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ERIC Number: EJ1398195
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2023
Pages: 17
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: EISSN-2469-9896
New Perspectives on Student Reasoning about Measurement Uncertainty: More or Better Data
Schang, Andy; Dew, Matthew; Stump, Emily M.; Holmes, N. G.; Passante, Gina
Physical Review Physics Education Research, v19 n2 Article 020105 2023
Uncertainty is an important and fundamental concept in physics education. Students are often first exposed to uncertainty in introductory labs, expand their knowledge across lab courses, and then are introduced to quantum mechanical uncertainty in upper-division courses. This study is part of a larger project evaluating student thinking about uncertainty across these contexts. In this research, we investigate advanced physics student thinking about uncertainty by asking them conceptual questions about how a hypothetical distribution of measurements would change if "more" or "better" data were collected in four different experimental scenarios. The scenarios include both classical and quantum experiments, as well as experiments that theoretically result in an expected single value or an expected distribution. This investigation is motivated by our goal of finding insights into students' potential point- and setlike thinking about uncertainty and of shining light on the limitations of those binary paradigms.
American Physical Society. One Physics Ellipse 4th Floor, College Park, MD 20740-3844. Tel: 301-209-3200; Fax: 301-209-0865; e-mail: assocpub@aps.org; Web site: https://journals.aps.org/prper/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: National Science Foundation (NSF), Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE); National Science Foundation (NSF), Division of Graduate Education (DGE)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: 1808945; 1809178; 2139899