Multiple representations (MR) based instructional approach in support of physics identity and physics teachers' identity development: Design considerations
Abstract
In this paper, we describe the intervention and the context of implementation of a multiple representations (MR)-based instructional approach as a classroom practice in an first-year thermodynamics course for preservice physics teachers at an Indonesian university. We argue that the implementation of this approach will contribute to the enhancement of students’ conceptual understanding and problem-solving skills. By enhancing those two aspects, we intend to contribute to their development of physics identity and physics teacher identity. We illustrate how this MR approach is applied in the classroom and describe how the relationship between the aspects of this approach interacts with physics identity and physics teacher identity. During lessons the teacher used real-life examples and students were encouraged to use different representations when they solved problems in small groups. The students realized that learning physics could involve many representations and might increase their interest to physics. However, we found some situations that did not match our expectations. For instance, most of the students were more interested when the problems were in the form of mathematical representation. In addition, we found that some students were inactive in the class. Therefore, it is necessary to think as educators about how to provide a positive learning experience to stimulate the development of student's identity. This work exemplifies how physics educators can stimulate physics and physics teacher identity formation in their physics courses as a preparation for future physics teachers.
References
Ainsworth, S. (1999). The functions of multiple representations. Computers and Education, 33(2–3), 131–152. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0360-1315(99)00029-9
Ainsworth, S. (2008). The educational value of multiple-representations when learning complex scientific concepts. In J. K. Gilbert, M. Reiner, & M. Nakhleh (Eds.), Visualization: Theory and practice in science education (pp. 191–208). Dordrecht: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-5267-5_9
Aviyanti, L. (2020). An investigation into Indonesian pre-service physics teachers’ scientific thinking and conceptual understanding of physics [Doctoral Dissertation, Flinders University]. https://flex.flinders.edu.au/file/a44a1398-06d4-451f-808c-6e1a702e060b/1/AviyantiThesis2020_LibraryCopy.pdf
Avraamidou, L. (2014). Studying science teacher identity: Current insights and future research directions. Studies in Science Education, 50(2), 145–179. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057267.2014.937171
Azam, S. (2018). Physics for teaching high school physics: Views of prospective physics teachers and teacher educators about undergraduate physics study. Journal of Teacher Education and Educators, 7(2), 147–164.
Bollen, L., Van Kampen, P., Baily, C., Kelly, M., & De Cock, M. (2017). Student difficulties regarding symbolic and graphical representations of vector fields. Physical Review Physics Education Research, 13(2), 020109. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.13.020109
Carlone, H. B., & Johnson, A. (2007). Understanding the science experiences of successful women of color: Science identity as an analytic lens. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 44(8), 1187–1218. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.20237
Chung-Parsons, R., & Bailey, J. M. (2019). The hierarchical (not fluid) nature of preservice secondary science teachers’ perceptions of their science teacher identity. Teaching and Teacher Education, 78(1), 39–48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2018.11.007
Danielsson, A. T. (2014). In the physics class: University physics students’ enactment of class and gender in the context of laboratory work. Cultural Studies of Science Education, 9(2), 477–494. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-012-9421-3
Davis, E. A., Petish, D., & Smithey, J. (2006). Challenges new science teachers face. Review of Educational Research, 76(4), 607–651. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543076004607
De Cock, M. (2012). Representation use and strategy choice in physics problem solving. Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research, 8(2), 020117. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.8.020117
Department of Physics. (2020). Dokumen formal kurikulum program studi sarjana pendidikan fisika Universitas Negeri Malang. http://fisika.fmipa.um.ac.id/
Deslauriers, L., McCarty, L. S., Miller, K., Callaghan, K., & Kestin, G. (2019). Measuring actual learning versus feeling of learning in response to being actively engaged in the classroom. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 201821936. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1821936116
Due, K. (2014). Who is the competent physics student? A study of students’ positions and social interaction in small-group discussions. Cultural Studies of Science Education, 9(2), 441–459. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-012-9441-z
Gilbert, J. K. (2010). The role of visual representations in the learning and teaching of science: An introduction. Asia-Pacific Forum on Science Learning and Teaching, 11(1), 1–19.
Hazari, Z., & Cass, C. (2018). Towards meaningful physics recognition: What does this recognition actually look like? The Physics Teacher, 56(7), 442–446. https://doi.org/10.1119/1.5055325
Hazari, Z., Cass, C., & Beattie, C. (2015). Obscuring power structures in the physics classroom: Linking teacher positioning, student engagement, and physics identity development. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 52(6), 735–762. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21214
Hazari, Z., Sonnert, G., Sadler, P. M., & Shanahan, M.-C. (2010). Connecting high school physics experiences, outcome expectations, physics identity, and physics career choice: A gender study. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 47(8), 978–1003. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.20363
Hill, M., & Sharma, M. D. (2015). Students’ representational fluency at university: A cross-sectional measure of how multiple representations are used by physics students Using the representational fluency survey. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 11(6), 1633–1655. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2015.1427a
Jackson, P. A., & Seiler, G. (2017). Identity work in the college science classroom: The cases of two successful latecomers to science. Science Education, 101(5), 716–740. https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.21290
Kaplan, A., & Garner, J. K. (2017). A complex dynamic systems perspective on identity and its development: The dynamic systems model of role identity. Developmental Psychology, 53(11), 2036–2051. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000339
Kohl, P. B., & Finkelstein, N. D. (2006). Effects of representation on students solving physics problems: A fine-grained characterization. Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research, 2(1), 010106. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.2.010106
Lock, R. M., Castillo, J., Hazari, Z., & Potvin, G. (2015). Determining strategies that predict physics identity: Emphasizing recognition and interest. In Churukian, Jones, & Ding (Eds.), Physics Education Research Conference (PERC) July 29-30, 2015, College Park, MD (pp. 199–202). American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT). https://doi.org/10.1119/perc.2015.pr.045
Loh, C. Y. R., & Teo, T. C. (2017). Understanding Asian students learning styles, cultural influence and learning strategies. Journal of Education & Social Policy, 7(1), 194–210.
Luehmann, A. L. (2007). Identity development as a lens to science teacher preparation. Science Education, 91(5), 822–839. https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.20209
Mathewson, J. H. (1999). Visual‐spatial thinking: An aspect of science overlooked by educators. Science Education, 83(1), 33–54. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1098-237X(199901)83:1<33::AID-SCE2>3.0.CO;2-Z
Munfaridah, N., Avraamidou, L., & Goedhart, M. (2021). The use of multiple representations in undergraduate physics education: What do we know and where do we go from here? Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 17(1), em1934. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/9577
Opfermann, M., Schmeck, A., & Fischer, H. E. (2017). Multiple representations in physics and science education – why should we use them? In D. F. Treagust, R. Duit, & H. E. Fischer (Eds.), Multiple representations in physics education. Models and modeling in science education, vol 10 (pp. 1–22). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-58914-5_1
Patron, E., Wikman, S., Edfors, I., Johansson-Cederblad, B., & Linder, C. (2017). Teachers’ reasoning: Classroom visual representational practices in the context of introductory chemical bonding. Science Education, 101(6), 887–906. https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.21298
Potvin, G., & Hazari, Z. (2014). The development and measurement of identity across the physical sciences. In Engelhardt, Churukian, & Jones (Eds.), Physics Education Research Conference (PERC) July 17-18, 2013, Portland, OR (pp. 281–284). American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT). https://doi.org/10.1119/perc.2013.pr.058
Savinainen, A., Mäkynen, A., Nieminen, P., & Viiri, J. (2017). The effect of using a visual representation tool in a teaching-learning sequence for teaching Newton’s third law. Research in Science Education, 47(1), 119–135. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-015-9492-8
Serway, R. A., Jewett, J. W., & Peroomian, V. (2014). Physics for scientists and engineers (9th ed.). Boston: Brooks.
Stiles-Clarke, L., & Macleod, M. E. K. (2016). Choosing to major in physics, or not: Factors affecting undergraduate decision making. European J of Physics Education, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.20308/ejpe.95844
Susac, A., Bubic, A., Planinic, M., Movre, M., & Palmovic, M. (2019). Role of diagrams in problem solving: An evaluation of eye-tracking parameters as a measure of visual attention. Physical Review Physics Education Research, 15(1), 13101. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.15.013101
Sutopo, & Waldrip, B. (2014). Impact of a representational approach on students’ reasoning and conceptual understanding in learning mechanics. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 12(4), 741–765. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-013-9431-y
Swarat, S., Ortony, A., & Revelle, W. (2012). Activity matters: Understanding student interest in school science. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 49(4), 515–537. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21010
Waldrip, B., & Prain, V. (2013). Teachers’ initial response to a representational focus. In R. Tytler, V. Prain, P. Hubber, & B. Waldrip (Eds.), Constructing representations to learn in science (pp. 15–30). Sense Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6209-203-7_2
Wang, J., & Hazari, Z. (2018). Promoting high school students’ physics identity through explicit and implicit recognition. Physical Review Physics Education Research, 14(2), 020111. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.14.020111
Wang, J., Hazari, Z., Cass, C., & Lock, R. (2018). Episodic memories and the longitudinal impact of high school physics on female students’ physics identity. International Journal of Science Education, 40(13), 1543–1566. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2018.1486522
Wulff, P., Hazari, Z., Petersen, S., & Neumann, K. (2011). Engaging young women in physics: An intervention to support young women’s physics identity development. Physical Review Physics Education Research, 14(2), 020113. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.14.020113
Zacharia, Z. C., & de Jong, T. (2014). The effects on students’ conceptual understanding of electric circuits of introducing virtual manipulatives within a physical manipulatives-oriented curriculum. Cognition and Instruction, 32(2), 101–158. https://doi.org/10.1080/07370008.2014.887083
Ainsworth, S. (2008). The educational value of multiple-representations when learning complex scientific concepts. In J. K. Gilbert, M. Reiner, & M. Nakhleh (Eds.), Visualization: Theory and practice in science education (pp. 191–208). Dordrecht: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-5267-5_9
Aviyanti, L. (2020). An investigation into Indonesian pre-service physics teachers’ scientific thinking and conceptual understanding of physics [Doctoral Dissertation, Flinders University]. https://flex.flinders.edu.au/file/a44a1398-06d4-451f-808c-6e1a702e060b/1/AviyantiThesis2020_LibraryCopy.pdf
Avraamidou, L. (2014). Studying science teacher identity: Current insights and future research directions. Studies in Science Education, 50(2), 145–179. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057267.2014.937171
Azam, S. (2018). Physics for teaching high school physics: Views of prospective physics teachers and teacher educators about undergraduate physics study. Journal of Teacher Education and Educators, 7(2), 147–164.
Bollen, L., Van Kampen, P., Baily, C., Kelly, M., & De Cock, M. (2017). Student difficulties regarding symbolic and graphical representations of vector fields. Physical Review Physics Education Research, 13(2), 020109. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.13.020109
Carlone, H. B., & Johnson, A. (2007). Understanding the science experiences of successful women of color: Science identity as an analytic lens. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 44(8), 1187–1218. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.20237
Chung-Parsons, R., & Bailey, J. M. (2019). The hierarchical (not fluid) nature of preservice secondary science teachers’ perceptions of their science teacher identity. Teaching and Teacher Education, 78(1), 39–48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2018.11.007
Danielsson, A. T. (2014). In the physics class: University physics students’ enactment of class and gender in the context of laboratory work. Cultural Studies of Science Education, 9(2), 477–494. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-012-9421-3
Davis, E. A., Petish, D., & Smithey, J. (2006). Challenges new science teachers face. Review of Educational Research, 76(4), 607–651. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543076004607
De Cock, M. (2012). Representation use and strategy choice in physics problem solving. Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research, 8(2), 020117. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.8.020117
Department of Physics. (2020). Dokumen formal kurikulum program studi sarjana pendidikan fisika Universitas Negeri Malang. http://fisika.fmipa.um.ac.id/
Deslauriers, L., McCarty, L. S., Miller, K., Callaghan, K., & Kestin, G. (2019). Measuring actual learning versus feeling of learning in response to being actively engaged in the classroom. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 201821936. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1821936116
Due, K. (2014). Who is the competent physics student? A study of students’ positions and social interaction in small-group discussions. Cultural Studies of Science Education, 9(2), 441–459. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-012-9441-z
Gilbert, J. K. (2010). The role of visual representations in the learning and teaching of science: An introduction. Asia-Pacific Forum on Science Learning and Teaching, 11(1), 1–19.
Hazari, Z., & Cass, C. (2018). Towards meaningful physics recognition: What does this recognition actually look like? The Physics Teacher, 56(7), 442–446. https://doi.org/10.1119/1.5055325
Hazari, Z., Cass, C., & Beattie, C. (2015). Obscuring power structures in the physics classroom: Linking teacher positioning, student engagement, and physics identity development. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 52(6), 735–762. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21214
Hazari, Z., Sonnert, G., Sadler, P. M., & Shanahan, M.-C. (2010). Connecting high school physics experiences, outcome expectations, physics identity, and physics career choice: A gender study. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 47(8), 978–1003. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.20363
Hill, M., & Sharma, M. D. (2015). Students’ representational fluency at university: A cross-sectional measure of how multiple representations are used by physics students Using the representational fluency survey. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 11(6), 1633–1655. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2015.1427a
Jackson, P. A., & Seiler, G. (2017). Identity work in the college science classroom: The cases of two successful latecomers to science. Science Education, 101(5), 716–740. https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.21290
Kaplan, A., & Garner, J. K. (2017). A complex dynamic systems perspective on identity and its development: The dynamic systems model of role identity. Developmental Psychology, 53(11), 2036–2051. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000339
Kohl, P. B., & Finkelstein, N. D. (2006). Effects of representation on students solving physics problems: A fine-grained characterization. Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research, 2(1), 010106. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.2.010106
Lock, R. M., Castillo, J., Hazari, Z., & Potvin, G. (2015). Determining strategies that predict physics identity: Emphasizing recognition and interest. In Churukian, Jones, & Ding (Eds.), Physics Education Research Conference (PERC) July 29-30, 2015, College Park, MD (pp. 199–202). American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT). https://doi.org/10.1119/perc.2015.pr.045
Loh, C. Y. R., & Teo, T. C. (2017). Understanding Asian students learning styles, cultural influence and learning strategies. Journal of Education & Social Policy, 7(1), 194–210.
Luehmann, A. L. (2007). Identity development as a lens to science teacher preparation. Science Education, 91(5), 822–839. https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.20209
Mathewson, J. H. (1999). Visual‐spatial thinking: An aspect of science overlooked by educators. Science Education, 83(1), 33–54. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1098-237X(199901)83:1<33::AID-SCE2>3.0.CO;2-Z
Munfaridah, N., Avraamidou, L., & Goedhart, M. (2021). The use of multiple representations in undergraduate physics education: What do we know and where do we go from here? Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 17(1), em1934. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/9577
Opfermann, M., Schmeck, A., & Fischer, H. E. (2017). Multiple representations in physics and science education – why should we use them? In D. F. Treagust, R. Duit, & H. E. Fischer (Eds.), Multiple representations in physics education. Models and modeling in science education, vol 10 (pp. 1–22). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-58914-5_1
Patron, E., Wikman, S., Edfors, I., Johansson-Cederblad, B., & Linder, C. (2017). Teachers’ reasoning: Classroom visual representational practices in the context of introductory chemical bonding. Science Education, 101(6), 887–906. https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.21298
Potvin, G., & Hazari, Z. (2014). The development and measurement of identity across the physical sciences. In Engelhardt, Churukian, & Jones (Eds.), Physics Education Research Conference (PERC) July 17-18, 2013, Portland, OR (pp. 281–284). American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT). https://doi.org/10.1119/perc.2013.pr.058
Savinainen, A., Mäkynen, A., Nieminen, P., & Viiri, J. (2017). The effect of using a visual representation tool in a teaching-learning sequence for teaching Newton’s third law. Research in Science Education, 47(1), 119–135. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-015-9492-8
Serway, R. A., Jewett, J. W., & Peroomian, V. (2014). Physics for scientists and engineers (9th ed.). Boston: Brooks.
Stiles-Clarke, L., & Macleod, M. E. K. (2016). Choosing to major in physics, or not: Factors affecting undergraduate decision making. European J of Physics Education, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.20308/ejpe.95844
Susac, A., Bubic, A., Planinic, M., Movre, M., & Palmovic, M. (2019). Role of diagrams in problem solving: An evaluation of eye-tracking parameters as a measure of visual attention. Physical Review Physics Education Research, 15(1), 13101. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.15.013101
Sutopo, & Waldrip, B. (2014). Impact of a representational approach on students’ reasoning and conceptual understanding in learning mechanics. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 12(4), 741–765. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-013-9431-y
Swarat, S., Ortony, A., & Revelle, W. (2012). Activity matters: Understanding student interest in school science. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 49(4), 515–537. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21010
Waldrip, B., & Prain, V. (2013). Teachers’ initial response to a representational focus. In R. Tytler, V. Prain, P. Hubber, & B. Waldrip (Eds.), Constructing representations to learn in science (pp. 15–30). Sense Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6209-203-7_2
Wang, J., & Hazari, Z. (2018). Promoting high school students’ physics identity through explicit and implicit recognition. Physical Review Physics Education Research, 14(2), 020111. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.14.020111
Wang, J., Hazari, Z., Cass, C., & Lock, R. (2018). Episodic memories and the longitudinal impact of high school physics on female students’ physics identity. International Journal of Science Education, 40(13), 1543–1566. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2018.1486522
Wulff, P., Hazari, Z., Petersen, S., & Neumann, K. (2011). Engaging young women in physics: An intervention to support young women’s physics identity development. Physical Review Physics Education Research, 14(2), 020113. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.14.020113
Zacharia, Z. C., & de Jong, T. (2014). The effects on students’ conceptual understanding of electric circuits of introducing virtual manipulatives within a physical manipulatives-oriented curriculum. Cognition and Instruction, 32(2), 101–158. https://doi.org/10.1080/07370008.2014.887083
Authors
Munfaridah, N., & Goedhart, M. (2022). Multiple representations (MR) based instructional approach in support of physics identity and physics teachers’ identity development: Design considerations. Momentum: Physics Education Journal, 7(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.21067/mpej.v7i1.6982
Copyright (c) 2022 Momentum: Physics Education Journal
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Momentum: Physisc Education Journal allows readers to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of its articles and allow readers to use them for any other lawful purpose. 
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The Authors submitting a manuscript do so with the understanding that if accepted for publication, copyright of the article shall be assigned to Momentum: Physics Education Journal