This study proceeds to explore the representations and etymology of physical terminology in teaching and learning physics.
The study focuses on the concept of mechanics (such as moment of force, torque, momentum, free-fall, and so on) from three perspectives: (1) The literal meaning of physical terminology from students’ point of view; (2) the etymology of physical terminology; (3) the impact of teaching and learning from the representation of physical terminology.
For example, the concept of torque was originated in the studies of Archimedes on levers about 2300 years ago. However, the term torque is an uncommon word in daily life and was not introduced into English scientific literature until the late 19th century. Before the term torque was introduced, scientists called it moment of force or moment of a force, and it is usually shortened to moment. It is hard to comprehend for students to grasp the meaning of moment of force or moment because moment is a general term to mean a very short period of time. Further, more analogous physics terms bother students such as momentum, moment of momentum, electric dipole moment, and so on.
Text analysis and one-to-one interviews with high school students and teachers are used in this study. These interview questions are designed to probe students’ understanding and applied to figure out key problems and effective cognitive conflict strategies to strengthen the development of professional teaching, clarify student’s misunderstanding, and improve the context of physics textbooks.
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