Are there differences in students’ ability to solve vector problems in mathematical and visual representations?

Abstract

Vector representations that are most often used in physics problems are mathematical and visual. However, students’ ability to solve Physics problems still depends on the representation of the problem. This research is comparative quantitative research. This research aims to test (1) differences in students’ ability to understand vector operations in mathematical and visual representation formats and (2) better able to understand vector concepts in both representations. The research was conducted on 620 first-year students at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences. The instrument was used in the form of 12 questions in a multiple-choice format consisting of 6 questions for mathematical representation and 6 questions for visual representation. We analyzed data using descriptive statistics and paired sample t-test. The results showed that the students’ ability to solve problems in mathematical and visual representation formats was significantly different. Students’ ability to solve problems in mathematical representations is better than in visual representations. The most contrast difference is the subtraction of the vector in two dimensions. Students are difficult to differentiate vector addition and subtraction operations in two dimensions. We suggest the importance of multi-representation learning and provide more practice in vector subtraction operations.