Physics teacher candidates’ awareness of idealizations used in mathematical models*

Abstract

Abstract Equations, as mathematical models—used to explain facts—are simplified, especially when learning physics at a basic level, to help in the understanding of complex systems that depend on many variables. These simplifications are idealizations in the literature, where abstractions and approximations are also given for the same concept. When reading about a model, knowing that it is idealized, and realizing what the idealizations are, is very important in enabling the reader to understand complex operations correctly. The purpose of this study is to reveal whether or not students are aware of the idealizations used in some mathematical models to explain complex facts in physics education. This study is organized as a simple survey model. The data for the study were collected from a test consisting of 14 open-ended questions within a basic physics context. The test was given to 60 pre-service teachers studying physics and science education. The questions were prepared considering the idealizations in some mathematical models that are frequently used in physics lessons. The results of the study are given along with content analysis and frequency tables of the open-ended questions, with the help of rubrics developed by the researchers. The data obtained showed that the majority of the prospective teachers participating in the study were not aware of the idealizations in the equations, and those using the idealizations generally used irrelevant and incorrect idealizations.