What Happens in Physics Courses? Exploring Students' Perception of Learning Through the Lens of Activity

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 16
  In Roundtable Session: Listening to Students: A Cultural Historical Perspective on Teacher Development

Abstract

Making science relevant to students is a goal of science education, but this will be a fruitless endeavor unless we ask: relevant for whom and for what purposes? Using CHAT and transformative activist stance, I take this question seriously by putting students in the position of activity subjects and asking them how they view their role in introductory physics courses. Data from in-depth interviews in which the participants produced activity system models and analysis reveals the tensions and conflicts they experienced as well as the schemas that shape their understanding of learning physics. The findings illustrate the implications of the students’ highly individualized views of learning and argue for the need for “collectividual” view to transform the activity of science.

Author

• Sanaz Farhangi, Florida International University