Abstract
Physics course for student in bio area scientific degrees is a multidimensional problem, where the acquisition by students of a functional understanding of physical concepts is the main problem. To face this problem requires a strong revision of topics and of approaches to physics concepts. Physics has to be problematized and offered to students as a useful tool for their future study and job in contexts which are related to the bio area. Design-based research intervention modules were studied in the last two years, taking into account the above-mentioned needs, for degrees at the University of Udine of Agricultural Science and Technology, Biotechnology, Environmental and Nature Sciences and Technology, Oenology, and Science of foods. The courses involved two cohorts (2014/15 and 2015/16), respectively, of 342 and 483 students. Each course covers the classical physics and consists of three modules. Physics of fluids is here selected as topic characterizing in different ways the professional education of student in such degrees. The characteristic of the intervention module on fluids exemplifies the approach followed, testing the effectiveness and documenting the students’ learning outcomes.
A positive general trend emerges in the average students’ learning outcomes, indicating the effectiveness of the proposal implemented. The more problematic aspects for 10–30% of students are related to the concepts of pressure and the Pascal principle, the bridge from static to dynamic situations. The engagement of students in analyzing those questions that are typically evidenced as learning problems is effective not only in overcoming the single specific aspects but also in facing new situations. The management of math for students is critical as well as the confidence with the validity range of a physical law.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
AAAS-American Academy for the Advancement of Science (2004). Invention and Impact: Building Excellence in Undergraduate Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Education, Washington DC: AAAS.
AAAS-American Academy for the Advancement of Science (2011). Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education, Washington, DC: AAAS.
Boix Mansilla, V, Duraisingh, E. D. (2007). Targeted assessment of students’ interdisciplinary work: an empirically grounded framework. The Journal of Higher Education, 78 (2) 215–237.
Brewe, E., Pelaez, N. J., & Cooke, T. J. (2013). From Vision to Change: Educational Initiatives and Research at the Intersection of Physics and Biology. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 12, 117–119.
Bustamante, C. (2004). Of torques, forces, and protein machines. Protein Science, 13, 3061–3065.
CBE (2013). CBE—Life Sciences Education (LSE): describing teaching and learning at the intersection of biology and physics. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 12.
Collins, A, Joseph, D, & Bielaczyc, K. (2004). Design research: theoretical and methodological issues. J. Learn. Sci., 13, 15–42.
Cooper, M. M., & Klymkowsky, M. W. (2013). The Trouble with Chemical Energy: Why Understanding Bond Energies Requires an Interdisciplinary Systems Approach. CBE-Life Sci Educ., 12, 306–312.
Cummings, K., Laws, P.W., Redish E.F., Cooney, P.J., & Taylor, E. F. (2004). Understanding physics. Hoboken, NJ: Weley.
Donovan, D. A., Atkins, L. J., Salter, L. Y., Gallagher, D. J., Kratz R. F., Rousseauu, J. V., & Nelson, G. D. (2013). Advantages and Challenges of Using Physics Curricula as a Model for reforming an Undergraduate Biology Course. CBE-Life Sciences Education, 12, 215–229.
Dreyfus, B. W., Gouvea, J., Geller, B. D., Sawtelle, V., Turpen, C., & Redish, E. F. (2014). Chemical energy in an introductory physics course for life science students. American Journal of Physics, 82(5), 403–411.
Hall, K. L., Watkins, J. E., Coffey, J. E., Cooke, T.J., & Redish, E.F. (2011). Examining the impact of student expectations on undergraduate biology education reform. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association National Meeting, held April 2011 in New Orleans, LA.
Heron, P.R. L., Shaffer, P. S., & McDermott, L. C. (2004). Research as a Guide to Improving Student Learning: An Example from Introductory Physics. In Invention and Impact: Building Excellence in Undergraduate Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Education, Washington AAAS, pp. 33–38
Hoskinson, A. M., Caballero, M. D., & Knight, J. K. (2013). How Can We Improve Problem Solving in Undergraduate Biology? Applying Lessons from 30 Years of Physics Education Research. CBE— Life Sciences Education, 12, 153–161.
Hoskinson, A.M., Couch, B.A., Zwickl, B. M., Hinko, K., Caballero M.D. (2014). Bridging Physics and Biology Teaching through Modeling. American Journal of Physics, 82(5), 434–441.
Ivanitskaya, L., Clark, D., Montgomery, G., Primeau, R. (2002). Interdisciplinary learning: Process and outcomes. Innovative Higher Education, 27 (2) 95–111.
Laws, P. W. (2004). Promoting the Diffusion of Undergraduate Science Curriculum Reform: The Activity-Based Physics Suite as an Example. In Invention and Impact: Building Excellence in Undergraduate Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Education, Washington AAAS, pp. 247–252. https://www.aaas.org/sites/default/files/08_Cre_App_Laws.pdf
Loverude, M. E., Heron, P. R. L., and C. H. Kautz (2010). Identifying and addressing student difficulties with hydrostatic pressure, American Journal of Physics 78, 75–85.
Manthey, S., & Brewe, E. (2013). Toward University Modeling Instruction—Biology: Adapting Curricular Frameworks from Physics to Biology, CBE-Life Sciences Education, 12, 206–214.
McDermott, L. C., Shaffer, P. S. (1992). Research as a guide for curriculum development: An example from introductory electricity. Part I: Investigation of student understanding. American Journal of Physics, 60 (11), 994–1003.
McDermott, L. C., Heron, P. R. L., Shaffer, P. S., & Stetzer M. R. (2006). Improving the preparation of K-12 teachers through physics education research, Am. J. Phys. 74 (9) 763–767.
Meredith, D.C., Redish, E.F. (2013). Reinventing physics for life-science majors. Physics Today, 66 (7) 38–43.
Michelini, M., & Stefanel, A. (2016) Teaching/Learning physics to non-physicist: physics for Agricultural, Biotech and Environmental. Contribution to GIREP Congress 2015, Wochlaw, July 6–10, 2015, in Proceedings of the GIREP Congress 2015.
Nersessian, N. J. (2002). The cognitive basis of model-based reasoning. In P Carruthers, S Stich, & M. Siegal (Eds.) The Cognitive Basis of Science. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 133–153.
O’Shea, B., Terry, L., & Benenson, W. (2013). From F=ma to Flying Squirrels: Curricular Change in an Introductory Physics Course. CBE-Life Science Education, 12, 230–238.
Redish, E. F., Cooke, T. J. (2013). Learning each other’s ropes: negotiating interdisciplinary authenticity. CBE-Life Sciences Education, 12, 175–186.
Redish, E. F., Hammer, D. (2009). Reinventing college physics for biologists: explicating an epistemological curriculum. Am. J. Phys. 77, 629–642.
Redish, E.F., Bauer, C., Carleton, K.L., Cooke, T.J., Cooper, M.M., Crouch, C.H., Dreyfus, B.W., Geller, B., Giannini, J., Svoboda Gouvea, J., Klymkowsky, M.W., Losert, W., Moore, K., Presson, J., Sawtelle, V., Thompson, K. V., Turpen, C., Zia, R.K.P. (2014). NEXUS/Physics: An interdisciplinary repurposing of physics for biologists. Am. J. Phys. 82, (5) 368–377.
Svoboda Gouvea, J., Sawtelle, V., Geller, B. D., and Turpen, C. (2013). A Framework for Analyzing Interdisciplinary Tasks: Implications for Student Learning and Curricular Design. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 12, 187–206.
Thompson, K. V., Chmielewski, J., Gaines, M. S., Hrycyna, C.A., & LaCourse, W. R. (2013). Competency-Based Reforms of the Undergraduate Biology Curriculum: Integrating the Physical and Biological Sciences. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 12, 162–169.
Watkins, J., & Elby, A. (2013). Context Dependence of Students’ Views about the Role of Equations in Understanding Biology. CBE-Life Sciences Education, 12, 274–286.
Watkins, J., Coffey, J. E., Redish, E.F., Cooke, T.J. (2012). Disciplinary authenticity: enriching the reforms of introductory physics courses for life-science students. Phys. Rev. ST, Phys. Educ. Res., 8, 010112.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Appendix: Items Included in the Written Questionnaires
Appendix: Items Included in the Written Questionnaires
NB: The first answer is considered the (more) correct one. A random order was used submitting the questions to students.
Q1. Water at environment pressure and temperature have a density of ρ = 1000 kg m−3 and a compressibility of χ = 6·10−10 Pa−1. Which expression give the variation Δρ of the density of water when is pressure increase of ΔP?
(A) Δρ = ρχΔP (B) Δρ = ρχ/ΔP (C) Δρ = ΔPχ/ρ
Q2. A submarine is located at a depth such that the pressure exerted by the water on its walls is equal to 2.5·105 Pa. The portholes of the submarine have circular flat surface whose area is 0.03 m2. What is the intensity of the resultant force with which the water pushes a porthole toward the interior of the submarine?
(A) 7.5103 N (B) 83106 N (C) 45103N
Q3. (Elaboration from Loverude et al. 2010) A container, such as that shown in the figure, is formed by the left open branch and the right closed branch. Compare the pressures at points J and K. Which relation is correct?
(A) PJ = PK (B) PJ < PK (C) PJ > PK
Q4. A nonviscous liquid of density ρ = 1200 kg·m−3 was flowing in a conduit between two circular sections A and B of area AB = 0.5 AA. Section B is located at the same level of section A. In A the fluid pressure is PA = 60,000 Pa and its speed is vA = 0.7 m/s. What is the pressure of the liquid in B?
(A) 59,118 Pa (B) 60,221 Pa (C) 60,294 Pa
Q5. In a pipeline is flowing a fluid of density ρ. In a section A of the pipeline that is on the level hA, the pressure is PA and the speed is vA. In a section B of the duct which is located at a level hA−h, the pressure is PB = PA. What can be said of the relationship between the areas of the section A and section B?
(A) This ratio depends on h/vA 2.
(B) This ratio depends on h, but does not depend on vA.
(C) This ratio is independent both from vA and from h.
Q6. In an open tube of rectangular cross section, there is a steady flow of water of thickness h. The velocity profile at different depths is shown in the figure. At what depth the water speed is half the speed with which it moves the surface layer of the water?
(A) h/2; (B) h; (C) h/4
Q7. A steady flow of water flowing in a conduit. A U-tube, which contains mercury, is inserted between the sections A1 and A2 of the conduit, the diameter of which is a double of the other. What figure best represents the height of the mercury in the two branches of the U-tube?
Q8. A glass ball is leaved on the surface of the water contained in a long vertical cylinder. Between the graphics shown on the right, which one best describes the time evolution of the speed of the ball when dropped into water?
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Michelini, M., Stefanel, A. (2019). Innovation in Physics Teaching/Learning for the Formative Success in Introductory Physics for Bio Area Degrees: The Case of Fluids. In: Pietrocola, M. (eds) Upgrading Physics Education to Meet the Needs of Society. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96163-7_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96163-7_10
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-96162-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-96163-7
eBook Packages: Physics and AstronomyPhysics and Astronomy (R0)