2002/07/18 by Michael Wittmann, Michael C. Wittmann, Wittmann, Michael C. +2
Physics and Astronomy · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Educational Strategies and Epistemologies #FOS: Physical sciences #Innovative Teaching and Learning Methods #Online and Blended Learning #Physics Education (physics.ed-ph) #physics.ed-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.physics/0207077
4 pages, no figures, 7 notes and references (URLs included where available). Submitted to the Physics Education Research Conference Proceedings, 2002
arxiv created 2002/07/18 · openalex publication_date 2002/07/18 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
A student's epistemological stance (be it knowledge as memorized information, knowledge from authority, or knowledge as invented stuff) may constrain that student from reasoning in productive ways while also shaping the inferences a researcher can make about how that student reasons about a particular phenomenon. We discuss both cases in the context of an individual student interview on charge flow in wires. In the first part of the interview, her focus on memorized knowledge prevents the researcher from learning about her detailed reasoning about current. In the second part of the interview, her focus on constructed knowledge provides the researcher with a picture of her reasoning about the physical mechanisms of charge flow.