Refining Archimedes' principle through classroom experimentation, an analysis from discourse progressiveness

Authors

  • Nicolás Baudino Quiroga Facultad de Matemática, Astronomía y Física, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Medina Allende y Haya de la Torre. Ciudad Universitaria, CP 5000, Córdoba, Argentina
  • Enrique A. Coleoni Facultad de Matemática, Astronomía y Física, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Medina Allende y Haya de la Torre. Ciudad Universitaria, CP 5000, Córdoba, Argentina

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55767/2451.6007.v33.n2.35178

Keywords:

Experiment, Discourse progressiveness, Real classroom

Abstract

A case study of a real class is presented during which students analyze the situation of a container of water, located on the pan of a
balance. They are asked if (and how) the scale reading will be altered by placing a floating wooden body in the water. The research
question is what role the experiment occupies in the social mechanism of progressivity. The analysis shows that the experiment can
strongly influence the discursive dynamics in the classroom. In the case analyzed, it operates as an element that fixes a part of the
semantic structure. The study enriches the understanding of interactions in the classroom and how they could be fostered; at the same
time, it provides information about how to generate the conditions for an experiment to be relevant from the point of view of learning
concepts and can be interpreted in depth by students.

References

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Published

2021-11-05

Issue

Section

Investigación en Enseñanza de la Física

How to Cite

Refining Archimedes’ principle through classroom experimentation, an analysis from discourse progressiveness. (2021). Journal of Physics Teaching, 33(2), 81-87. https://doi.org/10.55767/2451.6007.v33.n2.35178