An analysis of the graph interpretation practice in engineering's students in a laboratory of Physics'context

Abstract

The aim of this research is to characterize the graphing practices in first semester Physical Engineering students in a lab context. An ethnographic methodology is used to collect data, and the paper follows a framework that considers Graphing a social practice. For the analysis, five components in scientific environments were used: ongoing concerns, standard practices, material resources, linguistic resources, and breakdowns. The intent is to account for the confrontations, difficulties, and participation of 44 students in the first semester of the Physical Engineering Program in the social graphing practice as they construct and interpret Cartesian graphs. A summary of the results obtained is presented, and a categorization of graphing components during the experimental practice is shown. This categorization allowed us to find some difficulties students exhibit when interpreting and constructing cartesian graphs.