Probability-related naive ideas across physics topics

Michael Malvern Hull, Alexandra Theresia Jansky, Martin Hopf

Publications: Contribution to journalReviewPeer Reviewed

Abstract

In this literature review, we survey student naive ideas (frequently referred to as 'misconceptions') that plausibly relate, at least in part, to difficulty in understanding probability. We collected diverse naive ideas from a range of topics in physics: Non-linear Dynamics; Cosmology; Thermal Physics; Atomic, Nuclear, and Particle Physics; Elementary Particle Physics; Quantum Physics; and Measurements and Uncertainties. With rare exception, these naive ideas are treated in the literature to be topic-specific. For example, the idea that 'only one measurement is needed because successive measurements will always yield the same result' is treated to be a misconception in Measurements and Uncertainties. In our review, however, we raise the possibility that these diverse naive ideas have something in common: they are enabled, to varying degrees, by the stance that 'random is incompatible with predictions and laws' that researchers in mathematics education have documented. This is important, as it may inform instruction. Namely, it may be the case that it is more effective to treat this underlying cause of student difficulty, rather than the individual naive ideas themselves.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)45-83
Number of pages39
JournalStudies in Science Education
Volume57
Issue number1
Early online date12 May 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

  • 503013 Subject didactics of natural sciences

Keywords

  • ATOMS
  • MISCONCEPTIONS
  • PERCEPTIONS
  • POINT
  • PUPILS
  • Probability
  • RELIABILITY
  • SCIENCE
  • STUDENTS CONCEPTIONS
  • deterministic
  • misconceptions
  • ontologies
  • random

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