Physics education research has highlighted a number of difficulties students may display in the understanding of basic concepts of Thermodynamics, some of which can be attributed to the lack of an effective microscopic model, properly connected to the macroscopic model. The common choice to adopt a predominantly macroscopic approach does not allow students to grasp the importance of microscopic analysis and prevents them from effectively understanding the physical meaning of entropy. Some authors have proposed educational paths that coherently connect the macroscopic and microscopic approaches, using concepts of probability and statistics. This Thesis is part of the panorama described above, and reports on the design and experimentation of a teaching sequence focused on the concepts of reversibility, irreversibility, entropy and on the First and Second Law of Thermodynamics. The construction and implementation of the educational sequence are inspired by the Teaching-Learning Sequences (TLS) tradition and by a type of active didactic, laboratory-based and multidisciplinary, in line with the approach indicated with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), reworked and enriched in the project STIMA (Science, Technology, Informatics, Mathematics and Art), directed by Professor Maria Assunta Zanetti of the Department of Sciences of the Nervous System and of Behaviour of the University of Pavia. This Thesis takes inspiration from STIMA as an educational approach aimed at enhancing not only the scientific, but also artistic, emotional and motivational talent of students at different school levels. The laboratory character of the proposal is highlighted by the set of activities which includes physics experiments, video productions, use of toy models with dice, coins and tokens, computer simulations and group debates. The multidisciplinary character of the approach is reflected in the inclusion, besides Physics, of other subjects such as Mathematics, constantly present in the formalization phase; Informatics, which comes into play in the computer simulation of a toy model of thermal contact; and Philosophy, involved in the discussion on the historical debates concerning the concept of irreversibility and the role of paradoxes and mental experiments in the language of Physics. The choice was to create a proposal with a multidimensional character, and to reduce to a minimum the purely frontal lessons including elements capable of involving, stimulating and activating students with different profiles and interests. The experimentation presented in this Thesis involved a third-year class of the Liceo Scientifico T. Taramelli of Pavia for a total of 26 hours of activities carried out in the period between the end of March and the beginning of June 2019. The analysis of the data collected during the whole experimentation allowed an evaluation of the teaching learning sequence on different levels of analysis. The students appreciated the work done and the effort to move away from traditional teaching: the evaluations provided by the students in the online approval survey were extremely high. From a disciplinary point of view, the results, measured through a research-based post-test, were very good, comparable with a previous experiment in 2016, and often better than the results reported in the literature for university students in introductory courses. Finally, the effect of "activation", increased interest and involvement of students was highlighted by several factors: the wide and active participation in class discussions, the richness of argumentation shown in the answers to post-test questions that required explanations and the quality and complexity of the final productions of the students.
Nell'ambito della ricerca in didattica della Fisica, sono state evidenziate numerose difficoltà di comprensione da parte degli studenti dei concetti base di Termodinamica, alcune riconducibili alla mancanza di un modello microscopico efficace, opportunamente collegato al modello macroscopico. La scelta di adottare un approccio prevalentemente macroscopico non permette agli studenti di cogliere l'importanza della trattazione microscopica e impedisce loro di comprendere in modo efficace il significato fisico dell'entropia. Alcuni autori propongono percorsi didattici che collegano tra loro in modo coerente l'approccio macroscopico e quello microscopico utilizzando opportunamente concetti di probabilità e statistica. Il presente lavoro di Tesi si colloca in questo panorama e descrive la progettazione e la sperimentazione di una sequenza didattica incentrata sui concetti di reversibilità, irreversibilità, entropia e sul Primo e sul Secondo Principio della Termodinamica. La costruzione e l'implementazione della sequenza didattica si ispirano alla tradizione delle Teaching-Learning Sequences (TLS) e ad un tipo di didattica attiva, basata sul laboratorio e multidisciplinare, in linea con l'approccio indicato con STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, e Mathematics), rielaborato e arricchito nel progetto STIMA (Scienza, Tecnologia, Informatica, Matematica e Arte), diretto dalla Professoressa Maria Assunta Zanetti del Dipartimento di Scienze del Sistema Nervoso e del Comportamento dell'Università degli Studi di Pavia. Il lavoro di Tesi fa riferimento a STIMA come approccio educativo volto alla valorizzazione non solo del talento scientifico, ma anche artistico, emotivo e motivazionale degli studenti nelle diverse fasce scolari. Il carattere laboratoriale della proposta si evidenzia nell'insieme di attività che comprendono esperimenti di Fisica, realizzazioni di video, utilizzo di modelli giocattolo con dadi, monete e pedine, simulazioni al computer e dibattiti di gruppo. L'approccio multidisciplinare si riferisce invece al coinvolgimento, oltre alla Fisica, di altre materie quali Matematica, presente nella fase di formalizzazione; l'Informatica, chiamata in causa nella simulazione di un modello giocattolo del contatto termico; e la Filosofia, coinvolta nell'ambito della discussione sui dibattiti storici riguardanti il concetto di irreversibilità e il ruolo di paradossi ed esperimenti mentali nel linguaggio della Fisica. La scelta è quindi quella di una proposta con carattere multidimensionale, in cui si è cercato di ridurre al minimo le lezioni puramente frontali e di inserire elementi capaci di coinvolgere, stimolare, attivare studenti con diversi profili e diversi interessi. La sperimentazione presentata in questo lavoro di Tesi ha coinvolto una classe terza del Liceo Scientifico T. Taramelli di Pavia per un totale di 26 ore di attività svolte nel periodo compreso tra fine marzo e inizio giugno 2019. L'analisi dei dati raccolti nel corso di tutta la sperimentazione ha permesso una valutazione della sequenza didattica secondo diversi livelli di analisi. Gli studenti hanno apprezzato il lavoro svolto e lo sforzo di allontanarsi dalla didattica tradizionale: le valutazioni fornite dagli studenti nel questionario di approvazione online sono state estremamente alte. Dal punto di vista disciplinare i risultati, misurati tramite un apposito post-test, sono stati molto buoni, confrontabili con quelli di una precedente sperimentazione del 2016, e spesso migliori di quanto riportato nella letteratura per studenti universitari. Infine, l'effetto di "attivazione", incremento di interesse e coinvolgimento degli studenti è risultato evidente da numerosi fattori: la partecipazione ampia e attiva alle discussioni in classe, la ricchezza argomentativa dimostrata nelle risposte alle domande del post-test che richiedevano spiegazioni, la qualità e la complessità delle produzioni finali degli studenti.
COMPRENDERE L'IRREVERSIBILITÀ: UNA PROPOSTA DIDATTICA PER LA SCUOLA SECONDARIA
DI SAVINO, MONICA
2018/2019
Abstract
Physics education research has highlighted a number of difficulties students may display in the understanding of basic concepts of Thermodynamics, some of which can be attributed to the lack of an effective microscopic model, properly connected to the macroscopic model. The common choice to adopt a predominantly macroscopic approach does not allow students to grasp the importance of microscopic analysis and prevents them from effectively understanding the physical meaning of entropy. Some authors have proposed educational paths that coherently connect the macroscopic and microscopic approaches, using concepts of probability and statistics. This Thesis is part of the panorama described above, and reports on the design and experimentation of a teaching sequence focused on the concepts of reversibility, irreversibility, entropy and on the First and Second Law of Thermodynamics. The construction and implementation of the educational sequence are inspired by the Teaching-Learning Sequences (TLS) tradition and by a type of active didactic, laboratory-based and multidisciplinary, in line with the approach indicated with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), reworked and enriched in the project STIMA (Science, Technology, Informatics, Mathematics and Art), directed by Professor Maria Assunta Zanetti of the Department of Sciences of the Nervous System and of Behaviour of the University of Pavia. This Thesis takes inspiration from STIMA as an educational approach aimed at enhancing not only the scientific, but also artistic, emotional and motivational talent of students at different school levels. The laboratory character of the proposal is highlighted by the set of activities which includes physics experiments, video productions, use of toy models with dice, coins and tokens, computer simulations and group debates. The multidisciplinary character of the approach is reflected in the inclusion, besides Physics, of other subjects such as Mathematics, constantly present in the formalization phase; Informatics, which comes into play in the computer simulation of a toy model of thermal contact; and Philosophy, involved in the discussion on the historical debates concerning the concept of irreversibility and the role of paradoxes and mental experiments in the language of Physics. The choice was to create a proposal with a multidimensional character, and to reduce to a minimum the purely frontal lessons including elements capable of involving, stimulating and activating students with different profiles and interests. The experimentation presented in this Thesis involved a third-year class of the Liceo Scientifico T. Taramelli of Pavia for a total of 26 hours of activities carried out in the period between the end of March and the beginning of June 2019. The analysis of the data collected during the whole experimentation allowed an evaluation of the teaching learning sequence on different levels of analysis. The students appreciated the work done and the effort to move away from traditional teaching: the evaluations provided by the students in the online approval survey were extremely high. From a disciplinary point of view, the results, measured through a research-based post-test, were very good, comparable with a previous experiment in 2016, and often better than the results reported in the literature for university students in introductory courses. Finally, the effect of "activation", increased interest and involvement of students was highlighted by several factors: the wide and active participation in class discussions, the richness of argumentation shown in the answers to post-test questions that required explanations and the quality and complexity of the final productions of the students.È consentito all'utente scaricare e condividere i documenti disponibili a testo pieno in UNITESI UNIPV nel rispetto della licenza Creative Commons del tipo CC BY NC ND.
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https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14239/20522