Science and engineering students’ difficulties in understanding vector concepts

Saed Sabah

doi:10.29333/ejmste/13431

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Saed Sabah ¹ ^*

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¹ Department of Teaching and Curriculum, Faculty of Educational Sciences, The Hashemite University, P.O. Box 330127, Zarqa 13133, JORDAN^* Corresponding Author

Abstract

The study assesses science and engineering students’ difficulties in understanding vector concepts. Test of understanding of vectors was administered to 101 university students who were completing their second introductory physics course. Rasch measurement software (Winsteps) was used to analyze the raw data. The concepts that the students found most difficult were identified; these included the graphical representation of a unit vector, the graphical addition and subtraction of vectors, and the interpretation of the dot and cross products, among others. On the other hand, some concepts were easier for students, such as the magnitude of a vector presented in unit-vector notation, and determination of the components of vectors. No significant differences in understanding of vector concepts could be attributed to gender; however, engineering students outperformed science students in understanding vector concepts. This study offers recommendations that physics instructors and researchers can use to improve the teaching of vector concepts.

Keywords

physics education
vectors
Rasch measurement
Jordan

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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed, 2023, Volume 19, Issue 8, Article No: em2310

https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/13431

Publication date: 01 Aug 2023

Online publication date: 21 Jun 2023

Article Views: 873

Article Downloads: 585

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How to cite this article

APA

Sabah, S. (2023). Science and engineering students’ difficulties in understanding vector concepts. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 19(8), em2310. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/13431

Vancouver

Sabah S. Science and engineering students’ difficulties in understanding vector concepts. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2023;19(8):em2310. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/13431

AMA

Sabah S. Science and engineering students’ difficulties in understanding vector concepts. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2023;19(8), em2310. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/13431

Chicago

Sabah, Saed. "Science and engineering students’ difficulties in understanding vector concepts". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education 2023 19 no. 8 (2023): em2310. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/13431

Harvard

Sabah, S. (2023). Science and engineering students’ difficulties in understanding vector concepts. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 19(8), em2310. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/13431

MLA

Sabah, Saed "Science and engineering students’ difficulties in understanding vector concepts". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, vol. 19, no. 8, 2023, em2310. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/13431