What Is a Narrative?
A descriptive account
of an episode
in which students are
thinking like physicists.
What does it mean to
think like physicists?2
• Be confident and competent in
using mathematics to describe
physical phenomena
• Feel comfortable with ill-defined
and multi-step problems
• Be able to communicate own
ideas and to collaborate with
peers
Writing Narratives to Document and Interpret
Thinking Like Physicists
Emily H. van Zee
Corinne Manogue
Collect Data
National Science Foundation
• DUE-1323800
Oregon State University
College of Science
Department of Physics
Why Write
1
Narratives?
To provide examples
for instructors interested
in enhancing their ability
to help students learn
how to talk and think
in effective ways.
Select Episode of Interest4
Transcribe Class Video
and Interview
Describe What is Happening
Interpret Dialogue and Actions
The instructor is facilitating a
conversation about the meaning
of the gradient of a function of two
variables after students used a tool
called an inclinometer to measure
different slopes in different
directions on a clear plastic surface
that represented the function.
As the instructor picked up a topo
map, she elaborated on the student’s
suggestion:
C: So you’ve got an “x” and a “y”
defined by the grid on your topo map
… so you could take the derivative
in the x direction, you could take the
derivative in the y direction…
Reflect on Instructor’s
Ways of Eliciting That Thinking
Implications
• On-going video of class sessions3
• Copies of instructor and student
writings and drawings
• Interviews with instructor and
students
The Writing Process
• Obtain IRB approval for study
• Collect data
• Select episode of interest
• Transcribe video
• Interview participant(s)
• Summarize physics involved
• Describe what is happening
• Interpret dialogue and actions
• Reflect on students’ thinking
• Reflect on ways instructor
elicited that thinking
References
H. van Zee & C. A. Manogue, “Documenting and
interpreting ways to engage students in thinking like a
physicist, PERC, 1289, 61–64 (2010); E. H. van Zee et al.,
“Purpose, preparation, and power of narratives,” (2013).
physics.oregonstate.edu/portfolioswiki/publications:start
1E.
2C.
A. Manogue et al., “Upper-division activities that
foster thinking like a physicist,” PERC 1289, 37-40 (2010).
A. Manogue & K. Krane, “Paradigms in Physics:
Restructuring the upper level,” Phys. Today 56, 53-58
(2003).
Summarize the Physics
A clear plastic surface represented
the way that a function of two
variables, such as temperature, was
changing with position (x, y).5 When
asked to find a derivative, students
needed to ask: At what point? In
which direction? What is the meaning
of the steepest slope at that point?
Reflect on Students’ Thinking
Select interview quotes that highlight
instructor’s understanding of and
respect for student thinking:
3C.
4E.
H. van Zee & C. A. Manogue, “Exploring the Gradient,”
(2015).
physics.oregonstate.edu/portfolioswiki/whitepapers:narr
atives:start
5NSF
DUE 1246094, Raising Calculus to the Surface, A.
Wangberg, (PI), Winona State University, MN
CI: Part of it is respecting students’ partial
answers and knowing how to run with them. I
think another aspect is knowing how far to push
a student with a partial answer to say more, to
articulate more, and when and how to invite the
rest of the class back into the conversation.
Select interview quotes that highlight
instructor’s actions and intent:
CI: I’m dancing. They are telling me things about
the derivative and I’m acting them out by taking
steps in the classroom and I am also gesturing
with the surfaces...So this starts with, “What would
be a good choice in which direction to step?
Watching the video and
reading the narrative can help
instructors talk about and
consider specific instances
in which students succeed
in thinking like physicists.