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Representations in an Integrated Physics and Mathematics Course Based on Models

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Conference

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

New Orleans, Louisiana

Publication Date

June 26, 2016

Start Date

June 26, 2016

End Date

June 29, 2016

ISBN

978-0-692-68565-5

ISSN

2153-5965

Conference Session

Engineering Physics Technical Session 4

Tagged Division

Engineering Physics & Physics

Page Count

11

DOI

10.18260/p.27338

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/27338

Download Count

600

Paper Authors

biography

Angeles Dominguez Tecnologico de Monterrey (ITESM) and Universidad Andres Bello Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0001-6066-355X

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Angeles Dominguez is a Professor of the Department of Mathematics within the School of Engineering, a researcher at the School of Education, and the Chair of the Master of Education at the Tecnologico de Monterrey, Mexico. Also, she is currently collaborating with the School of Engineering at the University Andres Bello at Santiago, Chile. Angeles holds a bachelor degree in Physics Engineering from Tecnologico de Monterrey and a doctoral degree in Mathematics Education from Syracuse University, New York. Professor Dominguez is a member of the Researchers’ National System in Mexico (SNI) and currently she is the President of Red de Investigación e Innovación en Educación del Noreste de México (REDIIEN). Angeles has been a visiting researcher at Syracuse University, at the University of Texas at Austin. She teaches undergraduate courses in Mathematics and graduate courses in Education. Professor Dominguez is a thesis advisor on the master and doctoral programs on education at the Tecnologico de Monterrey. Her main research areas are: a) models and modeling, b) use of technology to improve learning and c) evaluation. In addition, Professor Dominguez is the coordinator of the conTIgo T3 Latin America group that focuses on an effective and efficient use of the Texas Instrument technology in the mathematics and science classroom, and is member of the Executive Committee of international association (ASEE-EPPD, ICTMA and PME-NA).

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biography

Jorge Eugenio de la Garza Becerra Tecnologico de Monterrey (ITESM)

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Jorge de la Garza is a Lecturer of the Physics Department within the School of Engineering at the Tecnologico de Monterrey, Monterrey, Mexico. He holds a bachelor degree in Physics Engineering and a doctoral degree in Education both from Tecnologico de Monterrey. Dr. de la Garza has been recognized by the government as a member of the Researchers’ National System in Mexico (SNI). He also actively participates in the different initiatives of the University mainly those related to interdisciplinary approach of teaching and learning, looking to close the gap between how knowledge is created and how students learn. His main research areas are a) models and modeling, b) learning environments and c) problem solving.

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Abstract

This study took place in an integrated Physics and Mathematics course for first-year engineering students at a private university in northern Mexico. The integrated course is taught based on Modeling Instruction as well as models and modeling perspective in an active learning environment. This innovative approach, combined with a classroom setting that incorporates the use of technology, promotes the connection and application of the contents from both courses. During the semester, students engage in solving problems (individually and collaboratively), present their models on whiteboards, and have discussions in teams and with the rest of the group. The objective of this study is to analyze how the models and representations shown in students’ work evolve throughout the semester. Fifty-four first-year engineering students enrolled in the Physics I and Mathematics I integrated course. When students worked collaboratively in groups of three, they took pictures of their whiteboards, and all pictures were stored in a repository for all (students, instructors and researchers) to review. When students worked individually, instructors assessed their learning based on their written solutions. The analysis of the whiteboards confirmed that at the beginning of the semester students used few representations, whereas by the end of it they were incorporating congruently more than ten different representations, making their models more robust.

Dominguez, A., & de la Garza Becerra, J. E. (2016, June), Representations in an Integrated Physics and Mathematics Course Based on Models Paper presented at 2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, New Orleans, Louisiana. 10.18260/p.27338

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