Using concept mapping to learn about A level physics students’ understandings of particle physics

This article describes a small-scale piece of research using concept mapping to elicit A level students’ understandings of particle physics, which was presented in the Special Session on Physics Education and Outreach at ICNFP 2017. Fifty-nine Year 12 (16and 17-year-old) students from two London schools participated in the research. The exercise took place during school physics lessons. Students were shown how to make a concept map and were provided with topic-specific key words. Their concept maps were analysed by identifying the knowledge propositions the students had represented, and comparing these with propositions developed from the examination specification they were studying. The only correct statement made by most of the students in both schools was that annihilation takes place when matter and antimatter collide, although some students may have been unable to distinguish between annihilation and pair production. A high proportion of students knew of up, down and strange quarks, and that the electron is a lepton. However, some students appeared to have a misconception that everything is made of quarks. Students found it harder to classify tau particles than they did electrons and muons. Where students made incorrect links about muons and tau particles their concept maps suggested that they thought they were mesons or quarks.


Why concept mapping
• Potential to reveal learner's cognitive structure (Novak & Canas, 2008) • Potential to help teachers see what has been learned or not learned (Novak & Gowin, 1984) • Method feasible for teachers to use themselves  Presentation Title

Research question
What does concept mapping tell us about A level students' understandings of the particle physics topic?

Example of coding categories
Exam specification (AQA, 2007, p 6): "Constituents of the atom: Proton, neutron, electron Their charge and mass in SI units and relative units. Specific charge of nuclei and of ions. Atomic mass unit is not required.

Categories for coding:
The proton is a constituent of the atom The neutron is a constituent of the atom The electron is a constituent of the atom The proton is positively charged The charge on a proton is +1.6 x 10 -19 C The neutron is neutral (or has no charge) The electron is negatively charged The charge on an electron is -1.6 x 10 -19 C The mass of a proton is 1.67 x 10 -27 kg The mass of a neutron is 1.67 x 10 -27 kg The mass of an electron is 9.11 x 10 -31 kg The mass of a neutron is similar to (or slightly greater than) the mass of a proton The mass of a proton or neutron is approximately 2000 times greater than the mass of an electron Proton number Z is the number of protons in the nucleus Atomic number A is the total number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus August 17, 2017 Using concept mapping to learn about A level physics students' understandings of particle physics An example of a student's concept map  Using concept mapping to learn about A level physics students' understandings of particle physics 13 Gourlay, 2017 Quark composition of baryons & mesons  Using concept mapping to learn about A level physics students' understandings of particle physics  Using concept mapping to learn about A level physics students' understandings of particle physics

Representation of annihilation
The difficulty with understanding annihilation Topic area: Annihilation and pair production Some leptons are produced by annihilation Annihilation produces matter and antimatter Pair production is when an electron with too much energy produces photons Pair production is when a photon with sufficient energy makes two particles that repel each other Pair production is what happens when a particle splits in two Annihilation produces hadrons and leptons Quarks can annihilate to produce bigger, heavier more exotic particles as well as photons  Using concept mapping to learn about A level physics students' understandings of particle physics

Number of instances of incorrect propositions
Muon is a meson 5 Tau is a meson 5 Tau is a quark 4 Meson is a lepton 1 Hadron is a lepton 1 Pion is a lepton 1 Kaon is a lepton 1 Leptons have an associated neutrino 1 Muon is a quark 1 Total 20 August 17, 2017 Using concept mapping to learn about A level physics students' understandings of particle physics Is everything made of quarks?  Using concept mapping to learn about A level physics students' understandings of particle physics 20 Excerpt from a student's concept map