This study examined the relationships among visuospatial ability, motivation to learn science, and learner conceptions of force across commonly measured demographics with university undergraduates with the aim of examining the support for an evolved sense of force and motion. Demographic variables of interest included age, ethnicity, and gender,…

Research in student knowledge and learning of science has typically focused on explaining conceptual change. Recent research, however, documents the great degree to which student thinking is dynamic and context-sensitive, implicitly calling for explanations not only of change but also of stability. In other words, when a pattern of student…

The metaphorical nature of first-year calculus students' reasoning about limit concepts is explored using an instrumentalist approach. Analysis of written and verbal language reveals that, while these students used motion terminology profusely when discussing limits, it was typically not intended to signify actual motion and did not play a…