A Three‐Dimensional Approach and Open Source Structure for the Design and Experimentation of Teaching‐Learning Sequences: The case of friction

Abstract

We have developed a teaching‐learning sequence (TLS) on friction based on a preliminary study involving three dimensions: an analysis of didactic research on the topic, an overview of usual approaches, and a critical analysis of the subject, considered also in its historical development. We found that mostly the usual presentations do not take into account the complexity of friction as it emerges from scientific research, may reinforce some inaccurate students’ conceptions, and favour a limited vision of friction phenomena. The TLS we propose begins by considering a wide range of friction phenomena to favour an initial motivation and a broader view of the topic and then develops a path of interrelated observations, experiments, and theoretical aspects. It proposes the use of structural models, involving visual representations and stimulating intuition, aimed at helping students build mental models of friction mechanisms. To facilitate the reproducibility in school contexts, the sequence is designed as an open source structure, with a core of contents, conceptual correlations and methodological choices, and a cloud of elements that can be re‐designed by teachers. The sequence has been tested in teacher education and in upper secondary school, and has shown positive results in overcoming student difficulties and stimulating richer reasoning based on the structural models we suggested. The proposed path has modified the teachers’ view of the topic, producing a motivation to change their traditional presentations. The open structure of the sequence has facilitated its implementation by teachers in school in coherence with the rationale of the proposal.

Keywords:

• Didactical transposition
• Friction
• Physics education
• Structural models
• Students’ conceptions
• Teacher education
• Teaching‐learning sequences

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all the student teachers and in‐service teachers who participated in this project. Research was supported by the Italian Ministry of Education for University and Research within the “F21‐Teaching‐Learning Pathways in Physics for the 21st Century” National Project.

Notes

1. The use of the χ² test in this case is questionable, because we did not compare two independent groups, but the same group in two different situations. Nevertheless, the net result we obtained is useful to confirm, with a reliable quantitative method, the qualitative impression that data in the table provide “prima facie”.