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arXiv · 1407.2927

Just Math: A new epistemic frame

Steven F. Wolf·Leanne Doughty·Paul W. Irving·Eleanor C. Sayre·Marcos D. Caballero
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Abstract

A goal of PER is to understand how students use math in physics contexts. To investigate how students use math, we need to identify transitions between conceptual sense-making about physical systems and using mathematics to describe and to make predictions about those systems. We reviewed video of students solving a variety of physics problems in small groups through the lens of epistemic frames (e-frames). In this paper, we present a new e-frame, which we are calling "Just Math", that is similar to the Worksheet e-frame, but is characterized by brief, low-level, math-focused utterances between students. Future work will focus on analyzing the transitions into and out of this e-frame so that we may develop a more coherent understanding of students' use of math in physics.

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Steven F. Wolf, Leanne Doughty, Paul W. Irving, Eleanor C. Sayre, Marcos D. Caballero. 2014-07-10. Just Math: A new epistemic frame. https://arxiv.org/abs/1407.2927

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