Same Activity, Divergent Impacts: Representing Paths Towards Physics Computational Literacy and Physics Identity with Conjecture Mapping-Based Narrative Analysis

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: McHale, Sarah, Odden, Tor Ole B., Heller, Ken
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866909990928777216
author McHale, Sarah
Odden, Tor Ole B.
Heller, Ken
author_facet McHale, Sarah
Odden, Tor Ole B.
Heller, Ken
contents Integrating computation into physics teaching is a curricular move that, at present, has been predominately studied for its cognitive impacts. However, if this modality of instruction shifts how students engage with physics, we argue there is room for students to redefine what it means to do physics and how they perceive themselves relative to the field. To investigate this, we situate a comparative case study in the context of a computationally integrated physics course. We study two students' experiences with a multi-day activity to understand how and why they came to affectively divergent self-perceptions. We propose a modified use of conjecture mapping to visualize the production of affective outcomes and connect narrative analysis to activity design. Our analysis highlights how different interpretations of and engagement with activity design reflect students' epistemic framing of code, which, in turn, drives engagement with scaffolding in manners that shape self-perception.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2601_10005
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Same Activity, Divergent Impacts: Representing Paths Towards Physics Computational Literacy and Physics Identity with Conjecture Mapping-Based Narrative Analysis
McHale, Sarah
Odden, Tor Ole B.
Heller, Ken
Physics Education
Integrating computation into physics teaching is a curricular move that, at present, has been predominately studied for its cognitive impacts. However, if this modality of instruction shifts how students engage with physics, we argue there is room for students to redefine what it means to do physics and how they perceive themselves relative to the field. To investigate this, we situate a comparative case study in the context of a computationally integrated physics course. We study two students' experiences with a multi-day activity to understand how and why they came to affectively divergent self-perceptions. We propose a modified use of conjecture mapping to visualize the production of affective outcomes and connect narrative analysis to activity design. Our analysis highlights how different interpretations of and engagement with activity design reflect students' epistemic framing of code, which, in turn, drives engagement with scaffolding in manners that shape self-perception.
title Same Activity, Divergent Impacts: Representing Paths Towards Physics Computational Literacy and Physics Identity with Conjecture Mapping-Based Narrative Analysis
topic Physics Education
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.10005