Conceptual challenges with the graphical representation of the propagation of a pulse in a string

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Student difficulties with making sense of graphs in physics have been thoroughly reported. In the study of one-dimensional waves, the issue is even trickier since the amplitude is a function of two variables (position and time). In this work, we investigate students’ reasoning and difficulties with interpreting the graphical representation of the propagation of a pulse in a string. A profile y(x) of the pulse was provided and students were asked to estimate the velocities of several points at the profile. This forced them to consider the time dimension, by focusing their attention on the motion of these points. This turned out to be extremely challenging to the students, who manifested several conceptual challenges which were categorized and analyzed in the first phase of the study. Based on these findings, three levels of scaffolding support were provided, where each level gradually guided the students to draw the wave profile after some time has elapsed. The scaffolding turned out to be effective, since many students managed to identify the new positions of the points successfully. The study reveals how static representations of intrinsically dynamic phenomena can be challenging for students to grasp.7 MoreReceived 31 March 2022Accepted 25 July 2022DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.18.020119Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.Published by the American Physical SocietyPhysics Subject Headings (PhySH)Research AreasConcepts & principlesInstructional strategiesScientific reasoning & problem solvingPhysics Education Research