Applying clustering to statistical analysis of student reasoning about two-dimensional kinematics
R. Padraic Springuel, Michael C. Wittmann, and John R. Thompson
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Center for Science and Mathematics Education Research, College of Education and Human Development, University of Maine, Orono, Maine 04469, USA
Received 24 May 2007; published 3 December 2007
We use clustering, an analysis method not presently common to the physics education research community, to group and characterize student responses to written questions about two-dimensional kinematics. Previously, clustering has been used to analyze multiple-choice data; we analyze free-response data that includes both sketches of vectors and written elements. The primary goal of this paper is to describe the methodology itself; we include a brief overview of relevant results.
©2007 The American Physical Society
URL: http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRSTPER/v3/e020107
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.3.020107
PACS: 01.40.Fk, 01.40.gf
