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Meaning Construction and Contextualization While Solving a Dynamics Task in the Laboratory

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Contributions from Science Education Research

Abstract

This paper presents a case study with a group of 11th grade students solving a problem about the centripetal force that an object needs in order to follow a circular motion. The focus is on the process of development by the students of (a) the meanings in terms of semantic relationships among concepts and of these with the context; and (b) a purposeful heuristic during the process of solving the task. This process is examined in terms of contextualizing practices (Lemke, 1990; Jiménez-Aleixandre & Reigosa, 2006), creation of meanings through the connections established among actions and their context. The results are interpreted as transformations by the students of concepts as centripetal force or speed into knowledge tools for solving the problems

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Reigosa, C., Jiménez-Aleixandre, M.P. (2007). Meaning Construction and Contextualization While Solving a Dynamics Task in the Laboratory. In: Pintó, R., Couso, D. (eds) Contributions from Science Education Research. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-5032-9_13

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