Ranking Task Exercises in Physics

Description

This student text contains 218 Ranking Task Exercises that cover all classical physics topics. Ranking Tasks are an innovative type of conceptual exercise that asks students to make comparative judgments about a set of variations on a particular physical situation. These exercises were developed by participants in the Two-Year College (TYC) Physics Workshop Project sponsored by Joliet Junior College, Lee College, and a series of grants from the Division of Undergraduate Education of the National Science Foundation, and were edited by Thomas L. O’Kuma (Lee College), David P. Maloney (Indiana University-Purdue University, Fort Wayne), and Curtis J. Hieggelke (Joliet Junior College).

Those who have used Ranking Tasks have found that they frequently elicit students’ natural ideas, rather than a memorized response, about the behavior of a given physical system. In addition, asking students to consider the same situation in a variety of ways often helps them begin to correct any misconceptions they may have. When students realize that they have given different answers to variations of the same question, they begin to think about why they responded as they did in each case. This, in turn, prompts them to consider which responses they believe in more strongly, and why.

The basic structure of a Ranking Task comprises four elements:

• a description of the physical situation, including any constraints and the basis for ranking different arrangements
• a set of figures showing the different arrangements of the situation to be compared
• a place to record the ranking of each variation
• a place to explain the reason for each ranking choice

Prentice Hall is proud to publish this book as part of its Series in Educational Innovation.

• 218 Ranking Task Exercises, covering all of Classical Physics—Gives students ample opportunity to work these unique exercises.

• Unique Ranking Task structure—Designed for clarity, the exercises consist of four elements:

  • 1) a description of the physical situation, including any constraints and the basis for ranking different arrangements;

  • 2) a set of figures showing the different arrangements of the situation to be compared;

  • 3) a place to record the ranking of each variation;

  • 4) a place to explain the reason for each ranking choice.

Ranking Task Exercises in Physics are an innovative type of conceptual exercise that asks students to make comparative judgments about variations on a particular physicals situation.  It includes 200 exercises covering classical physics and optics.

Kinematics Ranking Tasks.

Force Ranking Tasks.

Projectile and Other Two-Dimensional Motion Ranking Tasks.

Work-Energy Ranking Tasks.

Impulse-Momentum Ranking Tasks.

Rotation Ranking Tasks.

SHM and Properties of Matter Ranking Tasks.

Heat and Thermodynamics Ranking Tasks.

Electrostatics Ranking Tasks.

DC Circuit Ranking Tasks.

Magnetism and Electromagnetism Ranking Tasks.

Wave and Optics Ranking Tasks.

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