these representations and focusing on their correct usage is a goal of all physics instruction. Teaching students the strengths of these representations in communicating conceptual ideas and guiding students in usefulness of representations in problem-solving will is how this goal can be accomplished. This study investigated whether learning physics with an emphasis on multiple representations had an effect on student conceptual understanding, student problem solving, and student attitude in a high school introductory physics classroom. Through instruction that emphasized student practice with the representations themselves, developing a problem-solving method that included multiple representations, and assessment of quality of representations, students learned a unit on unbalanced forces. Results and conclusions showed low increases in student conceptual understanding and problem-solving ability. Student attitude improved in regard to their view of its application in the real-world. This classroom research project showed that students should be well-versed in all representations in order to achieve high gains in learning and attitude.