Learning about the Energy of a Hurricane System through an Estimation Epistemic Game

Bahar Modir; Paul W. Irving; Steven F. Wolf; Eleanor C. Sayre

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arXiv · 1407.3243

Learning about the Energy of a Hurricane System through an Estimation Epistemic Game

Bahar Modir·Paul W. Irving·Steven F. Wolf·Eleanor C. Sayre

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Abstract

As part of a study into students' problem solving behaviors, we asked upper-division physics students to solve estimation problems in clinical interviews. We use the Resources Framework and epistemic games to describe students' problem solving moves. We present a new epistemic game, the "estimation epistemic game". In the estimation epistemic game, students break the larger problem into a series of smaller, tractable problems. Within each sub-problem, they try to remember a method for solving the problem, and use estimation and reasoning abilities to justify their answers. We demonstrate how a single case study student plays the game to estimate the total energy in a hurricane. Finally, we discuss the implications of epistemic game analysis for other estimation problems.

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Bahar Modir, Paul W. Irving, Steven F. Wolf, Eleanor C. Sayre. 2014-07-11. Learning about the Energy of a Hurricane System through an Estimation Epistemic Game. https://arxiv.org/abs/1407.3243

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