"Pulling out" as a procedural resource when solving partial differential equations
arXiv:1607.07493
Abstract
We investigate how students solve partial differential equations and partial derivatives in the context of quantum mechanics. We use the resources framework to investigate students' discussion in a group problem-solving environment to investigate the fine-grain elements of their problem solving. We analyze an example of students' use of separation of variables to solve a partial differential equation for a free particle problem. We identify a mathematical action called "pulling out" as a procedural resource to help students with separating the time part from the space part of the wave function in the course of solving the time-dependent Schrodinger equation. We discuss how students use "pulling out" as a procedural step in solving partial differential equations and sense-making.
4 pages, submitted to PERC 2016