skip to main content
10.1145/2670757.2670777acmotherconferencesArticle/Chapter ViewAbstractPublication PageswipsceConference Proceedingsconference-collections
research-article

Abstraction as a bridging concept between computer science and physics

Published: 05 November 2014 Publication History

Abstract

Abstraction is a fundamental concept in computer-science (CS) and other scientific disciplines. This paper examines the ways CS thinking patterns can contribute to achieving high levels of abstraction in physics. We examined the work of high school students taking a computational science course, where they designed computational models (simulations) of physics phenomena. We examined the evolution of their use of levels of abstraction in physics, using the framework of Epistemic Games [14]. Findings revealed that moving between levels of abstraction in CS enabled the students to move between levels of abstraction in physics. In particular, in CS the students moved from the high level of what the simulation should do to the low level of how it is done. At the same time, in physics they moved from the low level of thinking on a concrete physics phenomenon to the high level of formulating mathematical equations.

References

[1]
The Online Dictionary. Retrieved July 13, 2014, from http://www.webster-dictionary.org/definition/abstraction.
[2]
ACM/IEEE. Computer science curricula 2013 (Ironman Draft), 2013.
[3]
R. Chabay, and B. Sherwood. Computational physics in the introductory calculus-based course. American Journal of Physics, 76 (4): 307--313, 2008.
[4]
D. E. Comer, D. Gries, M. C. Mulder, A. Tucker, A. J. Tuner, P. R. Young, and P. J. Denning. Computing as a discipline. Communications of the ACM, 32(1): 9--23, 1989.
[5]
P. L. Ferrari. Abstraction in mathematics. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, 358: 1225--1230, 2003.
[6]
I. M. Greca, and M. A. Moreira. Mental, physical, and mathematical models in the teaching and learning of physics. Science Education, 86(1):106--121, 2002.
[7]
B. Haberman. High-school students' attitudes regarding procedural abstraction. Education and Information Technologies, 9 (2):131--145, 2004.
[8]
O. Hazzan. How students attempt to reduce abstraction in the learning of mathematics and in the learning of computer science. Computer Science Education, 13(2): 95--122, 2003.
[9]
R. Karam. Framing the structural role of mathematics in physics lectures: A case study on electromagnetism. Physical Review Special Topics-Physics Education Research, 10(1), 2014.
[10]
J. Perrenet, and E. Kaasenbrood. Levels of abstraction in students' understanding of the concept of algorithm: the qualitative perspective. In ACM SIGCSE Bulletin ACM, 270--274, 2006.
[11]
A. Schwill. Fundamental ideas of computer science. Bulletin-European Association for Theoretical Computer Science, 53: 274--274, 1994.
[12]
B. L. Sherin. How students understand physics equations. Cognition and instruction 19(4): 479--541, 2001.
[13]
R. Taub, M. Armoni, and M. Ben-Ari. The Contribution of Computer Science to Learning Computational Physics. In Informatics in Schools. Sustainable Informatics Education for Pupils of all Ages, I. Diethelm and R. Mittermeir Eds. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 127--137, 2013.
[14]
J. Tuminaro, and E. F. Redish. Elements of a cognitive model of physics problem solving: Epistemic games. Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research 3(2), 2007.

Cited By

View all
  • (2024)Computational thinking with game design: An action research study with middle school studentsEducation and Information Technologies10.1007/s10639-024-13010-5Online publication date: 17-Sep-2024
  • (2023)Computer Science Education Research in IsraelPast, Present and Future of Computing Education Research10.1007/978-3-031-25336-2_18(395-420)Online publication date: 18-Apr-2023
  • (2022)Teachers’ Instructional Practices and Learners’ Academic Achievement in ScienceContemporary Mathematics and Science Education10.30935/conmaths/118163:1(ep22007)Online publication date: 2022
  • Show More Cited By

Index Terms

  1. Abstraction as a bridging concept between computer science and physics

    Recommendations

    Comments

    Information & Contributors

    Information

    Published In

    cover image ACM Other conferences
    WiPSCE '14: Proceedings of the 9th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education
    November 2014
    150 pages
    ISBN:9781450332507
    DOI:10.1145/2670757
    Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

    Sponsors

    • FU-BERLIN: Free University Berlin

    In-Cooperation

    Publisher

    Association for Computing Machinery

    New York, NY, United States

    Publication History

    Published: 05 November 2014

    Permissions

    Request permissions for this article.

    Check for updates

    Author Tags

    1. abstraction
    2. computational science
    3. k-12 instruction
    4. modeling

    Qualifiers

    • Research-article

    Conference

    WiPSCE '14
    Sponsor:
    • FU-BERLIN

    Acceptance Rates

    Overall Acceptance Rate 104 of 279 submissions, 37%

    Contributors

    Other Metrics

    Bibliometrics & Citations

    Bibliometrics

    Article Metrics

    • Downloads (Last 12 months)20
    • Downloads (Last 6 weeks)4
    Reflects downloads up to 22 Feb 2025

    Other Metrics

    Citations

    Cited By

    View all
    • (2024)Computational thinking with game design: An action research study with middle school studentsEducation and Information Technologies10.1007/s10639-024-13010-5Online publication date: 17-Sep-2024
    • (2023)Computer Science Education Research in IsraelPast, Present and Future of Computing Education Research10.1007/978-3-031-25336-2_18(395-420)Online publication date: 18-Apr-2023
    • (2022)Teachers’ Instructional Practices and Learners’ Academic Achievement in ScienceContemporary Mathematics and Science Education10.30935/conmaths/118163:1(ep22007)Online publication date: 2022
    • (2022)Explanatory black boxes and mechanistic reasoningJournal of Research in Science Teaching10.1002/tea.2181760:4(915-933)Online publication date: 18-Sep-2022
    • (2021)Realistic Drawing & Painting with AI-Supported Geometrical and Computational Method ( $$ \mathbf{\mathit{F}}\mathbf{un}\hbox{-} \mathbf{\mathit{J}}\mathbf{oy} $$ )Advances in Artificial Intelligence and Applied Cognitive Computing10.1007/978-3-030-70296-0_58(797-804)Online publication date: 15-Oct-2021
    • (2018)Abstraction in action: K-5 teachers' uses of levels of abstraction, particularly the design level, in teaching programming.International Journal of Computer Science Education in Schools10.21585/ijcses.v2i1.232:1(14-40)Online publication date: 31-Jan-2018
    • (2016)Abstraction and common classroom activitiesProceedings of the 11th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education10.1145/2978249.2978272(112-113)Online publication date: 13-Oct-2016
    • (2016)Defining and Observing Modeling and Simulation in InformaticsInformatics in Schools: Improvement of Informatics Knowledge and Perception10.1007/978-3-319-46747-4_11(130-141)Online publication date: 22-Sep-2016
    • (2015)Exploring Students' Computational Thinking Skills in Modeling and Simulation ProjectsProceedings of the Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education10.1145/2818314.2818325(65-68)Online publication date: 9-Nov-2015

    View Options

    Login options

    View options

    PDF

    View or Download as a PDF file.

    PDF

    eReader

    View online with eReader.

    eReader

    Figures

    Tables

    Media

    Share

    Share

    Share this Publication link

    Share on social media