Algebra-Based Students and Vector Representations: Arrow vs. ijk
John B. Buncher · 2015
A recent study in a calculus-based introductory physics course found that students performed significantly better on vector addition and subtraction tasks when questions were given in the i jk representation instead of an "arrows-on-a-grid" representation.This study also presented evidence that working knowledge of the i jk format was necessary to correctly perform vector operations in the arrow format, which has instructional implications for algebra-based introductory physics, as many associated courses and texts extensively use the arrow format and neglect the i jk format.We conducted a study of students in an algebra-based introductory physics course where students were given no explicit instruction on the i jk format, but had received instruction on the arrow format.We find that at the end of the semester algebra-based introductory physics students perform significantly higher in the i jk representation than in the arrow representation on both one-and two-dimensional problems.Our findings imply that these students may also benefit from the use of i jk in class or as part of instruction.