Identifying Student Difficulties with Entropy, Heat Engines, and the Carnot Cycle

Autor/inn/en	Smith, Trevor I.; Christensen, Warren M.; Mountcastle, Donald B.; Thompson, John R.
Titel	Identifying Student Difficulties with Entropy, Heat Engines, and the Carnot Cycle
Quelle	In: Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research, 11 (2015) 2, S.020116-1 (14 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1554-9178
DOI	10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.11.020116
Schlagwörter	Undergraduate Students; Science Education; College Science; Physics; Thermodynamics; Scientific Concepts; Science Process Skills; Abstract Reasoning; Comprehension; Thinking Skills; Difficulty Level; Majors (Students); Data Collection; Video Technology; Nongraded Student Evaluation; Student Surveys; Homework; Observation + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Naturwissenschaftliche Bildung; Physik; Thermodynamik; Abstraktes Denken; Denken; Verstehen; Verständnis; Denkfähigkeit; Schwierigkeitsgrad; Data capture; Datensammlung; Schülerbefragung; Hausaufgabe; Beobachtung
Abstract	We report on several specific student difficulties regarding the second law of thermodynamics in the context of heat engines within upper-division undergraduate thermal physics courses. Data come from ungraded written surveys, graded homework assignments, and videotaped classroom observations of tutorial activities. Written data show that students in these courses do not clearly articulate the connection between the Carnot cycle and the second law after lecture instruction. This result is consistent both within and across student populations. Observation data provide evidence for myriad difficulties related to entropy and heat engines, including students' struggles in reasoning about situations that are physically impossible and failures to differentiate between differential and net changes of state properties of a system. Results herein may be seen as the application of previously documented difficulties in the context of heat engines, but others are novel and emphasize the subtle and complex nature of cyclic processes and heat engines, which are central to the teaching and learning of thermodynamics and its applications. Moreover, the sophistication of these difficulties is indicative of the more advanced thinking required of students at the upper division, whose developing knowledge and understanding give rise to questions and struggles that are inaccessible to novices. [This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Upper Division Physics Courses.] (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	American Physical Society. One Physics Ellipse 4th Floor, College Park, MD 20740-3844. Tel: 301-209-3200; Fax: 301-209-0865; e-mail: assocpub@aps.org; Web site: http://prst-per.aps.org
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01