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RUNNING HEAD: REASONING & DEFINING LITERACY PRACTICES IN PHYSICS

Reasoning & Defining Literacy Practices in Physics

Gage H. Lopez

University of California, Santa Barbara

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REASONING & DEFINING LITERACY PRACTICES IN PHYSICS

Abstract

The study of Physics and its relationship to the world in which we live, has long since been one

of cause and effect. Organized, concise, complex, and disciplined. Physics has many attributes

that I hypothesize are apparent in the act of informing/teaching seen in the Physics 1 course at

the University of California, Santa Barbara.

I have gone forth into this study by observing the constant variables that appeared across

a number of collections of data, including an interview of the course professor, observations of in

class teaching methods/experimentation, and two scholarly journal articles published under the

criteria that the Physics discourse community expects. This data pointed to three literacy

practices in specific: deductive methodology, graphic representation and attention to detail. I am

led to believe that the observed literacy practices in these data sets implies a grandeur connection

to the entire physics discourse community and its connection to the world in which we live.
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Reasoning & Defining Literacy Practices in Physics

Antithetical to trite, subject to reason, and fueled by thought and logic, physics has the

power to shape the way in which we perceive reality as a whole. Hinting towards a deeper, more

divine state of nature, physics unveils a reality in which we are the microcosm in the elaborate

macrocosm known as the universe. Since 262 BC up to current day research, it has proven time

and time again to be quite the challenge when condensing something so vast and precisely

complex down into a single discourse community. Within these communities, a set of literacy

practices are in-turn implemented in order to properly structure a base set of codes/standards for

the people within the communities to suitably express and receive information. Based on

deductive methodology, ,graphic representation, and attention-to-detail, the physics community

implements various form of etiquette and expectations in attempt to bind the boundless by

mocking the structure of the very thing it aims to explain.

The universe exists in an invariably repetitious state of cause and effect. Throughout my

data sets it became widely apparent that this relationship is one that all things in a state of ‘being’

share and is the reason the physics community models itself so closely to deductive methodology

this defining universal principle is used everyday to unearth the mysteries the cosmos hold so

dear. The scientific method is wonderful for doing just this, and collecting usable trustworthy

data that can then be applied towards other experiments. Professor Koutroulakis says that

“"good" data has to be unbiased, carefully collected, characterized by reasonable uncertainty, and

statistically significant.” (Koutroulakis). As seen here, this relationship is what allows scientists

to visualize patterns and it is in this way that experimentation is carried out. How could one

hypothesize, if all events were random and fueled by chance, to be without probability? A
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REASONING & DEFINING LITERACY PRACTICES IN PHYSICS

science of the universe should hold universal trademarks as instruction for the structure of the

science itself. For a specific cause, we shall expect an equally specific effect. Patterns are

critical in the scientific method, without them there would be no rhyme to reason, research would

come-to-halt, and theories would crumble. Robert Matthews makes this apparent in his article,

“Inertia: does empty space put up the resistance? By asking questions as rudimentary as “why

does the ball in the wagon move backward when I pull forward?” (Matthews pg.612) he

demonstrates the mind of a physicist… the mind of a deductive methodologist. Applications of

previous knowledge through pattern recognition and rearrangement are obligatory when pursuing

new knowledge. It is the patterns that we have thus far recognized, that are instrumental in

creating a language of mathematics and jargon that is able to be understood and communicated

to all who lie within this community.

Graphic representation can be demonstrated and patterns visually recognized without

all-too-much trouble. By visualizing the very concepts that are being studied, a fuller, more

expansive view of the subject matter becomes available. Within every single observed lecture,

there was a total of three visual examples. Professor Koutroulakis himself says that “There is no

better way to understand or appreciate something new than to see it happening! I find that

hands-on experiments are thus very useful in communicating new concepts and helping students

to fully grasp them. Graphic representation is essential to all Science, not just Physics, because it

can easily and effectively convey rich, complex information in a rather concise, straightforward

manner.” (Koutroulakis). A vertebrate of the universal backbone, visuals provide an alternative

way to approach a topic, or a quicker way to receive, digest, and interpret new data.Graphic
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representation in many ways, provides the visualization of the awe inspiring revelations that the

mysterious universe has to offer.

Attention to detail is practiced in every niche of physics but most importantly in

experimentation. Measurement, mathematics, logical reasoning, and the utmost precision while

doing such things is necessary and must be done well. Gustaf Mårtensson himself makes a large

use of precision in his extremely delicate experiment titled, “Detecting single molecules inside a

carbon nanotube to control molecular sequences using inertia trapping phenomenon” in this

scholarly journal, he explains the release of gases from a sealed system that must be measured

exactly. Professor Koutroulakis again highlighted this point in our interview and comments on

how such attention to detail is not only seen in the research being carried out but also in every

part of the field whether it be in papers, math, lecture slides, etc... Because the universe is

structured and pattern like, we map the teachings in the same way. Intricate, complex, clean, and

logical. If one wants proper accurate and unquestionable data, all but a singular variable must be

kept constant in order to isolate nothing else but the thing in which you search to know. Detailed

and intricate just as the grand macrocosm is. Without meeting this criteria patterns would not be

seen and graphic representation would become nothing more than child's play..

The emulation of the structure of reality being simplified into a field of study is very

apparent in the Physics 1 course at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the

implications towards the Physics discourse community this course provides, can be extrapolated

from various this data sets and prove to be quite miraculous. Deductive methodology, graphic

representation, and attention to detail are all literacy practices used in all parts of the physics
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community today and through time it has/will only make progress. Through my research I have

in-turn operationalized what it means to be a Physicist.

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References

Hu, Z. L., Mårtensson, G., Murugesan, M., Fu, Y., Guo, X., & Liu, J. (2012). Detecting single
molecules inside a carbon nanotube to control molecular sequences using inertia trapping
phenomenon. Applied Physics Letters,101(13), 1333105. doi:10.1063/1.4754617
Matthews, R. (1994). Inertia: Does empty space put up the resistance? Physics,263(5147),
612-613. doi:10.1126/science.263.5147.612